White's Contractor Questionnaire

Contractor Questionnaire

Prior to scheduling an interview, I require that you fill out this online questionnaire.  This will allow me to better select those individuals who meet my needs for this or other jobs.  

Please answer all questions honestly and fully.  There may be times when I need someone to complete a task that falls outside the position for which you are applying.  

Having this information on hand may give you a hand up on other applicants, especially when time is short.

If your qualifications align well with the position I have in mind, I will contact you for an interview.  If not, I'll still keep your information for future use.

* Required

Personal Information

Please answer all questions.  This information is required for me to contact you for an interview.

Name: *Norman Quan Simbulan
Your Skype ID: *norqusi
Your Yahoo Messenger ID: *normanquansimbulan
Enter a Link to your oDesk Profile: *https://www.odesk.com/users/BPO-Professional_~~ba3ea8eee7821747#overview

Experience

In this section I'll ask about your work history, knowledge of software, and skills.

# of oDesk Hours: *2705
Do you Know How to Use Google Drive (formerly Google Docs)? *Yes No
Do You Have a Dropbox Account? *

• Yes
• No

Which Google Services do You Know How to Use? *

• Google News
• Picasa
• Google Earth
• SketchUp
• Panoramio
• Drive
• Calendar
• Talk
• Voice
• Gmail
• Sites
• Google +
• Groups
• Reader
• Blogger
• Alerts
• Custom Search
• Trends
• Fusion Tables
• Adwords
• AdSense
• Website Optimizer
• Feedburner
• Google Analytics
• Webmaster Central
• Site Search
• Webmaster Tools
• Page Speed
• Insights

Which Web 2.0 Services and Social Sites do You Know How to Use? *

• YouTube
• Wikipedia
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Craigslist
• WordPress.com
• Flickr
• Pinterest
• Blogger
• Tumblr
• TypePad
• HubPages
• Reddit
• Weebly
• Tripod
• Posterous
• Jimdo
• Yola
• Squidoo
• Multiply
• Angelfire
• OfficeLive
• Rediff
• WikiDot
• Webs,com
• Webnode
• Salon.com
• EduBlogs.org
• WebSpawner.com

Which Web 2.0 and Social Sites do you feel you are most proficient at? Which are you weakest at? *Novice to average user on all but that is only because I am not required to work on such platforms.
Which of these skill sets do you feel you are best at? Which are you weakest at? What other skill sets do you possess? *Which skill sets? I have a varied skill set that I have accumulated from some of the best companies and individuals in their fields though some may be rather compartmentalized, I can do a lot with my Swiss knife skill set.
What Software do You Have Access To? *I do not know which in particular to mention but MS Office, OpenOffice, Avast, VLC, iTunes, and many others. Please specify a category at least or would you prefer the entire software list contained in my hard drive?
Which of these software programs do you excel at using? Which do you feel you need training for? Which did you have no idea existed? Do you have others that you feel you are GREAT at? *As I mentioned I do not know which software in particular but if it is in my drive I would say I am a novice to an average user. I would appreciate some training both for the ones I know how to use and the ones I don't. It may be needed for compliance issues and so we operate on the same page. Alas I may not be great at any one thing, such is the Achilles' heel of one who works on various compartmentalized things.

Desires and Availability

Not everyone has the same desires in life.  Some people like to do something new and different every day.  Others like the comfort of reliable and repeatable tasks.  Some like to be told what to do.  Others like to do things on their own.  And yet others like to tell others what to do.

Parental responsibilities can dictate when someone is available.  The global spread of today's workforce can mean one person is waking when others are falling asleep.  And some, like me, are night owls while others are early birds.  

In this section we are looking to see if your desires and availabilities mesh well with the positions we need to fill.  Please answer honestly.  I want you to be a happy team member.

What type of work pattern do you like best? *

• I like to do short specialty projects where I can showcase my talents
• I like to work on multiple projects throughout the day to keep me from being bored.
• I like working on mundane tasks all day long. I seldom get bored with repetitive tasks.

What work style best fits your desires? *

• I'm more of a follower than a leader. Tell me what to do, and I'll do it well.
• I'm a self-starter who can follow loose guidelines and produce well all day.
• I'm a thinker who likes to be involved in planning and process strategizing.
• I'm a natural leader. I'm able to keep others on task and motivated without micro-managing them.

What are your employment goals? Ignore your current employment situation and let me know what you'd like if you had the choice. *

• I want to work only part time because of personal responsibilities.
• I want to work only part time because I like working for multiple employers.
• I want to work full time.
• I'm a work-a-holic who likes to work over forty hours per week.

