Gary Swart is CEO of oDesk and in this interview he shares the basics of hiring online talent for your online business on oDesk. Learn about oDesk and the future of online talent.
Bryan Haines: How does the hiring process work? Please walk a new user through the steps.
Gary Swart: A new employer can sign up on www.odesk.com - it’s free to create an account, post a job and review contractors on oDesk. If you have work you need done, you can jump right in to posting a job, searching for contractors to invite to interview for the position, and interviewing candidates. You can then review details of the contractor’s work history, their feedback from previous employers and their work portfolio before making a decision. We’ll just ask you to verify your payment method before making a hire.
Once you’ve selected a contractor, agreed on their rate and made a hire, they will show up in your online team. Whenever they are working for you, they will log time through the oDesk Team application, which creates a work diary --essentially the online trail markers of the work they are doing. You can review the work diary to ensure that they are on track, or chat with them directly through oDesk Team to redirect their work or give them guidance along the way.
At the end of each week, you’ll receive a reminder to review their work diary before the invoice is charged to your account. We’ll automatically handle processing the payment from your verified payment method and providing the funds to your contractor, regardless of where they live. You will receive one invoice statement that includes all your online workers, making accounting straightforward and hassle-free.
Bryan Haines: What’s the smallest/simplest task you’ve seen handled on oDesk? The most complex?
Gary Swart: oDesk workers have performed everything from basic data entry to the design, development and ongoing management of a series of specialized e-commerce websites--the true value of online work lies in those extended, on-demand relationships. We have businesses who rely on their contractors regularly to manage their web and social media presence, run day-to-day support team operations, or provide on-call expertise to their public relations or design efforts.
Bryan Haines: What securities are in place to protect employers? Both in terms of work quality and information confidentiality?
Gary Swart: The visibility provided by hiring and working on oDesk allows employers to select the best contractor for their job and review the work every step of the way - so they can control the quality of the outcome directly.
Security is serious business at oDesk. In fact, we're one of the first sites with site-wide encryption to ensure that our clients’ information is safe and secure. All of the information clients provide to oDesk is for the benefit of the employer/contractor relationship, and is held for that purpose only. Additionally, employers and contractors have the option to decide whether they want their job postings and profiles to be public or private. This gives you the flexibility to decide when and how you want to share your information.
Bryan Haines: How can an online business owner get started?
Gary Swart: For those looking to build their business by offering their services on oDesk, you can sign up on www.odesk.com - it’s free to create an account, post a profile and apply for open positions on oDesk.
The first step is completing your profile. This serves as your online resume, the first place employers go when considering you for a job. Fill in your work history, education and certifications, and upload items for your portfolio. Download the oDesk Team application to be prepared to work once you get hired.
Once your profile is complete, you can search for jobs and set up alerts to be notified when jobs that fit your criteria are posted. It’s free to apply to jobs, and to interview with employers. Once you are hired, simply log your time using the oDesk Team Application - we’ll handle the billing, invoicing and collections process with your employer, so you can focus on what you do best: your work.
Bryan Haines: Many businesses are well established, easily handling their current workload and are very profitable. How can oDesk help this type of business?
Gary Swart: For well-established businesses, oDesk offers the opportunity to explore various online work integrations that can save them money, help them grow their business, or transition to become a global organization.
We had a client who was already using remote contractors, but they had been on a manual billing process. Once they transitioned their remote workforce to oDesk, the client saw an immediate 20% savings, simply by gaining visibility into the billed hours and automating the payment process. Across a team of more than 30 online workers, that savings made a big difference for their business!
Bryan Haines: What are some of the most profitable (or highest cost saving) tasks that can be handled on oDesk?
Gary Swart: For businesses, the biggest impact from online workers comes in gaining access to expertise not already existing in-house. Most startups and small business owners don’t have the resources to staff every skill they need on a full-time basis. Skills like accounting, public relations, graphic design, or even technical development or networking may not have seats in your full-time office. oDesk offers you the chance to expand your team and have those skills on-demand, whenever you need them.
Gary Swart is CEO of oDesk and in this interview he shares the basics of hiring online talent for your online business on oDesk. Learn about oDesk and the future of online talent.
