oDesk... should I join?

[bungiefan89]

I'm a college student. Just did some graphics design work heavily modifying a newsletter for a website, and was paid handsomely ($8/hour... :P ) for my work. My employer mentioned how if I wanted to continue doing freelance graphics design work, I might be interested in joining this oDesk website.

Does anybody have experience with oDesk? Are they credible? I'm also awfully suspicious of this thing where I download a program that takes pictures of my computer screen randomly and records my keystrokes and mouse movements so that clients can 'keep track of my progress'... just a little frightened of Big Brother.

Also, I'm posting this thread here primarily because I want to hear responses from people who have some sort of experience with the website and not just relying on random reviews on the internet before I take the plunge here.

[chrono1081]

Originally Posted by bungiefan89

I'm a college student. Just did some graphics design work heavily modifying a newsletter for a website, and was paid handsomely ($8/hour... :P ) for my work. My employer mentioned how if I wanted to continue doing freelance graphics design work, I might be interested in joining this oDesk website.

Does anybody have experience with oDesk? Are they credible? I'm also awfully suspicious of this thing where I download a program that takes pictures of my computer screen randomly and records my keystrokes and mouse movements so that clients can 'keep track of my progress'... just a little frightened of Big Brother.

Also, I'm posting this thread here primarily because I want to hear responses from people who have some sort of experience with the website and not just relying on random reviews on the internet before I take the plunge here.

Your description alone says its a scam. I could be wrong, but I'd NEVER let a random program screen capture me.

[McGiord]

It is highly competitive, and very lucrative for people in certain countries that they will get paid in USD and with their local currency they can buy many things.
You can give it a try, for the whole purpose of getting experience and practice, as well as maybe getting some customers that maybe will want to hire you afterwards.
I believe the market there is highly competitive and the opportunities very few.

Other site to check might be Amazon Turk.

But you can always get a better experience by working for some people that you actually meet in person.

If the security of the activity is your concern, you can notch things up with software like little snitcher and using another user profile and a virtual machine instead of your personal user.

[bungiefan89]

Originally Posted by chrono1081

Your description alone says its a scam. I could be wrong, but I'd NEVER let a random program screen capture me.

This review and this one seem to debunk that this is a complete outright scam... also, this website was recommended to me by my previous employer, a Captain in the Army who I spoke with on the phone and through e-mail AND who sent me my final payment check in the mail AFTER I had already given him my final draft of the work... in other words, I base my trust in this guy primarily on the fact that he could have just decided to not pay me after I finished my job, but he didn't and honorably paid me like a professional.

Nonetheless, the screen-capture software seems to be a big feature of the website even if it's not mandatory, and I'm just a little skeptical for obvious reasons.

[Fuchal]

Work for clients that trust you and you can trust. You will save a lot of time and money in the long run.