Google Street View task: My First oDesk Job

Google Street View Task: My First oDesk Job

My very first contract on oDesk was a job that entailed the use of Google Street View. According to Wikipedia, "Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides panoramic views from positions along many streets in the world. It was launched on May 25, 2007, in several cities in the United States, and has since expanded to include cities and rural areas worldwide." The work had me going along a virtual highway and marking some stuff on the map. The client paid an oDesk hourly wage of $2.80 which was then later increased to $3.15. The job was completed like he wanted and gave me some positive feedback.

The hourly pay I received as stated have the oDesk cut taken out, it is 10% of the contract. Some might think that this is far too much for them to take - for every dollar earned oDesk gets 10 cents. I for a fact do not mind this fee, I put it on top of the bids I send out for jobs anyway. Some clients do not mind either, I suppose they are willing to pay for service that gets the job done right. The mapping task did not take very long, after 10 hours or so the work was completed and he ended the contract.

My money was held in escrow and later it was made available for withdrawal. It takes about 15 days or so for one to get their hard earned cash. At oDesk one's work week starts from Monday and ends on Sunday. After working that week there is a review period of four days for the employer to dispute or allow payment. A five day security period comes next and then the following day comes payday. At this point one does not have their money in hand yet. I still needed to withdraw my money from oDesk, get it out to PayPal and get it to my bank where I can get my hands on it. That last bit takes about 3-5 days so as I mentioned earlier it is about 15 days. Later oDesk added a way to get rid of the middle-man and get the money direct to my bank via Local Funds Transfer. Sometimes you get lucky with the last part and your cash comes early.

That was the first client I had, he was very nice to work with and he paid well. It was not difficult making the decision to work from home and stay with my family and I know I certainly made the right choice.