Author: jonusta

Hire Freelancers!

Hire Freelancers!

When you hire freelancers, you get the best of the best

When you hire international development freelancers on Jonusta, you get the best of the best: from proposal writers to economists, to M&E and education specialists. You choose who you want to work with based on their skillset and reputation.

You only pay for work needed

As a business hiring freelancers, you pay for the work you need. This is particularly useful if you’re starting out and want to put together a team without breaking your budget. Or if you need someone for a one-off project but don’t want to commit long term. You can also hire freelancers as temporary staff when your business grows and you need extra capacity to deliver for clients.

Hire freelancers from all around the world

Jonusta gives you easy access to global international development freelancer talent. Jonusta freelancers can work from anywhere, meaning you can find the exact talent you need, anywhere in the world! By using Jonusta when hiring freelancers, you can meet your business goals faster than ever before—and at a lower cost!

Hiring freelancers is good for your business

Hiring freelancers is a great way to save money for your business. Freelancers can also bring flexibility, experience, and increased productivity to your business. They can help you meet your business goals by providing the following benefits: no upfront costs, quick turnaround times, and diverse experience and skills.

Jonusta is quickly becoming the place to find and hire international development freelancers. Connect with our talented and vetted international development freelancers today at https://www.jonusta.com/search-talent & explore the possibilities!

Greenwashing In Development

Greenwashing In Development

What is 🌱greenwashing🌱?

“Greenwashing” happens when companies mislead consumers about the environmental soundness of their products. There are many ways this can happen. For example, companies might overstate the environmental benefits of a product or service by giving it an excessively high ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) rating. Misleading information can be conveyed in annual reports to create the impression the company has an outstanding reputation for corporate social responsibility (CSR). A company might also promote a product or service as environmentally friendly when it may not be truly “green” at all. While there are no standard definitions for what constitutes “green” products and services, claims like these can often be made without merit and should be thoroughly investigated before committing to purchase anything on this basis alone!

So how can 🌱greenwashing🌱 be identified?

👉 Investigate the underlying data and methods used to generate an ESG rating. The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), for example, provides a list of approved third-party certifiers who produce ratings. You should be able to find the audit reports for each company’s sustainability efforts on their website. A quick browse through these documents might reveal discrepancies between what a company claims and how it actually performs in practice. Check whether the auditors are independent of those they’re assessing; if not, there could be an inherent conflict of interest that could influence the outcome of a report or rating system.

👉 Question assumptions about sustainability itself: What do we mean by “sustainability”? How do we measure it? Is there room for improvement in our current systems? How can we ensure a fair accounting process that is inclusive and transparent?

Greenwashing & international development 🌍

The use of greenwashing in international development is becoming more common. This is due to the rise of ESG investing. ESG investing refers to investment strategies that incorporate environmental, social and governance criteria into portfolio management and returns.

It can be argued that greenwashing has become a tool used by investors rather than a solution: these investors are using it simply as another investment approach without giving too much thought to how they may actually be causing harm with their investments. They are using it as an excuse for their investments without considering the consequences or side effects on communities living in poverty or experiencing natural resource depletion due to unsustainable practices such as deforestation or overfishing. These examples demonstrate how greenwashing can be used for fraudulent purposes in order to attract more customers who want their money invested ethically (without thinking about whether sustainable development really exists).

Key take-aways 📝

Being critical about what is presented as sustainable, ethical, and impactful is not easy. It’s easier to be passive consumers and accept the dominant narrative without questioning it. It’s therefore important to question the assumptions of ESG and other impact investment frameworks that classify sustainability, as well as be cautious about what is presented as sustainable, ethical, and impactful. Sustainability is not a black-and-white concept as there are many grey areas to consider when determining what truly contributes to improving our world for the better.

Freelancing & Spring

Freelancing & Spring

Spring is the time when nature revives after the colder winter months. As a freelancer, spring is a fantastic chance to reorganize and refresh your workspace and workflow. Here are our tips to spring clean your way to work greatness!

