DESCRIPTION:

Stuck working on lame Rails apps?

We work with well funded Silicon Valley startups building the apps you’ll be talking about tomorrow. Our ideal candidate has the experience and work ethic to lead a team of amazing Rails developers in large, 3-5 month Rails projects for high visibility startups with high expectations.

The position is 100% telecommute with flexible work hours + benefits. (Must be in the US or Canada.)

In this role, you’ll be asked to continuously grow as a Rails developer, learning on and off the job as needed in order to keep pace with the latest Rails development techniques and gems.

We’re a close knit and highly skilled team and would love to work with an equally talented and personable Sr. Rails developer. If we still have your attention, we’d love to hear from you!

REQUIREMENTS:

• Experience launching multiple user-based Rails applications in production environments (you should know what you’re doing)
• BDD / rSpec / Capybara / Cucumber (we do a good amount of testing)
• API / 3rd Party integration (it’s all about the connections)
• Commitment to Rails best practices and good documentation (your code should play well with others)
• Ability to lead a project from concept to completion (get ‘r done)
• A track record of client/peer testimonials (clients love us and we want them to love you too!)

Company Information: UpTrending
Contact Information: careers@uptrending.com

URL: Authentic Jobs

Experienced Transcriptionist

DESCRIPTION:

Busy Boston-based transcription company is looking for transcriptionists with a minimum of 3 years experience in the transcription field. Experience is a must and knowledge of medical terminology and/or prior working experience with accents is a plus.

REQUIREMENTS:

The following skills are necessary

• Typing speed of a minimum of 90 words per minute.
• Possess exceptional spelling, vocabulary, grammar and listening skills.
• Ability to meet deadlines.
• Experience with using Google as a research tool.

If you possess all of the above, please contact us via email. Please include your resume or transcription experience in the body of your email.

NO ATTACHMENTS PLEASE AND NO PHONE CALLS.

Company Information: New England Transcripts
Contact Information: newenglandtranscripts@verizon.net

URL: Genuine Jobs

Web Development SMES/Authors

DESCRIPTION:

Studio B is seeking writers and accepting proposals for 1,500 and 2,000-word articles on Web Development topics, including HTML5, Dojo, CSS, AJAX, Web 2.0, Wikis, and Mash-ups.

REQUIREMENTS:

Candidates should have good developer skills, ability to create original code and/or examples and downloads for readers to learn about and utilize the concepts relating to the topic. Professional writing experience is not required, but is a plus. However, candidates do need to provide writing samples that demonstrate good writing skills.

We are looking for fresh ideas that are not already well covered by other writers in the field. If you would be interested in participating in this project and would like more information, please apply online and submit your resume. If we already have your resume on file, please feel free to send a note directly to Renee Midrack at the e-mail address below for further information.

Company Information: Studio B
Contact Information: renee@studiob.com

URL: Genuine Jobs

Based on estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, by the end of 2010 the Obama-led stimulus package had created close to 3 million jobs. However, the unemployment rate still hovers around 9 percent. It can even be represented as high as 16 percent if those who have given up looking for a job or only found part-time work are counted. While it is disconcerting the economy is in this state, it is on the upswing. If passed, Obama’s new proposal, The American Jobs Act, could make some very tangible and positive change. The change that Obama is proposing would affect small business first. This is extremely positive because they are often supporters of American’s first jobs as well as our country’s freelancers.

Freelancers, by trade, are independent. While this does make it difficult in terms of insurance and support, it means that freelancers have the ability to amass multiple small gigs to support themselves in times when full-time positions may not be available. In the current economy a lot of smaller businesses may not have the budget to bring someone on full-time or they may just not have the office space. By giving each of these businesses a boost, things could really look up for people hoping for more freelance work or an internal position at a place they currently freelance.

With possible opportunities coming down the pipeline, freelancers should keep their ears to the ground. So many people are unemployed that new positions will get snapped up quickly. Additionally, the job drought has left a lot of people weary and understandably slacking on their efforts. In order to become even more competitive, freelancers should make a point to reconnect with professional outlets. Personal branding is extremely important for freelancers and independent contractors alike, so using social media, networking and a resume service would be extremely beneficial in the job search.

