from WebWorkerDaily by
Written by Samuel Dean.
The Monster Employment Index, a monthly snapshot of U.S. online job opportunities maintained by staffing site Monster.com, provides a distressing view of the general employment environment at the moment, as seen below. Year-on-year, the index is down 30 percent. At the bottom of this page, you can see versions of the index for large metropolitan regions, some of them hit very hard. Fortunately, there are still some good work opportunities out there for those of us who work online. Here are my top resources for finding online work.
oDesk. Online staffing marketplace oDesk is a great place to start if you're looking for jobs in fields such as web development and design. Many of the jobs listed are for remote workers. Earlier this year, oDesk reported a surge in the number of jobs being outsourced to the U.S. from other countries — more than 300 percent growth over the past year. If you're looking for an assignment from an overseas employer, put up a profile and showcase your skills at oDesk.
Twitter Job Search. I wrote up TwitterJobSearch here. It searches Twitter for posts on who is hiring. The posted jobs range from full-time, to part-time work-at-home, to one-off hired gun positions. With Twitter being the social phenomenon that it is, many new jobs (particularly tech jobs) are posted daily.
Elance. If you're looking for freelance work, Elance is a great place to start, as we reported here. Elance now offers an escrow account service to help boost confidence between employers and freelancers. Employers can place payment into an escrow account via Elance that will be delivered upon completion of your project.
RentACoder. RentACoder works somewhat similarly to Elance. Buyers can receive bids from registered coders, and most of the jobs available or programming- or infrastructure-focused. You can find out how to post your technical skills and make contact with buyers here.
As you seek work online, there are some good best practices to follow. Celine has a good post on how to respond to job listings here. She also has a good post on being organized in your hunt here.
