Getting Started

2. Getting Started

Before you begin offering services to clients in City Talent you will be required to become a City Talent Provider. You can sign up by visiting the following link:
http://www.citytalent.com/Providers/SignUp.aspx

Fig. 2.1 City Talent Sign up Page

You can apply to be a City Talent Provider either as an Individual (employed IT professional or a freelancer) or as a Company Provider (a team of service providers managed by a company).

Fig. 2.2 Company Sign up form

Fig. 2.3 Individual Sign up form

Default Window for Independent Provider

Company	: Your Company name (This information needs to be filled only by Company Provider)
Name	: Your Name.
E-mail Address	: A genuine email address which will be verified.
Location	: Your present location.
Time Zone	: Except for the US citizens the time zone will be selected automatically.
Phone	: A valid phone number on which you can be contacted.
User Name	: A user name of your choice.
Password	: A password of your choice (should have at least 6 characters).
Confirm	: Type the same password once again.

Note:
You should accept the City Talent terms and conditions by selecting “terms of Contract and License Agreement” check box.

Account Activation
Your city talent provider account will be activated only when verify your email address.

Fig. 2.4 Sign up Confirmation

As soon as you submit your sign up form, you will receive a verification e-mail from City Talent. The subject of this e-mail says "City Talent Account Verification". Kindly click on the verification link provided in the e-mail to activate your account in City Talent.

Note: In case if you have not received the verification mail on the mentioned e-mail address then,

1.	Wait for a few minutes, as sometimes the e-mail takes time to reach your mail box.
2.	Check your Junk Mail folders.
3.	If you find the email in your Junk Mail, then add "www.citytalent.com" to your trusted senders list and Click the "Re-Send Verification E-mail" button.

Once your account is activated, you will receive a welcome email with the subject “City Talent Account Activated”. This will indicate you that your account has been activated. Kindly go through this e-mail to quickly understand the fundamentals of City Talent.

Completing your profile

Once your account is activated, the very first screen you will see is your profile checklist. You will be required to complete the profile checklist items before you begin searching for opportunities in City Talent.

Fig. 2.5 Profile Checklist for individual provider

If you are an individual provider, following items needs to be completed:
1. Personal profile
2. Service profile

Fig. 2.5 Profile Checklist for Provider Company

If you are a provider company, following items needs to be completed:
1. Company profile
2. Personal profile

As a Provider Company you can add Sub Providers to your team and earn more revenues through City Talent. This can be done using the link “Add Sub-provider to your team”

About Profile Checklist

Checklist will keep reminding you about your incomplete profile. It is present in the welcome window under the “Profile Navigation”. Checklist will hide automatically as soon as your profile is complete.

The goal of this section is to act as a “to-do” list to help you get started in City Talent. Kindly go through the checklist and complete each of the items.

Fig. 2.6 Personal Profile page

This window will have “PROFILE” and “PAYMENTS” tab at the top left.

	Complete the PROFILE page with the respective details and click the “Update Profile” Button (Orange Button at the Bottom). This will update your Personal profile and you will see “Personal profile updated successfully” remark on the top left side of the page.
	Now you can click on the PAYMENTS tab and configure a payment option under the heading “Your Payment Mode”. You have to specify the mode of payment through which you will receive funds from City Talent. Currently City Talent supports two payment methods to withdraw funds: o Moneybookers o PayPal

Fig. 2.7 Configure your Payment method

You may configure one or both the payment methods to withdraw money from your account.

Fig. 2.8 Payment method selection page

Click on “Add a PayPal Account” or “Add a Moneybookers Account”, add your e-mail address and click the “Update Payment” button.

Important Note to Provider Company:
Sub-providers which you add from your company will not be able to configure the payment option. Payment for all work done by your Sub-providers will be credited only to your account.

2. Company Profile (for Provider Companies only):
For Provider companies, an additional form will be available. Authorized person from the company can fill out the company profile information.

Important Note to Provider Company:
If you have signed up as a Provider Company (i.e. you represent a company) your default status is ‘Company Manager’. As a Company Manager, you will manage your team in City Talent but will not be personally serving clients.
Along with managing your company's relationship in City Talent, if you would also like to provide services, kindly visit your personal profile and enable the check box ‘Yes, i will manage and provide service’. Now you will be required to fill up your service profile (Refer Service Profile section below).

Note: A Service Profile should be filled on individual basis. And hence, a Company Manager’s Service Profile should highlight only his skills and expertise and not the skills and expertise of his Company as a Whole. A company provider can add any number of sub providers and mention their skills and expertise on individual basis.

Return to PROFILE page and click on “Service Profile” link provided in the right side navigation box with heading ‘Profile Navigation’.

3. Service Profile:
Your service profile is the most important factor which will determine your success in City Talent. Your profile should provide a good understanding of your technical and non-technical skills including your skills, experience, employment history and other facts that describe you, similar to a resume. Try to be very specific when completing your service profile.

