In today’s economic world where people are trying to work from the comfort of their homes and employers are trying to save precious payroll dollars by hiring freelance employees; both are turning to freelance marketplaces. This may sound like the perfect solution to everyone’s problem, but proceed with caution; sites like Elance and Odesk could just end up creating more problems for you or your company.
While some may think that freelance market places such as Elance or Odesk could be their saving grace, others know that they do have their down sides for both freelancers and employers. For starters, there are fees on each job. Some sites are set up where the client pays the fees, while others have the freelancer pay the fees.
From the employer’s point of view, all you have to go on is the freelancer’s profile, which was written by the freelancer; or a review that was written by other employers.
Because people are from a vast amount of countries all across the world there is always going to be a language barrier. This can cause a major communication issue, so job quality suffers.
While there seems to be a vast pool of candidates to choose from, you are often looking at a quantity versus quality situation. You may think you are getting a better quality of work, and then when the job is finished; it is not what you needed. This often costs you more money in the end when it needs to be redone by another freelancer or someone else. In the end, this will just add to your payroll costs.
As the freelancer, you bid on the job, spend many hours giving it your best and then the employer decides that it is not what they want, and they are not going to pay. On top of that, they give you a bad review; so now, you have lost time and money and it has hurt your reputation on the site.
It is always best to do your research on the site, before you decide on having a working relationship of any kind. Know what you are getting into before you make any decisions, this will save you time and money in the end.
