What's New

Share with Facebook

Posted Jun 30, 2009 by duncan

oDesk is proud to announce its first integration with Facebook Connect! oDesk providers and buyers can now tap their social networks for locating candidates for jobs posted on oDesk, promoting your own work skills, and creating a verifiable online work presence. With Facebook Connect on oDesk, you’re in control to promote yourself and your company. You decide what you want to showcase on your Facebook feed – we won’t share your oDesk information without your approval. Activate Facebook Connect on your account now!
What can buyers share?

• Job postings: The key to a successful job is having qualified providers to choose from during the hiring process. Starting today, you can share your job listings on Facebook with your friends and colleagues. Why not use your trusted social network to find even more great providers? Just choose ‘Share on Facebook’ during the job posting process – we’ll then walk you through how to share your listings. But don’t worry, we’ll never share anything without letting you know first.
• Profile updates: Know someone who might want to work for you? Your Facebook profile will reflect your ability to provide professional opportunities by sharing updates to your oDesk profile with your existing Facebook friends.

What can providers share?

• Test results: Did you ace a skill test on oDesk? Do you want people to know that you are the right person to hire? You can already embed your test results on a page outside oDesk, but now you can also share your test results with your existing network of friends and colleagues on Facebook. So go ahead – show off your superb qualifications!
• Profile updates: Know someone who could use your services? Make your Facebook profile promote your professional skills and work history by sharing updates to your oDesk profile with friends and colleagues

Enable Facebook Connect in your account now and start sharing! Got feedback? Please let us know what you think in this thread.

Global navigation bar design refresh

Posted Jun 25, 2009 by Michael

You will notice we’ve updated our global navigation bar!
The new nav bar…

1. takes up less vertical space
2. has a toned-down color scheme so it’s out of your way when you’re not using it.
3. Let’s you jump to your Message trays (Inbox, Account Alerts, etc.) more quickly.

We hope you find these changes helpful. Please let us know your thoughts in this thread.

Announcing Intuit, Sun Microsystems and salesforce.com Groups

Posted Jun 07, 2009 by Josh

Four months back, we anounced Groups on oDesk – our way of promoting exceptional talent and helping our buyers find quality providers. Recently, we launched groups with Sun Microsystems and Intuit to enable our providers showcase their Java and Flex skills. Last week, we made another big leap by joining hands with salesforce.com in launching their group on oDesk.

By joining any of thses groups, providers will be able to highlight their skills and buyers will have access to these selected professionals by posting a job in the specific group.
We work hard to provide our buyers and providers an experience that is fulfilling and productive. With Groups, we further strengthen our commitment to provide you an easier way to search and connect with skillful providers.
We would like to invite all buyers and providers to explore these groups.
Intuit Partner Platform Flex Developers Group
Salesforce and Force.com Group
Sun Certified Professionals Group

New Ontology (Categories and Subcategories)

Posted Apr 22, 2009 by Michael

We’ve vastly improved our ontology, the way we break jobs into searchable categories. In response to user demand, we’ve combined some job categories, added others–bringing the total from 51 to 74!
The biggest highlight is the addition of three new non-tech categories:

• Customer Service
• Sales & Marketing
• Business Services

So what? Providers in these service areas can more easily find the right jobs. Buyers can craft more accurate postings that will attract exactly the professionals they need. It’s all about finding the right person for the right job.
Some of you may find your jobs changing categories (don’t worry – we’ve done all the migration work!). We suggest all providers double-check their preferred profile categories. This is especially important if your skills are in any of the areas listed above, or the newly-combined Design & Multimedia category. Buyers may want to double-check open jobs to make sure there isn’t a new sub-category you’d prefer to move it into.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Please let us know what you think in the forum.

Improved Time Analyze Reports

Posted Apr 22, 2009 by Michael

We have rolled out a brand-new Time Analyze report. We’ve basically taken the two old reports (Work Analyze and Time Analyze), combined them, and thrown in a few new features. For example, providers now have access to individual Time Analyze reports to check out their stats across assignments. And staffing managers get their much-requested combined view of all their affiliated contractors. Try it out this Thursday and tell us what you think below!
Who can see these reports?
Visibility of reports depends on the team privileges you have. Hiring managers can see hours and charges for their teams, Team members can see only the hours, Providers can see their own hours across all their teams. Staffing managers can see hours and charges for their all the assignments they have staffed.
How do I use reports?
On to the Manage & Work > Reports Time Analyze tab.