Note:
Your service profile is automatically published in City Talent marketplace. City Talent clients can search and invite you for job opportunities they post on City Talent. Please make sure that your service profile is completed as soon as possible.

Service Profile will have the following major areas:

	Basic Info
	Skills & Certification
	Portfolio
	Work & Education

Fig. 2.9 Service Profile - Basic Info Page

The basic info page provides you with the ability to add the most basic aspects of your service profile. Each of these is explained below:

Profile Title – The title of your profile should provide a brief snapshot of your strengths. Create your profile title so that it stands out and help client generate interest in your services.

Upload Photo – A profile with a picture creates an extremely favorable impact against a profile without one. Upload your recent color photo in either *.jpeg, *.png or *.gif format.

Career Summary - Write your career summary so that it provides major highlights of your career and the expertise you offer.

Languages Known – Specify the languages you are comfortable with

Availability - Specify the number of hours per week you are available to work on City Talent. Clients consider this factor when deciding to select a team member. Certain projects might require you to work longer hours while others might require you to work only part-time Be realistic and honest about your availability considering your current and future work load. Remember to update this information in your profile as your availability changes.

Hourly Rate - You will charge clients based on the number of hours reported for the project; hence it is necessary to set your hourly rates in your profile. Your published hourly rate includes the City Talent fee which is a percentage of your hourly rates.

Client Rate = your rate + city talent fee.

Important Note to Provider Company:
If you are adding sub-providers to your team for review by City Talent, the hourly rates field will not be visible to them by default. If you wish to allow your sub provider to manage their hourly rates, Go to their service profile and click on the “Allow sub-providers to view/modify rates” link provided above the hourly rate field. This will allow them to change their hourly rates and enable them to view the amounts in the invoices generated by City Talent for your clients.

Skills & Certification:
This section will give an in depth understanding of your profile to the client. This section will contain:

Your Skills – You can add all your skills in this section. Click on “Add Skills” button to add your skills

Fig. 2.10 Service Profile – Skills and Certifications

Choose the skills you know by navigating through skill categories on the left. Once you have selected all the skills that you know, click on “Add Selected Skills” button.

Fig. 2.11 Service Profile – Adding Skills

Update the necessary information about your selected skills (Skill, Experience, Expertise and Last Used) and click “Save Skills” button.

Fig. 2.12 Service Profile – Saving skill information

Service Categories – Service categories are the functional areas where you experience working with. For example, as a designer, you might have developed your competency in web design. You may choose service categories in the areas you think you can provide a high standard of service.

Fig. 2.13 Service Profile – Adding Service Categories

Click on “Add Service Categories” and choose the service categories where you have experience in providing services. After selecting the Service Categories click on “Add Service Categories” Button.

Fig. 2.14 Service Profile – Saving Service Categories

Update the necessary information about your selected service categories (Level and Experience) and click “Save Services” button.

Certifications
City Talent clients lay a great emphasis on industry recognized certification. You can add all your certifications in this area. While adding a certification, make sure to select corresponding skills for which you are certified. Skills you have already added will be displayed to choose from.

Fig. 2.15 Service Profile – Adding Certification

Update the necessary information (Certificate Title, Certifying Organization, Year and Associate Skills) and click “Add Certification” button.

Portfolio:
Our study suggests that a majority of clients tend to choose providers who can demonstrate their project/work effectively. The portfolio section in your service profile is just meant to help you achieve this. You can add any number of projects in your portfolio and instantly achieve a lot more credibility. Along with each project you can upload associated screenshots, media files and much more.

Click on the add project button to begin adding project in your portfolio.

Be descriptive yet not very lengthy in your project description. Make sure to explain your contribution to those projects. If you’re in a company, do not include all of the projects that the company has done, rather include the ones that you/your sub-provider have participated in by going to the respective service profile.

Fig. 2.16 Service Profile – Project Portfolio

Update the necessary information (Project Title, Description, Your Role, Completed On, URL, Associate Service Category and Associate Skills,) and click “Save” button.

Fig. 2.17 Service Profile – Add Project

You can even upload Files/Images associated with the project. These files can be can be Flash, Videos, Images (JPEG, GIF, PNG), popular document formats like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files. After filling in the necessary details click on “Upload” Button.

Fig. 2.18 Service Profile – Add files/images to a project

Here you can add different files for different projects of yours. Once you have completed this click on “Finish” Button.

Work & Education:
In this section you can add your Work Experience and Academic Qualifications, by clicking the respective buttons

Fig. 2.19 Service Profile – Work and Education

Once you are through with all the above you can view your profile by clicking on the “Preview My Profile” Button. Your service profile will open up in a new window. This is how your service profile will be visible to City Talent clients.

Fig. 2.20 Service Profile – Profile Preview