OFW Speak

The very reason why we, online workers from the Philippines work is to get paid, correct? That's a given obvious. As much as we want to earn makes our very own ego gripping us down holding us back from getting paid well.

The common mind set of Filipinos is: "I should quote a lower service fee to beat competition and enticing for the employer".

Mind you this, if you think you are that smart having that mindset or tactic in quoting and negotiating your service fee, well you are not.

Employers or outsourcers does not have a single-phased criteria in selecting their candidates for the job, and being 'dirt cheap' will help you close to nothing.

I quote my service fee based on the general average Filipino pay. Basically an entry level white collar job would normally range between 12,000Php to 15,000Php. Quote something in between.

If you think you need experience and training, you should be considerate enough to quote your fee somewhere below the spectrum.

And if you think you are that well-trained and expert enough, then quote higher than that.

Do not forget to reason things out why you have such quotation for your service fee.

I am not so thrilled with the categorical service fee rate scheme going on. I mean, for examples, entry level writers are paid 'dirt cheap' price-of-peanuts rate while programmers or coders are rated with over-the-top.

I mean seriously? What if I am a programmer and I am the worst programmer to record, should I deserve to get paid with such pay according to what's currently trending?

Say I am a writer, inexperienced online, yet have written lenthy white papers and have proven myself with perfect grammar and writing cognition, should I also deserve to get a rate of way below average pay? No way!

I think we should aside what's trending and start evaluating what the worker's worth according to his or her ability and skills.

With my almost 3 years of experience working online, I take pride in saying that not even once did I AWOL or disappear without prior notice from my job. I do have known tons of workmates who disappeared from work after few days of being hired leaving my boss and team mate not only headaches because of the courtesy of leaving us behind without prior notice, but also headaches because of the job tails that were left hanging.

I also had experienced talking to some online friends who happened to have experienced AWOLing in their jobs after few days being hired. And below are the major causes why Filipinos, in particular, disappear from their jobs.

1. Unmet salary expectations. I think this is the most common reason so far. When being interviewd, Filipinos, including me, have this habit of NOT ASKING about the compensation, and so leaving us clueless of the pay rate. Now the disappointment comes after receiving the first salary, and before you know it, their IM's are unreachable, they have unfriended you in Facebook, and no response to your emails anymore.

2. Unsettled Work Issues. I should say, Filipinos are very very tight-lipped people when it comes to conveying their grievances to their foreign bosses. When their boss reprimanded them, I included, take it hard and seriously. The end result, they better leave you and the team right away than feel bad of themselves.

3. Under Pressure. I would say some for this one, cause I personally love challenge and pressure(no boast). When employees are challenged and put under pressure, some just might duck and remain strained, the result? A conclusion of leaving the company for good, since they already have the idea of 'i can not do it' mentality at the back of their brain.

I should say, may it be a lesson to all my fellow Filipino online workers that hiring someone is not an easy job. I had been on the 'hiring-man' position before, and it is extremely difficult to choose from a pool of talented individuals and see potential in them.

The moment you are chosen and hired, it only means, people who hired you saw a potential. Do not throw it all away in just a snap. Speak up and let them know your grievances. After all communication is the key to a successful working relationship online.

Keep in touch all the time even if its a senseless matter. You see, seeing you communicate frequently online gives your foreign bosses a sense of security that you are interested enough to work. It might soud crazy but yes, since you are working online. And it's way different from working in a traditional office where chit-chatting is sometimes intolerable during work hours.

Give yourself a sense of dignity too, if you felt that you are not receiving the proper pay, then make sure your boss knows your feelings about it. Email him if you can't talk to him online. It's easier that way.

And lastly, putting you under pressure is a way of telling mediocre from solid worker. That's how things are done, even diamonds can't shine without harsh polishing. So if you think you are up for something better, then prove it. Don't just jerk when things go terribly wrong or you are put under cold waters.

How do you consider yourself working online? Are you a long-term-relationship type or the contractual-freelancing type?

Basically, any of the two works and earns online, but the thing is, as the name implies, the duration of their employment contract.

Few outsourcers highly consider short-termed freelancers to work for them. The rate is usually hourly or daily with over-the-top rate higher than their counterpart online workers. Yet the ETA or the estimated Time of Accomplishment of a project is damn shorter, for example a coding project might be done in a week or so, and that's it, end of contract.

While on the other hand, startups looking for solid team are in great lookout for talents who wants to work with them full time and long-term.

I, for example, consider myself a long-term online worker. I have been working for my current boss for a year now.