Which earning style do you prefer? *

• I like the security of a guaranteed fair pay amount.
• I'm willing to accept a lower pay scale with the opportunity for a bonus if I exceed expectations.
• I'm willing to accept lower pay in return for a share of company profits down the road.

Please outline any comments you would like to make on pay and work preferences. Provide as much detail as you would like. *
The "Desires and Availability" questions do not offer any room to move. Take the question on work pattern for example, I would incorporate some points into one answer - jobs where I can work on multiple projects including boring repetitive tasks where I can showcase my talents. Work style... I can be a follower, a self-starter, a thinker and I can also be a leader but I tend to micro-manage until I have established I can trust a person with a task. On employment goals, I work full time where I sometimes exceed 40 hours a week on multiple tasks from various clients and I prefer to do them at home because of personal responsibilities.
What time zone do you live in? *GMT+8
Which days are you normally available to work? I understand that occasional conflicts may occur. *Sporadic 24/7
What time slots are you normally available to work? This should be in your time zone. I understand that this may vary from day-to-day. *Check all time slots you would like to be considered for.

• 4am to 8am
• 8am to Noon
• Noon to 4pm
• 4pm to 8pm
• 8pm to Midnight
• Midnight to 4am

Please outline any days or times you might normally expect to conflict with the above schedules or any other comments you'd like to make on availability. *For example, church on Sunday noon-2, meeting every Wednesday night 6-8pm, etc.
Occasional unexpected personal stuff but I usually work around these things by doing the work before during or after such event to complete the task.
If we were able to offer you employment today, what would your availability be? Explain as fully as possible. *Right now my availability is wide open except for a few hours for some clients and their content work. I can do 30-40 hours per week completed sporadically over the course of the week.
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Jon,
Truth be told I am in your demographic, except for 1 thing, I am married. I
still have 1 year before  I go over 40 so I should know this stuff.

I am as lazy as they get, not lazy “taking space” but lazy “efficient”, for
example “hair”, in my life while I was growing up I tried to keep with
trends on hairstyles but after my college years, I have stuck with two of
the most efficient cuts that even a lazy bum like me can do - Shaven and
Shaggy. Both are maintenance-free for months but you can even go an entire
year without going to a barber shop or a salon. Start from shaven and then
move into shaggy and you are free from ever seeing a pair of scissors for a
year. Forget about tedious and costly trips to the barber or salon, these
hairstyles are fuss free and do-it-yourself.

This can go and tie in to a grooming kit that your website might provide.

A tweak might be in order for this part on your main page.
“winning a beer drinking competitions”

I hope I am good enough to do some writing for you.
Thanks,
Norman

For Jon

Jon,
Thank you for inviting me for an interview.
I can do 350-450 words in 1 oDesk hour depending on the topic and the amount of research required.
Here is my 50 - 100 word sample on something manly:
Dressed in army camouflage, supplied with a jungle bolo, a compass, a map and a liter of water; your mission is to survive for three days in the dense Pinatubo jungle and navigate your way to an extraction point where an evac team will get you back home for a cold San Miguel beer.
You can see some of my writing at http://normansodeskblog.blogspot.com/ and http://odesk-writing-samples.blogspot.com/.
I hope we can start on some articles soon.
Thanks,
Norman

PH-Erotica: Houston We Have A Problem (sample erotic story)

PH-Erotica: Houston We Have A Problem (sample erotic story)
As an application for an oDesk employer I did this erotic story and created a blog for it. I did not get a contract, well they specifically asked for a female perspective but maybe it was the writing. It may have been unfit for publishing. The story is at http://ph-erotica.blogspot.com/, maybe some would differ and leave some comments. In my spare time I may add some more stories and maybe they can get better.

The longest application cover letter I have ever made

The longest application cover letter I have ever made.
It starts out like this.


Sorry this is long as well, but this is serious to me too.

A point by point response:
"...please try to do as much to free my time up, for other tasks." Maybe some time to recreate and rest for a bit, I know how it becomes when you get to the top. You never get to enjoy the things in life and there is only work-work-work.

"We need a man who is never lazy and a man who never quits (tasks or trying)." Though I know when to quit, I am really a stubborn man and I hate defeat when the battle is not fought hard.

"I can teach any man, many things.  Only heart, I can not teach. :)  Sorry to repeat or sound brash...I am looking for a hungry man, who does not quit." I can learn from any man and I have learned from quite a few, they have been happy with the work so far. My heart and mind are always open for new and good things and I am eager to learn. I do quit but not as fast as most people, my stubborn personality prevents me from quitting easily and I like a good challenge.

