| In recent years the advantages of freelance or | | | | need your own website. This needs to be well |
| contract work have become more and more obvious | | | | designed, well written, and include a portfolio of your |
| as the 'jobs for life' culture has disappeared and people | | | | work. It also needs to be search engine optimized to |
| have become less trusting of office life and fixed | | | | make sure you are not buried in the millions of similar |
| employment. People now see freelancing as a way to | | | | sites on the internet. This site is your calling card, your |
| adjust the trajectory of their career - they can choose | | | | online business card and you should not underestimate |
| the jobs that suit them, the hours that they work and | | | | just how important it is to get this right. |
| how long they want to go on holiday, as well as the | | | | Secondly, you need to build a good reputation on these |
| clients they want to work with. | | | | online employment sites. Your supply of freelance and |
| Moreover, freelance jobs and contracts have grown | | | | contract work depends on every single review you |
| and grown in recent years, so the opportunities are | | | | get from clients. This means you may have to work |
| now endless. At the heart of this growth has been the | | | | for lower rates and longer hours at first, so that you |
| internet and the global nature of online employment. | | | | can build a good reputation and decent reviews to get |
| Freelance contract work is now only a mouse click | | | | you going. Be prepared to take lower pay because |
| away. | | | | the client may be taking you on trust at first. Then, |
| The question though, is how best to grasp this online | | | | make sure that any work you do is absolutely top |
| opportunity. The good news is that the scope and | | | | notch, because the better the review you get, the |
| range of online jobs is increasing every day. Working | | | | more likely you are to attract more clients to utilize |
| online is now no longer the domain of computer | | | | your services the next time. |
| programmers and graphic designers. Freelance | | | | Finally, be aware of some of the pitfalls of online work. |
| websites offer work on everything from writing to | | | | Many clients and employers will try and pay a pittance |
| accountancy and from engineering to law. | | | | for work just because it is online. Some will ask for |
| It is important to choose reputable sites. Some of the | | | | free samples of work as part of the process. Some |
| larger ones with decent reputations, are guru.com, | | | | want to pick your brains for free. Others will try and |
| Sologig, Odesk, VirtualAssisstants and Elance. These | | | | get you to deal with them away from the security of |
| all have a massive choice of jobs. Elance, for example | | | | the employment site. All of these should be avoided at |
| have the following broad job categories: Web & | | | | all costs. |
| Programming, Design & Multimedia, Writing & | | | | Naturally, there are other downsides, from no health |
| Translation, Admin Support, Sales & Marketing, Finance | | | | care or pension, no paid time off and with everything |
| & Mgt., Legal and Engineering and Mfg. | | | | online - very little interaction with human beings! But if |
| The bad news however, is that more and more | | | | you can deal with these factors you will find that |
| people are now working on these sites. So how do | | | | working freelance, both in the real world and online, is |
| you compete successfully? Firstly, and obviously, you | | | | the best decision you ever made! |