Elance Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Elance as a contractor for less than a year

Pros – Great way to start on freelancing, varied pay depending on jobs, you can find one thats right for you in no time.

Cons – Varied pay by bidding means more than likely you will not be looked at if you are anything but the lowest bidder, no matter what content your portfolio has and how amazing of an artist you may be.

Advice to Senior Management – No advice to management, it is a really good service they provide for both new and seasoned freelancers.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Elance as a contractor for less than a year

Pros – A good mix of projects available. Elance sets the terms for engagement and so long as you follow them it is a straightforward process to bid and obtain work. It is helpful to clarify requirements up front. Repeat work is likely if the project is a success.

Cons – Sometimes it is dificult to calbrate requests, ie what does detailed mean?

Advice to Senior Management – Potentially look to provide standardized terminology or reference points to help clients and consultants reach common understanding more quickly. Consider training or accreditation that is good for consultants and serves the same purpose of making things better for both clients and consultants.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Elance full-time for more than a year

Pros – great people, friendly work environment, working on a product that has a positive social impact around the world

Cons – I can't think of any downsides right now. I this is a great company to work in and I like it here.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Elance as a contractor for more than a year

Pros – -Many employment opportunities in a plethora of different fields.
-Great platform to interact with clients
-Workroom is amazing
-Handles all escrowed funds and tax information
-Quick and easy payments

Cons – -Lots of competition with foreign contractors (Especially in IT)
-No internal messaging between contractors<->clients (unless you're proposal is accepted)

Advice to Senior Management – Weed out some of the spam that my clients have to deal with before seeing my proposals.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Elance full-time

Pros – There are a lot of them: Work from home every other week. The hiring of freelancers is encouraged. Everyone in the company is passionate about the vision. Senior management seems to care a great deal about everyone at the company.

Cons – Working in Mountain View is not as fun as working in San Francisco, particularly if you have to commute

Advice to Senior Management – Keep bringing in new talent and keep listening to their ideas.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Elance full-time for more than a year

Pros – Elance has a noble mission - to connect businesses and entrepreneurs with freelance talent from anywhere in the world. This is a barrier reduction and facilitates global trade on a mass scale. This empowers people all around the world, yes including people in the U.S., to be a business of one. Ultimately, the platforms like Elance increase competition in the labor markets, which is good for society in the long run. Many companies say they are trying to change the world, but Elance really is changing the world. Like other people have said, the environment is very laid back, which can be a challenge to anyone who is ambitious and has a lot of ideas to improve the business.

Cons – Not many cons, other than the company has so much promise and doesn't move fast enough considering it's relatively small size. Tons of niche labor marketplaces are coming online now to challenge Elance and their main competitor as a result. There isn't much of a risk taking mentality at the company, which hinder it's chances from reaching an exit. Ideas are often looked upon as a challenge to senior management authority

Advice to Senior Management – Your platform inspires entrepreneurs around the world - you should build some of that inspiration and entrepreneurial spirit into the company culture/DNA - it will unleash the creativity of your employees.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Elance full-time for less than a year

Pros – I love what Elance stands for, bringing career opportunities to people around the world in a matter of seconds. As a recent graduate student, the Senior Managers have really challenged me in all possible directions. They have pushed me out of my comfort zone and let me do things they know I could achieve. I have been with the company very shortly, but I have learned a great deal about the business and how to succeed in it. Not only is the company great, but so are the people. People at Elance really strive to do their best every day because customer satisfaction is our number one priority. Overall, Elance is a fast-paced environment filled with dedicated people that are eager to learn and contribute to a growing industry.

Cons – The only negative thing I would have to say is the long commute. My travel time to and from work is at least an hour each way. The company does offer work from home days every other week to help those that do have a long commute.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Elance full-time for more than a year

Pros – Elance is a great place to work. Management is solid with a real commitment to excellence that permeates through the culture. There is a strong focus on hiring well, and as a result, the team is smart and the people who work there are can-do people. There is good teamwork across departments and it fosters an environment that is very solution-oriented. The industry of online work is a fast-paced, dynamic one which presents interesting work across the board from engineering to marketing. The culture is supportive and friendly (and family-friendly). The people are fun to work with, the work is challenging and the world of online work is fascinating and growing rapidly. Overall, a solid, stable, fun and interesting place to work.

Cons – For me, the only downside was my commute. Management was very supportive and let me adjust hours for my commute and even offered work from home days.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Elance full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – -Collaboration is encouraged and valued
-Career growth is supported, allowing you to learn multiple skills
-Leadership team is very involved with working teams to provide guidance
-Online employment is exciting new space and provides opportunity to help revolutionize work

Cons – -Communication isn't always trickled down from the leadership team
-Job responsibilities & org structure aren't always clear

Advice to Senior Management – -Share org changes with company

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Elance full-time for less than a year

Pros – Love working here! The company overall has a great atmosphere, the team is very committed to building a business that is not just a fast-growth flame but real and sustainable; and the team is strong while being humble. A truly great place to work.

Cons – The cubicles are very 1990... glad they will be fixing that soon though. And we don't have a cafe and the location is somewhat of a food desert... but all small gripes.

Advice to Senior Management – Live the mission of changing the world for talent and giving others great opportunities! It's very inspiring, we'd love more.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company