As a freelancer, it can be hard to know where the market is for your skill sets. Many of the freelancers I know continue to market towards what has worked for them in the past. And why not? If it’s not broke, then don’t fix it. Makes sense, right?
Though that may work as a short term solution, even freelancers need to look towards trends. Freelancer.com, the largest outsourcing marketplace, has recently released its list of the top 50 freelance job trends for the fourth quarter of 2011. Freelancer.com has gathered stats from 134,820 online jobs that were posted over the last quarter of 2011, which represent a 18.3% increase from Q3. Here are the important trending freelance jobs:
According to Freelancer.com:
Android takes off again in Q4. After a slow Q3, Android jobs rocketed up 33% (to 2,454) in Q4. Apple iPhone jobs grew 18% (to 3,682). By the end of 2012, Android should be close to overtaking the iPhone for the rate of development of new applications. Apple iPad jobs rose 22% (to 1692). Blackberry jobs were flat, up 2%, but with volumes too low to register on the Fast 50. As reported before, Symbian and Windows phone applications do not even move the dial. Nokia was down 19% to insignificant numbers. Amazon Kindle was up 27% but again on insignificant volumes.
Data Entry jobs exploded in Q4 up 54% (from 10,146 to 15,651 jobs) topping the leader board as the technology industry and information services boom. We saw tremendous growth in these jobs as entrepreneurial startups hired freelance teams to conduct market research, competitive analysis and build a huge variety of information services. Similarly Microsoft Excel jobs were up 51% (to 7,056), Data Processing up 39% (to 6,705).
To read the full release, as well as the top 50 freelance jobs of the quarter, click here.
What do these trends mean for your business? Have you noticed a difference in demand? Are you moving with the tide and keeping up with the market. Share your story. We would love to hear from you.
