Oct 30, 2011 07:30:52 AM Edited Jun 2, 2016 06:45:05 AM by Vladimir G
When reading a job description, what causes you to go "Ut-oh!"? What red flags do you see in applications that at least puts you on your guard, if not actually skip to the next one? Here's some of mine (and others):
First and foremost The work is yours until you are paid in full. You own the copyright until you have been paid the agreed sum. If you choose to work for 15 cents per hour then that's your problem. If it takes longer than you thought..again, down to you. BUT. If you have done your bit according to the contract that you agreed, then the work is yours until it's paid for.
Asking for payment or to use your own accounts (Thanks Dave!) Money comes from the client to you; anything else and you're doing it wrong. Do not ever (unless you know the client really well, and give it second thoughts even then) pay for something for the client unless you have received the money from them first. Deposit for something; webhosting accounts; domain name; subscription for site X that is "essential for the job" etc etc. No money. Ever. Similarly, do not use your own eBay, Craigslist etc. accounts to list things for sale...chances are high that it will end badly and wreck any good karma you have built up there. And it'll be you in the frame if it turns out that it was illegal.
"Bait and Switch" (Thanks Selcalmel!) Clients advertise one job and then offer a different job at interview. Now there can be valid reasons for this; but a big difference between the job description and the work you're being offered should be viewed with extreme suspicion. Mostly on oDesk it's either jobs that you wouldn't have applied for if the job was described honestly or changing the rules to try and get the price down.
Too many people being interviewed This can be a sign that the buyer is dividing the job up and giving the various parts as a 'test' to applicants...with the intention of getting the job for free. It could just be that the buyer is looking for a very specific set of skills, or other innocent motive, but maybe not.
NOTE: (Thanks Brandon!) This also applies to the client's history...check the total number of jobs posted versus people hired. If there are a load of jobs posted but few contracts awarded, then proceed with caution.
Only low bidders being interviewed If you're not one of the low bidders on that job then it's probably not worth applying.
Long list of demands, silly budget We've all seen them; the jobs for an all-singing, all-dancing website for $100, followed by either a HUGE feature list and/or a long list of qualities required by the contractor. Luckily for you, the buyer is advertising the fact that they are a wanker (behaviour which is unlikely to change if you were unfortunate enough to land the contract). This buyer knows the market well enough to know exactly what they want; and must therefore know that the budget is exploitative...move on. And as a corollary to the above (Thanks Louis!):
People who bellow orders, often in capitals "SUCH SUCH WILL NOT BE READ I IF [insert term].... OTHERWISE I WILL DELETE YOUR APPLICATION IMMEDIATELY". Or "MUST ATTACH SUCH AND SUCH OTHERWISE YOU ARE WASTING MY TIME". Some people -presumably after watching Alan Sugar or that twat Trump- think that this is how bosses should behave. I see it mostly as a sign of either someone being new to being in a position to call the shots and is a bit insecure about it, or someone who is a natural git. In either case your job will be more difficult because of it. Also, these types of application are frequently paired with a ridiculous budget. Any buyers who are reading this should note that this isn't the way to go about things...also all capitals make it harder to read and you're increasing the chances of applicants missing an important detail. Annoying people before they've even applied for your job cannot possibly help. Am I the only one, by the way, who feels the impulse to reply in kind?: "Listen up bitch. I reckon I can do it in 10 hours which'll cost you $450 and if that isn't good enough then you can just **Edited for Community Guidelines** would be a fairly short application, probably.
Mention of half-finished job/previous contractor/s There are two factors here...sorting out what someone else has done often takes longer than just doing whatever it is from scratch. You will very probably be inheriting a hairy-arsed nightmare. The other factor -and a question you should be asking yourself (and the buyer, come to that)- is exactly why the previous contractor didn't finish. It does happen that buyers get a run of bad luck with contractors (often after playing in the lower budget ranges), so it isn't necessarily the buyer's fault. On the other hand, it could be. Rescuing a client from a wall-to-wall catastrophe at the 11th hour is one of the best smug feelings you can get as a freelancer; but these jobs are high-risk...you need to ascertain for yourself that the buyer is genuine before getting in too deep. A note to any buyers reading this: If you've already been through two or more contractors and you still don't have a result, you need to seriously consider throwing a match in and starting with fresh code. I've had jobs where it took significantly longer to find out what the hell the previous guys had done than it would have taken to just bin everything and do the job. And with other people's code, you can never be 100% sure that you haven't missed something important/broken/nasty.