Get Rid of Unnecessary Computer Files

Your computer is likely filled with unnecessary files: old versions of things you’ve already updated, photos and videos that can be backed up online, and documents created for your last project (ahem) three years ago. We know—it’s terrifying to see what’s lurking deep inside your computer!

Before doing anything else, ensure your important files are backed onto an external hard drive or by using an online service like Google Drive, Dropbox, or Box.com (which has free storage options). Then clean house: sort through files by file type to find the large items that are safe to delete, then get rid of any unused programs while you’re at it via the “add/remove” option in your control panel.

Use Apps To Organize Your Finances

One of the best things you can do to boost your freelance business’s financial health is to set up a system that tracks your income, expenses, and savings. When you’re clear on exactly how much money is flowing in and out of your business, it’s much easier to make good decisions around where and how to spend.

Apps like Mint can help you create a budget. Quickbooks can help you track your income, expenses, mileage, and estimated taxes. Wave is both an accounting software and invoicing platform that helps you keep track of finances. Toggl makes time tracking easy and accessible so you know just how long it takes for you to complete certain tasks or projects. You can use any number of apps or services for this–just find the one that works for you!

Revamp Your Portfolio

Update your Jonusta profile and portfolio to reflect your most recent work. You should showcase your best professional efforts and top-quality work. While it’s important to include whatever previous work you have that is still relevant, make sure that the most recent (and relevant) projects take center stage. If you’re currently working on a project for a client, wait until it’s finished before adding it to your portfolio, as some clients prefer to not have their work shown publicly. As soon as the project is complete, add it!

Revamp Your Workspace

Revamping your workspace can help you feel inspired and motivated to get down to business. While some freelancers have the luxury of working in a professional office space or a home office, many work remotely or at home while juggling family life. So making sure that you’re as comfortable as possible while also maintaining an environment that’s conducive to productivity is crucial. Take stock of what’s working for you and what could be improved upon: Is your chair too stiff? Does the paint color create a calming atmosphere? Are you breathing more deeply with all the leafy plants surrounding you? Addressing these small details will ensure that you’re setting yourself up for success without spending a ton of money.

Assess your long term goals

Think about the skills and experience you already have. Are there skills that would help you get a better handle on your work and life that you could learn over the next few months? If so, what are they, and how can you learn them in an efficient way? What don’t you enjoy doing? What do you want to do more of?  

Be more mindful

When you’re a freelancer, it’s easy to get caught up in the busyness of everyday life and put off taking breaks, but it’s important that you unplug and spend time with family and friends. It’s also important to have time to yourself and make sure you’re getting enough sleep. That way, when you are working, you can give it 100% because you have the energy to burn. Practicing mindfulness does help and our simple tips include taking regular breaks, unplugging from your devices at night, spending time with family and friends, and making sure you get enough sleep.

Benefits of Freelancing

Benefits of Freelancing

Flexible schedule 📝

One feature that draws many people to freelancing is its flexibility in your schedule. You no longer have to be at a desk from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can set your hours, work when you want, and take breaks whenever you feel like it. Need time off for a dental appointment? Do it! It’s much easier to plan your workday around personal appointments and activities when deciding your schedule rather than relying on an employer’s schedule availability or annual leave limit.

Live worldwide 🌍

The freedom of freelancing lets you live your dream life. Many freelancers work remotely, so it’s very common for freelancers to travel and see the world in addition to great pay. You can live anywhere in the world and still be a freelancer. As long as you have access to an internet connection and computer, you can be a full-time freelance writer from anywhere! Ever wanted to spend a year in Australia or Thailand, or France? If so, then being a full-time freelance writer could allow this dream to become a reality!

More income potential💰

When you freelance, you can charge for the amount of time you spend on a project. If you want to earn more income, you need to work more hours. Of course, there are only so many hours in any given day, and your physical ability to work is limited by the number of hours of sleep your body needs and other factors. You can also generate more income by working on multiple projects at once.