I wish to correct the notion that all online worker is equated to freelancers. I can not say that I am a freelancer since I have a premeditated list of tasks to be done. I work in an office (at home in front of my PC) with pre-eminent work hours, which is 8 hours a day 5 days a week.

Freelancers on the other hand have no boss but a contract to answer to. They have all the time they need but needs to answer for the deadline set.

I was asked by a former classmate of mine in Highschool about the difference between Bio-Data, Resume, and Curriculum Vitae and what should be the one preferably to be submitted for an online job posting.

The difference between the three mentioned above are:

BIO-DATA is more of a person's biological background, and it comes with a pre-made form. It is like a slum book, but way too formal. No crushes and favorite songs of course, just important details about yourself and how the person employing could tell the kind of person you are.

RESUME is a more compacted way of summarizing your skill-set and job qualifications. Though it doesn't have pre-made form, but minding the suggested way of presenting it is very much appreciated. It must be brief, concise, and coherent nicely fitted in 1 to 2 pages max. In a way, it must be brief enough to summarize your strengths, concise enough to sell your self, and coherent enough to persuade you are the best fit for the job.

CURRICULUM VITAE compared to RESUME is quite longer. It is a detailed enumeration of your professional working experience. It is like a bullet form of the things you have done based on your experience.

Now, preferably offshore companies or outsourcers want a quicky when it comes to shortlisting candidates and that's how important knowing the type of self-marketing you are going to device. Resume's then are the best choice for online job search.

Basically, RESUME's for online jobs must be tweaked accordingly. Since talking about online jobs entail that you must be at least a computer literate to be considered for the job. Try to be more creative and techy with your resume. Try online resume presentation, that way you can give the employers an initial impression that you are not only computer literate but also the one who sweat things up.

For some of the readers who have no idea what RescueTime is, it is basically a time management tool that tracks down your computer activity and how long you spend on it.

For example I am watching a movie on my PC while RescueTime is on. It will log that I am using a media player and the amount of time I am using it.

It has become a topic sometime since Rescuetime has been a deal breaker for most Online Workers when their prospective clients require them to use Rescuetime. Some consider it as a breach of privacy, since it also logs your browser's history and how long you spend on that particular page.

Let me tell you what I thought. If a person hires you and pay you to do certain tasks for a specific period of time, that person (your client or boss) has the right to know your activity, especially when you are paid hourly. Isn't it?

If you have no modus operandi going on, you have nothing to hide, right? I personally use rescueTime for myself t track down my productivity for the day.

How about you? What time-management tool do you use? Do you thing using one is violates one's privacy?

It's been a while since the Sotto-Plagiarism issue made a wave not only to the citizens of the Philippines, but also to all netizens especially Filipino bloggers who look-up to him as a senator and a pro-life advocate against RH Bill.

I am a practical person, so by all reasons, I am pro-RH Bill and I believe in responsible parenthood. And that God gave us not only the ability to procreate, but also the intellect to properly control it.

My opinion of Sen. Sotto's plagiarism has nothing to do with my opinion with RH Bill. Stealing is stealing. And plagiarism is a form of stealing.

In my blogs, I take pride in giving the original authors credits and linkbacks. It is imperative that once you base your article or blog from some source, you must give it a credit at least a backlink.

For Mr. Sotto's case, he even refused to apologize and instead he arrogantly say "blogger lang 'yon". Do you think that makes you a better person Mr. Sotto? Do you think it is so wise of you to utter those outrageous words?

What is this person smoking and he thinks his ignorance would turn on his advantage? Damn. And so here I am standing for his resignation.


"in MOVE UP hereby call for the immediate resignation of Senator Sotto. We believe that Sotto should never exempt himself from this by virtue of the position he holds. Furthermore, we believe that his multiple acts of plagiarism and subsequent denial is breach of his office’s mandate to provide honest and credible representation to his constituents.

We deserve better."

That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind. ~Neil Armstrong

(CBS News) Neil Armstrong, the Apollo 11 astronaut who became the first human being to set foot on another world, has died. He was 82.

Let us give our sincere condolences to the family of the man who served as our Prometheus ushering the knowledge we had in lunar exploration.

You have heard us recommend that you outsource your work to the Philippines.  So, why the Philippines and why Filipinos?

