Is It Really True That You Can Earn A Decent Income on Odesk.com?

oDesk is simply a freelance marketplace. You don't need ANY qualifications to do the jobs the employers post, unless they specifically ask for them. For example, I have no professional qualifications at all for the work I do (writing and editing) but I've still picked up work there in the past. Some of it pays badly, some pays well - a BIG part of the learning process on there (and other bidding sites like Elance, Guru and Freelancer) is picking out the good employers and avoiding scams. Rather like anywhere else on the Internet, really! As for money, it depends on your skills, how much time you commit and what the employers are offering. oDesk itself doesn't pay - the employers do, for the jobs they post - so it can be very up-down-up-down. Personally, I picked up one of my now-regular clients there and my work for him brings in hundreds of dollars every month. Has done for a couple of years now, with off-months and times when there was no work, of course. There's a LOT of info about the bidding sites on my blog, such as tips for bidding, scams to watch out for and so on. Most of it's filed under Elance but the same goes for all the bidding sites. That might help. In my opinion - which is not the same for everyone, of course - I recommend the bidding sites as a great place to start a freelance career. You'll get burned at least once on a job (we all do) and you'll struggle to land your first job (we all do) but they're a great source of work. The big things to remember are: be honest, answer the employers' questions in your bids, don't undercut the amount you need to earn, learn to spot the good employers and watch for scams. Just ask if I can be of more help. I'm no pro but I know the bidding sites reasonably well.

I met a college student who was able to buy a laptop within months of working on odesk but the point is for you to earn decently or let's just say be recruited by an employer, it's recommended that you have a specialization. Example, that college student was knowledgeable on web design etc., that's why he got employed and earned decent money. There are a lot of categories of job offers on odesk, my best advice is that you take all exams that you can and aim for a high or decent percentile and lastly start applying to low-paying jobs for the sake of getting a good rating and eventually you will be able to apply to higher paying jobs etc.

I really don't know anything about odesk.com ; Thank you very much for this discussion. Now I'm also intrested in trying that..!