One-line descriptions Buyers quite often don't know the information that a contractor needs in order to produce a final product the client will be happy with; that's not a problem and it's the contractor's job to ask the right questions. But when you see a job like "I need a website. Plz replie", just move on. If they can't be bothered, then neither can I.
Payment method not verified Sign either of a first-time user or a scammer. If the unverified user is overly familiar with the way oDesk works...warning! If it's a first time user, you may well have to do some unofficial oDesk support and talk them through it. And you might still get scammed at the end.
Anything where you have to create a user account on another site (that isn't the site you're working on) before you start. No. Just no.
Business plan with failure built in As a webdesigner, I hear 10 plans for world domination before breakfast. Some job descriptions have fail built into the very fabric of the scheme. The worst ones are the ones where you have to mess around with NDAs and soothe the buyer that you're not going to be over the horizon with his masterplan (which often as not turns out to be another bloody facebook or youtube clone). *sigh*
Jobs where 'clients' are mentioned I don't really like sub-sub contracting. Firstly there's there's the thought of the buyer sitting on his arse collecting cash for my work; which rankles a bit. Secondly -and more important- is the 'Chinese Whisper Effect'; where the original client's specs is filtered through the middleman's idea of what the end-client wants. These specs may well not be accurate. You *will* be doing extra work because of this. The same applies to large companies where an underling has been given the task and is now offloading it onto you; but in this case the specs are more often written down. The worse case in this latter scenario can be where it's a committee and everyone present has to get a design change in there -no matter how pointless- just to get their name in the minutes of the meeting.
"It will only take 5 minutes" No it won't. No job in the history of contracting has ever taken only 5 minutes. It takes longer than that to liase with the potential client, for a start.
Jobs that aren't worth it ((Your hourly rate) * (Number of hours you think it will take)) + (Say 10% safety margin for extra missions/unexplained bits) = (Your price for the job). If there's not enough money or not enough time, then it's usually best to move on.
Anything that mentions CAPTCHA or removing watermarks It's naughty. Don't.
Web scraping Nah. Probably illegal (copyright) and definitely immoral. You're stealing someone else's work. Worse...you're automating stealing someone else's work.
Jobs where it looks like a reasonable budget for the job until you read the description and it turns out that the budget is a monthly wage for full-time work of the same type This is annoying and wastes time.
Non-profit organisation (Thanks Mahesh!) A non-profit organisation is not the same thing as a charity. Some are, of course, but some are tax dodges, some are for groups of people, with the aim of the organisation being something you don't necessarily approve of..."Mothers in support of the ruthless oppression of Brits in Spain"; "White supremacy"; "Black supremacy"; whatever. Or -as Mahesh points out- it could just be weasel-wording for the fact that they haven't made any money.
Buyers asking for free work samples/tests (Thanks Anna!) It is the buyer's right to ask, just as it is your right to refuse. It's also discouraged by oDesk. All the veteran contractors (including me) will advise against free samples and in any case that's what your portfolio is for...to show previous examples of work and the standard that you're capable of. For contractors it just is not worth it...if there's 30 applicants to the job, you're spending time doing work for a 1 in 30 chance of getting a job. You can spend your entire life doing this and not make a penny. Now that I've said all that, a free sample is what landed me my first job on oDesk...someone wanted a graphic vector conversion and -having some free time- I just did it and sent an (unusable) sample graphic in. The buyer didn't demand a sample (I would not have applied if that were the case), but I proved I could do the job by doing it. Traditionally in design work, it used to be the case that the designer offered several alternate designs; but those were for *much* larger-budget jobs. It isn't worth even considering for the sort of jobs that are at oDesk. If you do choose to give free samples, always watermark them (Thanks Ernesto!). In the case of writing samples, send them as a graphic or locked PDF so that the text can't be used without paying you.
Free work samples - Part II If the buyer is asking for free samples and if it's the sort of job that can be broken up into smaller tasks then pay extra attention; and also look closely at the number of people being interviewed.