The American Jobs Act has a great chance to pass. Obama’s plan is purposefully uncontroversial. It’s clearly constructed using both conservative and liberal efforts to simply create jobs. The President made a point to emphasize the urgency of the bill – that it needed to be “passed now” and to keep politics out of it. The proposal ensures that “small businesses will get a tax cut if they hire new workers or if they raise workers’ wages.” Obama continued on to promise “all small business owners will see their payroll taxes cut in half this next year.” This would certainly help the economy.

With election time drawing nigh, politicians can become finicky over which bills they will and will not pass – neither party wanting the other to seem like they’re being productive. A President running for re-election gets even worst treatment as the inability to pass a bill really mars their record. However, compliments toward Obama were clear as politically mixed crowds continued to give him rounds of applause and approving nods. Lately, Congress has not been speedy on passing anything, so hopefully the necessity for action and the fairness of this proposal will be enough to create a joint effort in creating jobs.

Thomas Stone is a freelance content-author, contractor and a contributor to Technected.

photo credit: Lars Plougmann

Top 5 Business Tips – a long list of “5 tips” lists on many business topics.  I like this because it cuts out a lot of the fluff and gets right down to important tips on each topic.

4 Ways You Can Use Quickbooks to Manage Prices in a Down Economy – nifty tips for managing in today’s economy.

Use Invoices That Encourage Action - I really like this one.  I will be implementing this in my own business strategy.  Using a “call to action” has always been taught in business and marketing, makes total since to use it to collect your money.

Determining Your Personal Return On Investment – I really like this.  So many of us try to do it all just because we can.

DESCRIPTION:

YouGov is a global opinion research company that is innovating rapidly in survey systems technology and visual analytics. Our flagship BrandIndex product tracks consumer opinion on thousands of brands in many countries daily. Our clients access the data via a wonderfully easy to use and fast analytic interface.

We’re now building other analytic products and need to expand our highly skilled team with multiple front-end developers. You’ll be building interactive interfaces for visualizing large data sets and gaining rapid insight. Our interfaces need to be snappy, intuitive, and rock solid.

REQUIREMENTS:

Experience with visualization toolkits such as Protoviz, HighCharts, FusionCharts, or Google Charts will be extremely valuable. You must also be fluent in jQuery.

We don’t do IE6.

We use python, jQuery, and of course html and css to build our systems. Databases include Postgres and MongoDB as well as some custom dbs. We often use R for analytics and we are disciples of the Tufte school of information design.

Our team is distributed from Germany to Peru, with higher concentrations in London and Palo Alto, so everyone is tuned to remote collaboration. We’d love to have you in Palo Alto for this job but if you’re far away we can live with that. We just ask that you work in a timezone that lets you work frequently with our Palo Alto team.

Company Information: YouGov
Contact Information: michel.floyd@yougov.com

URL: Authentic Jobs

DESCRIPTION:

Can you condense a complex article in two sentences?

Can you meet multiple daily deadlines?

Do you know the difference between a semiconductor and an integrated circuit?

Then you’re the person for us!

SmartBrief is seeking a freelance writer to help create daily online business and consumer news e-mail publications for the following beat: technology. Candidates would need to be available to start between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. EST Monday through Friday. Topics covered that a candidate needs proficiency in include: consumer electronics, semiconductors, and cable TV.

What we’re looking for: A gadget guru who loves writing and who thrives in a fast-paced, deadline-intensive, newsroom-style work environment, yet can work independently to meet those deadlines since this is a telecommuting position.

Job Duties:

• Search the Web to locate news articles and other information sources of interest to senior executives.
• Select and summarize online articles, studies and other information for use in e-mail publications.
• Use online publishing tools to create e-mail newsletters and other content.

REQUIREMENTS:

The ideal candidate has worked as a writer or editor on a technology beat for a newspaper, trade journal or industry publication with multiple daily deadlines. Our briefs summarize in two sentences the top stories of the day for dozens of industry associations, and our freelancers work with our editors to shape that content. You will not be reporting or writing long-form articles in this position!

Applicants will be asked to complete a timed writing test. This position is a telecommuting position.

