Ziptask is a newer site for freelancers that may interest you if you are looking for flexibility combined with good pay (as most of us are in a work from home job). To me, this seems like a sort of cross between Fancy Hands (which is a pay-per-task virtual assisting company) and freelancer sites like oDesk, Elance, etc because there is something there for almost every skill set, with the difference there being that you do not have to get into a bidding war for the jobs you want as you do on most other freelancer sites.
Pay
With Ziptask, you are paid per minute rather than per task. The rate you receive will depend on the complexity of the work. The Ziptask FAQ states that most office/administrative-type tasks that are easier will net you anywhere between $5 and $10 an hour usually while more complex things like graphic design and programming pay closer to around $15 or $20 an hour. There are four different rates total – $5 an hour, $10 an hour, $15 an hour, $20 an hour.
Ziptask will send funds directly into your bank account after your work has been looked over and approved.
This page has more information about getting paid at Ziptask.
Getting Work
The Ziptask FAQ states that “Freelancers are prioritized based on availability, skill, experience, quality, accuracy, and other metrics.” These things determine which jobs get sent to you in your work queue. When jobs appear in your work queue, you can either accept or skip them. Skipping jobs here does not hurt your rating or keep you from getting other jobs in your queue in the future.
Scheduling
This is one of those flexible work at home jobs where you can work when you want without having to adhere to any schedule. They have a worker app that you download for your browser (apparently the app does not work for Macs at this time although they claim it is coming soon), and this will alert you when there are jobs in your queue. You can work on jobs at any time and if you find you can’t finish something you’ve started, there is an option to “hand off” the work to another freelancer. If you do this, you will still be paid for the time you did spend working on it.
Applying to Ziptask
The application process appears to be pretty simple. There is a short form to fill out (with a ton of check boxes for you to let them know what skills you have). You will also need to upload your resume. Ziptask does require that you are a US resident who speaks English.
Get Started
If you want to go ahead and get started on your Ziptask application, you can go here to apply. Good luck!
If anyone has any experience with Ziptask, please feel free to share it in the comments below.
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Hi, I’m Seth, Ziptask’s Digital Editor-at-Large! I wanted to thank you for the article; it’s very well-written and shows off our best qualities! Keep up the good work.
I appreciate the compliments, Seth! Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment!
How long does it take to hear back from them. Does anyone know?
I applied on their website on Wednesday. I then got a message that they were currently only hiring people with oDesk accounts (which fortunately I do have!) After I contacted them with my oDesk information, I received an invitation to interview through oDesk. I completed that information also on Wednesday, but I haven’t heard anything new since. We’ll see what happens!
Good luck Aerin! Please do come back and let me know how your interview goes.
Hi there,
We are accepting applications on our network once again. Apply at http://www.ziptask.com/freelance
Our new and relaunched system is centered around a project manager, and we are excited to introduce it to the world.
That’s good news, Shawn! Thanks for letting me know!