"Great opportunity for newbies" (Thanks Judith!) This means that a buyer is offering a risably small budget for work in exchange for giving you feedback. This is either feedback blackmail or investing time in order to get in the game, depending upon your point of view. You are definitely being taken advantage of; but really it's your decision...as long as you go into it with your eyes open and as long as it's all agreed at the start. Buyers trying to use feedback to change the terms after the job has started, however, should be reported.
Vague specifications (Thanks Louis!) It's harder to work with vague specifications, mostly, but you see quite a lot of jobs with insufficient detail. If you're extremely lucky, it's a buyer who wants this Thing to perform this Function; is busy; has correctly assessed your level of competence; and trusts you to get 'er done. This is rare. It is, however, also difficult to write job descriptions with exactly the right amount of detail. Insufficient detail could be due to laziness; unfamiliarity with the oDesk system; lack of knowledge (which is after all why the buyer is getting a professional in)...lots of reasons. The best way of approaching this -I believe- is to use the application letter and interview to clear up any ambiguities and to focus in on the specs so that you and the client both agree on what the job actually is and where the boundaries are. If you start the job and only have a vague idea of what the client wants, you are going to have problems. Possibly big problems if the job description also states...
Unlimited redo A job description containing these words should be approached with caution. Particularly with website work, as you're essentially agreeing to maintain it forever as part of the deal. Add a bit of mission creep to a contract like this and you're in a world of hurt. I always specify 'reasonable amount of re-do' in the cover letter. It's a contract and you should never agree to something that can suck up an infinite amount of your time for free. I understand that buyers want their work the way they want it and the 'unlimited' is mostly just a way of ensuring that their needs will be met. You, the contractor, also needs to ensure that you're covered, so best to renegotiate this phrase.
"Send us ID" This is not needed to work at oDesk. Don't do it or you will be very sorry. Verify who you are through oDesk, if you must, but ***NEVER*** send ID; bank account details, PayPal, eBay or any other information that can be used by ID-theft types.
Write to me outside of odesk This isn't necessarily a problem...everyone has their preferred methods of communication. At the first hint of paying outside of oDesk you should run away quickly: It's against oDesk rules; will get your account terminated if you're caught; and you will probably get stiffed by the buyer anyway.
Phishing (Thanks Santos!) The way this works is that someone sends you a link (usually an obscured one like "http://bit.ly/whatever"). This takes you to a page that *looks like* a login page to a common internet service (Gmail, Paypal, Amazon, whatever), but isn't. What the page is, is a copy of that login screen and the idea is that you type your password in and it gets captured by naughty people. It's then standard practice to use that email/username/password on lots of other common services to see if they work. If you 1) fall for it and 2) use the same password everywhere, you're stuffed. Don't trust an obscured link; and ALWAYS check the URL on a login screen, just to make sure you're in the place you think you are. Personally, I go a little further than that and keep a link with my (encrypted) password file and I only use my local link to visit web services.
Good luck out there!
Dec 5, 2014 07:29:33 AM Edited Dec 5, 2014 07:30:53 AM by Dianne M
this should be a sticky thread (float on top) like it originally was in the old forum and please mods (Valeria, Garnor, and Vladimir), edit the html version to break up the paragraphs!
Dec 6, 2014 08:04:11 AM by Valeria K
Thanks for pointing it out Dianne and Junelle!
It's been edited and made sticky in the Freelancers category.
Dec 24, 2014 12:15:16 PM by Jodi S
I notice a few days ago a client wanting freelancers to scan manufacturer's coupons and convert them into PDF form. THIS IS ILLEGAL. I flagged it as inappropriate. I did that for two reasons. One, as I mentioned, it is illegal. The second reason is that I use coupons weekly in the proper way. Counterfeiting coupons is hurting other "normal" coupon users.
Just saying 🙂
Beware!!!! Don't get caught up with inappropriate or illegal projects.
Jodi
Dec 24, 2014 12:42:57 PM Edited Dec 24, 2014 12:51:01 PM by Preston H
Odesk contractors should be pro-active in making decisions about the jobs they take. They should not accept contracts to work jobs that violate oDesk policies, are illegal, or violate their own ethics and values.
