Since I got the first job in oDesk, I had the opportunity to work with various job assignments. I was one of those who are complaining how difficult it is to land on a freelance job. I also have the skills to do a job, but it seemed to me that the jobs that are posted on oDesk look quite complicated. Besides, I had a full time day job which always required me to work overtime. I applied to some jobs then I got one rejection after another. I got my Payoneer card but no one was interesting in hiring me for a job.

team work

Until I left my full time job and decided to find greener pastures. I went on to apply to companies near my place. One company offered me a good package because they wanted to hire me but I declined the job. During that time my adventures in freelancing had started to pay off.


That was a good thing, because after a year, many companies in my field are starting to crumble due to the financial crisis. If I had accepted that work and got retrenched this time, then I would become a lonely and desperate unemployed bum at home!

At the beginning freelancing was not very easy, even if I got skills. My experience don’t match those job assignments that are posted on many freelancing sites. I can design websites, but I do not have the experience in designing e-commerce sites. No client would want to hire someone who had not even tried designing e-commerce sites.

I applied to a number of jobs, lost all of them, applied to another batch, and lost them again. I was about to give up until I scoured around the internet for answers on how to be a successful freelancer.

Not long I learned all the bits and pieces of freelancing. I adopted the ways of the entrepreneur and stopped thinking as an employee. I learned how to plan and how to make good decisions. I learned how to make use of my time. I learned how to survive!

Soon, I was jumping up and down on my first interview invitation. My first interview – in oDesk! I was too happy. Somebody finally noticed me. Just after that chat interview, I was hired! I did not even expect to be hired, but then I nervously started my first five hours in oDesk and got good feedback.

One freelance job came after another and soon I was swamped with offers coming from oDesk buyers who wanted me to do their job assignments. It was not long when I found myself working with two projects at a time! During that time I was trying hard to work on a simple website using dial-up internet at maximum speed of 56 kbps.

I had learned my lesson well in working with freelance projects. I eventually learned to find which freelance jobs are in demand and tried to learn those skills to cope up with that demand. I learned how to communicate being active in forums, social networks and blogging surely improved my communication skills. I’ve also learned to find and work with other freelancers to cover the skills where I lack or to meet deadlines. I had to upgrade my own equipment as well and my slow 56 kbps DSL is now replaced with a faster 1 Mbps internet.

I am not a lone freelancer anymore. I have already built a team of freelancers. This is the next challenge in my freelance career – to lead!

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