Today, I hired 6 developers on oDesk.
How to hire on oDesk
Today, I hired 6 developers on oDesk. Here is the message I sent them when I hired them:
I’d like to hire you for 5 hours. This is a trial time. I’ll do this with a few people and the best will get the permanent job.
I’d like you to write a widget for JotForm:
http://developers.jotform.com/widgetsThat’s pretty much it. Write the widget and send it for approval using developers.jotform.com. If you need hosting with PHP and Mysql I can setup one for you, just let me know the name of the widget.
At the end of the project I’d like to
1. Try out the widget
2. View the code you wrote and send it to couple of JotForm developers for review and approval
3. Hear your feedback about the widget system and documentation. If you see any need for improvement on anything please write it somewhere and send it at the end.You have 1 week to complete the widget.
Thank you.
Aytekin Tank
Founder, JotForm
I hired them for 5 hours. I am going to offer a permanent position to the developer who makes the best JotForm widget.
One of them later asked if I had any specific instructions for the widget she should build. My response:
Learning things yourself, coming up with good ideas, designing the widget etc. are also part of the trial. I’d like to make sure the person we hire is self-motivated, self-reliant and has good taste.
Maybe the task is too open-ended. I usually ask more specific tasks on trial. But, the developer we are hiring for this position needs to be self-reliant.
Hiring someone permanently is an important decision. A bad hire can be disastrous. oDesk is great because it is risk-free.
I posted a position for this job on Tuesday and received over 100 applications in two days. I quickly reviewed the applications. Here are the most important criteria I looked for:
- Is the cover letter written well? If an applicant has grammar, punctuation or logic errors I eliminate it.
- Did the applicant answer the questions I asked on the job posting? Do the answers make sense?
- How much experience does the user have? If the user has 1000+ hours and a rating over 4.5, that’s really good.
We are using oDesk for our Support Team, Maintenence Team and for our mobile development with great success.