It not possible for oDesk to police all job postings to ensure that they do not violate all laws everywhere as well as to ensure that they do not violate my own personal code of ethics.
Having said that, and not necessarily in reference to coupons (!) (a topic I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT)...
Everything is illegal somewhere.
In many cities it is illegal to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk. In Tempe, Arizona (where I live), part of the city's municipal code establishes that it is LEGAL to ride a bicycle on a sidewalk on any street that lacks a dedicted bike lane. (This is important to me, because I regularly travel by bicycle on streets without bike lanes.)
There are activities which are illegal in your local municipality, but which are not illegal elsewhere. While we should have a great deal of respect for the laws and customs of other cities, counties, states, nations, peoples, religious groups, ethnic groups, businesses, clubs, newsgroups, social media networks, etc., we may need to balance that with our own wisdom and the practical need to get work done.
Keep in mind that oDesk itself is illegal in some places (such as Crimea). So if we confine oDesk's operations to the bounds of what is legal EVERYWHERE, then oDesk itself would not exist.
Jan 3, 2015 06:29:24 PM by Stephen B
it's true that different things are acceptable in different cultures, Preston. But a coupon is something given out by a business to enable people to free services. I can't think of any ethnic, national or geographical culture where copying so as to get potentially endless freebies from a business can be seen as moral behaviour.
But there is a cultutre where it's acceptable that spans all those other boundaries - the culture of "I can do anything no matter how it affects someone else as long as I get away with it and it's technically legal". There is no filter for this culture on oDesk, and the only defence against it is users applying their own moral values.
Jan 3, 2015 03:21:01 PM by Chelsea M
Jan 6, 2015 02:10:36 AM by Michieka D
Hi,
When one is new you will always need to be offered a job. I once aplied for the jobs that required many freelancers and accounts not verified. N/B: They are all vague.
I had to take a low amount $0.11/hr but I got more after that.
Thank you.
Michieka
Jan 6, 2015 05:07:32 AM by Subhashini V
Thank you for the information.
Today I responded to a job posting asking to register email ids .The client had a good feedback histroy ,so I responded
I will be more careful in future
Jan 13, 2015 12:39:37 PM by Paris W
A client's country is one of my warning signs. I have never been paid by any clients from Pakistan or the Caribbean nations. There is a scam used by Caribbean clients, which is to deny responsibility for payment because "their client has refused your work."
Jan 13, 2015 07:59:11 PM by Nisaim P
Thank you so much for such an informative post but I just wish I read it Few days before. A cliet asked me to write a review of a renowned product in one hour and I did ,he asked to contact on skype and then asked me to sign up and get regitered on his website, I visited it ( yeah yeah ,I know, but man , I am a new comer). But when that site asked for paypal account, I just quit....( that's something good I did there).
Anyways, Thank you once again
Jan 17, 2015 12:05:39 PM by Warren S
This is an excellent list. I think that listed should be enhanced and entered into the oDesk contractor training manual and contractor test. Well done! This would definitely increase (what is called) 'supplier power' and help fight against unreasonable employers that want quality work for little or no payment here on oDesk.
The point is that a traditional employer can get the same work from a 'physical employee' as they can from one of the 'virtual employees' here on oDesk. Work would probably be of similar or better quality as there are really well qualified contractors on oDesk and they have good experience and good portfolios. Nonetheless, many clients do not realize that they can get good quality work without the overheads; we do not need office space, are not consuming their electricity and water, are not using their equipment (computers, printers, faxes, internet connections, and so on), and are not drinking their coffee, and yet there are so many unreasonable clients that want excellent work for nothing.
Many clients want contractors to always be 'clicking on the desktop' so that the oDesk camera can maintain proof that the contractor is working; however, there are jobs that require thought and analysis (statistical research, business planning, scenario planning and analysis, and so on) and sometimes one must write on paper, print out materials and read and analyse and so on. This suggests that there are unreasonable employers and uneducated employers. Perhaps they require thoughtless work.
The bottom line here is that we, as contractors, need to be careful of the employers that we work with and we should, as a collective group, bid according to our skill levels and refrain from accepting less. This will help adjust the market issues here are well.
