Blue Star Jobs

Finding a rewarding career is one of the greatest challenges military spouses face.  In response, Blue Star Families has partnered with oDesk, the world's largest online workplace to create Blue Star Jobs.

oDesk creates opportunities for people to work together without geographic limits and provides the tools they need to get the job done – an ideal platform for milspouses and an exclusive benefit for members of Blue Star Families.

Blue Star Jobs will provide new opportunities for military spouses through hundreds of thousands of jobs posted monthly on oDesk.  It will allow military spouses around the world to find work, cultivate business relationships, and grow their careers. According to oDesk data, contractors on average increase their hourly wage almost 60 percent in the first year ofworking with oDesk, and close to 190% over three years.  Businesses of all sizes also use oDesk, from one-person startups to major corporations, and the hire for any type of work that can be done via computer.

Blue Star Jobs includes over 75 types of job listings that reflect the diversity of careers in which military spouses participate:
Web Development
Software Development
Networking & Information Systems
Writing & Translation
Administrative Support
Design & Multimedia Customer Service
Sales & Marketing
Business Services

How will it work?  

1) You must be a member of Blue Star Families

Visit our JOIN page to sign up for membership. 

2) Join oDesk as a Contractor

To work on oDesk, you first go to their website and set up an account as a Contractor. Go to this link - https://www.odesk.com/groups/bluestar?vt_cmp=bluestar - to set up your account.  By joining oDesk through this link, you will automatically request membership in our Blue Star Families Group.  We will also earn a referral fee from oDesk once you get your first job, helping us fund this important program.

3)   Complete your oDesk profile

Once you have set up your account, you should complete your profile – your name, picture, title, objective, work history, skills, certifications, etc.  You should also take a few of the oDesk certification tests.  The more complete your profile, the easier it will be to market yourself to prospective clients.  You will also need to set up a payment method (typically ACH to a checking account or PayPal).  You can learn more at https://www.odesk.com/info/howitworks/contractor/.

Then oDesk will provide training seminars and materials for new contractors on best practices -- building a complete profile, how to apply for jobs on oDesk, tips/tricks to getting started. After that, you can start applying for contract jobs in your area of expertise. The result is that military spouses are immediately connected to job opportunities in their area of expertise—without the challenges associated with frequent geographic relocations.

About oDesk (www.odesk.com)

oDesk is the world’s largest and fastest growing online workplace, providing an online platform where companies can hire, manage and pay online contract workers to perform a wide range of services – customer service, writing, marketing, finance and accounting, software development, legal and more.  For online contract workers, oDesk provides access to online work with companies across the globe, with more than 1.3 million jobs posted year to date.  You can work in two ways – as an hourly contractor, using oDesk’s automated time tracking and billing software, or on fixed-price projects where you bid a given amount to provide a specific deliverable.