Welcome!

Welcome!
My name is David Vecchio, and I am a 3D Artist from Argentina. My dream was always working independently, not having to answer to anybody, to be able to manage my own schedule, and taking vacations whenever I felt I needed them. I wasn't born to have an office job. I tried that for about a year and a half when I was in college and it certainly didn't work out for me. What do you get from an office job? You wake up at 7 AM, you go from one end of the city to the opposite, putting up with the daily chaos of a metropolis, you waste 8 hours of your life with stuff you don't even care about, making money for someone else, and then you get back home late and too tired to do the things you really enjoy.
I like travelling a lot, and the only way I can afford this is by working as a freelance. It doesn't matter if I'm at home, or at a hostel in New Delhi, I can always work as long as I have my notebook, an internet connection, and a comfortable place to work.
I took me a while to establish myself as a freelance 3D Artist, but it was all worth it. This is not just a secondary job to make extra cash. I can now actually make a living out of this.
How did I achieve this? Well first, I did have to get an office job, because when you're working as a freelancer, you might not have a fixed monthly income. But after a couple of years of working on an average of one project a month, I began to build myself a list of clients that are constantly hiring me for different assignments. Having a list of semi-regular clients, and working on several other small projects per month can be enough to make a living out of freelance work.
I started this blog to save you all from the frustration of signing up to a freelance work site and never getting hired. I mean, it CAN be frustrating at first, but once you get your first job, it will all be a lot easier, believe me!I won't give you obvious generic tips that will apply to any site. I have an established profile with 400 logged hours of work on Odesk (plus several fixed price jobs) and several completed jobs on Elance, and I will guide you through the process of getting hired on these two sites, which, from personal experience, are the best places to start working as a freelancer (considering they're highly trustworthy, and have a wide variety of ways to get your money out).

Getting Started

So, you can start now by reading a little bit about the two platforms that I use the most to get freelance work: Odesk.com and Elance.com. Please note that these sites are not just for design jobs. They have a wide variety of categories like Web design, programming, engineering, writing and translation, etc.


Friday, April 5, 2013

Verify your identity

Both Odesk and Elance have a feature called "Identity verification". Even though it takes some time to complete this process, this is very useful to ensure potential employers that you are a real person and that you are seriously commited to working on the site.

 Odesk ID Verification
In Odesk, the process is actually quite simple. Look for this little box on the "Find Jobs" section:

All you have to do is apply for identity verification and send a copy of a government issued document, displaying your full name, address, and picture (needless to say, it has to match the picture on your profile, and that's why it's so important to put a picture of your face, and not a logo or an avatar).
You are also required to scan a utility bill or a bank statement, displaying only your full name and address. Don't worry about sending this online, they have a secure network and they won't make all of this information public.
A member of the staff will check all these documents, comparing the information with the one you supplied on your profile, and will approve the ID verification within 7 to 10 business days.
Here's the full guide to this process, right from Odesk's help center 

"How and why should I become oDesk ID Verified?".



Elance ID Verification
On Elance, the process is slightly more complicated. Less documents are required, but you're required to have a video interview through Skype. Look for this little box on your profile:
Once you apply, you're required to send a copy of your government issued document (an international passport is the best option). Just like on Odesk, the picture on your profile must match the one on your passport, and the same goes for your personal information (full name, ID number and home address). Once you've done that, you have to schedule a Skype interview with a member of the ID verification staff (you have to add the skype user that they'll supply to you to your contact list). Don't worry if you miss your interview, just let them know and you can re-schedule it. The interview is really short, all they have to do is see you through skype and match your face with the pictures on your profile and ID (just in case, you need to have them at hand during the interview).
Here's the full guide to this process (on Elance help desk): 

"ID Verification for Freelancers".



Don't hesitate to do this, it will highly increase your chances of getting hired!
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 22, 2013 at 4:09 PM

    Hi David,

    I'm so glad you've made this site, it's so helpful and comforting. It can be a bit daunting to go freelance. I'm a 2D animator/illustrator, and I'm about to take the plunge and go freelance, after 3 years working in an office.

    I'm also moving to another country in the coming months, do you think it would be best to sign up now and wait to do the ID check, or will it be easy to change your adress later on and still have it check and approved easily again?

    Thank you so much for all the infos!

    Claudia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownMay 22, 2013 at 4:44 PM

      Hi, Claudia,
      If you're moving to another country definetly (I mean, including changing your home adress in your passport), then I think it would be better to wait for the Location verification. If you need to change your location after moving you'll have to submit the documents again, with the new passport matching your new adress. In Elance there's two different things: Identity verification (sending your passport and doing a video interview to check your identity), and Location verification (which requires you to send a passport showing your home adress and a bill with your name and adress to back it up). So you can do Identity verification and then, when you move out, you proceed with Location verification.
      Remember that for ID verification, your profile picture has to be an actual picture of your face, and after you verify your ID, you can't change it (if you do, you'll lose your verified ID credential and you'll have to do the interview again).
      I checked your blog and I really like your work! Good luck with your new life, and let me know if I can help you with anything else.

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