I may not be the best person to write about this.  No wait, on second thought, I think I am.  Shameless promotion of my country, race, and trade aside, I seriously believe that the Philippines is the best country you can outsource your work to.  And why do I think that?  Let me count the ways…

Filipinos are the best English-speakers in Southeast Asia – I even daresay that Filipinos are the best English-speakers in Asia.  The Philippines was an American-administered territory from 1898 until 1946 and was the site of American air and naval installations until 1991.  Because of this, the country is heavily influenced by the American culture and language.  English is the primary language of instruction in schools.  It is not difficult to find a Filipino that speaks very good English with little to no trace of a native accent.

Most Filipinos are well-educated – College education in the Philippines is relatively cheap and since you can never find a decent job in the country unless you graduate with a degree, a lot of Filipino students go to and finish college.  The educational standard in the Philippines is also competitive with other more developed countries and in fact, the country is seeing an influx of foreign students from neighboring Asian countries like Korea and China.

Filipinos love to please other people - Sometimes, to a fault.  Filipinos will put other people’s needs over their own.  If they have a guest in their home, they will give the guest the best room, the best linen, never mind if they end up sleeping on the floor.  Seriously.  Filipinos are weird that way.  Maybe that’s what our ancestors hammered into our subconscious.  We reserve the best china for guests and use cheap, ordinary dinnerware the rest of the time.  My point is, if you hire a Filipino, they will do what you ask them to do to the best of their abilities because they would want to please you.

Filipinos are very loyal – Treat them well and you will have a worker who will be willing to work with you until they are no longer able to.  Hiring a Filipino will lower your worker turnover.
Filipinos are familiar with Western business practices – Business practices in the Philippines are very similar to Western business practices, it is almost eerie.  However, being an American colony for almost 50 years, it is hardly surprising.  And did I mention that our accounting and legal systems are similar to America’s as well?

Filipinos have lower wages – I did save the best reason to hire a Filipino for last.  Filipino wages are, on an average, only about 12% of American wages for the same area of practice. That in itself is reason enough why a lot of work is being outsourced to our country and perhaps, you should too.
Now, it’s time for my shameless promotion:  Whenever you decide to outsource work, do think of Filipinos and the Philippines first.


This article was wittingly written by Ms. Honey Amabelle D. Young of Easyoutsource site entitled Why Outsource in the Philippines. I just impressed by how well she lifts the Filipino spirit by her simple yet compelling words. Yebah Pinoys!

Ever wondered what are the things you can make in order to find a suitable and satisfying job online? Because of lack of knowledge and out of connections, most people land in paid to click sites, scamming review sites, survey sites and other scam online schemes that waste not only time and effort but also our peer job hunter's hard earned savings just for the assurance of earning.

Or as an outsourcer, do you even know the things you could delegate to your workers?

Well people, here are the list of things(for starters) that can actually be outsourced online(Addressing to the outsourcer):

• Market research – Want to collect information about your competitors’ marketing activities? Need a report on market trends over the last 3 years? How about a list of businesses in your area that could use your product or service but don’t currently have it? Hire an assistant to do the research and produce a nice report.
• Data entry – Have you ever needed a bunch of information reorganized or put into a spreadsheet? Don’t spend your whole morning on it — hire a data entry assistant and do something more impactful.
• Accounting – Hire a trained, experienced assistant to manage the books. You can even find CPAs on EasyOutsource who are completely familiar with American accounting practices.
• Writing – Blog posts, website content, reports, emails, sales materials — almost any kind of writing you need can be done by an outsourced writer.
• Personal assistants – Hire a personal assistant is like cloning yourself. Sort of. It’ll change your world.
• Lots of little things like document editing, transcription, email filtering, QA testing – All these things could eat your day, but could be more efficiently handled by letting a subcontractor do them at a good rate.
• Answering phones – Set your assistant up with Skype, Google Voice, or VOIP account, and let her answer calls for you. Many of our job seekers have been trained in Western call centers, and are probably better on the phones than you.
• Appointment setting – This can be time consuming and frustrating. Share your calendar with your assistant, and let him book your meetings.
• Sales calls and emails – You can show your assistant how to find leads and make contact over the phone and email. Give him some time to get the hang of it, and pretty soon he’ll be generating usable leads and maybe even some sales.
• Responding to customer inquiries – Yeah, I know you like to keep a finger on the pulse of your customer base. But odds are you could do your customers a lot better by spending your time improving your product or service, rather than personally responding to their every query.
• Website management – Updates, upgrades, moderation, content creation — all this is the perfect type of stuff for your assistant to take off your hands.
• Order processing – Does your website take orders, process payments, and handle shipments and delivery? Get your assistant involved to handle the routine work and smooth out kinks before they become problems.
• SEO – You know you’d make more money if your website came up in the top of search results. But you don’t have the time to figure it out, and you don’t have the cash to hire a full-blown SEO agency. Good news: it ain’t that hard. Get an assistant with some SEO experience on the job.
• Link building – The most tedious and time consuming part of SEO. You don’t have 4 hours a day to spend trying to get other websites to link to yours. But there are job seekers who are good at this and would love to help.
• Adwords campaign management – With Adwords, you pay by the click for people who have searched terms related to your business. It can be lucrative, but it takes some time to set up and monitor.
• Web design – I’m a web developer myself, and I don’t do the web design. I hire great designers in the Philippines.
• Web programming – Is your website not quite doing what you need it to? Have you thought of a cool widget or function you could put on your website to help your customer base fall in love with you? Hire a programmer.
• Progress reporting and client updating – Your clients will wax affectionate when you’re sending them handsome monthly reports showing all the progress you’re making with their money.