Interesting projects 💻

One of the most rewarding benefits of freelancing is that you can work on various projects. Each project is different, which means that you are always introduced to new ideas and ways of working. You may even get the chance to work on a project that you are excited about or be given a chance to try something new, like working on a new set of issues within your technical area. Freelancing also allows you to explore your interests and find what motivates you in your day-to-day life. Have you always wanted to work for a non-profit? Now is your chance! The opportunities are endless for freelance work!

Different clients 🤝

One of the main benefits of freelancing is the diversity of clients and projects you’ll have access to. Different clients will have different needs, and you’ll constantly challenge yourself to adapt to those variances. The opportunity for improvement that this provides is invaluable, as is the chance to work on new and exciting projects. Freelance work won’t ever get boring when so many facets of it are at your fingertips!

Freedom to choose projects 😀

One of the most overlooked benefits of freelancing is that you can choose the projects you take on. There’s something liberating about saying “yes” to work that interests you and passing on jobs that don’t. You can decide whether a project is a good fit for your skills, schedule, and budget. Of course, not every project will be perfect. But if there are more cons than pros, feel free to turn it down! You also have more freedom to choose projects that align with your values and personal interests.

Freelancing comes with benefits and disadvantages, but it can be a good way to work. 👍

There are advantages and disadvantages to freelancing, but you can make it work. One of the benefits of freelancing is that you have more freedom over your time and schedule. You can set your hours and work from home if you want to. You may also be able to set your prices when it comes to your work. This is because most clients will pay a flat fee for each project they need to be done, so there’s no hourly wage. However, there are still some drawbacks to working as a freelancer:

➡️you’re not guaranteed a steady income or consistent workload

➡️you’re on your own when it comes to health insurance, retirement plans, etc., so if those things matter a lot, then this might not be ideal

➡️when developing things from scratch, sometimes the client won’t like what you’ve created (this isn’t often, but it does happen!)

Start your freelancing journey by signing up to Jonusta today!

Earth Day & Climate Change

Earth Day & Climate Change

Today (April 22nd) is Earth Day & is a great opportunity to think about your impact on the environment. Many people would like to reduce their carbon footprint but don’t know where to start.

Here are some great tips to start:

🌍Consider alternatives to flying. The carbon footprint of flying is higher than other forms of transportation such as driving or taking the train. If possible, try traveling by car or train instead of flying. Riding a bicycle is an exceptionally eco-friendly mode of transportation for short distances (up to 20 miles).

🌍Drive more fuel-efficient or electric vehicles. If you choose between two cars, choose the one that gets better gas mileage and has lower emissions. Look up your current car’s MPG (miles per gallon) and compare it with similar new models on sites such as Fueleconomy.gov to see if it may be time for an upgrade!

🌍Switch to earth-friendly products: Think about the categories you buy most often, like groceries and cleaning products, and try to choose earth-friendly options.

🌍Switch to energy-saving options: Switching to energy-efficient light bulbs can save you money and help the planet.

🌍Recycle, recycle, recycle: Make a plan to recycle more than before. To maximize your impact, make it a priority to recycle everything you can throughout the year.

🌍Use less H20: Use less water by turning off taps when not using it, installing a low-flow showerhead, taking shorter showers, installing a low-flow toilet & fix any leaks in your home.

🌍Get Composting: Try composting for food scraps and yard waste in your backyard or at local composting sites. Composting creates rich soil and adds nutrients to plants, trees, bushes, and gardens.

You can take action on Earth Day by working at home or with your communities. Reducing your plastic waste at home is a simple way to take action by choosing reusable glass and metal containers instead of plastic ones. You can also help remove excess waste from your local landfill by participating in community clean-up projects. Educating others is another crucial step in combating climate change. Volunteering at a local school or community center will impact future generations. If you are passionate about this topic, encourage others to join the discussion about what we can do as individuals to prevent further damage to our planet!