1. Select the role for which you want reports
2. Select whether you want your report to be grouped by day, week or month
3. Select the time period over which you want reports (jump to providers some useful options like “last payroll period”)
4. Select the columns to show and sort the data using the column headings to create the report you want

For example: If you are a staffing manager and you want to see how many hours your affiliated contractors worked by company in the last payroll period,

1. Select a “staffing manager” report
2. Choose to report by week
3. Jump to “last payroll period”
4. Remove all columns besides “company”

The resulting report will show one column showing the total number of hours for each company.
Similarly, Buyers can create: estimated charges by week, hours worked in each team, hours worked by a single provider across all teams. Staffing managers can view charges by company, charges by provider, hours by team. Providers can view the hours they have worked by company they worked for, and can also summarize the total number of hours they worked across all teams.
Why does the report say “beta”?
Unfortunately, the current report only shows hours worked in an assignment, and we cannot display memos. We are working to fix this, but for the moment you would need to use “Classic Time Analyze”. We are also actively making other improvements in the area of reporting so please give us your feedback on what you would like to see.
What improvements are planned?
We are planning on adding – filtering, permanent URLs, memos, etc. Let us know what reports would help you!

Message-Center Interviewing

Posted Mar 19, 2009 by Michael

Historically, interviews have happened outside the system — when
you “interviewed” someone, oDesk just gave you their email address
and Yahoo! ID. We left it to you to connect with them, and then come
back in the system to make the hire. Not the ideal system:

• Both sides had to divulge their contact information immediately
• Interview communication happened outside the system, leaving no
  record about what was agreed to
• It was just clunky!

Now, when the buyer clicks “interview”, they are prompted to
“send a message”. The ensuing interview messages are private and
take place in the oDesk Message Center — you’ll exchange contact
info if and when you want to chat or talk via phone.
We hope this will make the interview process easier and safer for
all our users. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Please let us know
what you think in
the forum.

Groups

Posted Feb 25, 2009 by Josh

We are pleased to announce oDesk Groups!

We’ve launched new Groups on oDesk – each one is a special marketplace within the oDesk network.  
Many providers advance their careers and reputation by counting on industry and professional certifications, alumni groups, or developer networks.  Groups allow providers to join communities of professionals who share a common interests, skills, certifications or passions.
For providers, joining Groups offers the benefit of enhanced reputation with a Group logo in their individual profile and access to exclusive jobs that are posted to the Group.
For buyers, posting a job to a Group allows them to reach a highly qualified group of providers that specialize in a skill set.
For partners, Groups allow companies with certification programs or developer networks to strengthen and expand their brand’s reach by promoting their Group on oDesk.
You can take a look at our new Groups Directory.
A special thanks to all of our initial launch partners:
Check out the Directory, apply to Join a Group if you’re interested, and stay tuned for more Groups in the near future. Keep in mind, membership in a Group is solely at our Partner’s discretion, so please check the criteria for joining a Group before applying.

oDesk Launches New Blog

Posted Feb 12, 2009 by Michael

oDesk launched its new blog today, as a resource for our community of buyers and providers.  We’ll use it to share relevant announcements, helpful tips on freelancing & outsourcing, and commentary & analysis with our community.  However, oDesk users are the true experts.  If you have expertise in an area that would be interesting to our readers, write a guest blog post (~500 words) for us!  You’ll get to showcase your knowledge as a subject matter expert, and if you’re interested, we’ll link back to your oDesk provider profile or buyer company website.  Email stories@odesk.com with your proposals.
Amit Bakshi
Manager, oDesk Marketing

My Teams Enhanced Features

Posted Feb 12, 2009 by Michael

My Teams has a few new features that we think you’ll appreciate. It’s not just for hiding Teams anymore!

• Easily distinguish hidden from non-hidden teams.
• Edit Team Names (Team IDs still cannot be changed)
• If your company has more than one financial account, see (and change!) which financial account each team uses.

Whether you’re admin of one Team or dozens, you should definitely go check it out! We’re always working at add new features and improve the user experience. So keep an eye out for more great enhancements throughout 2009.

oDesk Launches Beta Chat Support

Posted Jan 29, 2009 by Michael

Beginning this month, oDesk will provide chat support from the hours of 6:00 AM – 5:00 PM PST, Monday – Friday. We are committed to our customers success, and providing high quality, timely responses to customer service needs. We are hopeful that Chat will become an important communication channel for the Support Team, and our customers. Traditional EMail Support will also continue for all oDesk users.
We are launching Chat Support as a Beta feature, and we will monitor staffing and service levels to ensure a quality user experience. As we learn, we may need to modify availability in order to maintain service. Please let us know how you feel about this new support channel, and we look forward to connecting soon.
Shannon Adkins

Director, oDesk Customer Service