No Success in getting jobs

[fazeel280]

Hello Freelancers,

Well i do understand that we all are in a competetion here for jobs. But i think some of you can really help me. I am applying for jobs but there is no success in landing any of them. I am looking for a permanent client to have a constant income. I want to hear from you that how you landed such great jobs like hundred of hours or hundred of dollars.

I have good skills in many professions and i think i have good fluent English as well. But where is the problem????

[rolandofgilead]

Hello Muhammad,

I just took a look at your profile. If you want my opinion, your English is not that fluent: you should really take some time to improve it. Understanding English is one thing, writing it down is another one. No offence intended, that's just a little suggestion. Moreover, your test results are far from great: average and below average? No, they're not good at all... just try and retake them, in order to get better results.

That being said, it takes time to get a good job. Don't stop applying to job postings, and hopefully you'll get hired again.

[fazeel280]

Thank you for your reply friend & i will act upon provided suggestions. I have seen some freelancers. No test, no portfolio & their profile descripition is just so poor like grammatical mistakes, sentence mistakes & spell mistakes. (maybe i have some as well but none of it is in mine notice).

how do they get to earn that much?

Actually i am looking a answer that what does a hiring individual thinks & checks about someone while hiring.

[rolandofgilead]

The answer you're looking for doesn't exist, really. Every client has different ideas and thoughts, and looks for different skill sets. When you apply to a job, just try to be as professional as you can, underline your skills and tell the client what you can do for him/her. 

About your English, please trust me: it really needs to be improved. I can understand pretty much everything you try to express, but your grammar is not good. Focus on it, and you'll get way better than this. We all make typos and grammar mistakes from time to time, we're humans after all, and we're not native speakers. But if you want to be more "appealing" to English speaking clients, then you'll have to improve your writing skills.

Good luck with your business,

Mattia

[fazeel280]

Thank you soo much for your time & interest you put in my post for answering my question. Yeah, i am sure i need improvement in my English. Thank you for pointing it out again & making it clear that it is necessary. 🙂

Much appreciated 

[rolandofgilead]

You're welcome! 

[prestonhunter]

Muhammad, allow me to offer a differing viewpoint.

Based on your profile, you are applying to jobs which are fairly technical in nature, jobs for which you current level of English proficiency is perfectly acceptable.

Improving your English won't hurt, but it is not the major limiting factor for the jobs you're after.

Improve your English on your profile itself by having a really good native English proofreader or writer go over it. But other than that, don't let this hold you back. I think when you talk to clients on Skype or via email, they will have no trouble communicating with you and they will not regard your English as an important factor unless they are specifically looking for a native speaker.

[rolandofgilead]

Hello Preston,

I have to admit that you're completely right about that. Sometimes I simply forget that not everything is about translations. Actually, there are many jobs which don't rely on English skills. But improving them is never a bad idea, anyway 😉

[fazeel280]

Well you are right sir, & mattia was right as well. 

I can improve my English and yeah it would be helpful somewhere in my life.

I myself thought my English is pretty good so never bothered to pay attention to it. 

I can understand English, Speak English without going oooo aaa.

I spoke to different cleints as well over skype & none of them said anything about my English.

I took some grammer excercises over internet & my result was 95% plus. Maybe at that time i was thinking & than writing & in normal i do not think just stroke my keyboard. May be

Would any one of you highlight things from my message that i need to improve plz...

[versailles]

I would never hire you. And it's not because of your English. The reason why I would never hire you is not necessairely a rational one. Like each of us, sometimes clients take decisions based on non rational elements.

The reason why I would never hire you is because I would think that a person who works for $3/hour is someone who is just desperate to get some money and not a professionnal.

I may be completely wrong. Actually I am pretty sure that I am completely wrong. You are certainly a very skilled and very professional person. It's just that you wear the same cheap price tag that all the other low performers in the block wear.

[fazeel280]

OMG really?

i though wearing low price tag attracts more customers.

Well gonna increase it 🙂

but is that the only reason??