Happy #EarthDay2022!🌍

The Great Resignation & Freelancing

The Great Resignation & Freelancing

The ‘Great Resignation’ is transforming the Gig Economy

The “Great Resignation” refers to people leaving their employers and starting businesses. Many economies worldwide are increasingly seeing people move away from traditional work and into freelance jobs. This trend will likely accelerate over the next several years as we adjust to the post-pandemic world. 

What is Freelancing?

Like everything done in the gig economy, Freelancing happens through an online platform. The biggest generalist freelancing platform around is Upwork, and Jonusta is a platform specifically for International Development professionals. Organizations post jobs they need to be completed on these platforms, and freelancers bid on them. Freelancers are rated on work completed on these platforms and build their reputations by delivering good quality outputs. The gig economy is growing fast, especially in industries like International Development.

Freelancing offers flexibility, variety & opportunity  

Freelancing offers many advantages over traditional employment. With freelancing, you can:

✔️Work on a wide range of projects. If you’re tired of doing the same old thing, freelance work can provide the variety you seek.

✔️Build your portfolio and network. Freelance work is a great way to expand your portfolio and network with people in your industry. This is especially true if you’re just starting as an entry-level employee and haven’t had much opportunity to build your professional body of work. 

✔️You can work on projects that interest you or offer a more significant challenge than what’s available at your regular job.

✔️You can work flexibly from home or under more hybrid work arrangements.

With freelancing, professionals from the global south can work on projects worldwide. This opportunity provides people who otherwise would not be able to travel abroad or take advantage of international development projects. Freelancing allows international development professionals to build their skills portfolio and contribute meaningfully toward building communities worldwide. Visit Jonusta.com to get started today.

 

Remote Work Tools

Remote Work Tools

Remote & hybrid working is here to stay as we adjust to the pandemic. We’ve recommended some great tools to maximize your productivity whilst remote or hybrid working in 2022:

Video 📹

A reliable video app is essential to your remote/hybrid workflow. Zoom is usually first in the queue but there are others like:

Chat 💬

Ever heard of asynchronous collaboration? That’s what we do when using chat tools to talk to  distributed remote teams. Maximise your inner asynchronicity with:

Project management ⚙️

Managing teams and projects remotely can be heavenly with the right collaborative tools to get things done. We like:

Notes and tasks ✅ 

Taking down notes or maintaining your to-do lists should be a breeze with these:

Storage 📦

Cloud storage is essential to smooth remote working and collaboration. Some great options here include:

Calendar scheduling 📅

We don’t know how the world coped before Calendy (free). It will simplify your life. Immensely. Doodle (free) also deserves a mention here.

Focus 👀

For the times when you need to tune out to get work done:

Why hire Freelancers?

Why hire Freelancers?

Work is evolving. Organizations worldwide are increasingly moving away from traditional employment and hiring freelancers. In the international development and social impact space, skilled freelancers can help organizations unlock their potential by solving complex problems, getting more work done, and completing projects faster. On Jonusta, freelancers support organizations meet their potential. Here are some reasons why should you hire freelancers:  

Cost savings💰

Traditional full-time employees can be expensive. In addition to salary commitments, businesses are responsible for training costs, benefits, health insurance, paid time-off, and payroll taxes. In contrast, hiring a Jonusta freelancer allows your business to eliminate most of these overhead costs without sacrificing work output.

Access to specialized talent 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Talented freelancers offer expertise that businesses/organizations can access with ease. If your business requires a specific skill set for a project, you can identify a freelancer that meets this need. The more experienced a freelancer is, the more value they can bring to a project. 

High-quality work📝

Before hiring a freelancer, you can evaluate their past work portfolio, check out reviews from clients, and interview them to make sure they are the right fit. By successfully completing your project, freelancers build their reputation, expand their portfolio, and increase their chance of future employment or referrals.

Faster deliverables🏃

In addition to offering quality work, freelancers can often provide faster deliverables than full-time employees, and more quickly and accurately. Freelancers generally focus on one project at a time or work within shorter timeframes, which results in increased efficiency and faster project completion.

Access a large talent pool👩‍💼🧑‍💼

By opening your project opportunity to freelancers, companies can access a larger talent pool from around the world. With Jonusta, it’s easier than ever to find and hire talented freelancers.