trust is earned, not given

Trust is the commodity in any offshore or outsourcing business. And as a virtual staff, you are expected to be honest as well as trustworthy at all times.

Of course, in return, we, as virtual workers also need an assurance of our trust. Below could be some useful tips for you to keep in mind in order for you to work harmoniously with your foreign boss and have a peace of mind at work.

1. On your first month of work, basically trust is being built. Outsourcers usually call this period as 'trial period' like testing the waters. It is also a way of investment fool proofing. Make sure you agree on at least weekly basis of payment for the first month or so. Agree maybe to have the pay be released Friday evening or Saturday morning, since western time is lagging by 12 hours or so.

This way you get an assurance that this person really does pay. And as well, the person paying you gets a short assessment of his investment.

2. Keep an open communication between the two of you. Make yourself available in skype, gtalk or any platform of communication at least 8 hours a day. This way you get a chance to know one another personally.

Some people call it micromanagement, but for me it's called 'keeping abreast'.

Make yourself comfortable with your boss. He might be paying you, but that doesn't mean you need to have a tall wall between the two of you. Be up close and personal

3. Don't be afraid to add your boss with your Social Networking accounts. One way of showing trust and gaining trust is to invite someone be a part of your circle of friends.

After all, you are no criminal or a serial killer to hide something, right?

SEO or Search Engine Optimization Specialist is the one tasked to do in-depth offsite and onsite optimization of a site to make it highly visible in search engines like Yahoo, Bing and most especially Google.

For starters, onsite optimization is a basic know-how of what keyword or keywords should a page be ranking for. With that, the SEO specialist will make sure that the h1 to h6(if applicable), meta keywords, meta data, and anchor texts are all properly done according to a defined keyword or sets of keywords.

As long as you are not optimizing your own site or page, then that is called offsite optimization. Usually it is called link building, back linking, link wheeling, or reputation management. Since search engines, most especially Google, rank the importance of a page depending but not solely on the number of links pointing to the page that is to be optimized. Every link is counted as a vote.

Are you for it?

In my experience, it was a cool experience to see your website rank in search engines. It is also cool seeing its SERP(Search Engine Result Page) rise as well as its PR(Page Rank).

But then again, you must be ready for a bunch of repetitive tasks. It is quite boring as it goes. So I switched to a more unpredictable-dutied job position.

2 Mbps and 2 MBps are two totally different internet speeds after realizing that the latter is the real deal while the former is a mere marketing gimmick by most ISP's to sell subscription packages to uneducated public.

1. How long have you been in the service?
-around 2 years

2. What position did you start?
-Article writer

3. What tasks are you responsible with?(just make it general for discretion)
-Blogging, traffic and lead generation

4. What makes home-based and office-based job different?
-With home-based, I get to work without having to wear neat clothes, and need not to take a bath. HAHAHA! Plus, I can save expenses from fares and lunch.

5. What is the best part of being an an online worker?
-I can get to spend more time with my daughter. Like I can always look out on her, have meals together with her.

6. The biggest challenge of your job?
-Doing new things

Following up an interview can be very hard especially not to sound annoying and desperate.

Sean Weinberg, co-founder of resume-grading web app RezScore, suggests that there's one line you don't want to leave out: "Please let me know either way." He explains why:

THE most effective line to use in your follow up is "Please let me know either way".
I am going to repeat that: THE most effective line to use in your follow up is "Please let me know either way"
Sure, it's more polite for the company to let you know either way, but with the amount of applicants and the numbered hours in a day, it's not as likely that you're going to get that courtesy call or e-mail unless you specifically ask for it.
Follow up with them to help ensure that they follow up with you.

