Elance University

Get Services: Find Experts

You have landed on this page because you are looking to hire an expert to help you with your work. The first step in this process is to post your job. Let’s review how to do this.

Under Post your Job on the main Hire page, click Start Now.

As you complete the job posting form, you’ll see question marks next to each field which expand to display helpful tips.  Once you have a job title and have selected the category and subcategory, it’s time to describe your job.  This is the most important aspect of the posting process.

On the right-hand side, reference the category-specific samples on the actual posting form which show complete job descriptions.  Or, use the job description outline as a guide. From here, you can also link to jobs posted in the same category to review how other employers have described their jobs. Ultimately, you want to be very clear with what it is you want and your expectations for time frame, communication, and the final product.

Select up to 5 specific skills you’re looking for by clicking on the appropriate boxes.

If you are clear on the scope of your job, selecting “project” under job type is a good option. You can select fixed-fee to agree on a price with your provider up-front based on milestones and delivery. If the job is not as well-defined and you prefer to pay your provider on an hourly basis, select the “hourly” option to indicate the duration, hours per week, and rate. If have ongoing consulting or contract work, select the “Position” category.

Keep in mind that the way you budget your job is a key factor for many providers when determining whether or not to submit a proposal. Being as specific as possible helps them craft better proposals.

As part of the Elance Online Work System, we highly recommend taking advantage of the free Escrow service offered by Elance. Elance Escrow allows you to safely commit funds to the job without actually turning them over to a provider. Escrow is now the most popular method of payment on Elance with 90% all jobs paid through escrow. By funding escrow for a milestone, the provider can begin work knowing that they will be paid if the work is delivered satisfactorily. And you can be sure to receive the work before releasing the funds to the provider.

The advanced posting options enable you to indicate a posting duration, proposed start date, job visibility, whether proposals are sealed, and tax filing where applicable.

Once you click the “Continue” button at the bottom of the posting form, you’ll be taken to a page with three posting types to choose from - Standard, Featured, or Business to Business. There are descriptions next to each of these options to give you more information. This is the last step in the posting process. After you make a selection here, you’ll have a chance to review your job before posting it.

Once your job is posted, you’ll begin receiving proposals in a matter of hours. You can also actively search for providers and invite them to submit a proposal for your job.

From the Elance homepage, you can start searching for professionals or businesses by using the keyword search and invite them to submit a proposal on your job by clicking the “Request Proposal” button. Type in a skill and filter it by service category to generate a list of Elance service providers matching your search.

On the search results page, you will see the provider’s location, a six-month snapshot of feedback rating, number of reviews, and earnings. You will be able to see the skills listed in their profiles including those skills that are tested, as well as link directly to a provider’s portfolio of work. From this page, you can further filter the list by using the options and the slider bars on the left-hand side of the page.

Now that your job is posted and you’re hearing from providers, the next exciting task for you is to review proposals and select a provider.

So what should you look for? Here are some guiding questions to think about:

There are several tools available to help you review and narrow down your proposals such as rating indicators and the notes feature.

There may be several questions that need answers before you or the provider are ready to engage on the job. Use the Interview functionality to post messages, chat, or call your provider for free using Elance Call. Use the “My Rating” and “My Notes” features as you start narrowing down the proposals that are of interest to you.

While reviewing proposals, take note of the response time from the providers. This will give you an indication of the provider’s interest and understanding of your job.

Once you choose your provider and click on the award button, you will be taken to the Terms page. Here, the default business terms will be created for you based on the awarded provider’s proposal and will include a default milestone with the approximate Job End Date, and the total job amount.

We recommend that you break up your milestones into multiple line items so that there are frequent deliverable checkpoints as well as payment schedules.

From the Terms page, click on the ”create a new milestone” button and fill in the milestone description, due date and payment amount, if any. The payment amount is optional – you can track milestones with or without an associated payment for maximum flexibility. You can also enter in any notes if you’d like to specify further details.

Once you click the Save button, you will now see a line in the milestones table and a corresponding milestone entry on the date in the calendar.

Another way to create a milestone is to click on the specific date on the calendar– and follow the same steps. This is an easy way to visually see the schedule for all of your milestones.

Keep in mind that for Escrow jobs, the milestones outlined here will dictate which chunks of work will be funded and released.

If you are not sure which milestones to establish for your job, you can award the job as is – and ask that your provider update the milestones appropriately and send back to you for approval.

In the Agreement Documents section of the Terms, you or the provider can upload any additional contract documents such as a Statement of Work. Just click on the “Attach” button and select the appropriate file from your computer. You will see the file instantly.

Once you have made the appropriate edits to the terms of the job, you can click “Award”. The provider is then notified that they have been awarded the job. Once the provider accepts, the job will become active with the agreed-upon terms and a new Workroom will be created for you to communicate, share files, track status, and make payment.

The Terms & Milestones page in the Workroom defines the deliverables and payment schedule for the job. This is the agreement between the employer and the provider on what will be delivered, when, and how much will be paid. As things change, you and your provider should keep the Terms updated with the latest understanding of the work to be completed.