What: Zintro is a recruiting company that plays matchmaker between consultants and companies needing relevant expertise.

Expected pay: varies

Husl$core: $$$

Commissions & fees: 15%

Where: Nationwide

Requirements: 18 or older

Review:

Zintro is a recruiting company that plays matchmaker between consultants and companies with relevant needs. Consultants list their services on the site for free, paying a 15% commission when someone hires them through Zintro. You determine your areas of expertise and what you want to highlight in your profile.

Zintro matches consultants to projects. But consultants, who have not been selected by the site, can also apply for jobs that they think match their expertise. Consultants and hiring companies negotiate compensation on a contract-by-contract basis.

Fees and compensation

The main complaints we see involve the time it takes for Zintro to compensate its consultants. Although the site says pay will be remitted within two weeks of completing an assignment, this may be when the site sends a check. Payments are made either by check or PayPal.

The other concern that we have is the duration of Zintro’s consulting contract. According to Zintro’s terms, if a company forges a long-term relationship with a particular consultant, the consultant owes Zintro 15% of his or her earnings for three full years. If a consultant meets a future employer on the site, the employer owes a fee to Zintro.

The fees drop to 12.5% once a consultant earns more than $50,000 from a particular client and to 10% after you’ve earned $100,000 or more.

Notably, if you want to get Zintro to promote your profile, you also have the option of paying a $250 annual fee. This is not something we’d recommend, given that most consultants appear to get only occasional work from this site.

Recommendations:

Zintro is one of many online platforms that will allow you to find consulting work. None of them demand exclusivity. And since consulting is sporadic work, we’d suggest that you register with multiple networks. Others to consider include Maven, Gerson Lehrman, as well as related job sites for professionals, such as FreeUp, FlexProfessionals and OnwardSearch.

What their users say: (from Quora)

I have had 3 opportunities through Zintro. But I was only paid for one of them and bid on 10 – 20 times that number. The issue for me is you send off your proposal and never hear anything back. It would be good to get feedback. I get much more work through PeoplePerHour and Upwork.

Registered as an expert on Zintro for a long time. I usually receive couple email of matches according to my work profile every week. I had applied for a phone consulting opportunity for a client and assisted them with their query and made some $$. If you have right skills, it could be a win win situation for both you and the client. However, do not consider this as a source of regular income as the opportunities aren’t that big.

From Glassdoor

Spent hours assisting a client and never got paid. Tried calling Zintro many times and never connected with a human. Left many messages which they never responded to.

A flexible company that pairs experts and consultants with consulting work. They are easy to work with and pay well. My only frustration is the time it takes to get paid once you finish your consulting call or engagement.