I've been doing this for a few years and I like it but there are some down sides. Usually, mine are those who want work for less than what I'm charging. I don't care for interviews either but realize that if a project is supposed to go on for a while, it's only fair. Last week, I was on a Skype interview with a prospect and out of nowhere, he tells me to turn on my camera so he can see what I look like. Most of my jobs go through oDesk and they have verified my identity. I asked why and got the most amazing answer. He wanted to see if I was "American". I told him that he was amazing for having such a talent. I mean, really, you can look at a person, especially someone from NY or LA (me) where race-mixing is common and people from all walks of life have a firm grasp of the English language. Some better than myself, and this is what I do for a living. He stood firm and I politely told him where to go. I wanted to call him out for being prejudiced but decided that I wanted to get through finals and enjoy the holiday. I wanted to report him to oDesk but realized that being a bigot is not illegal. Oh yeah, and he was one of the cheap ones.
I think you should have reported him. He is paying for your work, isn't he? He isn't paying for your looks, right? Who knows what ulterior motives he had for asking you to turn on your camera. True, being a bigot is not a crime but being a pervert certainly is. I am not saying that he is a pervert but his request is the same kind that perverts make.
Wait I don't understand.. you are American though. You said you are from LA right ? So what's the problem ? You mean he wanted a white person or certain specific race to do the job and you didn't meet the criteria ? Wow. what an idiot. What difference does it make if you fill all criteria for the job and have all the skills necessary to do it? Unfortunately you won't get justice since it is online work but in real life you can have him reported. Employers are not allowed to base their hiring practices on race, religion, sex preference etc .
While equal opportunity employment laws prohibit the exclusion of a hire based on those aforementioned factors, it doesn't mean there may be other hiring regulations that the employer has to follow. In this case, he could be required to hire an American citizen due to labor laws involving foreign workers. Sometimes a company must prove they are unable to find American workers before outsourcing. Just playing devil's advocate.
How can you tell what country a person comes from by seeing them on a camera. Odesk verified your skills and identiy that should have been enough. Sorry you had to go throught such as this. Hope you did have a good Christmas.
I've never had this experience before but I suppose everyone has their quirks, including employers. I think it is within their right to check all the details of who they are hiring but I'm not too sure if this particular case applies to that. I think it's okay and if employees don't want to participate then they can just decline anyway.
If he is required to hire an American citizen, there are ways to 'prove' citizenship without turning on the camera. In person, you provide citizenship proof on a W-4 form. Odesk has a verification process that requires a contractor to provide them with ID and then Odesk shows the contractor as verified. Any obvious race or mix could be a US citizen or if the employer is looking for a Caucasian, there are many who are NOT US citizens so seeing a person on camera proves nothing. I can (maybe) understand them wanting a picture to know who they're working with if it's a long process but that's a personal thing and should happen after the hiring process. To the OP: I agree with you. Even if you're the race the employer expects to see, agreeing to the demand only encourages him to think it's reasonable. You're probably happier not working with him.
Nope. He paid like the content mills. The upside is that this type of writing takes little effort compared to writing copy or research papers.
Of course, but that's not to exclude the possibility that the individual doing the hiring is clueless about legitimate hiring practices. Also, there's a possibility that whatever job the OP was looking for required knowing what the person looks like. I mean, things like modelling, acting and other such gigs are pretty appearance-dependent. I'm not sure how hiring practices factor in to this, but it may further complicate things. I mean, it all sounds shady, but I'm just throwing out some possibilities.
So, he is paying for your writing. He is paying for content. He is not paying for looks or paying for nationality. You have already done the right thing. The next thing is to upgrade your writing to better paying jobs.
I hardly use Skype for any type of work. I just wasn't ware that you could do that sort of thing. I think that it would always be strange when someone asks to see you during a Skype interview, but It's better that he asks you than for him to always wonder. It's quite common to want to know what somebody looks like.
Wow, what a weirdo!!! I can only put it down to him being bigoted and/or a pervert. I agree with the other members, how would you prove someone was a certain nationality just by looking at them? Granted I have known people to think that just because someone is a person of colour they can't possibly be British, so maybe he too holds that misguided view. I think you did the right thing in turning him flat down, I would have done the same thing. The job also was a writing gig; the last I checked that doesn't require you to look a certain way. I say good luck to him securing the right person for the job. Although racism will probably never die in our lifetime, we live in a global village where there're many interracial marriages, we're all related to people of different ethnicities, we interact with and are friends with people of different races. Chances are he'll offend many people, and will find it hard to get someone to work for him.
