vWorker.com Sourcing Types

Recommended for:

• Employers who have the technical ability and time to interview the workers well.
• Non design projects like programming, writing, virtual assistants, etc..

How it works:

1. The employer posts a description of the project and workers bid for the job.
2. The employer interviews them by talking with them online, as well as by evaluating their bid, resume, ratings (left by previous employers) and any Expert Guarantee they may have made.
3. The employer picks the best candidate as the winner and then escrows funds with vWorker.com. This proves to the worker that the employer has the ability to pay, but protects the employer from having to make a direct (and risky) advance payment.
4. When the work is completed, the employer releases the funds from escrow to the worker.
5. If there is a dispute, vWorker.com steps in with free arbitration.
   • If the worker did not deliver, the employer receives their funds back via one of the money back guarantees:
     • Pay-for-deliverables: Triple-point money-back guarantee
     • Pay-for-time: AccuBilling money-back guarantee
   • If the employer unfairly withheld payment, then the worker receives payment via the worker payment guarantee.

More information:

• What are the advantages and disadvantages?
  
  Advantages:

  • Simplest and quickest.
  • Most familiar to anyone who has done traditional hiring.
  • Most affordable (cheapest).

  Disadvantages:

  • Interviewing: Requires the employer to have the ability and time to interview well, which not everyone can do (especially when hiring a person working in a field outside of one's own expertise). Note: if this describes an employer, then they should consider a different sourcing type (or hire a 'Sherpa' to do the interviewing for them).
  • Certain project types: Does not work well for certain project types (like design) where the employer can't predict in advance how well the person will do. For example: in design projects, samples of previous work in portfolios are easily faked, making interviewing no better than guess work.
• Click here for step-by-step details for employers and workers.

Recommended for:

• Employers who want to choose the best candidate but don't have the technical ability or time to do it.
• Short projects that take a contestant two days or less to do. (Note: For larger projects, see "trialsourcing" instead).
• All categories of work, but especially suited to short design projects like logos, websites, business cards, t-shirts, brochures, architecture, etc.

How it works:

1. The employer posts a description of the work and escrows funds for a prize.
2. The workers submit their entry(ies) for the prize, which the employer rates (on a scale of one to five). The employer also gives feedback so they can refine their submission (if necessary). If the visibility of the project is public then the workers can view what other workers have submitted and how the employer liked/disliked their worker. This lets them better hone their submission to the employers' satisfaction.
3. PerfectPricing™: If the worker needs a higher prize to participate, they post their proposed prize amount to the employer. The employer can review their resume and qualifications and then decide whether or not to raise it to get their participation.
4. After the contest is complete, the employer picks the best worker as the winner who then receives the prize money. The employer then receives copyright to the purchased deliverables. All non selected contestants retain full copyright to their own work, and it may not be used by the employer (unless the two work out mutually agreeably terms).
5. If none of the contestants were good for the employer, then they have the option to choose no-one and receive a refund via the money-back guarantee. (Note: if the employer chose to guarantee to award the prize then they must do so, and cannot get a refund).

Next-generation crowdsourcing:

vWorker.com's crowdsourcing has several crucial features that give you more power and flexibility than any competitor:

• Crowdsource every type of project
• Crowdsource every sized project (with either crowdsourcing or trialsourcing)
• PerfectPricing™

Click here to learn more.

More information:

• What are the advantages and disadvantages?
  
  Advantages:
  
  

  • Skips interviewing: Lets the employer see exactly how the person performs "on the job".
  • Best option to interviewing: Is the only way to truly qualify workers in fields where the employer cannot predict in advance how well a person will do (like design).

  Disadvantages;
  

  • More expensive: With outsourcing the employer pays the least, because they only have to pay a single person who knows they have won the job already. With crowdsourcing they have to pay a larger prize amount that will encourage many people to do the work for free in the hopes of being the one who wins the prize.
  • Best suited for smaller sized/scope projects: Crowdsourcing works best on small sized projects that take a week or so for the worker to complete. Longer running contests are usually too expensive to justify. (Note: if this is an employer's case, then they should see "trialsourcing" below for a better solution).
• Click here for step-by-step details for employers and workers.

Trialsourcing combines the strengths of crowdsourcing (the ability to find the best worker via an "on-the-job trial") with outsourcing (dramatically lower cost). Unlike crowdsourcing, it can be used on larger projects which run longer than two days. We are proud to have invented trialsourcing, and it's also a vWorker exclusive feature.

Recommended for:

• Employers who want to choose the best candidate but don't have the technical ability or time to do it.
• Larger projects (more than two days)

How it works:

1. The employer splits their project into two parts:
   
   • Small trial contest portion:
     A crowdsourcing contest used to pick the best candidate.
   • Larger one-on-one portion:
     An outsourcing portion used to do the bulk of the work with the selected candidate (at a much cheaper price than crowdsourcing).
2. Small trial contest portion:
   
   The first portion is sized just large enough to measure the worker's ability and screen them well...but no larger than that. (This minimizes the employer's cost, since crowdsourcing is more expensive than outsourcing). Contestants not only do the work and submit it, but also place a bid for completing the one-on-one portion. The employer awards the prize to the best contestant and then the two transition to the one-on-one portion.
3. Larger one-on-one portion:
   
   The second part of the project is completed using outsourcing (to minimize cost). The employer's money is fully protected with one of our money-back guarantees. And if the worker delivers as agreed then we guarantee payment to them.

More information:

• Click here for an example...
  
  For example: let's say the employer's project is to have someone program "the next Facebook" for them. They'd rather not pick outsourcing because they're not certain they'll pick the best programmer. But they also can't pick crowdsourcing because the site will take a year to develop, and would be too expensive.
  
  So they choose trialsourcing and split the project into two portions. The crowdsourcing portion is for a programmer to create a website that does just the profile page and a wall page (the bare minimum functionality in Facebook for the employer to be able to judge their abilities). Many programmers do the project and they easily identify the best one. Then they complete the 2nd portion of the project using outsourcing, which is much cheaper.
• Click here for step-by-step details for employers and workers.