oDesk hired me

After more than two years of being jobless, I now got myself a work. It is not the usual work most of you guys are accustomed to. I don't have fixed hours. I don't need to get up early; dress up; sit behind a desk for 8-9 hours; wear long sleeves, slacks and ties; deal with office politics; lick my boss' a%$. It is not that kind of job. I get to work at home using my laptop. I can take a nap whenever I like. I still watch noon-time shows. I get to be with my family all day. I bring the kids to school. It seems the ideal work. I bet it is.

I thank God for this opportunity. Being busy most of the time helps me in my recovery. It takes the craving away. Knowing that I need to finish a report or tasks daily, taking that next sip of alcohol is far from my mind.

Last November 8, I joined an online marketplace called oDesk. It is an outsourcing site for programmers, web designers, and other IT related jobs. Actually, it is not only for IT people but also for copywriters, technical writers and virtual assistants. I've been a Guru.com member for quite some time now but oDesk is very much different from the other outsourcing sites. For one, it pays on a per hour basis unlike Guru which pays on a per project basis. The good thing about the per hour rate is it usually pays better if you calculate the final pay. It is also motivating to work since you are being paid well by the hour. The fees vary but it is usually better than the Philippine rates.

After about a week of bidding for work, someone offered me to do a SEO/SEM project. SEO is Search Engine Optimization. SEM is Search Engine Marketing. The main task is to build backlinks for some sites specified by the Buyer (the buyer is the one who contracted me).

The technical implementation for taking on work in oDesk stands out from the other outsourcing sites. As providers (oDesk calls us their providers), we download a software called oDesk team. When working on a certain project, the oDesk team software, which sits on the PC's system tray, takes a snapshot of your desktop from time to time. The snapshots taken are then uploaded to the server and stored in your oDesk Team Area. This Area can be accessed by the Buyer anytime giving the Buyer extreme visibility of what you are doing. Since the snapshots are taken at random times, you really cannot be seen chatting your time away or logging into your friendster account. The oDesk team software is like a big brother looking over your shoulders (rather looking thru your screen).

It is an ideal work for me since I really intend to be working from home. I don't want to do that 9 to 5 thing again. For those who are interested to work online, you can access my referral link below. (BTW, referring other providers to oDesk is also financially lucrative.)