I am curious as to why the "hiring/freelancing" problem has not been cracked yet. Given the issues with global sites such as oDesk and elance perhaps the problem really does not scale without sacrificing either reliability or quality and an inherently local solution either in terms of geography for a specific city or more widely for a specific skillset is the most realistic approach so that referrals and personal recommendations still carry some weight.
oDesk and elance leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The only real way I can see using one of these services is where the potential employers bid on my limited time, and not the other way around. That way your helping the workers to get paid more, and you are not helping the employers pay less.
So, I'm always getting asked for referrals to good people (engineers, designers, etc.) Here's what I'm thinking of building: <a href="http://auctionme.me" rel="nofollow">http://auctionme.me</a> (I'll find a better name, promise!) as a side project<p>But if you find yourself in that boat, please take the survey and let me know!
i've been working on this problem for folks in production/post-production rather than in programming/dev. would love to chat on what i've got so far.<p>there are some very big differences between what folks who are new to freelance need vs those who are 'old hat' and very little that is out there to connect these individuals together. im interested in trying to solve the issues that many industries are currently having with mentorship and education while also making sure folks work at rewarding jobs.<p>...is this really an "auction?"