In the field of Business Process Outsourcing, Programmers usually have a over-the-top compensation this is because learning a programming language and being well-versed to it isn't that easy as it sounds.

Unlike learning a new foreign language, you need high level of analytic and numerical skills aside from good memory in learning a programming language.

Outsourcing companies always take big leverage on their off shore programmers, since locally hired programming authors charge sky high for a developed source code.

Programming might not be for everybody indeed, but a knowledge about it can suffice. Say for example you have an idea of what PHP, AJAX, Sql, javascript or html is, you can be a technical lead where you can direct a hard coders to program certain tasks.

I find this site very useful and filled with high quality contents that you may use in your quest for programming adventure. It is called W3school.

I personally don't do hard coding, if there's a simple way to do it, then why sweat it.

Picture this: You meet someone new. "What do you do?" he asks.

"I'm an architect," you say.

"Oh, really?" he answers. "Have you designed any buildings I've seen?"

"Maybe," you reply. "We did the new library at the university..."

"Oh wow," he says. "I've seen it. That's a beautiful building..."

And you're off. Maybe he's a potential client, maybe not... but either way you've made a great impression.

You sound awesome.

Now picture this: You meet someone new. "What do you do?" he asks.

"I'm a passionate, innovative, dynamic provider of architectural services who uses a collaborative approach to create and deliver outstanding customer experiences."

And he's off, never to be seen again... because you sound like a pompous ass.

Do you--whether on your website, or more likely on social media accounts--describe yourself differently than you do in person?

Do you use hacky clichés and overblown superlatives and breathless adjectives?

Do you write things about yourself you would never have the nerve to actually say?

If so, it's time for a change.

Here are some words that are great when used by other people to describe you, but you should never use to describe yourself:

"Motivated."

Check out Chris Rock's response (not safe for work or the politically correct) to people who say they take care of their kids. Then substitute the word "motivated." Never take credit for things you are supposed to do--or be.

"Authority."

If you have to say you're an authority, you aren't. Show your expertise instead. "Presenter at SXSW" or "Delivered TED Talk at Long Beach 2010" indicates a level of authority. Unless you can prove it, "social media marketing authority" just means you spend a ton of time on Twitter.

"Global provider."

The vast majority of businesses can sell goods or services worldwide; the ones that can't--like restaurants--are obvious. (See?) Only use "global provider" if that capability is not assumed or obvious; otherwise you just sound like a really small company trying to appear really big.

"Innovative."

Most companies claim to be innovative. Most people claim to be innovative. Most are not. (I'm not.) That's okay, because innovation isn't a requirement for success.

If you are innovative, don't say it. Prove it. Describe the products you've developed. Describe the processes you've modified. Give us something real so your innovation is unspoken but evident... which is always the best kind of evident to be.

"Creative."

See particular words often enough and they no longer make an impact. "Creative" is one of them. (Go to LinkedIn and check out some profiles; "creative" will appear in the majority.)

"Creative" is just one example. Others include extensive, effective, proven, dynamic, influential, team player, collaborative... some of those terms truly may describe you, but since they're also being used to describe everyone else they've lost their impact.

"Curator."

Museums have curators. Libraries have curators. Tweeting links to stuff you find interesting doesn't make you a curator... or an authority or a guru.

"Passionate."

Say you're incredibly passionate about incorporating an elegant design aesthetic in everyday objects and--to me at least--you sound a little scary. Same if you're passionate about developing long-term customer solutions. Try focus, concentration, or specialization instead. Save the passion for your loved one.

"Unique."

Fingerprints are unique. Snowflakes are unique. You are unique--but your business probably isn't. Don't pretend to be, because customers don't care about unique; they care about "better." Show how you're better than the competition and in the minds of customers you will be unique.

 "Guru."

People who try to be clever for the sake of being clever are anything but. Don't be a self-proclaimed ninja, sage, connoisseur, guerilla, wonk, egghead... it's awesome when your customers affectionately describe you in that way, but when you do it it's apparent you're trying way too hard.

"Incredibly..."

Check out some random bios and you'll find plenty of further-modified descriptors: "Incredibly passionate," "profoundly insightful," "extremely captivating..." isn't it enough to be insightful or captivating? Do you have to be incredibly passionate?

If you must use over-the-top adjectives to describe yourself, at least spare us the further modification. Trust us; we already get it.

