So what was this Pinoy Odesk newbie doing wrong and what was he doing write err I meant right (sigh still can’t afford a proof reader, and MS word sucks at it). My mistake was not filtering out the non-serious buyers. Who can blame me, I'm a newbie besides at this point it really didn’t matter if I get paid or not as long as I get the odesk hours so I can qualify for the phone/tech/customer support niche which is my primary target. Another possibility was that I was cancelling bids for unresponsive buyers. I would contend however that if the buyer posts that he needs the job done on Friday but failed to respond by Friday it was a proper course of action. (don’t you just hate it when that happens.) BTW eLance has an awesome comic segment which I would recommend to any freelancer.
What was this Pinoy Odesk Newbie doing right? Well, 15% of the buyers just chose someone else. Which means that for them, I was qualified for the job, my price and my price was reasonable. Most likely they just preferred a sexy blonde teenager to get things done. Oooops sorry, I am a guy, that was meant as a joke. What I meant was buyers most likely had a favored provider with whom they had worked with.
The first call center I worked for in 2006, Convergys - America's largest outsourcing firm shouts out that in order to succeed one needs not only to learn from failures, but to out think and out do your competitors. ( yes once I was chained to my Avaya phone too and I will again if I don’t get a buyer soon).
Odesk is a harsh global marketplace, so much so for neophytes who have yet to earn a reputation. If there is something I have to look forward to is the fact that on my candidacies 3 buyers marked me as a favorite.
This isn’t a thesis or an article for a buyer this just me the Odesk Pinoy Newbie trying to learn from my mistakes. Admittedly the sample size (n) is small. The table above represents all the data I currently have. So please don’t demand a certain a margin of error. Odesk management would definitely have all the figures in their mainframes but I doubt Gary Swart would gladly reveal the real numbers.
These are all firsthand experiences. All were painful opportunities for the writer to learn from. There is supposedly a guy who posted a youtube video from Timbuktu who’s working on an MBA with oDesk as his subject. I wonder if got a job on odesk.
This Pinoy Odesk newbie has earned the bragging rights to have worked as one of the best paid call center reps in his country, rejection like this was a humbling experience.
In times like these I have find consolation in odesk community members like you, whomever and wherever you maybe. Pulling my hair and silently screaming then fixing myself a nice tall glass of sweet tea or milkshake helps a lot too. Above all I find wisdom and comfort in the words of great men and authors.
I’d like to share some to fellow Odesk newbies and veterans:
Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. it's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.
Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.
Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err.
There is no failure except in no longer trying.
The torment of human frustration, whatever its immediate cause, is the knowledge that the self is in prison, its vital force and "mangled mind" leaking away in lonely, wasteful self-conflict.
Again this was the Pinoy Odesk Newbie thanking you for visiting my blog and hoping that you visit soon, or better yet..... HIRE ME on Odesk.
P.S. here's something for all you conspiracy addicts.