Risk reduction⬇️

Working with a freelancer allows you to build a contract with specific deliverables before payment. 

No long-term commitment🤝

Freelancers can be hired for a short-term project, for a set amount of time, or to help with long-term projects with specific deliverables. This can give companies greater flexibility when hiring freelancers.

Ease of finding, hiring, and onboarding💻

To begin your search, you can browse through lots of freelancer profiles or create a freelancer job listing on Jonusta and receive personalized proposals from qualified freelancers.

Increased diversity🌍

Freelancers create an opportunity to expand the diversity of your company. A team of individuals from different geographic areas, educational backgrounds, cultures, and work disciplines can significantly increase your ability to handle various projects.

Schedule flexibility☺️

One great benefit of freelancers is that they’re available to be hired whenever you need them. Freelancers are excellent options to meet quickly approaching deadlines. They can step in if something comes up, if you need additional support on a project, or if you need to make up for an absence on your team. 

Fresh perspective🌳

Freelancers bring a new and fresh perspective to a project & can offer unique ideas to a project. This may be a solution to a problem or a different way of understanding your needs. 

#Globaldev Websites

#Globaldev Websites

The world moves at an accelerated pace so it’s always good to have recommendations where to get fresh and interesting content on international development issues. 

Below are 4 of our recommendations:

  • The Center for Global Development (CGD) is a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C., and London that focuses on international development. They’ve got a really great website (https://www.cgdev.org/) with fantastic content from experts on key development themes such as health, education, and climate change.
  • FP2P is a blog maintained by Duncan Green (Oxfam GB) and typically also features guest bloggers with interesting observations on various topical international development issues of the day. Green spares no punches and deploys his veracious wit to great effect here – enjoy! – https://oxfamapps.org/fp2p/.
  • The World Bank blog – https://blogs.worldbank.org/ – is (surprisingly!) a good read where the Bank’s experts deliver more accessible content across the wide range of issues they deal with in their day jobs.
  • The Conversation Africa – https://theconversation.com/africa – is an independent source of news and views from the academic and research community, delivered directly to the public. We love this site as you can get unfettered access to independent, high-quality, authenticated, explanatory journalism for a better understanding of current affairs and complex issues in the global south.

Where do you get fresh updates on international development? We’d love to know so please drop us a line in the comments below.

Hiring on Jonusta

Hiring on Jonusta

If you’re not familiar with hiring on Jonusta, stop what you’re doing and read this!  Jonusta is your online work marketplace connecting you to international development and social impact freelance talent from around the world. Busy people in international development organizations often have tasks that they need done right away, but don’t have the time to do themselves. That’s where Jonusta comes in. To hire well on Jonusta, check out our tips below:

Have a clear idea what you want done

Before you hire a freelancer on Jonusta, it’s best to have a very clear idea of the project you want delivered. This will help your freelancer better understand the key requirements and help easier delivery of the project milestones.

Browse the freelancers you need

Sign-up or login into Jonusta from your desktop or smartphone to browse our fantastic range of skilled international development and social impact freelancers.

Review freelancer profiles

The profile of any freelancer says much about their ability to deliver a good job. Review their profiles and don’t hesitate to contact them on our Jonusta messaging system for further details on their experience and skills.

Interact with your freelancers

The next step is to hit the invite button to initiate contact with your selected freelancers. You can share further details about your project and ask your freelancer to send samples of previous work done for other clients using our Jonusta messenger system.

Hire and pay for your freelancer

Once you’ve identified a freelancer you want to work with, set up your project and hire your freelancer on Jonusta. We would advise creating delivery milestones for your project. You can pre-fund these milestones and your funds are protected through our secure escrow system which is powered by Stripe.com. Your funds are only released to the freelancer once you have approved the work that has been completed.

Complete your project and review your freelancer

Once your project milestones are completed to your satisfaction, you can submit a review of your freelancer’s performance and go on to commission further work with our fantastic group of freelancers.