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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 · 16/08/2016 10:40

Hi there!

mrsvilliers - It sounds like we haven’t got back to you regarding fees? Could you please email me [email protected] with details so I can look at this for you.

CarlGrimesMissingEye - Automated fee increases are live and have been for a couple of months. :) There is a help desk article that outlines the exact criteria we look for. Also, a small note that, despite appearances, the average fee paid by our clients isn’t anywhere near three times our assistant fee rate :)

A general point whilst I’m here - we encourage anyone that finds work through Time etc to maintain a good balance of work from different sources - sites like PPH can be a good way of finding additional work as can working locally as you suggest.

Something to bear in mind with marketplaces like PPH is that price competition between providers can drive down fees - about half of the search results for 'Virtual Assistant' on PPH have fees of less than £10 per hour, which is less than our standard fee rate.

Working locally with clients can be more profitable - it's probably harder to find them and win the business but we definitely encourage it as part of a balanced Virtual Assistant income.

As always I am on [email protected] to deal with any queries directly - please mention Mumsnet in any emails to me.

CarlGrimesMissingEye · 16/08/2016 18:53

Thanks Kirsten. I'm glad they're live but all I've found is the increase when a client buys 30+ hours and you do a high (80%) of that work.

I do feel that this is in achievable for a lot of people and I've spoken to other assistants I've met through you who feel Equally demoralised.

An increased rate for consistent high quality service would be better for your assistants.

If the latter is the case can you direct me to the details so I know what I'm aiming for.

Thanks.

mrsvilliers · 17/08/2016 14:07

I definitely second Carl's suggestion for pay increases. I applied for time.etc as the initial rates indicated were between £11 and £16. Given my experience I was reasonably surprised to start on £11 p/h but thought that would rise. 2 years later I am still on the same rate and to be honest it puts me off accepting tasks. I've read the automatic fee increase info on the website and like Carl, I feel it is unachievable for any but a small minority. Kirst, I would be more than happy to be proved wrong if you have some figures.

Bar my fee increase request which is still outstanding I have always found Time.etc to be professional and well run. I think unfortunately low fees are just the way the world is going with any kind of remote work (and I know time.etc isn't low compared to some!)

kirstenatimeetc · 22/08/2016 16:50

Hi there,

In terms of fee increases that's what we've got at the moment - we've done 107 fee increases since it went live earlier this year, which is a fair percentage of our assistant base - so whilst it isn't 'easy' it's not unachievable.

The criteria for the current automatic fee increase is based on what we know about our best long-term assistant to client relationships - and when these work well, everyone wins.

That said we're certainly not closed to other ideas and do listen to your feedback - in particular finding ways for long term Virtual Assistants who don't meet the criteria but are consistently highly rated to benefit also.

Kirst

Lindyjaquet44 · 25/09/2016 06:24

Has anyone ever worked for the House of Commons? What was it like? How did you find the people to be in general? Did anyone work in visitor services how are they finding the staff and the job role in general.

GUK1 · 25/09/2016 07:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TheInternetIsForPorn · 18/01/2017 14:17

I notice you've changed your terms to allow for increases in payment to those doing regular sustained work. A great move!Grin

Thank you. I just need a bigger client or two now.

Bakedappleflavour · 09/03/2017 19:23

I hope no one minds me bumping this thread - I was thinking about taking on some work with Time ETC as I'm now a SAHM and wondered what people's recent experience was like...

kitsmarch · 11/03/2017 15:17

I started with them recently.

It seems professional and well-run and they've been helpful with any queries I've had so I can't fault it in that respect.

My only complaint is that it is incredibly difficult to get tasks. I'm not under-qualified (good skill set, years and years of experience, degree educated, blah, blah) but it's harder to pick them up than I imagined it would be. You are 'shortlisted' for them but I've found that even when I click on the link the second it lands in my inbox I still miss out. When tasks are going within two to three seconds then it implies that the 'shortlist' is fairly massive and, to be fair, Timeetc don't say how many people are on one. But to my mind, shortlist implies a handful of people and I think this is where Time could make the system a bit easier for their VA's. But on the flip, there's no real need for them to. As long as the client is satisfied and both they and the VA are getting paid it's probably not that relevant that the VAs who aren't securing the work are getting frustrated. I don't say that in a snarky sense; more in that it's 'Virtual' work and 'them's the breaks'. Someone is getting the work, a client is being serviced and all parties are getting paid, which is successful model.

You can also be 'selected' for a task, which is where they'll match you to a client who is looking for someone with your particular skillset. However, you're still up against four or five other people (which is more what I would term a shortlist) and you may not be chosen.

Timeetc. make no promises about how much work you'll get. It does seem that you need a trigger finger for replying to tasks, and patience. The idea is that you slowly win clients and get repeat work from them. But it's not an overnight success. However good your work is, not all clients become repeat customers. Some just use the free trial hour as supplied by Timeetc but don't opt to go any further with it. It probably also helps if you have some fairly niche IT/web/application skills as there are going to be fewer people chasing these roles and a less aggressive/immediate snap up of the tasks when listed.

Overall, I'd say if you're in need of guaranteed hours then this might not be the set up for you. If you're relaxed and looking to pick up work as an add-on then the high level of 'failure' to be selected for tasks would be less aggravating. Overall, think carefully and don't expect miracles.

The jury is still out for me. I'm two months in and not convinced it will work. I've spent days sat in front of my laptop poised to click on the job links when they ping in and STILL not managed to win the task, which is just not a viable use of my time. It's a shame as I think the company is well thought out, well run and well staffed and clearly works for some people.

Hope this helps a bit.
Forgive any typos (phone typing!)

frenccci · 30/08/2017 13:36

hi, I may be very late in this conversation but what is the update on whether working for TimeEtc is worth while or not. I am very interested at becoming a VA but I am not good at selling myself so being freelance sounds like a good compromise.

tjhanks

mrsvilliers2 · 01/09/2017 16:09

I started working for Time.etc three years ago, you can read my previous comments above re pay. I have to say initially I had a really good experience with them, decent clients with realistic expectations and long term plans. But then these clients dropped off, often without warning or explanation, and while I managed to replace them, I found my new clients to be more aspirational than established, which brings with it its own difficulties, namely that they either have unrealistic expectations of what you can do or just peter out.
Saying all of the above though, I've always found the account managers polite and I have always been paid on time, so perhaps it would work for you if you offer a service that could get you regular hours.

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