Name: Upwork (Formerly Elance-oDesk)
Cost: $0 to Start, but Up Work Receives 10% of Your Earnings
Website: www.upwork.com
Owner: PrivCo aka oDesk Corp.
Rating: [s3r star=3/5] 3/5 Stars
What is oDesk? In 2015, Elance-oDesk was rebranded as Upwork.
Upwork, formerly known as Elance-oDesk. Upwork is an online employment site that hires people to do web development, writing, translation, customer service, design, administrative jobs and much more. Is oDesk legitimate? Yes, it’s legitimate. Just be aware that scammers sometimes do slip through the tracks.
You can avoid these scammers by only working with high rated, dependable employers. A feedback system shows you which employers are high rated.
Types of oDesk Jobs
- Data Entry Operator.
- Web Developer.
- Web Designer.
- Game Developer.
- Web Programmer.
- Scriptwriter.
- Software Developer.
Tools
- Work Diary For every hourly contract, clients can check their freelancer’s Work Diary to see work-in-progress snapshots and pay only for work done.
- Team App — Freelancers logging hourly time using the oDesk Team App are guaranteed payment for hours worked.
Support
- Live Chat
- oDesk Help Center
How Does oDesk Pay You?
Different countries have different steps to take to set up your payment method.
Learn how you can work for oDesk from different parts of the world:
If you need help signing up for your payment method with oDesk, please leave a comment below and I’ll be happy to give you a hand. 
Cool Things About oDesk
- Feedback system.
- You can make your own schedule.
- You can choose the job you are interested in.
- oDesk offers health benefits-read more about it here.
- Your work is tracked by oDesk’s Work Diary System so you are guaranteed payment for work you completed.
- The oDesk Blog (Work tips and other helpful tips). You can check it out Here.
Not So Cool Things About oDesk
- You have to bid on jobs.
- Sometimes the hourly rate (this varies) is not worth working for.
- Scammers sometimes sneak into the system.
- Jobs can close without anyone getting hired.
- Pay can be low.
- Payment is not guaranteed for fixed price work.
(“Fixed Price” work).
Tips for Working with oDesk
- Only work with high rated employers.
- Know what your time and work is worth.
How to Start Working with oDesk
Create a Freelancer account. Click Here to create yours.
You will need to add:
- A cover letter.
- Past experience.
- Portfolio.
Things to be Aware of:
- oDesk Fee (oDesk receives 10% of what you earn).
- You must sign a User Agreement.
My Final Thoughts on oDesk
oDesk is a good company to be a freelancer for. There are many different types of jobs available and all experience levels are needed.
Please leave a comment below with any questions you have or experiences with oDesk that you’d like to share. I’m interested in hearing them!
Thanks for reading.
Odesk.com is a scam. I’m a freelancer and I worked there for over a month and they didn’t pay me my earnings even thou I applied to withdraw them and sent them multiple emails to verify whats the issue was. They never replied to me and then they closed my account, stealing over $800 from my earnings. I managed to get back some via a paypal dispute but still, they took the majority. I have no faith as this website is located in India. ADVICE to all freelancers and employers. Don’t use the website. It’s a scam! Beware.
Imad, I am so sorry you experienced this. I will do another review as soon as possible and post the results. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. I appreciate your comment.
If a company wants me to pay 20$ for the working license before giving a contract, is that legit?
Hi Jess.
In order to answer you question, could you please give me a little more information on this? What is the name of the company?
If you like, you can email me at Jen@workonlinescamfree.com, or fill out my Contact Page.
I hope to hear from you soon, and thanks for your comment.
I have a bachelor’s degree in
Kiswahili. Can I find translation jobs out there?
Is it necessary for me to pay anything for a membership account, just like other sites?
Hello ShangweMoyoni.
There are translation jobs available out there, but you shouldn’t have to pay a membership site, though there are a few membership sites that are legitimate. You can definitely find jobs without joining a membership site.
Odesk offers these types of jobs, do I would be sure to check their listings. Since jobs are being posted all the time, they change often. You can check their list here:
https://www.upwork.com/o/jobs/browse/c/translation/ to see if any fit what you’re looking for.
This link has more information and great tips on how you can earn with oDesk: http://jake-jorgovan.com/blog/how-to-make-1000-per-week-on-odesk
If you use oDesk, you don’t pay them, they pay you. If you were the client or customer seeking a freelancer to do a job for you, then yes, you would then pay that worker/oDesk.
Please reply if you need further help or more places to look, and thanks so much for visiting Work Online Scam Free.