Why so unprofessional?

!!!!RANT ALERT!!!!

I don't know what it is, but this week has been horrible for dealing with so-called professionals. From potential clients to job sites, it's been pretty bad.

Due to the drop in my hours and lack of quality job postings on oDesk, I've branched off to build profiles on other sites as well. So far, I've signed up for Solvate (who has a review period I'm still waiting on), PeoplePerHour (UK-based), Workaholics4Hire (who turned out not to have many listings at all) and SOHO Jobs. I don't particularly like the set-up of Elance or Guru, so I haven't gone there - yet.

SOHO looked really good at first and promise quality listings and encourage sign-up. I looked over the TOS and signed up. I soon realized that their free version only let you SEE the listings...you have to pay a subscription fee to apply. WTF? Why wasn't this mentioned upfront? I sent a complaint to customer service and deleted my account.

The owner(?) herself replied, stating that she was ticked off at my complaint because she and her staff will not work for free. First off, who ever suggested anyone work for free? My complaint was at the requirement to pay just to apply to jobs. Other sites charge employers a small fee based on actual work done, not on the job hunt itself.

In the midst of all this unprofessionalism, I've been getting hit up for interviews...even straight up offers... on oDesk. Sounds great, but when I reply back wanting more information on the company, industry, tasks, etc. (many invites give very little info upfront and usually read like "I like your profile and want to know your availability for a part-time gig"), they decline my application. Really? You think employers would want to hire somebody who's interested in knowing their needs and discussing the best ways to serve them. Are we supposed to be mind readers?

One guy invited me to interview for a job he posted no more than one brief sentence about and asked for my email, phone number, etc. I don't give out my personal information at all and only established clients receive my email and skype (NOT my personal phone numbers) because there are many scam artists out there trolling job listings and I loathe spam, so I politely told him I don't give out that information on the outset.

He responded by messaging me (via oDesk) that he wasn't trying to "virtually rape" me then declining my application (or, rather, my invite), stating I lacked the necessary skills/qualifications. Again, really? If I lacked the skills, don't invite me to interview for your job! I feel his childish behavior totally justifies my policy...and this guy was supposed to be a company president!

Things are stressful right now anyway, with my hours down and dealing with my landlord (whom I'm taking legal action against for various contractual violations). My mother-in-law moved in...I love her but she requires 2 trips a month back to her hometown (which is 2 hours away, one way, with gas costs as they are), until we're settled in at our new place and get her doctors transferred there. On top of that, my health has decided to go helter skelter again...they really need to do the follow-up Crohn's tests. With all this going on, why must I have to deal with a new batch of idiots at every turn?

There are bright sides to all this, oddly enough. The severe drop in hours actually opens me up to go ahead and start my own business, assuming we figure out which home we're moving to because it will determine how far I can go initially and which products I'll start with. Both houses are out of town, so I'd need a second car to work outside the home, but that might still be an option.

You know what they say about creation out of destruction...right about now, there's plenty of room to build! I just hope I can maintain what's left of my sanity in the meantime. I'm putting on my seat belt for this ride!

Hope you're all doing better on your ends of things!