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Original poster

Has anyone ever worked for Time Etc?

111 replies

SoftKittyWarmKitty · 01/12/2013 22:21

I just read an article about Time Etc and I'm wondering if anyone on here has any experience of working with/for them? I work part time in an office and would like to start earning extra income on my days off - this seems ideal but I was looking to get an idea of what kind of tasks people are given and in reality how much work is offered. Also, how does the payment system work - is payment weekly or monthly? Are their workers classed as self employed? I'd be looking to work as a virtual assistant but also have marketing experience that might bring work in from them.

Any info would be great, thanks Smile.

OP posts:
kirstenatimeetc · 10/06/2015 12:55

Hi folks,

It's really interesting to read this feedback about not getting the amount of work you desire through the platform and / or a drop in the amount of tasks coming through.

Although there are no guarantees about how much work is available on the platform (it can vary depending on many factors including time of year, how many clients are joining, marketing activity, quality of work, number of assistants) in an ideal world we'd love everyone to have access to the amount of work they need.

We recently made some changes to how tasks are distributed and allocated that might be responsible for the change in volume - and your feedback is helpful in showing us what this means to you. We certainly want to avoid anyone feeling like the tasks available have dried up or suddenly gone away. We'd love it to be more predictable.

We will shortly be releasing further changes to the platform that should help with this and also developing resources that will help people to increase their workload naturally without having to wait for new tasks to become available.

Thank you for your feedback - it really helps us to tweak how the service works for everyone.

millermuses · 13/06/2015 06:18

Hi, bit late but as someone who has used VAs through time etc for over a year now, I thought I'd chip in.

i work on lots of different projects and ventures and have found it invaluable in helping me get things done if you can get the right VA.

It's really important to find the right match though and as a client I have occasionally had quality issues, but if they can find someone who is a good match personality wise and with the right skills, it's very worthwhile.

There is probably more that time etc should do to ensure expectations are managed on both sides in terms of insisting on more of a written spec from clients, estimate of hours, ways of working and VA availability - but once you and VA are aligned on this it should be all good.

I'd never go back to trying to do everything myself!

Hope that helps - feel free to DM me if you have questions.

gerbiltamer · 06/08/2015 18:19

Hi, I'm facing almost certain redundancy in the public sector and have applied to timeetc today. How's everyone getting on with their respective roles?

LadyLuck81 · 11/08/2015 07:50

I seriously considering signing up for time etc. I'm assuming that signing up doesn't preclude you taking on your own other work from existing contacts? Can anyone clarify that before I jump aboard and apply?

gerbiltamer · 12/08/2015 19:04

I failed to get through the last stage. Do note that the pay rate begins at £7.06 per hour (minus the PayPal fees). Not sour grapes (well, they're a bit 'off' anyway) but something to look out for anyway.

LadyLuck81 · 12/08/2015 22:29

Really. It said £11 per hour starting on all the gubbins. I'll be miffed if it's a lie.

gerbiltamer · 13/08/2015 21:04

When I applied it was $11 not £11, minus PayPal fees. I feel a bit rubbish about the whole thing to be honest.

kirstenatimeetc · 20/08/2015 17:20

Hi everyone - Kirsten from Time etc here.

I thought I would jump in and clear up the confusion around starting hourly rates and payment.

Here are our absolute minimum pay rates:

United Kingdom: £11 / hour
United States: $11 / hour

Paypal make a small charge when you withdraw money in the United States. There is NO such charge for UK assistants as Paypal do not make one.

Gerbiltamer - Are you based in the UK? It looks to me like our system thought you were either based outside of the UK or in the United States - hence quoting you the United States dollar rate for your work.

As a general rule all UK assistants earn the UK rate quoted above (or higher) and this is quoted and paid in pounds not dollars. To confirm we do not pay as little as £7.06 to UK based assistants.

Ladyluck81 - To answer your question - no absolutely not and in fact we actively encourage the assistants we work with to maintain a healthy balance of clients both inside and outside Time etc if possible.

Happy to answer any further questions!

LadyLuck81 · 01/09/2015 14:47

Hi Kirsten, thanks for posting. Well I have signed up and been accepted and am ready to go. I like the set up in general. My only disappointment so far is that it's like a lottery getting tasks! It's all well and good being able to work any hours I choose but I have to get work first and I can't be permanently attached to a computer or phone all usual office hours waiting on the occasional email to pop up.

I'll persevere though, as I realise it only takes one or two clients to get going properly. If nothing is happening after the first month I'll reassess then.

Credit to the support team though. They are lovely and have responded really quickly to correspondence.

Basketofchocolate · 06/10/2015 18:14

Anyone on this thread found that work has picked up?

