Career Guidance and Opportunities

Career as a Freelancer in Pakistan

Do you want to take your income into your own hands and start your new career as a freelancer without leaving home! You need not to attend an office in Pakistan.  These are  home based jobs in Pakistan and anyone having computer and knowledge of internet can get  outsourcing jobs worldwide and in Pakistan. You can start  this selfemployment in Pakistan very easily.

Take small jobs to get yourself started. There are number of websites providing work at home.  I started with Elance, a site where companies want your services and you, the provider, place a "bid" with your proposal. There are hundreds of potential clients. With a little patience, and motivation you can use Elance as an amazing source of earnings to help your self-employed career.

How Does Elance Work?
What Is Elance?
Elance is a fee-based subscription website that posts writing, website design and programming projects as well as administrative support, sales, marketing, finance and management positions.

There are two types of memberships, basic and select. After becoming a member you are allowed to bid on projects posted from companies or individuals needing freelance work completed. As a member you are allowed to create a profile page that can include your resume, references and clips. This would allow clients the opportunity to contact you directly.

How it Works for Bidders
Bids chosen by clients are decided per their individual criteria. The lowest bid does not always get the job. Sometimes it is the quality of past work or the amount of experience in a particular area that will win over the lesser bid.
If your bid is selected, an agreement is set up between you and the client. This agreement may include, but not be limited to, the work to be done, fee to be paid and completion date. Elance charges the person completing the work a small commission for each project completed. A basic membership allows you to bid only on those projects listed as basic. If you have purchased a select membership, at a higher fee, you can bid on both basic and select jobs. The select projects offer higher paying jobs.

How it Works for Clients
If you are a company or individual in need of outsourced work, you can place your request for free on Elance. It is much like placing a help-wanted ad for a freelancer in the newspaper. People apply for the job, sending you their information (resume). They remit a proposal of their required payment. You choose the most qualified person and enter into an agreement with the freelancer. If you would rather take the time to go through freelancer profile pages to find just the right fit for your project, you may do so. You would then contact the freelancer to see if he has interest in your project.

How to sign up for an account
Follow these steps to get started.

• First, go to www.Elance.com, and navigate the site to get yourself informed about the concept of doing work there.
• A wide variety of freelancing opportunities such as writing and translation, web design, sales and marketing, programming and many more are offered.
• There is some excellent information available about this work and all you are to do is to visit the link Elance University and read some of the material there.
• Once you feel familiar with the site you can sign up for a free membership.
• It is advisable to read again and again the whole criteria of the work So that you become expert of it.  
• There are two types of membership namely free membership and paid membership.  
• With a free membership you are limited to submit your bid for a job.  Paid member can submit unlimited bid for unlimited jobs.
• It is advisable to use free membership to start your work; letter on paid membership can be taken once one familiarized with the procedure.
• When you are going to bid for a job, be sure to take as much time as one take to prepare for a job interview.  

Time to start working
After Signing up for an account and read again and again all the matters that available in Elance University, Now it is time to start working as Freelancer. After get yourself registered with Elance, follow the following instruction to start making money.

Log in to your Elance account, on the page that open, there are two links near Elance logo i.e. GET SERVICES and   PROVIDE SERVICES.     Provide services tab belongs to you as you are to get the work done for the companies.
Click the Provide Services tab, there you will find Phrase Find Jobs.

Click the Find Jobs Tab, you will find lot of categories for work.  Select your field of interest and find the details of jobs available.  You can also use the search box using your keyword like typing jobs etc; this will retrieve a list of all jobs that use that term in their title or description.

Select an individual job title to see its description. There you will find the page which is very important because it includes all the information about the job including nature of job under the tag of Job Description, Job Details, and Bid Placed.  On the right hand of this page, there is a column under the heading of Submit Your Proposal, where you can submit your bid for the job. You can add the job to the watch list by using the "Add to watch list" button at the top of the job description.

Websites which Provide Self-employment Opportunities
Following websites provide Freelancer (Self-employment) opportunities.  I recommend www.Elance.com  which is reputed for its authenticity and reliability.
www.Elance.com
www.oDesk.com
www.guru.com
www.RentACoder.com
more information about outsourcing ...