Freelance Websites to Find Jobs

Freelance Websites to Find Jobs

Whether you’re looking for another way to pay the bills, seeking more professional development opportunities or just love the freedom that freelancing offers, there’s no question that millions of people have discovered the benefits of professional freelancing. As trends like the digital nomad lifestyle grow in popularity, the number of freelance resources out there has increased as well.

Related: Everything You Need to Know About Hiring a Freelancer

There are plenty of guides for striking out on your own, but as a freelancer, getting higher-paying gigs isn’t just a matter of signing up on popular platforms. You’ll have to branch out, establish a great portfolio of past work and maybe even prove yourself through tests that showcase your skills. Here’s a list of the 15 best sites to find work as a freelancer.

1. Upwork

With over 1.5 million clients, Upwork (previously oDesk) offers something for every type of freelancer. It accommodates both short- and long-term projects, hourly or per-project work and expert-level and entry-level engagements. Regardless of where you are in your career, Upwork is likely to have something for you.

2. Toptal

With a distinctly different approach than the other services on this list, Toptal is for seasoned, talented freelancers. Passing Toptal's screening process gives you unparalleled access to meaningful projects with great clients (JPMorgan, Zendesk, Airbnb, etc.) and fair compensation (no low-bid contests). You’ll also be able to join the Toptal community for frequent meetups and tech events.

3. Elance

Elance removes a lot of the hassle that comes with freelancing. You’ll be able to make a profile right away without jumping through any hoops, enjoy payment protection to ensure you’re always paid for the hours you work and more.

Editor's note: Elance has joined Upwork since the publish date of this article.

Related: Hacking Elance: How to Make Money Freelancing

4. Freelancer

Unlike most other platforms, in addition to offering millions of projects, Freelancer allows you to compete with other freelancers in contests to prove your skills. If you’re competitive and confident in your expertise, it’s a great way to showcase your abilities and attract more clients.

5. Craigslist

Although most people see Craigslist as just a platform for buying and selling miscellaneous things, it’s actually a great source of freelance jobs. You can easily browse for local offerings if you prefer something in-office, or you can search by major cities if you prefer working remotely.

6. Guru

This site lets you easily showcase your past work experience and offers a daily job-matching feature to make sure you don’t miss out on any good opportunities. The Guru Work Room lets you easily manage all your work.

7. 99designs

A platform for freelance designers, 99designs lets you compete in design contests and get feedback as clients choose the best ones. It’s a great way for talented designers to prove their talents.

8. Peopleperhour

This is a great platform, focusing on freelancing for web projects. If you’re a designer, web developer, SEO specialist, etc., peopleperhour is definitely worth checking out.

9. Freelance Writing Gigs

Whether you’re a writer, editor, blogger, publisher or any combination of those, Freelance Writing Gigs is a great option for freelancers who have a way with words.

10. Demand Media

Demand Media is a platform for creative types, including writers, filmmakers, producers, photographers and more. You work with the site to create unique content, engage audiences and promote your talents.

11. College Recruiter

As the name might suggest, College Recruiter is for college students or recent graduates looking for freelance jobs of any type. In addition to being a source for part-time work, it can be a great way to jumpstart your career.

12. GetACoder

This site is for freelance writers, web designers and programmers -- exactly what small businesses need to get a website idea off the ground. GetACoder offers millions of smaller-scale projects to choose from.

13. iFreelance

This platform accommodates some of the usual suspects of the freelancing world (writers, editors, coders, etc.) but also features freelance marketers as well. Unlike other sites, iFreelance lets you keep 100 percent of your earnings.

14. Project4hire

With hundreds of project categories, Project4hire makes it easy to identify jobs that suit your skillset, without scanning through large volumes of posts. It’s great for coders, consultants, designers and more.

How to be a Successful Freelancer

The reasons to embrace a contract career area unit compelling, from supplementing your financial gain to setting your own hours. progressively, freelance work is moving from the fringes of the duty marketplace and into the thought. If you’re wanting to induce started as a freelancer, a recent study offers encouraging knowledge concerning job prospects for freelancers.