One last thought is that oDesk could develop and enforce minimum standards for contractors like mimimum hourly rates (2 dollars an hour is disrespectful) based on experience level required (entry, intermediate, expert).
In most countries, employees are well protected because of the propensity for employers to take advantage or those that need employment (even skilled employees) and oDesk could help as well; however, we must do our part.
Jan 19, 2015 01:26:50 PM Edited Jan 20, 2015 12:20:29 AM by Valeria K
I don't know who else had this problem but a company name **edited for Community Guidelines** hit me up about a job i applied for and asked that i send my ID, college degree and something else to verify that i was a US citizen. i thought nothing of it until i never heard back from the lady.
Odesk needs to do a better job of verifying the clients before allowing them on their site. I'm not saying all these people aren't legit, but if you a newbie like me, you don't know who to trust.
Jan 20, 2015 12:28:00 AM by Valeria K
Hi Stacey,
Please, do not share your personal information such as ID numbers or bank account information with clients.
Thank you for your understanding.
Jan 20, 2015 06:44:41 AM Edited Jan 20, 2015 06:53:27 AM by Valeria K
Is this an example of phishing? I received two messages. same content, different client names(which don't make sense when read)
**edited for Community Guidelines**
Jan 20, 2015 06:56:48 AM by Valeria K
Hi Lyle Mira,
Please, do not open the link that the client sent to you. I also had to remove the link from your post as it could contain potential threat for other user.
Thank you for understanding.
Jan 20, 2015 07:12:38 AM by Preston H
Let me weigh in here by adding a quick thought:
I get that clients have different ways of wanting to communicate with contractors.
Skype, and personal email and the like.
But contractors need to be careful.
There are scammers out there who don't want to pay you to do something, they want to trick you into giving up personal information, such as bank account info, PayPal info, etc.
Don't give that kind of information to people. It's a scam.
Don't scan personal documents or ID and send to clients. They don't need that to hire you. They need that to steal your identity.
The truth is I rarely communicate with clients in any way except through oDesk messaging. I earn nearly all my money on oDesk while NOT giving out my Skype ID or phone number and NOT using personal email. With most of my clients, it's just oDesk messaging.
I know that sounds crazy to some of you, but it works for me, and it definitely cuts down on shenanigans.
Jan 23, 2015 04:46:25 AM by Amanda R
Thank you so much for this list. I am new to oDesk and Freelance work. I have spent a lot of time shifting through Craigslist ads to find legitiment work and let's just say that wasn't working for me. Now I am more prepared for this site and my first job ( I went and looked at everything mentioned, and this is a good one thank goodeness).
So again thanks, this is very helpful for newbies like me.
Jan 28, 2015 04:39:40 PM Edited Jan 29, 2015 12:11:58 AM by Valeria K
Hi guys,
I just wanted to mention that today I turned down a job by a woman who wanted me to sell things from my own ebay account. She asked me to email her instead of message on ODesk, which I did, and then when I asked whose account she would be using, she said we had to use mine for a "test run" and that I would be paid $20.
I just told her its against ODesk policy and withdrew my app, but there are like 16 people interviewing for the position, so please be careful if that's any of you! EBay has listing fees as well as fees once something is sold! Even if you only do the first one, you will still wind up paying...
**edited for Community Guidelines**
Jan 30, 2015 04:46:39 PM by Tina S
Jan 30, 2015 04:56:21 PM by Preston H
Feb 1, 2015 12:51:05 AM Edited Feb 1, 2015 12:59:17 AM by Isabelle Anne A
Feb 2, 2015 04:39:00 AM by Jahedul H
Thanks For this helpfull resource. Wish I saw this one before I start here. From now on I will take look at these points when applying any job.
Thanks Darren for this great articles. 🙂
May 3, 2023 08:44:14 PM Edited May 3, 2023 09:24:01 PM by Pradeep H
2 cents from my side,
please go ahead and start your work, I will be waiting for your solution
**Edited for Community Guidelines**
Should I proceed..?
Feb 5, 2015 05:59:43 AM by Jimmie B
What about a client that is requesting a physical addres to send an NDA to? Sound's like scamish behaviour, but is this in any way a common practice?