Required Skills & Experience:

• Proven writing skills. (A timed test is given.)
• Ability to write quickly and accurately on deadline, starting at 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. EST, Monday through Friday.
• Sophisticated understanding of how to find news and information on the Web.
• Knowledge of Associated Press style.
• Facility for using online publishing tools.
• Strong interpersonal and communications skills.
• Proven record of sharing responsibilities and managing multiple projects/deadlines simultaneously.

Company Information: SmartBrief, Inc
Contact Information: Please send your resume & cover letter to jobs@smartbrief.com with ‘Freelance Technology Writer’ in the subject line.

URL: Genuine Jobs

DESCRIPTION:

About the Company:

The Local Kids Network is a growing network of websites that integrates videos of kids doing news, views and reviews in addition to having community business listings, family friendly Things To Do and Deals, and local news.

The Local Kids Network is growing by approximately 10 new cities per month and we are looking for great support staff and contractors to help with our expansion. As a new company, there will be lots of room to grow as the company grows. Ideal candidates are self-starters, with drive, ambition, goal oriented, need little supervision, and who understand that we are each responsible for the direction in our lives and willing to take responsibility for their actions and where they go with the company.

Sales Manager Position:

Sales Managers are Independent Contractors who start w/1 city and grow to selling several cities or national accounts business listings and banner ads. Duties will include: contacting advertisers via email and phone, following up with sales inquiries, closing sales, and tracking sales leads in a spreadsheet.

REQUIREMENTS:

Sales Managers would be responsible for meeting a minimum monthly sales standard, checking email, connecting with a supervisor at least weekly, and attending training via a computer as needed. They will also need a computer with Internet access and a phone line. Sales Managers do NOT have to live in the cities assigned, so location (except for being in the US) is not important.

Local Kids will provide the email, training, and a virtual phone number for customers to call that will ring to your private number.

Company Information: Local Kids Network
Contact Information: Please email me at amanda@localkidsnetwork.com with your resume and cover letter focusing on why you think this would be a great job for you right now in your life.

URL: Genuine Jobs

Guru.com and Elance.com are two big freelancing sites. They’re not for everyone, admittedly, but if you want a central place to let jobs come to you, these are leading sites to use. We’ve watched for a few years as Elance stayed current with the times and although Guru.com boasted a lot of jobs, it lagged behind Elance in terms of bells and whistles. (For example, Elance has a stronger community, regular helpful newsletters, Elance University, and a faster adoption of social media).

But we have been really happy to see Guru.com make big strides by creating Guru Answers. Guru Answers is basically a forum-style site on Guru.com where employers can post questions about projects and these questions can be answered by freelancers. The questions range from early-stage questions to ‘what now?’ questions. An early-stage question would be “What kind of code should I have my site designed with?”. A ‘what now?’ question would be “How do I get more of the right kind of freelancer to bid on my project?”

This is a good move by Guru.com for a few reasons:

First, it helps the employer to feel an enhanced sense of value from Guru.com as freelancers offer free advice and guidance to help employers plan their project. Employers who perceive this value will be more likely to post the project on Guru.com and hire a freelancer from there. This helps avoid the all-too-common situation of employers posting at all job boards but hiring their niece’s boyfriend to build their website.

Second, it helps the employer create realistic projects. In some of the questions we’ve seen so far, employers wondered why no one was bidding on their job and answers helped to point out criteria that freelancers have when bidding, which helps the employer to fix his or her project. One example was when an employer said “I invited hundreds of freelancers but barely got any bids.” To which the freelancers pointed out that they often ignore bids with more than 20 or 30 bids on them; or other freelancers pointed out that that projects that are too small aren’t worth the time to bid on. These are important considerations for employers looking to hire professionals.

Third, it gives freelancers another way to connect with employers – to demonstrate their expertise and to get involved early in the project. We know of one freelancer who has acquired two jobs in the past month simply by answering questions on Guru Answers. It’s a way for freelancers to “jump the line” and get their name planted in the mind of the employer so that when the project is posted, the employer will recognize the high value freelancer who connected with them early.