Part of changing your mindset is giving other people tasks
that you would normally have done yourself.
It’s also about using your resources efficiently.  If you can
buy an ebook about something for $50, and have that teach
your guys how to do it, why wouldn’t you do that instead
of spending 3-4 hours creating training yourself?
Is your time really only worth $12/hour?
It’s the same thing with ReplaceMyself.com.
Did you know that 98% of the content inside ReplaceMyself.com isn’t for you!
No, IT’S NOT FOR YOU!
It’s for you to give to your guys to train them.
It’s process lists.It’s step by step training.It’s business concepts.It’s minute details to make sure stuff gets done correctly.
The point of ReplaceMyself.com is to help you change your mindset.
If you don’t change it, how can you ever expect to be the
CEO of your company?
Here’s the training to hand off to your Filipino VA’s.
All of this stuff is there to help you move towards the lifestyle
you want to be living.
If you’re not living it now, when are you going to start?
“As soon as…?”
“As soon as…” never comes.
Today’s the day to start.
I understand that this is a blatant ad for my website.
I’ve just seen too many people try to hire someone, not train them, and then complain that “this doesn’t work.”
It does work.
You just have to train the people you hire…and then manage them well.


View the Original article

Over the past few months I’ve begun to realize that doing
outsourcing correctly requires a change in mindset.

See…most people are so used to busting their own butt to get stuff done,
that giving their work to other people is very foreign to them.
It’s almost unnatural.
I know often people think “If I do it myself it’l get done faster and better.”

That’s exactly the wrong mindset I’m talking about.
The problem with it is that you’ll always be the one doing it.
Even if it does get done faster and better, you’re still
limiting the amount of stuff that gets done.
When you change your mindset, you start giving stuff to other
people and letting them figure it out.
No, I’m not talking about giving business decisions to other
people, you still have to do that.
I’m talking about tasks that someone else can do.
ALL OF THEM.
For example, here’s a list of things I recently had my people
do for me:
Set up a listing for meconvert all my videos using Supercreate and encode a video for me using 2 different videos and an audio streamupload my personal pictures from my personal PC to my flickr account (hey…this is about lifestyle…I’m tired of doing this!)Set up an aweber mailing listWrite a sales letter (yes, you read that right…and they did a dang good job too).Tell me what ebook in which industry we should write next! I did very little training for this stuff because I’ve already given them so much training (all the stuff that’s available as a ReplaceMyself.com member) that now they can figure out almost anything):
After your guys are trained, they can do ANYTHING!
You just have to change your mindset!

View the Original article

Each year, universities in the Philippines produce tons of graduates that can't immediately land a job.

Well, most of them stay at home and wait for calls from various employers whom they submitted their neatly crafted curriculum vitae hoping to be hired.

Guess what? That's the traditional way of hunting jobs. And guess what again, you are in the information era as you read this. So if you have no idea of social let me introduce you to facebook, twitter, tumblr, pinterest, linkdIn where people not only socialize but also hunt for prospective employees and employers.

Yes! Social media is a game changer in the field of employment. To mention a few, there's SkillPages where you can tell about your self and people will eventually find you there.

You see, people spend an average of 4 hours per day in facebook alone. What could be the best place to find talents? The place where fishes are, and it is the social media platforms you are using everyday.

Cheer up! Don't just sit there and watch videos or stalk other people's profiles for hours. Leverage your social media accounts to find a job!

Environmental wise, internet shops of cafes are not designed to cater a mood for writing. But if you have no other options, it could be your best move.

Writing for online companies isn’t that complex, neither it is easy. You need, at least, good written English communication skills of course to start. You cannot write an article if you have a poor command in English, that’s obvious.
Now, to set you in motion, here are some tips to help you start your online career from scratch.

1. Create your Resume. Assuming you already are reading this in an internet café, then you probably wanting to ask me how to write or create your resume for online application. Well, if you are planning to start an article writing job and you haven’t even had an experience, then just create your resume as is. Do not put something in your resume that will mislead your clients online, they will eventually know. And lying is a big no no. Remember, online job is all about trust. Just be prepared to be asked for trial paid or non-paid article to be written by you.
2. Always have a working email or at least an exclusive professional email address to be presented for your future or prospective clients. To be upfront, clients hate to see high schoolish email addresses like dragon_782_killerxxx@yahoo.om or shamrock4242143rocksolid@yahoo.com . they just leave an impression that these emails are created a decade go and filled with spam emails. Use gmail instead, not degrading yahoomail, but I highly recommend it. Keep it short and professional looking like jaybarcena@gmail.com or jofficial@gmail.com .

