Elance.com is one of my favorite places to find a freelance job. In fact, I’ve found several awesome clients to work from home with from just searching for keywords related to what I’m interested in or have experience in. It’s one place I highly recommend for aspiring work-from-homers.
I want to talk a little bit about how to find a job on Elance. So let’s go!
First, you have to create an account as a contractor. To apply for jobs on Elance, you will use “connects” and at the beginning of each billing cycle, those are replenished. You can purchase and upgrade to more connects pretty easily, but to start out – the free account is the way to go.
Once your account is created, please take the time to complete your profile. Add a professional headshot, a cover letter, a resume, portfolio samples, and take a few skills tests. This profile is what clients will look at when deciding to hire you – so stand out! Complete it to 100% before you start submitting proposals to job listings. Trust me. You aren’t looking to run a lemonade stand, you are looking for a quality and professional job from home, so act like it.
Now that your profile is complete, start browsing for jobs!
What I typically do are keyword searches. Things like ‘social media’, ‘blogging’, ‘writing’ and up come results from all over the site from various categories. With the free account, you only get one category (like Admin Support or or Copywriting), so naturally as you upgrade your membership you can select more categories. For example, my account currently has me set for 3 categories because I am paying an additional $5 per category, per month to see those job listings. With searching by keyword, I’m able to see the postings for what I’m interested in versus having to wade through everything I’m not interested in. You can also filter results to optimize them – sort by location, pay, etc.
Now, this is just a very “in a nutshell” look at Elance, and I’m sure that I’m missing things, but my best advice is this:
1) Complete your profile
2) Browse the job listings
3) When you find something you want to ‘apply’ for, write a great proposal.
Why do I like Elance?
Elance has been good to me. Because they offer payment security, I know that if I do the work then I am going to be paid. The level of professionalism has also always come across as higher than other sites. Sure, you find some jobs that are paying well below what I value my time at, but the good stuff is there. I have even gone from being a contractor and working from home to being a client and hiring through Elance because of the atmosphere and the payment protection. The sheer number of employers using Elance is pretty overwhelming too, but that just means if you have a skill you want to use, you will probably find a job through Elance. Being prepared for your proposals and even potential interviews could include actual phone calls, so keep in mind that not everything will just be chat and email. You can set up a voIP phone number that actually connects over your internet service rather than your landline or cell (don’t worry, I had to Google “VoIP number meaning” to understand too!”.
Let me know if you’ve used Elance before or if you will be signing up to check them out!
Psst! Here’s the Elance Freelancer Guide that has some valuable information. Read through this and learn how the WorkRoom is used and how to invoice plus more!
None of my links are affiliate links as I do not need the referral credits.