Guru Answers isn’t perfect. The sorting and searching mechanisms are fairly rudimentary. And, because it’s new, there aren’t a lot of questions posted yet. But this is a good move by Guru.com and can help to make a big difference for freelancers on Guru who want to win more projects.

Guru was lagging behind Elance but it’s making strides to catch up: It’s now on Facebook and Twitter, a blog is coming soon. We’ve been bugging them for more user-training tools. We’re hoping to see Guru catch up and bypass Elance to offer employers and freelancers the ultimate solution.

The infinite monkey theorem says that a single monkey tapping away on a typewriter for an infinite length of time will eventually type out the entire works of Shakespeare.

I’m sure Shakespeare wouldn’t like to hear that. And neither would anyone else who writes for a living. (“What? You mean to tell me that I charge for my writing when someone who has a monkey plus a lot of time can get their writing done, too?”).

There’s one thing we’ve learned here at FreelanceWeekly about monkeys and typewriters: When those monkeys leave their dumber chimpanzee cousins to fill in while the monkeys themselves sip margaritas and snorkel off of a catamaran, the work doesn’t necessarily get done. Last week, we were “Freelance Not-So-Weekly”. Sorry about that. We’ve sent the chimps packing.

To make it up to you, I want to give you a list of reasons why freelancing is awesome. This may sound like a funny list for one freelancer to give to another freelancer, but I find it’s helpful to revisit this list from time to time… when the work goes from enjoyable to frustrating, or when a customer gives some particularly critical feedback.

Why become a freelancer #1: There’s no boss. The only boss is you. And your customers. And your spouse and kids. But all of those bosses put together are still dramatically better than working for Mr. Don’t-Screw-Up-Or-It’s-Your-Job-On-The-Line.

Why become a freelancer #2: The customers are your customers. At a day job, customers come and go. It’s no big deal. But in your business, every customer is an asset. Your business is worth so much more because one more person said “yes”.

Why become a freelancer #3: Coworkers. Ah, coworkers. I don’t know about you but half of my coworkers drove me crazy in my real job. The gossip, the romances, the competitiveness. Actually, it’s not really that different from grade school. Or high school. Or college. (And, according to my grandfather, the retirement home is exactly the same). Freelancing is the one and only escape route from that.

Why become a freelancer #4: It’s all about you. Yeah, it’s all about serving your customers but they are relying on you to be the awesome freelancer that you are. If you suck, they suffer. But since you don’t suck, it’s good for them and they respect, trust, admire, and rely on you.

Why become a freelancer #5: Daytime television. If you want to watch daytime television, you can. You don’t have to record “As the World Turns” and watch it when the kids are in bed. And if daytime television isn’t your thing, there are lots of other interests that you might have that you can do when you want (as long as you get your work done, of course).

On good days (which are many; and the longer you’re in the business the better it gets), I LOVE being a freelancer. And on my bad days, when it feels like things are crumbling all around, I just remember this: My worst day as a freelancer is better than my best day as an employee.

It cannot be stressed enough, the importance of knowing your body and being aware of any changes that may occur. This applies to men as well as women. So far in 2009, there have been 192,370 new cases of women with breast cancer and 1,910 cases of men diagnosed. All women should have a yearly exam performed by their physician. Unless qualifying factors of genetics, or other health issues warrant earlier screening, yearly mammograms should be done beginning at 40 years of age. A mammogram does not hurt, or leave any marks, as many believe. It is a bit awkward situating yourself in the machine, but it really isn’t as bad as you may have heard. The importance of the procedure far outweighs any brief discomfort you may feel, and it could be a large factor in saving your life. Early detection is the key for a successful treatment program of any illness.

You can contact the Center for Disease control to find a provider of free or low cost mammograms in your area. The phone number is 888-842-6355 or you can visit their website at www.cdc.gov. Many other websites offer information and links to various drug assistance programs. The Shirley Mae Breast Cancer Assistance Fund is a foundation set up in 2000 by Roy Goldberg in honor of his mother, Shirley Mae. 100% of all donations the foundation receives are used for assistance towards diagnosed breast cancer patients. Cancercare.org is another resource for medication assistance. There are many available programs out there and a one stop visit to the site of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, nbcam.org, has a listing of several of those programs.

