I’ve complained that the vast majority of jobs I’ve bid at freelance sites (internal link) appeared to have never been awarded. I’d put together an individually crafted bid, wait weeks, only to have the job disappear from the system. There would be no word on what happened. I think I now know what goes on.

Over the weekend I entertained a number of e-mails from a person that seemed intent on hiring me. He also seemed serious about conducting our conversation outside the Guru.com communication system. It seems obvious: once people find a good prospect, they then circumvent a site’s mail program, all to avoid paying fees to the site which was responsible for putting them together in the first place. This is why the jobs never seem to get awarded; both parties have dropped off the site and are communicating privately.

Is there any reason to continue drafting bids at these sites? Freelancer.com has new language on their site which declares they are better monitoring the jobs being posted. Perhaps. But I won’t be back until I hear from other people that they have cleaned up their act. Showing me that jobs are actually awarded would be a good first step. Until then, I’m not participating.