The Difference Between Job Posting and Job Bidding Sites
As a freelancer you always need to be on the look out for more work. If you’re like me, you’ve stayed away from all the online job bidding sites like elance, getafreelancer, rentacoder etc. I’ve posted before about my opinion of most online job posting sites, but I am going to be a little clearer now.
Job Postings versus Job Bidding
Here is the big distinction that I should have made clearer, sites that allow someone to list a project and then respondents to post their bids on the project are the ones I stay away from. These include eLance, Get a Freelancer, or Rent A Coder and the like. From my experience, these sites are where people go when they want something cheap from someone off-shore where they can pay peanuts for work. As a result, I’ve worked with many people who have hired someone from one of these sites and have had to look elsewhere once the site was built for decent maintenance and support on the web site. In every single case, I’ve told the client that I’d have to start over, because the quality of the work done on the project was so poor that I didn’t even try to work with it. Sadly, the people who hire these suppliers just don’t know enough to be able to find a decent web developer/designer so they go this route.
Job Posting Sites
When I started freelancing, all there was to look for work was eLance and the other job bidding sites mentioned above. Authentic Jobs, Freelance Switch, Krop, and Fresh Web Jobs did not exist, so once I got burned on eLance I decided to swear off those job bidding sites and never really gave them any more thought with the rare exception that I had to help out a client who found a provider on one of those sites.
What I love about these job listings sites is that it isn’t implied that the cheapest response will get the job. The people posting jobs on these sites have experience in the industry, know what they’re talking about, and know what they’re looking for. They have the realization that good developers and good designers cost money, and they’re not just looking for someone to build a web site for them. They have a specific project in mind, and often list the technologies you’ll be working with like HTML/CSS, AJAX, PHP, and MySQL. That’s more than you’ll find on most bidding sites. I’ve found that job bidding sites is where people go when they have an idea for a web site and a friend or associate tells them to get someone to do it cheap on eLance.
I’ve used some of the job listings web sites recently and I found a great freelance designer – he cost a lot more than $500 but he was well worth it and I got what I paid for. I’ve also looked through a lot of jobs listed on these sites and they all look to be really high quality - I’ve put in proposals on freelance projects and I’ve been more than satisfied with the professionalism of the people postings projects on them. Some of the full-time jobs I’ve viewed even post salaries as high as $75,000, or freelance gigs from $15,000 and up. I’m obviously not looking for a full-time job, but for freelancers like myself that live in small cities where there isn’t a big market for web work, or at least the work that is around is generally low level and clients don’t want to pay much, these sites are a great way to expand your client list.
Build Your Portfolio
One problem that faces freelancers is that when you send in a response to one of these jobs, you may find that you don’t have a good enough portfolio and other firms or more experienced freelancers are getting the jobs instead of you. That’s when you need to work with some local clients or smaller projects and build a decent portfolio. For these projects you’ll need to put the extra effort in to make it something to really showcase your skills and what you can do. This is when your own web site is crucial to your success.
Recommended Freelance Job Posting Sites
Some of these sites have been around for a while, but it’s good to see that there are some credible and relevant job sites available now for freelancers. You’ll find high quality freelance and full time jobs on these boards for clients that you’ll actually want to work for.
Job Bidding Sites To Stay Away From
Watch out on these sites, you’ll often get under bid by someone international, and the clients tend to have a very low knowledge of what they need or want. Now to say that the sites aren’t for you, but I have had a really poor experience with each of them.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:50 am
I have 935 projects, completed via RentACoder
and 175 projects completed via GetAFreelancer.
From my experience there are many coder from too expensive areas, who can’t compete with other coders.
Some buyer think this way: If I pay more - I can get better result. This is incorrect supposition.
Right slogan:
“Overpay today - become bankrupted patriot tomorrow”.
April 13th, 2008 at 1:35 am
Thanks for sharing this experience with us Jarrod. I am a freelance web designer too and I have the same opinion on bidding sites. I browse job listing sites and I have found good jobs on them.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:17 am
Did you try oDesk? One of the best ones in my experience :)
November 30th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Good evening,
The way high level executives get jobs costs a little bit of money but it does work for everyone. It does not involve job boards or recruiters and seems to work for just about everyone who tries it.
This job market is horrible. I just read today that another company closed down. I was laid off two weeks ago. I am worried but not overly so. I know a really good way to find a job that I used in graduate school but I am confident a lot of others will NOT try.
A lot of people getting interviews are doing targeted mailing of their legal resume with cover letters to employers who might not necessarily be hiring. I did this when I was in graduate school three years ago and it worked.
When I was in graduate school (I went to a top 5 business school), I did not get a single interview through on-campus–but that may have had something to do with my grades. I went to an Ivy League college but did not do well business school–at least not in the top 10%. I did fine in my job search, however: I had at least four offers. I used a service called that EmploymentAuthority to mail out over 500 letters.
The service cost me over $1,000 but I really think it was worth it. I was getting interviews within 3 days of sending out my letters. I think this is a great way to get a job–even if you decided to do the work you have to pay the EmploymentAuthority guys to do on your own. The service is expensive but it is really too much work to do on your own.
Be proactive in your job search!! I think the mass mailing idea is the smartest way to get a job by far. The reason is because most law firms when they have extra work do not go out and advertise for associates–they just do not do the extra work. This method of finding a job shows the firms they can get someone to help now without them having to advertise or lift a finger. Plus, most of the firms I approached thought that I was writing them because I knew about them from somewhere. They were impressed I wrote them!
I ordered the EmploymentAuthority service from the company about a week ago and should be mailing my letters any day. I am sure I am going to get calls pretty quickly (within 3-4 days) after sending my letters. Sure … I will not have heard of a lot of firms that are calling but I am going to have offers I am sure. This is how people are getting legal jobs right now.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:45 am
Hi!
I’ve found your post to be very useful, though the information is not rather new.
I’m your permanent reader now!
p.s. BTW, what happened to your site template? Or is it just my browser? :)
January 7th, 2009 at 9:22 am
If you’re looking for niche sites, try http://www.freak-lance.com — web design and graphic design projects only (including flash, banners, animation, print, et cetera).
For general freelance sites, including programming, try http://www.thesuperlancers.com
Hope it helps -
L. Hunter
March 10th, 2009 at 4:07 am
Never underestimate the power of the internet. An increasing number of people use the internet
to search for a business or service so having a web presence is an important media for promoting
your company. Web design is a real skill and if your website is to not only look good but work well,
it should be constructed by a professional web designer.
If you are interested, you can contact me: hqwebdesign (AT) gmail (DOT) com