Strides are being made every day in the field. New treatment options are constantly available and research is never ending. The most common cancer in US women, breast cancer, has seen a steady decline of deaths related to the disease since 1990, so progress is definitely being made.

New laws and rights have been implemented to protect patients that have been diagnosed with breast cancer. So even if you have a previous condition related to breast cancer or ongoing doctors’ care, any health insurance obtained will apply to the care and treatment of the disease.

So my friends, take time this month to do something for you. Be aware of your body. Schedule your mammogram. Tell your friends. Take care of yourself and the ones you love.

With a free membership, your profile and expertise is posted for all potential clients to view. Some of the clients may not even be members of the site, as it is open for anyone on the World Wide Web to view. Setting up your profile and account is very simple, just create a unique user name using a valid email and build your profile. What can be simpler than that?

Here’s how it works… The person with a job, posts their job on the board. They list all the specifics of the task and how much they are willing to pay. The jobs are then “won” on a bidding system. All correspondence and payments are handled through the site. If you don’t have a PayPal account, the site offers a free online fund account that allows you to have a secure place for all payments receivable.

A small commission is paid, both by the buyer and the provider (you). Once you’ve won a project or received your payment, getafreelancer.com holds 10% or $5.00, whichever is greater. A finders fee, you could call it. This is how you are able to utilize their service with no money out of pocket.

The site does offer an upgraded Gold membership. With this membership, you pay a flat monthly rate of $12.00. There are no commission fees taken from your compensation and your Gold member status is clearly noted on your profile. Many buyers look specifically for Gold members when hiring for projects.

All interactions are offered the opportunity to rate their experience with the other party at the conclusion of the project. The rating system is based on a 10 point scale. It allows buyers to see which freelancers have been productive and pleasant to work with; perhaps persuading them to contact you directly for a job, versus posting it for bidding. It also allows freelancers to see the buyers that are serious and legitimate with their work offers.

All in all, this site is fun to dig around in. It clearly shows all the categories with current job postings. It can virtually eliminate some of your costly advertising expenses yet allow you to expand your client base. When using a tool such as this site, your days of wondering where your next client will come from will soon be gone.

Ok, you’ve done it. You have taken a big step and become a freelancer. Maybe your decision was influenced by downsizing or micromanagement at your previous job. Maybe your decision was influenced by an epiphany concerning your career or personal life.  Whatever the reason, you have done it. You are now a bonafide freelancer.

Free from the corporate world, you may have trepidations about those little things that are now missing. Things like health benefits, dental benefits and retirement plans. Never fear fellow freelancer, just because you don’t have an overbearing supervisor breathing down your neck, doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the security offered in the corporate world. Check out Freelancers Union. They are your voice. They are your friends. They are your guardian angel.  Ok, so maybe that’s a little melodramatic, but it sure is nice to know there is someone out there that has your back.  They have the resources needed to allow you to affordably continue some of the benefits you may have sacrificed when you waved goodbye to the 9 to 5 shackles.

There are group rates on health insurance and dental benefits. They lobby on YOUR behalf for tax breaks and fair tax laws. Unemployment compensation is virtually unheard of in the freelancing world, you have to either sue or just walk away with a loss. Freelancers Union says NO MORE.

The union was founded in 1995 by Sara Horowitz, a former Labor Lawyer. The home page of the site has so much useful information that I almost forgot I was supposed to be writing a blog about it. I didn’t want to leave. Ah, the beauty of freelancing, I can go back to the site whenever I want. But I digress.

Joining the union is simple and free. First they ask for a valid email address. Immediately after entering the email, they send you a link to sign up. They ask for the basic personal information such as address and contact info.  Then there is a section to set up your password. After that, you can select which, if any, subscription offers you would like. If you do not select any, they assure you that you will only be contacted no more than four times in the course of a year. It’s nice to know you won’t be bombarded with a bunch of unwanted email after you join. They have you fill out some brief demographics about yourself and your chosen field. Then, last but not least, you are invited to create a public profile for the sites’ yellow pages. The yellow pages open the doors for many opportunities within the site amongst the members. I can easily see this site quickly becoming one of my ‘go to’ sites.