The study was conducted by world freelancing web site Upwork, together with Freelancers Union, a non-profit-making organization that advocates on behalf of freelance staff. Titled “Freelancing in America 2016,” it’s a deep dive into the “freedom and flexibility” of freelance work, that the study describes as “the fastest-growing element of the economy.”

Freelancers earned  $1 trillion 2016, a powerful portion of the U.S. economy, the study found. The 3 high reasons job seekers need to travel freelance? Independence, versatile work schedules, geographic flexibility, and smart work-life balance, the analysis showed..

Highlights from the Upwork/Freelancers Union Study

• Freelancing is on the increase. the quantity of freelancers accumulated by a pair of million in precisely 2 years—from fifty three million in 2014 to fifty five million in 2016. That represents thirty five p.c of the U.S. workforce.
• Freelancing by selection, not necessity. If you’re selecting to freelance instead of hold a standard job, you’re a part of a growing trend. Some sixty three p.c of freelance employees within the study same they were freelancers by selection, compared to fifty three p.c in 2014.
• Technology as associate enabler. In 2014, sixty nine p.c of survey respondents same technology was a giant contributor to their freelance opportunities. By 2016, that variety had up to seventy three p.c 2016. Moreover, sixty six p.c of freelance employees same they saw a rise within the quantity of on-line work on the market to them.
• Freelancers area unit committed. however deeply committed area unit freelance employees to their independence? one-half same they'd ne'er come back to a “traditional” job, “no matter what proportion they were offered.”

Factors Driving the Freelance Trend

• More job security. Some seventy nine % of freelancers UN agency seasonedd true|gone through|had|undergone|passed through|saw|felt|suffered} the Upwork/Freelancers Union study reported  feeling safer operating as an freelance contractor for many corporations, instead of counting on one leader.
• Increased engagement. There was a major distinction within the degree to that freelancers same they were engaged in their work (85 percent), compared to their non-freelancer counterparts (68 percent).
• Healthier Work-Life Integration. due to freelancing, seventy seven % of respondents same they were ready to come through higher balance between career and private lives. regular freelancers same they worked thirty six hours per week on the average, with the bulk (52 percent) news that was “the correct amount of work” for them.

How to start as a Freelancer

Now that you’re acquainted with a number of the highlights of the Upwork/Freelancers Union study, what ar a number of the steps you'll want start as a freelancer? Here ar five:

1. Promote your abilities. It will feel a trifle weird to toot your own horn, however one in every of the best (and most rewarding) tasks once you’re associate degree freelance contractor is to create your skills and abilities illustrious to potential employers. To self-promote with success, don’t be back regarding taking part in up all you've got to supply.

2. Demonstrate your expertise. It’s true, because the survey notes, that freelancing is on the increase, however you'll still have to be compelled to roast the myths close freelance and remote work (like individuals unerect around in their pajamas). try this by showing you've got an expert, dedicated central office or work house, and ar nonindulgent.

3. Manage your on-line presence. Taking charge of your on-line profiles as a freelancer will offer you the superiority by serving to you manage your on-line name and management the knowledge potential employers see regarding you. you'll conjointly use social media to seek out freelance work to expand your search, and your job search potential, exponentially.

4. elicit referrals. one in every of the best issue you'll do to urge started as a freelancer is to line up solid networking connections, together with those that will offer you nice referrals. Potential references to think about ar past work colleagues, gift colleagues WHO will be discreet regarding your job search, and instructors. you'll even raise a devotee for employment referral.

5. notice a good supply for freelance work. Of course, once you set your sights on obtaining started as a freelancer, you’ll want a superb supply for freelance work—like FlexJobs, the leading supply for nice versatile, freelance jobs.

How to Find Real and Effective Online Jobs

How to Find a Real Online Job (and Avoid the Scams!)

