Best time on oDesk to attract the most?

macdonjo3

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I'm trying to figure out what time I should post to yield the most applicants to choose from. I know 10 PM to midnight EST is pretty good, when India to Philippines are waking up. I've hired 50+ freelancers on oDesk over the years and I have not found the perfect time. How are you guys doing?
 
Most freelancers are there from India, Pak or Bangadesh.. so post accordingly.
Ask them to chat on skype .. that could help :)
 
Most freelancers are there from India, Pak or Bangadesh.. so post accordingly.
Ask them to chat on skype .. that could help :)

Yeah the time I mentioned in the OP is about 8:30 AM local for them, but then again, they're freelancers so they sometimes work through the night instead, and sleep at 6 AM local. Hopefully we can compare experiences.
 
I'm trying to figure out what time I should post to yield the most applicants to choose from. I know 10 PM to midnight EST is pretty good, when India to Philippines are waking up. I've hired 50+ freelancers on oDesk over the years and I have not found the perfect time. How are you guys doing?
so that's the time when they're waking up, without knowing the browsing habits of the countries in the Far East, i would imagine the time after they arrive home from work/school or after dinner, before they go to bed can be just as good, at least it would seem logical to me

but i guess, if they're full time freelancers, you won't be able to find any pattern to determine the best time of the day, except that they aren't available in their sleeping hours :), but even that can vary

maybe make a poll here for freelancers, there are quite a few members here from these countries
 
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If you go by our time (evening), a lot of the applicants you'll get are lone wolves who work in the evening. Generally, the quality of what is going to get delivered is going to vary a lot. On the other hand, in the mornings, you're going to get replies from a large number of software houses.

How do I know this? I'm a US-educated software engineer setting up my own shop here in Pakistan.
 
If you go by our time (evening), a lot of the applicants you'll get are lone wolves who work in the evening. Generally, the quality of what is going to get delivered is going to vary a lot. On the other hand, in the mornings, you're going to get replies from a large number of software houses.

How do I know this? I'm a US-educated software engineer setting up my own shop here in Pakistan.

Interesting. I always hire individuals and never agencies. Agencies take 3 days to just get things under control while individuals will already have 20 hours of work in and be half done the first phase of the job.

So you are thinking right now, like midnight in India, would be a good time to find individual developers?
 
You don't need to figure out when to post to get many applicants. If your rates are good, many freelancers will be interested in your job offer.
 
Interesting. I always hire individuals and never agencies. Agencies take 3 days to just get things under control while individuals will already have 20 hours of work in and be half done the first phase of the job.

So you are thinking right now, like midnight in India, would be a good time to find individual developers?

Yep, evenings local time are your best bet. I'd go with late night too, because many freelancers who work exclusively
for international clients stay up and work during the night. For example, it's twenty past one in the morning here as
I'm writing this.

Regarding agencies, your experience is in line with my own research. What happens is that these companies have one
project manager who is basically not really a project manager, but just the technical point-of-contact for the customer.
He or she'll talk to you and then communicate your requirements down to the guy who's actually going to work on it.

The major problem I've seen is that more often than not, while you might make it perfectly clear as to what you want
with your project manager, by the time the requirements trickle down to the actual developer, you're screwed.
 
The major problem I've seen is that more often than not, while you might make it perfectly clear as to what you want
with your project manager, by the time the requirements trickle down to the actual developer, you're screwed.

Exactly, direct communication is the only way. I tried agencies a few times, but they never completed it successfully.
 
I think the time that you post the job is mostly irrelevant...

The things that will help you get contractors applying are;
- a clear and precise description; this indicates that you're probably a good client to work for, because instructions and expectations will be clear
- good feedback from previous contractors; nobody wants to work for an asshole
- reasonable rates of pay
 
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