My Daily Routine as Part Time Virtual Assistant on oDesk

I started being a part-time virtual assistant on oDesk last October 2011. To be honest, I was only trying it out to see if it really works or if I can really earn money. It was pretty much like the same feeling of a newbie in an office except that your so-called "odesk colleagues" are on the other side of the planet.


I don't clearly remember when exactly was my first withdrawal of earnings from odesk but, I surely recall that I was able to buy a microwave oven! Haha! I earned that small an amount compared to the odesk professionals who are making thousands of dollars already. But, for a part-time virtual assistant like me, I was happy and thankful. Most blogs that I've read from full-time VA's inspired me to create my own blog as a PART TIME VIRTUAL ASSISTANT. This is simply to share what is my daily routine as a part-time VA. 

I work in an educational institution and work starts at 8am and ends at 5pm. The good thing about my office schedule is I don't have work on weekends unless I am asked to go in on a Saturday for special activities. Throughout the weekdays I used to stay in the office until around 6pm just to finish my work whether I have to meet a deadline or not and thinking that I have nothing else to do at home. Ever since I started taking writing jobs on odesk, my routine drastically changed. I felt the motivation and eagerness to go home thinking that I have an odesk project to finish. I realized that I am even more willing to spare more time doing odesk jobs thinking that I am going to earn more dollars. Indeed, a great reason to avoid overtime in the office. At 6pm, I am already at home and would relax a bit. After which, I eat dinner and watch tv for a while. Then, at 7:30pm I start on my odesk projects and would stay late until 11pm or even as late as 12 midnight if I have to beat a deadline. On Saturday and Sunday, I spend 6 to 10 hours doing projects for my odesk clients. oDesk is also the reason why I love weekends, aside from the fact that I earn money and spend time with my family all at the same time. 

Being a part-time oDesk contractor has changed my general perspective of work and time management. The months of working on oDesk led me to opportunities with a higher job offer. To be a full-time oDesk contractor is something that I want to achieve. For the meantime, being a part-time online writer merely is going well for me, and I love it!

oDesk Feedback: Just Another Experience

I seldom apply for fixed-price contracts in odesk unless the writing job is something I would enjoy researching and writing about. Recently, I accepted a fixed-price contract where the client asked me to write ten articles about Strep Throat for a minimal amount. I researched through google about the topic before taking the job and thought that it was kind of easy to do so, I agreed with the terms. My client was a Bangladeshi, I think he is maintaining a blog site and earns through advertisements because he reiterated that I had to use the keywords he noted in his instructions. I further learned that he was an SEO expert; hence, the repeated instructions for me to use the keywords as often as I can. Anyway, I finished the project successfully despite the struggle to understand his "roller coaster" English grammar. Actually, whenever the client would send me messages, I cannot help but be more than proud of how Filipinos speak and write English efficiently (hehehe!). In short, I finished the project, and my Bangladeshi client promptly paid me and ended the contract at the same time.

As usual, when an odesk contract ends, both parties are invited to leave feedback. Thus, I received a notification about the positive feedback, and this client was apparently, expecting good feedback from me too. I wanted to laugh upon reading the message considering his jumbled English grammar. At the same time, I thought it was a bit rude of him to tell me to log onto Skype just to remind me that I HAVE to leave him good feedback. But, out of professionalism, I did as I was asked. Besides, he was equally punctual with the payment and was always available for consultation if I needed to clarify something. Apparently, I gave him feedback without double-checking on the rating that he gave me. I did not expect that he would give me a perfect score so, I ended up giving him a lower score as compared to the five-star rating he gave me. Then, just this evening when I checked my odesk inbox, he sent me another message instructing me to change my feedback! This is simply unbelievable! It was quite funny that he is very conscious of not getting a five-star input from me. I did not give him a perfect score, though. I know you understand that grammar affects the entire sense of the message, right? But then again, out of professionalism, I edited my feedback and changed it to a perfect score so, everything is fair and square.


I just hope that he will not bother me again. It was a unique experience for me being an independent odesk contractor. The experience also reminded me how multicultural the virtual world is. Every nationality working or hiring in odesk has their own way of communicating and relating with clients/contractors. Above all, I realized that Filipinos are simply incomparable workers as online jobs start to become more popular and Filipino contractors are always in demand and trusted by foreign clients. 

An oDesk Testimonial of Gratitude

For the past 10 months I have worked as an independent contractor in oDesk, I would say that I am delighted with how things are going for me right now. I started with a very minimal amount not to shoo away clients, and I considered my first 3 months in oDesk as my "trial period" just to see the terms and how constant the projects will be. I have had more than ten clients where I did several tasks of writing for website content and SEO, research, blogging, survey creation, and forum posting contracts. I must say, I enjoyed all my oDesk contracts but as what other contractors would say, working at home with an online writing job could be somewhat erratic. But then again, for me who is working on a part-time basis, I could not be grateful enough to oDesk and my clients (past and present) for the opportunities and trust they have given me. My self-esteem and confidence in my writing ability have grown because of the several projects, positive outcomes and healthy relationship I have built during those months.