There are so many benefits to having a real online job that’s remote. You get to control your schedule and marry your professional life and your personal life to be able to savor the best of both worlds. Plus, you can save a lot of money by not having to commute into an office or spend big bucks for work clothes and all the other miscellaneous costs that go along with an in-office job.

But first, you have to find a real online job. And therein lies the rub.

Unfortunately, job scams proliferate the online job pool. Savvy scammers know how much people want to work from home, and posing as real professional hiring managers, recruiters, and potential bosses, they scam innocent job seekers out of precious personal financial information—and sometimes their life savings. And when you consider that for every one legitimate work-from-home job, there are approximately 60 job scams, it can make you want to give up your job search even before you’ve gotten started.

Take heart, job seekers. There are ways to find a real online job and avoid the scams. Here’s how.

1. Trust your gut.

One of the single best ways to avoid a job scam is to listen to your instincts.

That can be hard when you’ve been out of work for a while and a plum position seems to fall smack dab into your lap. But think about the job and how you were approached about it in an objective light. If something just feels off, or you feel uncomfortable for any reason (e.g., the job recruiter is pushy or demanding, or you don’t have a clear understanding of the job responsibilities), don’t feel badly about walking away from it.

More than likely, your instincts are right. And remember, there are plenty of real online jobs out there to choose from. This won’t be your one and only opportunity to work remotely so don’t feel intimidated or pressured into doing something you don’t feel comfortable with.

2. Do some research.

Let’s say a “recruiter” contacts you and wants you to apply for a job. He says that based on your skills and work experience, you’d be perfect for a position he’s trying to fill.

That doesn’t mean that the job is legitimate (or the recruiter is who he claims to be). There’s nothing wrong with doing your due diligence on both the recruiter and the job. Conduct research online to see if you can find out any info on the recruiter/hiring manager to determine if he’s really for real. You should be able to find an online trail verifying the person is who he says he is; if not, reconsider if you want to move forward with the job process.

3. Connect with the company directly.

A hiring manager might reach out to you with a potential job. He might offer all the details about the job but not the biggest one of all—the company that the job is with. Although he might say he can’t disclose the company the job is with for fear that he’ll lose the potential commission associated with placing you in the position, you should know for certain the name of the company you’re interviewing for.

If the hiring manager won’t tell you, it could be a sign that you’re in the middle of a scam. So contact the company that you might be working for to verify that a) the job recruiter is working for them and b) that the job you’re applying for exists.

4. Question the communication.

There’s no question that the job interview process has evolved over the years.

Job applications are rarely printed on fancy schmancy paper stock and mailed in anymore. Almost everything is done online, from job applications to interviews, which are happening more frequently via videoconferencing, particularly for remote positions. But what isn’t common (and can be a clue that you might be the potential victim of a job scam) is certain methods of communication.

Any hiring manager or boss worth his salt is not going to conduct a job interview via instant message, email, or both. Most often, you might be initially contacted by email, but after that, you should still have a phone or video interview—or both.

5. Know the signs of a scam.

While job scammers have adapted their tactics over time, there are still some hard-and-fast signs that a job is a scam. Here are some basic signs of a job scam:

• You’re asked for personal financial information—such as your Social Security number, your bank account, your home address and phone number, your date of birth, etc.—early on in the job interview process.
• The job pays a lot of money for little work. After all, if it sounds too good to be true, it almost always is.
• The job posting has glaring grammatical or spelling errors.
• The contact email address is personal (e.g., johnsmith38439483@gmail.com) or one that mimics a real company’s email address (e.g., johnsmith@dellcomputercompany.com).
• A recruiter offers you the job immediately without verifying your work experience or doesn’t ask for references.

It’s unlikely that job scammers will ever go away, but there are ways to protect yourself from falling prey to a scam. Using reputable job search boards (like FlexJobs) and knowing what to look for can all help you find a real online job—sans job scams.

Information Taken from: Flexjobs.com