3. It might be obvious, but check your email at least once every day. And for God’s sake, don’t spend P10 just to check your email then go Facebooking. If you find out that there’s no email in response to your job application, try making your time useful. Find other job postings to apply on. It’s the internet man, it’s full of opportunities.
4. Build your portfolio. A portfolio is very very important. I could not stress it enough. It is a collection of your accomplishments. It could be a list of your built websites for web developers, a gallery of your applications for app developers, links to your works for multitaskers, or sets of articles written for article writers. It is very normal to have no portfolio at this stage, for all of us started at the point where we all have to begin from zero. So, if you wish to be an article writer, you may as well write few articles. If you have no idea how to write one, ask google, they always have answers. If you wish to be a virtual assistant or multitasker, then check out how to do the basics of Wordpress site building.

5. Read read read, oh did I mentioned, READ. Read as much as you can, research as much as you can. You have the internet, grab the opportunity to know. So go on! Make that P10 into a P500-per-hour job.

Majority of Filipino Internet users in the country think the quality of service they get from providers leaves much to be desired, as revealed by data from a recent study by Ericsson’s ConsumerLab.

In the study conducted between 2010 and 2011, ConsumerLab found that 88 percent of those surveyed think quality of service is one of the key areas of improvement for Internet in the Philippines, followed by customer care (47 percent) and billing concerns (5 percent).

What’s revealing, however, was that a lot of Internet users in the quality are willing to shell out more money, if only they can be assured of better service quality.

“At least a third of the population are willing to pay for better quality,” said Vishnu Singh, head of ConumerLab for Ericsson Southeast Asia and Oceania. “So there’s actually an opportunity [for providers] by offering services based on a segmented approach.”

Singh said the requirements of Filipino consumers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, highlighting a clear demand for better quality experience when using the Internet.

To harness this demand, Singh said providers must have a “deeper understanding of their customers’ changing demands” and to deliver on the expectations of consumers.

“Customers will impulsively react to poor experience,” the ConsumerLab executive said, “so the key is to solve their problems and improve the experience at the various touch points that impact the customer journey.”

While not laid out in the study, it has been pointed out in previous reports that mobile Internet in the country is the one that immensely suffers in quality, thanks to factors such as signal strength, interferences, and location that tend to affect the quality of the connection.

The problem has become so dire that last year, the National Telecommunications Commission ordered telcos to publish the minimum speeds users can get with their mobile broadband services, and not just the maximum burst speed that can be obtained during usage.

Telcos, on the other hand, argued that a small minority of users is actually “abusing” their subscription, which tend to affect the overall network quality, leading to the introduction of industry practices such as data caps and fair usage policies.

One telco executive went as far as to declare that their firm’s unlimited data offerings would have to end eventually, citing smaller margins on unlimited data amid higher capital investments required to maintain the infrastructure.

Of the more than 23 million Internet users in the country, the ConsumerLab report said at least 6 million are mobile broadband users. Internet cafes continue to comprise the biggest share of the Philippine Internet pie, with 60 percent of users accessing the Web through such avenues.

Elie Hanna, president and country head of Ericsson Philippines, however said mobile broadband uptake in the country is still at its early stages.

“As smartphones and tablets become more affordable, and as more of them become more available to reach more of the population, then more people would access the Internet using mobile devices,” Hanna said.


And as an Online Filipino Worker, I personally think local internet providers need international competitors to forcibly make them improve their service quality. What do you think? News taken at Interaksyon.

Have you ever redeemed your inheritance from the Prince of Nigeria? Or have you ever claimed your prize as being the 999th visitor?

There's a lot of scams in the internet nowadays. You can't blame them, internet is an open highway, anything can happen. As long as you are careful not to fall on their traps, you are safe to go.

But I will simply outline a list on how to spot an online scammer for online workers' persepective.

There has been a lot of fake ads on job-posting sites that lure hopeful individuals to land a job or earn bucks, but unfortunately get paid by bogus scammers.

Check out these simple checklist to see if a job posting or jobh poster is legit or scam:

1. Does the ad asks you to write series of original contents without assurance of pay? As far as work trial is concerned, a candidate vying for a writing position may only write 1 original content of 500 to 600 words, with an assurance of pay if the article and its rights is kept by the proctor or hiring officer.

2. Is it about data entry with ridiculously high payout? It will only lure you to a site where you need to register, then it will lead you to a sales page and a funnel page with tons of testimonials from people who had earned with proofs(it's obviously fake). then finally, they will ask you to buy a kit, an initial investment for you to start your so-called 'data-entry' job. A job is a job, no such thing as an investment or some sort of payment. A job needs your workforce, not your money.