As for the primary tasks:
1. Hiring Manager.  Assistant who will do (and hire more people for) SEO jobs, article writing and submission, All managing of WordPress, etc. ALSO As a Hiring Manager, you are expected to have the knowledge and experience (preferred) in SEO and back link building, to be able to hire / check the best personnel that the company needs.
>>>>I know a little when it comes to SEO, I have done some article writing and article submission, some link building like blog commenting and setting up some components of blogs. My knowledge perhaps may be limited to these as a result of these tasks having been the only things my previous clients needed done. I know how to  pick good people as I have some of them on my team, BPOP.
2. Must be available for a skype or IM conference call and chat, most of the day.
>>>>I will be available when you need me to be. Skype, Yahoo Messenger, Google Chat, etc., you name it I will be there.
3. Fast Worker (not sick each week, dead relatives, bad internet, no excuses!! etc)
>>>>I am a fast worker but I am not one to make excuses, I have never missed a reasonable deadline and I don't plan on missing one. There will be problems that are unavoidable but the job must get to completion and there are ways of getting it done. For example, dead relatives, I can grieve and carry my laptop with me and finish the work-it will suck but it will get done.  
4. Knowledge in Back links and site building 100% necessarily. (and can hire people for us)
>>>>I know some bits on SEO and I learned from several masters. I picked up a few things while working for them. I am capable with a bit of instruction and I know how to find the good ones out there too.
5. WordPress knowledge also 100% needed. Not posting. RUNNING a wordpress site.
>>>>Like I said I know some bits on SEO and learning the entire process should take a few hours. I could be good at it in a week.

On rating myself:
If you are busy and must rate only 1 thing. Tell us about how many links you built in your life (or managed, checked etc) and how many websites you have built or managed top to bottom.  With examples.  This is primary need.  If you are weak in this area, it would be best to fill this all out.
>>>>Please visit my blog at http://normansodeskblog.blogspot.com/, you will see that I have some knowledge about this stuff. I did manual blog commenting for an SEO master and his clients for over a year, I never bothered to see the reports though. I also built this site http://bpop-fashions.blogspot.com/. it was for my wife as she was interested in selling clothes and stuff. There are also others but work always got in the way and I never really get to do much work on them.
To sum it up I would be a 2 but I could be a 5 in no time with a several hours of instruction.

"I am not a 10 in anything." Right, anyone who says that leaves no room for improvement.

Rating myself 1-10 based on my EXPERIENCE
1. SEO   (a 10 being you have placed 10 thousand links and 1 being you never did any links)
7 - manual blog commenting alone, I figure it is about 3500 links, a conservative estimate for 8 hours of work for a year having a success rate of 10%.  Automated blackhat comments that should take care of the 3500 remaining to make a rating of 7.
2. Hiring Men (again, 10, if you have been hiring men for 20 years, 1 if you never did)
0, no actual hiring but I know how to pick the good ones and get them on my team. Please take a look at team BPOP at https://www.odesk.com/companies/Bpop_~~5c8d7f0f6f218241. Teams that I have formed in my BPO years have always been in the top 3.
3. Back Linking  (10 means you can build back links 10 different ways and have for years)
5 - blog commenting, web directory, article submission, link exchange, social bookmarking. I have not done others but it s easy for me to learn them.
4. WordPress (set up and ongoing)   (10 means you edit the code itself for wordpress)
3 - I use BLOGGER, but I can do simple stuff on WordPress.
5. Social Media Management  (10 would be you run 100 social media accounts)
2 - I have personal accounts nothing more.
6. Oral English Communication
9 - Oral English Communication is a skill required for most BPO work and I am good at it.
7. Written English Communication
9 - Written English is good enough to have made clients happy with the content I created and some have been published like http://www.indiepeace.com/blogitup/2011/10/24/swap-to-shop-till-you-drop/.
8. Team Management
9 - picking the good ones ensures a good performance.
9. Web Content Writing  (a 10 would be you wrote 1,000 pages in english I can see now)
5 - most are proprietary and would not be for your eyes but there are writing samples at http://normansodeskblog.blogspot.com/p/writing-samples.html and http://www.indiepeace.com/blogitup/2011/10/30/help-get-rid-of-the-national-debt-drill-for-oil-on-u-s-soil/.
10. Web Content Editing (HTML skills?)   (10 would be you code perfect HTML)
3 - I dabble as you can see from http://normansodeskblog.blogspot.com/ and http://bpop-fashions.blogspot.com/.

