Ask HN: Impressions on elance

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1541882

by sentinel • 16 years ago

8 6 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I heard a couple of things about elance as a good website where you can find freelance jobs. I would like to get the opinion of the HN community regarding this before actually making an investment in this website.

Have you worked with it? Does it pay on time? How are the clients? How are the projects? Are there other websites you have worked on that are better than elance? etc. Any information would be great.

Cheers!

pjy042• 16 years ago

odesk.com is another source

noahc• 16 years ago

In my very limited experience with both, I've found oDesk.com to be a bit easier to use and seems to have better jobs.

However, be prepared to pay your dues working for up to half of what you'd like at first.

One bad thing about oDesk is they have all these dumb tests you can take and some people expect you to have passed them.

Either way on both sites a lot of people want you to work for less than 5 dollars an hour.

ahoyhere• 16 years ago

Sorry dude, but these places are ghettos. If you have to go to the ghetto, make it your highest priority that you don't stay there. Do the work and try to build your portfolio.

Better yet, create interesting side projects and ship / OSS them. Indirectly, Twistori brought in more consulting work for me than antyhing else I ever did.

pjy042• 16 years ago

yeah, try to network and work for free to build your portfolio. try some local non-profits that need help

damoncali• 16 years ago

I can't see why anyone in the US does those jobs - they just don't pay enough. You're better off making a good website and firing up the AdWords. Better yet, just hammer away at in person networking events to land some real contracts for real money. It's hard work, but the hourly rate has got to be 10-20x.

If you need a portfolio, just build some stuff. It doesn't have to be commercially successful for you to show it off to clients - it just has to look good and work. You may even make some cash in the process.

oomkiller• 16 years ago

Steer clear! They are awash with inexpensive overseas labor, so it's near impossible to compete. AND, They are almost always filled with people that want something for nothing.

Ask HN: Impressions on elance

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