3. Your opinion worth $2,000+? that's ridiculous, unless you are Lady Gaga, Justin Beiber, Oprah, Katty Perry or any celebrity, your opinion on filling out survey forms will never reach that amount. How are they suppose to pay you with such pay-plan? Do your math, and I'll do mine, I bet they'll be defunct after 5 people signed up.

4. Nanny or Au Pair Needed Immediately? Don't get too excited, it's another scam. They will chat you and then ask you money for you plane ticket as a sign that you are whole-heartedly willing to work with them in London, specifically. They will ask you to send money via Western Union under your name, you may get that money when you arrived. But guess what? they can actually claim the money, leaving you hopelessly devoted! Always look for agencies accredited by POEA. That's the surest and safest way.

5. Bias aside, and no racism intended but most of the people I have met say that the most scammers are from India. Again this is not a generalization, this is merely a guide line. Most of my online worker friends say they had worked for a Hindu National, and never paid them. India is a beautifula nd very big counrty, we can't generalize, I only meant to stay on the white side of the horizon and be safe. Be vigilant and cautious. There's still a lot of Hindu nationals who religiously pay their employees.

As I reiterate, this post is a mere guide line pointing my finger to the last entry I added. Entries 1 to 4 are proven 98% accurate. The last entry still needs more vigilance and caution. By all means, be vigilant, and do not risk everything up for something not worth risking for.

Outsourcers, yes you! The one hiring Filipinos online doing the work for you paying us the fraction of the cost... yes am talking to you.

You might probably have heard of some horrible outsourcing experience, where offshore employees that slack, don't comprehend, poor quality and worst disappear or AWOL.

Dang! Wait, before you wave you white flag and throw the towel to the ring, let us first analyze what made them do that(like disappearing or slacking or not comprehending properly)

Let us check these 7 deadly outsourcing mistakes that could have doomed your way:

1. Over Micromanagement

Micromanagement is good, but more than micro is not good. Keep your distance and let your employees at least commit mistakes. We learn by mistakes not by succeeding, isn't it?

2. Iron Fisting

All work with no praise is considered iron fisting. Give your workers a praise for a good work, even simple tasks that is religiously done is worth praising for.

3. Over Expectation

Reverse your psychology, it's always better to expect less and get more, than expect more and get less. try to be considerate specially during the first month of probation period with your newly hired employees.

4. Demanding

It is not OK to be demanding even if you are paying us. Filipinos have a different set of culture with a different paradigm definition of what 'demanding' is. Asking something you can't even do is not reasonable at all. Make sure, before you assign and demand something, you can also do it equivalently. If else, better not demand.

5. God Complexity

You are no longer open for opinion, and you only listen to yourself, which you consider all knowing. That is a big fat no no when it comes to this business. And on any kind of business. In a working environment, being open is one key ways to succeed, and if your'e not, you are actually closing doors to your success.

6. Perfectionism

Nothing more to explain, because you think it's flawed, so no need to explain but reject. Nothing is perfect, and you simply want everything to be perfect. You let your employees exert too much effort, even on small things in order to be perfect. Remember the 80-20 rule? 80% of success comes from 20% of effort. try not to make things perfect, acceptable is enough,

7. No Direction

No goals, no bounds, no sets of objectives and you are surefire spiraling down the sink. Remember, a business needs a model and you are the executive. There must be a backbone and you are the one setting it. You can not expect your workers to do it for you. You must have, first and foremost, have the initiative to set the sail and direct where your business must go.

Do you ever have at least one of those mentioned 7 deadly outsourcing sins? Think again, you might have one clinging at your back. It's like a monkey that clings and you are definitely most not aware of.

alternativeto.net

This was the most recent place on the web I just checked out, and I was totally amazed by how these guys where able to gather hoards, groups and tons of app developers to have their free alternative apps.

When we say alternative apps, those are the apps that can replace a generic or mainstream app. They are basically free and the site earns mostly by Google Adsense.

I checked tons of apps you can practically use and replace your premium app costing you nothing. It's nuts!

Since most of us prepare most of our college years to communicate and socialize effectively in a common goal of having to impress bosses during a job interview, but do you know that we sometimes jeopardize our chances of landing that job?

While this is not applicable for online job seekers, I would highly recommend you check this out. This does not only educate you but also make you aware of the common mistakes we make during an interview non-verbally.

Average measured Internet connection speed by Asia Pacific country/region. Source: Akamai

Akamai Internet report

Planning a country hopping where you can play your online games without lag and download movies in a blazing speed? You probably need to check out South Korea, as it ranks 1st as having the fastest internet connectivity.