[prestonhunter]

Muhammad F.:
I have read your comments and posts here and elsewhere and I have to say: I think you seem like a very nice person, the kind of person who is willing to accept advice and learn and grow. I would like to see you succeed on oDesk.

I like your photo. I think you look like a person who is taking this seriously and is a professional.

You already know that you need to have somebody fix the grammar and wording in your profile text. I am certain you are planning to do that. If money is not really a concern, then you should hire a native English speaking writer to work on this for you. Or try to meet native speakers online who might help you, or seek out some Americans who are traveling abroad or living in your neighborhood.

I will tell you right now that one big hurdle you will have in raising your posted hourly rate is that you have very cheap rates on you site that clients will see. You even worked for thirty cents per hour. So your profile will need to be really good to overcome this.

You actually try to explain why you did some of these weird low-rent miscellaneous jobs, and I think that may be a good thing to include. But your explanation is unclear and also too long. You are using about five times more words explaining that than you need.

The biggest problem your profile faces is its total lack of focus. I have no idea who you are! I don't know what you are good at. I see a huge list of stuff that is all over the map. Creative writing. Hard core programming. Urdu translation. Accounting. Pastry chef. You are all over the place. Clients will not take you seriously.

Get rid of the list! (And definitely do not mention creative writing or content writing unless you carefully mention that you are referring to Urdu content writing or Urdu creative writing.)

Pick one thing and emphasize that one thing. You can still apply for jobs outside that one skill because you can explain your experience and expertise in your cover letter. But I want to see your profile text emphasize just one thing.

In addition to picking one skill area, you should pick one or possibly two INDUSTRIES to emphasize in your profile text.

For example, let's say you are an expert accountant with considerable experience using CyberBooks X8. You have used this some in the hospitality industry. Emphasize this skill and this industry experience in you profile. Mention other skills either very little or not at all. This should help strengthen your profile and overcome some of its weaknesses, such as your unfocused low-rent work history.

Feel free to have some tests in other areas if the results are good.

But really study that one thing and mainly take tests that emphasize that one thing.

Work really hard on some portfolio projects that emphasize your skill in that one thing.

Do some portfolio projects for yourself, not clients, to display your skill.

NOTE that these tips are NOT MEANT FOR ALL FREELANCERS. These tips are for Muhammad F.

[fazeel280]

Sir Preston H

Thank you so much for your comments sir. These are Encouraging.

Thank you so much for the time you are investing in here & that even on Xmas, just to guide a guy lurking around. I really appreciate that. 

Yes i made post here to learn, to get some tips & act upon.

I made client profile couple of hours ago. Waiting for identity verification, than i will get payment method verified & will hire professional writer to go through my profile and make changes where necessary. 

I will give your very last message to him for the guidelines & for the moment i will try myself to change things little bit.

I think i would focus on MS Office Suite, General things every IT guy do knows such as Data Entry, Web research, SQL & customer support. Is that okay?

Before i could hire someone & get things done. You are the one who can help me so if you do have time can you please just look at it again & point out some things? Please

I have done Bachelors in Commerce & Masters in IT so by combining these 2 i think i can do above things brilliantly. 

Thank you once again & have a wonderful day ahead.

[kimlena]

Hello,

Great post! I didn't think my profile was bad but now I feel it's a bit all over the place too. Will look into it and make some changes.

Thank you so much for your tips,

Have a great day!

Thi Nhung

[versailles]

Muhammad,

Wearing low price would only attract cheap clients. And once you are stuck on the bottom of the price range, it is extremly hard to change.

This is a huge mistake that a lot of people do.

And for the rest, I totally agree to what Preston said. 

[lanwanman]

Low pricing will certainly attract clients; however, not necessarily the best jobs and the best clients. For freelancers, increasing desired pay rates needs to be a gradual process.

Gradually increase desired pay rates and support those increases with a job history that shows stable growth in abilities, quality of work, and pay. That is not an easy thing to do, and it does take a long time to achieve your goals.

