Question of the Week: Can I Join oDesk and Work Part Time?

I have an office job, can I join oDesk and do some freelance admin work part time?

I get this question a lot. The answer? Yes, you can. That is what some people are doing. They have an outside job that they love, a job they're just not ready to give up. That's where oDesk comes in. oDesk for them is a means to earn extra money on the side. If you check out oDesk's job feed, you will see that some of the jobs posted are short term projects you can finish in less than a week's time. There are also projects that require only one or two hours which you can do at any time.

Like what sort of tasks for instance? Here are some of the short term projects I've worked on from what I can remember:

1) Write 10-20 tweets and schedule them ahead of time. Make sure they are posted only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Maximum hours allocated for the task is 2 hours.

2) Please let me know you are available for at least 2 hours everyday. I will need you to clean up my inbox and stay organized. I receive around 200-300 emails daily but most of them are spam. Delete the spammy ones and move the important emails to my Personal folder. Can you do that?

3) I will send you an Excel file containing 1000 pre-written quotes for my Twitter account. I need you to read each one and make sure the words are spelled correctly. Correct any grammatical errors and typhos and send the file back to me by end of the week.

4) Are you proficient in Excel? I have an Excel file with a record of names and addresses. I need you to delete the duplicates and remove any blank rows you find. Excellent attention to detail is a must.

5) Can you transcribe this video and send it back to me by Sunday night? You have two days to do the transcription. How much do you charge for one hour of video time?

These are just examples. There are hundreds of other jobs posted everyday. Choosing one that fits your skill set is the easy part. The real challenge is getting an interview and getting yourself hired. Ask yourself. Is this opportunity a good fit for you? What does it take to be an oDesk freelancer? What are the pros and cons?