I recently posted a job on odesk.com – an online job board for outsourcing tasks on a per-project basis. Within two minutes of posting my job I received half a dozen applications. Overwhelmed.
Along with hourly rate, feedback ratings, and links to past projects, each application included a personal message that all read the same. Something along the lines of “Hello, I have carefully reviewed your job specification. I am an expert in blah blah blah….” followed by a 3 page list of their expertise, work experience, strengths, and past projects. Bored. For some reason I wasn’t convinced they’d even read my project description.
Twenty minutes later I was staring blankly at a list of applications with similar rating, experience, and hourly rate. I might as well just close my eyes and click around the screen at random. No one was grabbing me.
Then, someone caught my attention.
Hi,
This should be a fairly simple task and I should be able to fix it in a couple of hours. I am based in NJ, USA. Here are my contact details…
Guess who won?
He briefly said what he needed to say and then paused to let me speak. I felt respected. He won and it had nothing to do with expertise, experience or feedback score.
