I've noticed something kind of odd recently, the less specific you are in your job descriptions when posting on freelancing sites, the more likely you will have freelancers respond to your job posting.
Why is this? I'm not entirely sure but my guess is that clients who don't know entirely what they want or are looking for are easier to please. While this sounds counter intuitive I'm not sure it is. If someone doesn't know what to ask for you have a higher likelihood of pleasing them. If a person posts job descriptions that detail exactly what software they want to utilize and how the design will look it seems most web designers just say, “Forget it, I'll look at other jobs.”
Typically people who are specific will be picky about what is done and not done with the design and functionally of a website. I know since I'm one of these more discerning job posters and lately I can't seem to get any good freelancers to reply to my job offers since my job postings are quite detailed. I usually spell it all out in the description to not waste anyone's time. It seems like I set my standards too high I guess as I've gotten few replies.
While this is true across the board, I've noticed web designers especially hate details on oDesk. I've used Freelancer and Elance but the people that work on oDesk seem to really not respond well to specific job descriptions. I guess most of the people on there rather get into working with clients that have no idea what to ask for. Basically I see a lot of job postings like this with tons of replies;
Need eCommerce website built for sports warehouse.
Build website for small business in Washington.
I'm not joking I've seen job descriptions that this short and really unclear about what someone wants from a designer or developer. I guess most of these people are easy to please as you give them anything and they are happy.
What has your experience been with writing job descriptions on freelancing sites? Do you get frustrated with the lack of response when you are specific about what you want/need and are looking for from web designers or developers? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
