These days, many youths are preferring to do a remote freelance work. If you are considering a freelance work and do not know from where to start, this article is for you.
Before speaking about freelance work, let us look at the difference between the freelance and a gig work, as they are considered two different types of work. Freelance by the definition usually is a long-term, highly specialized expert driven, with more control over the project terms and rates. Gig work on contrary is a short-term, task-based, minimal specialized skill, relies on platforms, no control over the tasks and rates. Based on these definitions, it appears that I have a gig and freelance overlapping experience. Line between them sometimes not as upfront as defined.
Highly competent self-selling platforms with full of scammers
For freelancers, the platforms such as the Fiverr, Upwork, PeoplePerHour, Freelancer, Work for Impact is most popular. I have registered and developed my profile on these platforms. The main feature of these platforms is, you have to sell your service by yourself by building a profile and demonstrating previous job experiences. There are so many competitors on these platforms. So far, I have received only one legitimate work on Upwork, which was to do a shopping in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It sounded odd, but the payment history of the requester proved that it was not a scam. I presume, the work was for the data collection purposes. Surprisingly, other legitimate sounded work requests were all scams. PeoplePerHour,Fiverr and Upwork are good at identifying a scammer and deleting the profile immediately. I have tried to look into the profile of the fishy requester, and the profile was already gone. Because of the high volume of scammers, I am considering to delete my profile on these platforms. I do not feel secure. These platforms encourage you to upload your photo to help building a trust between the clients and you.
More secure contract-based service platforms that you never hear back
Besides these platforms, there are companies like Cactus Global and Iyuno, which collects huge number of freelancers pool to provide professional editing, translating and other services to corporates, big organizations and individuals. In this platform you do not have to sell your service by yourself. The service provider does the work for you. They find works and allocate them to the freelancers. They sign a lengthy contract. They send you induction videos and welcome email from the regional manager. All these will make you feel like you have been hired in a full-time position and becoming part of an organization. However, they make sure that you understand it is not the case here, you are a freelancer not a full-time worker. Therefore, you cannot represent them. Little that I knew the warm welcoming impression was soon changed by a long limbo. I have applied according to the vacancy ad stating that they need a Mongolian language editor. Therefore, especially after the contract, induction and welcome email, I was under the impression that I will start receiving the tasks soon. However, after seven months I still have not received any tasks requiring a Mongolian language. I assume that they were only building a pool of Mongolian language freelancers in case they receive a work request from the clients. Therefore, if you apply for the freelancers ad for service platforms, be prepared to spend many unpaid hours to read and sign the lengthy contracts (Cactus Global’s plus the clients’ contracts) and finish the induction.
The process was same with Iyuno. However, Iyuno does send you a work. In short notice! Being a freelancer means you have to be ready to receive the task anytime anywhere. The pros of these service companies are that their online platform and the onboarding process is quite well developed. Plus, in terms of the security, I felt more secure with them. The client and freelancers’ information are well protected.
I am not sure if above mentioned works fall into the freelancer’s category, as it is short-term and task based. By the definition my next experience with Lambda Global as an English writer is a gig work, task-based, no control over the task and rates. However, I would argue that it is not a low skilled work. As an English writer, I have to read, analyze and write. Therefore, I would categorize it as a freelance work.
After many failures with international freelance platforms, finally I have found a freelance work at Lambda Global. The process with Lambda Global was far easier and straightforward. You do not have to wait for months, if not years, tasks to arrive. Based on my experience, I would advise to all the people, who are looking for a freelance work, to look at the Mongolian market first. Do not jump straight to the international pool.
With Lambda Global you will not face security and scammers issue. Lambda Global is a trustworthy well-established platform. All the employers are registered with the organizational email addresses, which guarantees the trustworthiness. Plus, Lambda Global itself is a good example of freelance work provider. They hire freelancers for social media developers, bloggers, English writers among others. The best thing is they will not scam you. You will receive the payment on time. If you really want to become a freelancer, come and join the freelance team!