It’s always a good idea to be the first one to apply for a job. Why? If you look like a good prospect and the buyer is watching their E-Mail, you will be the first one to be interviewed and also can be hired before any other applicants get theirs in. I’ve won a couple projects before the other applicants got a chance because I was the first one (or one of the very first) to apply. They saw my application immediately because they were still online right after posting the job.

Here’s a few options for keeping on top of jobs.

These are the three methods for checking up on what jobs are listed:

RSS Feeds

I keep an RSS feed in my bookmarks for all of the writing jobs, and it works great (to an extent). As soon as a new job posts on oDesk, I get the update to my RSS feed and can see it, so I just check it every few minutes to see what’s new! The only problem with the RSS feeds is that sometimes a job won’t be listed on there or will be posted a few places below some older jobs.

To get an RSS feed, go to the search feature for oDesk and select the job type you want. If you only want the Logo Design jobs, select that category. If you would rather see ALL of the art jobs, then select the main category. Then, simply click the RSS feed link on the top-right of the page and follow through. I suggest placing the feed on your Live Bookmarks so you can check it frequently without having to go through the Bookmarks menu on the browser window.

When you view the jobs in the live bookmark, a menu will pop down with all of the job titles, and you can just click one to view it on the website. From there, it’s easy to apply. If you have multiple skillsets, you can have multiple RSS feeds to watch the different markets

Again, I’ll warn you that you won’t get every job updated because something is screwy with the RSS feed, but you’ll get almost all of them.

E-Mail Updates

You can select E-Mail updates for new jobs, but it’s really not worth your time. At best, you’ll get a bunch of E-Mails for most of the jobs that pop up that day, and at worst, you won’t get them at all or several days later. Practically useless. You can skip this one.

The Good Ole oDesk.com Search

This is the most reliable way to see all of the jobs listed. You just do a regular search on the website for what you want, and it pops up with a lot of information like the price range, duration, job title, and so forth.

The way I keep on top of jobs is to have an RSS feed to keep on top of most of the jobs, and then I do a search on the oDesk website to see if I’ve missed anything important. It’s a good method for keeping tapped into the market and applying for everything that you can do.

Being the first person to apply will not guarantee you a job, but it will greatly increase your chances if you follow the tips and good practices of writing cover letters, setting your price, and other application tips because form letters aren’t going to cut it.

ShareThis

• No related posts