Consider workers in the USA for example, whether working in the "freelance" world or the "corporate" world (that is, online versus offline, respectively), if a worker has a job history of earning $12 per hour, that worker [applicant] is unlikely to obtain a job for $28 per hour (a big jump; not gradual). Those doing the hiring are often under the impression that the person with a history of $12 per hour might not be a "good fit" for a job paying $28 per hour.

The same is often true in the reverse. If a person earning $28 per hour, especially with a job history with those higher earnings, were to apply for a job for $12 per hour, those doing the hiring might quickly assume that the person would not be happy working for lower pay. Thus, the worker's job performance would not likely be as good.

There are lot of things for freelancers to consider when competing in this "freelance" world. Develop a strategy; how to market your freelance services. Monitor the results of your efforts. Makes adjustments when needed in order to establish upward trends with regard to pay and other important factors.

Remember: Growth, as used in the context herein, is best a gradual process.

Edited 01/08/2015 RT/lwm

[fazeel280]

Thank you everyone. Till yet whatever you have told me that was a very useful piece of advice. If everyone of you have more than this please let me know. I will make a plan for myself & will stick to it. Plan will be based on the guidelines i got till yet. For the moment 

--> I need a focused Profile

--> Improvised Summary & Resume

--> Need to cover low rate jobs i have done in near past

--> Need to apply, apply & apply to appropriate ones.

Thank you 🙂

[battershall-ramo]

No that's not fair. Plenty of people in developing countries have to work low pay, not out of lack of ability, but simply because they hae no choice.

[oquintela]

Muhammad, what Ronald said about the 'gradual process' is very, very important in my opinion - I would add it to your list 

One other thing about what seems to be your goal… You said "I am looking for a permanent client to have a constant income." Now, I don't doubt that you can have a constant income in the future (again, gradually…), but I have my doubts as far a 'permanent client' is concerned... from my own experience, I would say that's utopic, so you should probably re-adjust the goal itself…

[versailles]

Concerning the permanent client, I even think that you don't really want a permanent client atb all. Actually you don want one sole client because if he vanishes, you loose 100% of your income.

Muhammad, you are not a job seeker looking for an employer, you are a businessman looking for business opportunities. If you are not in this mood, freelancing is not for you.

You need to diversify your sources of income as much as possible. For a sole trader it may not be easy but in no case you can rely on one unique client.

[fazeel280]

Rene, you always surprise me. But yeah you are very right about all this. 

Till yet hunting jobs were difficult for me that's why I thought if I get one permanent that would be ok. But it is NOT 🙂

I am working on some things (I have improved my test score. 🙂 & yes I hit Top 10% & 30% in 5 tests). 

I have changed a little description. Just waiting for couple of things like credit card and adding funds to hire professional writer to rewrite all the things. 

& I will keep in mind the Gradual Progress & more clients than one 🙂

I will be looking forward towards GURU’s for more suggestions. 

[prestonhunter]

I think having a long-term client can be great, but a good strategy is to have that plus something else, such as a second long term client or multiple short term clients. But do not take on more work than you have time to do a great job on.

[aseembhalla]

Hi

Although it may not apply for all job categories but I strongly feel that having one permanent client is the best thing that can happen(Considering the client is good and honest as per your expectations)

Finding a good job requires a lot of effort. So if you find a client that offers you full time work, stick with him. You can always start looking for short term work once he leaves you. I am telling this by experience . My first few clients on odesk were long term. Some of my team members ended up working there for years. and considering how tough it is in today's date to find a project on odesk( with auto hide feature, contractors offering low rates etc.) , you will be considered lucky to find a permanent client so do not loose hope for that but at the same time do not expect this to happen immediately and do not ignore short term jobs.

[ilyas-iqbal]

Some one please check my profile and tell me is there any problem? Because i am not getting jobs?

I am a professional SEO consultant. I am new on odesk but how could i prove my self. I am even ready to work in minimum price in the start