LadyLuck81 · 09/10/2015 11:02

No. I've had a couple of jobs but the lottery that is getting the jobs in the first place is a nightmare. It's not a great system. The work I've had has been ok I guess, one total time waster though.

n1cki1978 · 13/10/2015 18:08

I have been with timeetc for approximately 3 weeks now and I haven't managed to pick up a single task.

I am getting all of the notifications come through and there appears to be plenty of tasks but by the time I get to them - they are gone. Even if I am sitting at my computer when the come through - they are still gone. Its very frustrating.

I think in principle, its a great idea and I was perfectly happy with the hourly rate offered. I would just like to know who is actually picking up the tasks as I'm finding it mission impossible!!

ScottishBarbie · 22/10/2015 14:53

I signed up with Time etc last week and got one small job this week. I like the idea of working from home though and thought it might be worth signing up with more sites like this. Does anyone know of any similar sites that pay the same (or better!)?

kirstenatimeetc · 23/10/2015 19:57

Hi everyone,

Kirsten here!

Thanks for your feedback again.

Since Time etc has become more popular we've had quite a bit of feedback on how it can be a challenge to accept new tasks before they get snapped up quickly by someone else.

We didn't set out to build an ultra-competitive environment - so we're working on a number of things to help make this better, especially for people who haven't managed to pick up many tasks yet.

I don't have a specific date for when the changes will be made but you should expect things to improve over the coming few months.

On that note many people don't realise that in about 50% of cases picking up a single task leads to fantastic ongoing work from the same client in the future . We're going to make that a lot clearer too - those first tasks can be the key to securing regular ongoing work through Time etc!

Thanks again for your feedback, let me know if you have any questions.

bigmamacat · 18/12/2015 22:44

Thought I would join this thread to day my piece here.

I worked for Time etc for a while and found them a great source of income. You do have to stick to your pc permanently for a while whilst you build a customer base but as that grows you will get lots of repeat business from customers if you keep them happy and give them value for money. It does take a time to get going, I won't lie but if you can stick at it, it is worthwhile. The broader your skillset is the easier you will find it to get work.

I earned £11 per hour which is pretty good since they do all the legwork and I certainly never noticed any Paypal charges.

I finished working for them due to personal circumstances which have now thankfully resolved themselves and I would certainly consider reapplying to them for further work.

Having said that, as Kirsten says, if you need a gauranteed regular income then this may not be for you.

DeoGratias · 19/12/2015 08:26

On the tax etc side national insurance contributions start on annual earnings of about £7300 and tax as said above from about £10k. NI is 12% and tax 20% so 32% on earnings over the levels.

If you are self employed then the paypal charges are your business expenses (keep a note of them) and so would some of your costs of the work such as a bit of your telephone line cost etc. You just add all that to your tax return each year if you earn enough to pay tax.

I have used peopleperhour but cannot remember how they pay.

mrsvilliers · 19/12/2015 22:01

bigmamacat just out of interest, how many hours were you getting per month?

LadyLuck81 · 27/01/2016 10:09

I'm looking forward to the changes. I've had a little work each month but the battle to get the work is just crazy. I'm feeling very dispirited. If changes are definitely coming I'll wait. So far I've had no repeat work despite great feedback. It's very very frustrating.

To be honest I'm also using people per hour. But that also has it's downsides.

mrsvilliers · 27/01/2016 11:48

I agree LadyLuck it feels as if they have too many assistants for the work. I've been considering PPH, what downsides have you experienced?

LadyLuck81 · 27/01/2016 14:52

The biggest isn't harbourage competing for work with people from, potentially, all over the world. Often I'm too expensive even at my lowest price. They also take a hefty cut.

That said, I like bidding for the work. I can say what my strengths are and why I'm good. I can select based on considered choice not urgency.

I see it as another string to the bow.

sammipanda123 · 23/02/2016 13:58

What happened in your telephone interview stage?
Are any of you still working for Time etc?

MagratsFlyawayHair · 23/02/2016 14:49

I can't remember my telephone interview so it must have been relaxed and just a chat. I'm still doing some stuff. I got invited to reply to a specific role thanks to most experience which was new to me and a nice change. I've still not picked up lots of work but it's a place I'll stick with.

mrsvilliers · 24/02/2016 22:31

I'm still working with them, I have two steady clients but it's pretty hopeless trying to pick up new roles, even when you get invited for specific roles!

ambientedelsur · 01/03/2016 22:10

Hi EmmaEvans, thanks for all your input on here, I'm thinking of applying but wondering if I have the right skillset. Can you tell me what kind of tasks you've been getting (if it's not too late to join the conversation???) x

lauraivie · 22/03/2016 01:32

I have been working with Time Etc for the past few weeks and have a few clients, who I truly enjoy working for. The downside is I have not received new tasks for about a week now, where I was receiving as many as 5 or 6 an hour. I've received very positive feedback from my clients, so I'm unsure why there's been a lag.