I am an IT Project Manager by profession and have work in field for five years. At the time when I got married I thought to continue the onsite work but then I realized that once I have kids, it will not be easy for me to travel and get projects and have clients’ meetings. As my spouse is a full time employee too, so I wanted to have a good work-family balance which I believe is not possible with onsite work especially when both the parents are working. After careful and tremendous browsing, I came up to join odesk (Upwork) as a Freelancer so that I can pursue my career and income both at a feasible balance of time and money.
There are a huge number of jobs posted on Upwork on daily basis in almost all sort of work including Web/mobile and software development, Design and creative, admin support, IT and Networking, Writing, Customer Service, Sales and Marketing, Data Science and Analytics, Translation, Accounting and Consulting, Engineering and Architecture and Legal. There are sub-categories of each which can be seen here and the most fascinating part is that it is all free to apply for jobs and get work.
One can select up to 10 categories matching their skills, create a profile and then bid for jobs that are available. It took me about three months of time initially to get a response from client on a job I bid. The reason it took long was because I was new to Upwork and had no professional freelancing profile. So, what I did was that I shared my resume too whenever I applied for a job and set up a low hourly rate so that I can get into freelancing. If I would have been starting with a higher rate based on my onsite job experience, I think it would have taken me longer.
On winning the contract, you have to download Upwork Team App which has teams added by employers. So I was added to a team of my employer. Whenever I started work, I had to login to the Team app and start the timer. It captures time and screenshots of your screen for the work you are doing. This is so fascinating that you get a trust of getting paid of what you are doing. There are two options for a job either Fixed term or Hourly and this is defined by the employer at the time of job posting. After one week of work review, you get the pay in your Upwork account on employer’s approval that you can transfer to Paypal or direct to your bank account depending on the country you are working from. Doesn’t it seem amazing? All remains the same i-e your profession, work ethics, skills with an edge of working from Home. I really enjoy the work I do on Upwork.
I have a good profile and a good work experience with my employers. I pick up contracts based on my availability and take a break when I need. I am happy and so is my family.
