Question about elance vrs other job boards

[MomJennifer]

I have a question about these job boards, I've been looking over Elance and I think it looks promising; however, I have a few concerns. The big one is that I've been out of the traditional work force for so long that I am not sure I can compete with the more experienced professionals currently bidding on the available contracts. Another job board that I'm interested in is the freelance work exchange. Has anyone here used that one, and if so, what do you think of it?

Thanks! Jen.

[hiddenhelper]

I haven't used elance, but I have used guru. I applied to a whole bunch of ads, but got very few "bites". I did get one long-term client from it because he needed someone with my exact experience. But usually it seems that projects get awarded to the cheapest bidder with the most experience. You could always bid low and as you're able to update your work experience, you could raise your bids.

[OffAssist]

I'm sure other people have had better luck, but after looking around for a few months at eLance and Guru, I stopped looking - the bids are WAY too low for me to ever compete within that market.

Having said that, that may have more to do with my niche. I think Lauren, of course, has some good advice!