With a significant increase in the number of freelancers every year, a new study has suggested how they can make themselves more attractive to potential employers and land more jobs.
According to Elance.com, the online workplace lists more than three million registered freelancers worldwide, and each month it posts 100,000+ freelance jobs ranging from computer programming and web design to finance and engineering.
The new research suggested freelancers who demonstrate work commitment through an incremental career path, by moving between similar- but not identical- types of jobs, are the most likely to be hired.
The findings also conclude that competitors who work on only one type of job or on too many disparate types of jobs are disadvantaged when it comes to winning assignments.
"Previous findings would suggest that freelancers should specialize in a particular type of work so prospective employers know what they're good at," Ming D. Leung, assistant professor, UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, said.
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An adviser to Elance.com, Leung observed that nuances in the online workplace will continue to affect hiring trends in the future.
Leung said the rise in contract and temporary employment is leading employers to increasingly embrace such a virtual workforce for specific skills and flexible employment arrangements.
He also noted that in contrast to past characterizations of contract employees being low skilled and low paid, today's freelancers are performing highly skilled tasks.
The study was published in the American Sociological Review.