Please answer the following Questions:
1. How many hours a week can you work?
>>>30-40 hours a week
2. How many back links have done or managed in your entire life? 1 or 100,000? (show me your best SEO-ed website. (or more)
>>>"I figure it is about 3500 links, a conservative estimate for 8 hours of work for a year having a success rate of 10%."
3. How many websites have you built if any?  (few examples)
>>> A few including http://bpop-fashions.blogspot.com/ and http://normansodeskblog.blogspot.com/.
4. How many Word press sites have you built and own? Please provide favorite url you worked on.
>>>None, I built them using Blogger.
6. Please provide an example of your English skills. (anything is fine, article, website, etc.)
Writing samples at http://normansodeskblog.blogspot.com/p/writing-samples.html and http://www.indiepeace.com/blogitup/2011/10/30/help-get-rid-of-the-national-debt-drill-for-oil-on-u-s-soil/.

Sorry for the longer text.
I am hoping that by going over the entire thing I have expressed my eagerness to work on this and I am also hoping that my skills, though a bit short of what you require, would be enough to extend me a contract.
I hope we can work soon.
Thanks,
Norman
Hiring Manager, BPOP

Inkorponline cover letter/letter of application

 Inkorponline cover letter/letter of application



ATTN: Judy
Inkorponline


Dear HR person or team,
I am afraid I do not fit the writer's qualifications to a tee but I appreciate the attention even if it was a mistake. I would like to give it a shot though and maybe I am up to par with the rest of those chosen.
- Preferably with a Bachelor's Degree
>>>NO Degree
- Preferably with an experience / background on the same Line of Business (Academic / Technical / Research Writing)
>>>A little bit of everything mentioned
- Must know and must comply with different citation styles
>>>Giving credit where credit is due YES but styles I have to learn
- Must adhere to strict deadlines
>>>I have never missed a reasonable deadline
- Must produce quality output
>>>Quality is so subjective but there may be clear cut guidelines set that I can follow. 
- Someone who gives high regard to instruction / project details
>>>The plan is to be adhered to verbatimly but must think fast on one's feet.
- Someone who is versatile and can write simple to complex projects
>>>Simple can be so simplistically said and complex can be so complicated.
- Excellent English writing skills
>>>I do not consider my writing skills to be excellent just good enough for me and for some.
- Must keep an open communication
>>>Good communication can be key to a good relationship and that includes work. 
- Plagiarism free write ups
>>>I do not steal, even words. 
I hope we can work soon.
Thanks,
Norman Simbulan
Hiring Manager, BPOP

Sample articles for Asghar Izza Singapore based IT consultant company

Sample articles for Asghar Izza Singapore based IT consultant company

1. How to Get instant money

To get instant money one can always rely on the Internet. There are many ways available to the common Internet surfer to get instant money. Though it may not be much, “Pay to Click” programs can earn you pennies or up to a few bucks. Joining survey groups can also get you a few dollars and did you know that reading articles can be a money maker as well. Captcha resolving can be a good way to earn if you can type fast and if you are not afraid to be tagged as a spammer you can also get into “earn to mail” schemes. Many more instant money making models are there for you to take advantage of, so dive in.

2. learn online languages

Could there can be no substitute for proper schooling when you are out to learn a new language? The general take leans toward proper schooling. That being said, learning languages online from the Internet can certainly get your feet wet and get you ready for the daunting task of learning new languages. Online learning has stepped up its game and many online schools have sprung up delivering all kinds of skills and knowledge available to anyone, this including languages. There is an increasing trend to online learning and it may, in the end, be a personal preference that comes in to play.

3. Cities of Middle East

Built on centuries of changing culture many cities of the Middle East have stood the test of time and remained true to their nature as their forefathers had intended them to be. Technology, encroaching ideologies and cultural creeps have made this harder and harder for them to cling to their set ways. Unrest and revolution now troubles some of these cities today. Will they keep to their old ways or break under the pressures of the shrinking world we now live in?

4. Philippine Girls

The new Filipina has become a Global Girl. Philippine girls have broken out of their cocoons a long time ago and have become butterflies that are now part of the worldwide bevy of beauties with a global view of our planet. This may sound generic, boring and indistinct but this may be the direction for all cultures and peoples. The world is getting smaller with all of us blending in together as one.

5. Mobile Phone & iphone

A need that a majority of us now rely on is our mobile phones and for some their iPhones. Driven by consumerism we are now locked in on these like their term plans that lock you in for a fixed term. The players in the market have succeeded in roping us in and keeping us fenced in. Few manage to escape the conundrum of the mobile phone and iPhone. For some like cattle they are blissfully unaware or do not care, period.