I am writing this blog entry to express my gratitude to oDesk and to both contractors and clients to carry on in widening our horizon as we serve each other through our unique talents. Currently, I am deeply in awe of how I have closed another 3 projects with 3 different contractors. Rest assured that I will do my best as we go along this working relationship which hopefully will last for the longest time. Thinking about how blessed I am with these oDesk contracts, I just couldn't help but be grateful for EVERYTHING. And I really wish that this will eventually lead me to be a full-time work-at-home professional.

Work at Home: A Realization

The past two weeks was really challenging for me because I experienced getting confined in the hospital for the second time (in my entire life!). When I was a kid, I would remember my parents convincing me not to be afraid of the nurse, doctor or the hospital, per se. But, up to this day, I do not like the thought of needles, oxygen, hospital bed and the whole idea of getting sick and being admitted. For the past two weeks, my fever had been shooting up and down so, I had to spend a few days in the hospital and underwent some tests. When I was finally released from the hospital, I felt so relieved thinking that I can finally go back to my odesk duties. Actually, it was a mixture of disappointment and rejoicing. Disappointment because a few days of additional rest would mean deductions from my sick leave which is convertible to cash at the end of the year. On the other hand, it was a day of rejoicing for me too because it would mean more hours on odesk! I must admit that the thought of staying at home and being able to get some odesk work done is a bit liberating and gives an absolute thrill. 

It has been my ultimate goal to work at home on a full-time basis ever since I learned about people working on the same terms. I have been hearing about people working at home but did not fully believe that it can actually happen not until I started attending free webinars which presented actual people who are working at home and earning double or at times, triple than the routine office job. So, my recovery period became an opportunity for me to actually try out what it really feels like to work at home on a full-time basis. Luckily, I currently have three clients who have given me many writing jobs, and I made use of my so-called "rest days" to work on the projects they gave me. I have started this part-time virtual assistant career as a writer/blogger/researcher since October last year, and it has been very fulfilling. Now that I get to experience doing work at home tasks on a full-time basis (even for just a week) made me appreciate it even more.  

Honestly, I am now contemplating resigning from my full-time job at the university and just continue with this work at home set up. Don't get me wrong because I like my job in the university but at some point, I just get so exhausted from all the office politics and stressful bosses. There is something inside me that just wants to give up everything and continue with my work at home gig. It's just a matter of finding the right opportunity on odesk and the ideal client who can finally give me a full-time VA work. And I am going to find it in the next few days or weeks...I promise.

oDesk Withdrawal Method - My Personal Dilemma

I was due to withdraw my odesk earnings today, July 18. Ever since I started withdrawing funds from my odesk account, I always use the LFT or Local Funds Transfer wherein I directly receive payment through my Metrobank ATM. Unfortunately today, I admittedly was kind of thinking it was like a default setting that when I click "withdraw", it will be just the same. In short, I was not in my proper frame of mind (hehe!). However, when I checked the transaction history on odesk, I withdrew funds and transferred it to my PayPal account! I was angry at myself for being so absent-minded. I registered my Paypal account as a backup payment plan just in case clients would ask if I have such thing. But, to actually transfer fund from odesk to Paypal, I must say is such a hassle for a newbie like me.

My Paypal account is linked to my Union Bank EON Card. I have separately set up my Paypal and EON Card accounts since last year but have not really tried if it actually works. Now, I finally got a taste of how tedious this process is. It was a few months back since I last visited my Paypal account because I do not really use it that often. Good thing I was able to retrieve my password and saw that my odesk money was instantly transferred. The problem now is when I was trying to transfer fund to my EON Card (debit card), I could not push through with the transaction because Paypal system was asking me to verify my debit card through a 4-digit number. Unfortunately, I did not have my EON Card with me and could not check these magic numbers being asked from me to successfully transfer my money from Paypal to EON Card.

Nevertheless, here are the realizations I ended up with:

1. oDesk charges a bit higher amount when you withdraw earnings through Paypal as compared to LFT (Local Fund Transfer). If you withdraw through Paypal, odesk costs $1 whereas LFT is only $0.99. You might say that there is not much difference, anyway. But, if you are going to withdraw a large amount, the decimal point does matter.

2. Paypal's money conversion seemed a bit lower as compared to the dollar-peso rate applied through LFT. Usually, when I withdraw funds from oDesk to my Metrobank account, exchange rate is around $1 equivalent to Php 41 - 42. On the other hand, I noticed that Paypal's conversion rate is a dollar lower thus, $1 is equivalent to Php 40. Apart from this, you will be deducted of the respective remittance charge from your respective bank, like in my case, Metrobank that charges roughly around Php 75 to 80 once money is transmitted to my ATM. In Paypal, different charges apply for different banks too, but the lowest  rate is Union Bank which is Php 50 based on what I have read in other blogs. For other banks connected to your Paypal it may cost to above Php100.

3. For the price that you are going to pay, I would recommend the oDesk LFT withdrawal since the end result gives you a slightly lower odesk charge and remittance fee which in my case is Metrobank. I think the deducted amount is fine since I get to receive payment after 2 to 3 days only. Say for example, I withdraw my odesk money on a Wednesday therefore, I would receive it by Saturday of the same week.  Paypal has a 5 to 7 day allowance before your money is transferred to your debit card which is a bit longer waiting time.


Lessons learned: Withdraw my oDesk fund through LFT, ALWAYS! And most of all, always double check on what you are clicking before finalizing any withdrawal transaction.

Goodluck to others (out there) who are experimenting on oDesk withdrawal methods!