I think at least twice in this article you wrote 'contractor' when you meant to say 'client'. A contractor is the worker (you in this case) and the client is the person hiring you.
After working +1200 hours in oDesk
21–30 of 96 posts
Re: After working +1200 hours in oDesk
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, so income on oDesk for hard workers is brutally disappointing. euro 20k/8 = 2.5k /month 1200/8 = 150 hours /month ~= 40 hours/week That's actually not that bad for being a programmer in, say, Eastern Europe, but it's rapidly becoming a rather bad wage even there.
I wonder wht people use it and others at all. * The clients expect insane amount of work at a very cheap rate. * People in developing countries are always ready to charge a lesser amount. * The Signal : Noise ratio is low on both sides. * The commissions taken by site and payment services also offer a blow to the amount earned. IMO, its tough to imagine a situation where a sane client who expects quality would be wil…
I think oDesk is a great work platform, if you don't bother competing with the crowd on price and just go for the best jobs (after getting some good feedback and building up a good profile). I bill $40-50/hr and have no problem getting as much work as I need on oDesk. It allows me to travel around the world and work as much as I need to still pay the bills.
Re: After working +1200 hours in oDesk
#238 months worth of work for only $20k? This doesn't sound like a successful experience - more like you were highly over worked and under paid. It probably would have been more beneficial to have marketed your services for 80 hours and be able to land a $20k project as well as a lasting client.
Agreed, and this is basically what we do for devs who want to do contract work -- help find clients that pay well and don't suck. ( http://getlambda.com )
Yes. As a daily reader of HN, you guys randomly insert your advertising without adding any true value to the discussion.
Is that your normal business practice? To spam but actually add no real value?
Re: After working +1200 hours in oDesk
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed, and this is basically what we do for devs who want to do contract work -- help find clients that pay well and don't suck. ( http://getlambda.com )
There is a difference between contextual self-promotion and irrelevant spamming. What you are doing is the latter. Please limit the advertising, it only hurts the PR with not much to gain.
Sorry about that. We'll cut back and be more relevant next time.
Re: After working +1200 hours in oDesk
#258 months worth of work for only $20k? This doesn't sound like a successful experience - more like you were highly over worked and under paid. It probably would have been more beneficial to have marketed your services for 80 hours and be able to land a $20k project as well as a lasting client.
> 8 months worth of work for only $20k? This doesn't sound like a successful experience On the internet, which is kinda global, not everybody is paid US/Western EU salary rates, you know right?
Yes, but that drives me crazy! With the internet you aren't held down by your local economic wage and yet there are people like this guy who works like a dog and undercuts everyone with crazy cheap prices which brings down the global value of developers on sites like odesk. While I am sure he is a great developer, my point was that he could have worked less, raised his prices, gained better clients, and overall built a better business model.
Re: After working +1200 hours in oDesk
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder wht people use it and others at all. * The clients expect insane amount of work at a very cheap rate. * People in developing countries are always ready to charge a lesser amount. * The Signal : Noise ratio is low on both sides. * The commissions taken by site and payment services also offer a blow to the amount earned. IMO, its tough to imagine a situation where a sane client who expects quality would be wil…
I think oDesk is a great work platform, if you don't bother competing with the crowd on price and just go for the best jobs (after getting some good feedback and building up a good profile). I bill $40-50/hr and have no problem getting as much work as I need on oDesk. It allows me to travel around the world and work as much as I need to still pay the bills.
What was your initial rate when you got started? How much time and effort it took to build your reputation?
Re: After working +1200 hours in oDesk
#27I'm ashamed to admit this.
I worked for someone on RentACoder back in the day. I got paid to develop software that is now used by over 20 million people. My cut for a week of work? $200.
Never again... (and years later I'm still periodically asked by the owner of the company if I'm interested in new projects for the same pay rate)
Re: After working +1200 hours in oDesk
#28I think at least twice in this article you wrote 'contractor' when you meant to say 'client'. A contractor is the worker (you in this case) and the client is the person hiring you.
Don't speak spanish but in portuguese it's kinda tricky because 'contratante' means 'hirer', and 'contratado' means 'contractor'.
Re: After working +1200 hours in oDesk
#29Maybe I'll try a fake beard myself. A neckbeard even.
Re: After working +1200 hours in oDesk
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder wht people use it and others at all. * The clients expect insane amount of work at a very cheap rate. * People in developing countries are always ready to charge a lesser amount. * The Signal : Noise ratio is low on both sides. * The commissions taken by site and payment services also offer a blow to the amount earned. IMO, its tough to imagine a situation where a sane client who expects quality would be wil…
I think oDesk is a great work platform, if you don't bother competing with the crowd on price and just go for the best jobs (after getting some good feedback and building up a good profile). I bill $40-50/hr and have no problem getting as much work as I need on oDesk. It allows me to travel around the world and work as much as I need to still pay the bills.
Are you a dev ? What's your profile ?