Many students & graduates working on GradSkills may be new to ‘milestones’. Milestones are a common feature of remote work. They help create clear project guidelines, and they promote trust and safety on GradSkills. Here we explain the basics of milestones on GradSkills.
What are milestones?
Milestones are the tasks that make up a job on GradSkills. Each milestone has its own description, cost (what the client will pay) and deadline. Milestones are designed to be flexible: a job can have 1 or many milestones, and milestones can be performed in sequential order or at the same time.
The 2 types of milestones
There are 2 types of milestones: Individual Milestones and Repeating Milestones. Here we briefly describe each and how they work.
Individual milestones are one-off tasks with a fixed price. The client deposits funds for the milestone in advance, the intern performs the work described, and then the client approves the work and releases payment to the intern.
Repeating Milestones are recurring weekly or monthly cycles with a defined number of hours per cycle and an hourly rate. The intern logs the number of hours worked in each cycle, and at the end of each cycle the client pays the hourly rate for the hours worked.
To learn more about how each type of milestone works, check out our help articles on working with Individual Milestones and Repeating Milestones.
When are milestones created?
When a client posts a job, they provide a general description of the work to be performed and set a budget range they are willing to pay. This allows clients the flexibility to tailor project details, timing and cost to individual applicants.
Once a client wants to hire you, they will create milestones for you to approve. The client may know exactly what they want done and by when, or they may ask for your input regarding project details, timing and/or cost. In either case, work cannot start until you have approved the milestones and the client has created a contract.