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Job size will now be factored into your JSS

lenaellis
Community Member

UPDATE: The JSS Metric has been updated to reflect the changes that were announced below. As of today, March 1st, all Job Success Scores are now displaying the updated value.


We will soon update JSS metrics to reflect job value in the calculation. Today, a one-week $20 job typically carries the same weight as a one-week $1,000 job in JSS. Soon, JSS will be weighted by job earnings. For example, a one-week $1,000 job will be weighted more than a one-week $20 job. JSS will also exclude contracts with $0 earned and positive feedback. All other JSS policies will remain unchanged.



What does this mean?

We are making this change so a freelancer’s Job Success Score will display a more comprehensive representation of their freelancer workWe understand not all jobs are equal. We know higher budget contracts require more work and freelancers who complete these more complex contracts successfully should get credit for them. Just as longer-term contracts hold more weight in JSS calculations than shorter ones, we believe contract value should also hold significance in the calculation. By giving these jobs more weight, these jobs will have a greater influence on a JSS. 

 

Many freelancers will see an increase in their scores if they’ve successfully completed higher budget contracts in the past. At the same time, a small percentage of freelancers may lose their JSS, see a drop in their scores, or lose their Top Rated badge. Today, we are emailing freelancers whose JSS will see a decline of 5% or more, to let them know they will be affected.  Freelancers that see a drop in their score can improve their JSS by completing more jobs with positive feedback, as it works today. Larger budget contracts with positive feedback will result in a higher increase in JSS, however, all great feedback contributes to JSS and whether you work on large or small contracts you can still reach 100% JSS.

 

This change will take effect in March, at which time all Job Success Scores will be updated retroactively. We know many of you will have questions about this update. We won’t be able to discuss your individual score or outcomes of specific contracts. We have listed some anticipated questions below, let us know if you have any additional questions.



FAQS:

 

Can I know what my new JSS is now before this launches?

We will not be able to provide you with your updated score until the JSS calculation refreshes at launch, in March.

 

Does this mean if I don’t get big contracts I’ll never be able to get a JSS of 100%?

Receiving stellar feedback on smaller budget jobs can still get you to a JSS of 100%. We are only changing the impact of jobs based on earnings. This means that strong client feedback on a higher-budget job could boost your score more than a lower-budget job. All other aspects of JSS will remain the same.

 

How will I know if it affects me?

The majority of freelancers will be affected positively by this change and will see an increase in their scores. We are sending out emails to those who will likely see a drop in their score once the new JSS calculation goes into effect in March. 

 

Can this affect me positively, will my JSS go up?

Yes! The vast majority of freelancers on the platform will see an increase or very little change in their scores. This is because you may have worked on one or more higher paying contracts in the past, and because you received great feedback that great feedback is being weighted more. 

 

Can I lose my JSS?

A small percentage of freelancers may lose their JSS. This is because they had one or more jobs with no earnings. Positive feedback on contracts with no earnings will not be factored into JSS once we move to the new calculation. As a result, some freelancers won’t have enough outcomes to be eligible for a JSS until they successfully complete more jobs. Nearly all freelancers have scores after completing eight projects. 

 

How does weighting work specifically? 

To ensure fairness and avoid manipulation, we don’t share the specifics about how we calculate the Job Success Score. Thanks for your understanding.

 

So if I take a bigger job and get negative feedback that counts more than positive feedback on smaller jobs?
Yes. A job with higher earnings will always impact your Job Success Score (JSS) more than a smaller job. For example, feedback on a $1,000 job carries more weight on your JSS compared to a $20 job. However, receiving poor feedback on a job with more earnings can be balanced out by doing well on a job of the same size in the future or on a number of smaller jobs. 

 

Can I lose my Top Rated badge?

Yes, a small percentage of freelancers who see a decline in their JSS may drop below 90% and lose their Top Rated badge. This is because they received less-than-positive public or private feedback on one or more of their higher-paying contracts. Feedback on contracts with higher earnings will affect JSS more after this new change.

925 Comments
rajivpratap
Community Member

Hi

 

May I know the budget or ticket size for small, medium and large projects

yitwail
Community Member

Ivan M wrote:


Believe me, listen to me, bring back the oDesk algorithm.


Ivan, the change they announced makes JSS more like the oDesk algorithm, where higher price jobs counted more than lower priced jobs in calculating the average star rating. The main difference now is that JSS also includes private feedback.

flatratecontent
Community Member

Are we able to have a value or formula to assess what defines a big job? 

 

I use UpWork to supplement my income and only pick jobs in between 150-400 so is this something that's not considered a big job? 

 

I would like to know how severely the JSS is going to fluctuate.

epae
Community Member

So I ask you (Upwork) not to "improve" anything, and to bring it back oDesk algorithm. So you are not improving anything. You've already shown how you can improve something that's good. Upwork is just destroyed something which was good.
So, if something's good, don't touch it.
Especially after when you have shown that you (Upwork) can "improve" things.
So, restore the oDesk algorithm and do not "improve" anything. Please!

colettelewis
Community Member

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose ... 

anr248
Community Member

While I agree weighting higher-earning contracts is absolutely a step in the right direction, this algo adjustment still does not address an issue that has plagued the JSS for years.

 

I’m one of the top-earning freelances on Upwork in Massachusetts. With several of my clients I’ve had open running-contracts for a very long-time, in some cases years. Given how long I’ve worked with these folks (and how long they’ve worked with me), we clearly have positive relationships and they would speak highly of me. These are the clients where I generate the most revenue from Upwork, and Upwork in-turn makes the most revenue from fees. However, because these contracts are essentially a “running tab” accounting-wise, these clients have never had the opportunity to leave a review on my profile given we’ve never actually closed a contract. The only reviews currently on my profile, and hence being accounted for in my JSS, are short one-off projects that account for ~5% of the revenue I’ve generated from the Upwork platform. This new algo adjustment in no-way addresses this issue.

 

Today I received the email that my JSS will likely be lowered. I know I have among the top-percentile largest and longest-running contracts on Upwork. Upwork is now engineering a scenario where during this month before March 2020, I’m going to have to go to all of my long-term clients, close all of my current contracts, have my clients leave a positive review, and then open new contracts with all of them, all for the sake of the JSS and this algo. Then I will rinse-and-repeat every month with my long-term clients for the foreseeable future. This is highly highly inefficient; it breaks workflows, creates awkwardness over “closing contracts in the middle of very long-term engagements”, and puts unnecessary stress on long-running contractor-client relationships.

 

What Upwork should be doing is allowing clients with very long running and high-volume contracts the ability to provide reviews and feedback every month or every quarter (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4), instead of having to close a contract completely to leave a review. Upwork has vested interest financially in folks like me working with very long-term clients with the Upwork platform as the intermediary. Almost like an employee. They are now incentivizing contractors to engage in opening/closing/opening/closing contracts for the sake of upping the JSS, which puts awkwardness on client relationships. Why they haven’t addressed this issue years ago is beyond me… It should be a no-brainer.

wescowley
Community Member

This makes a lot of sense, and I see it as a good change. Thank you!

wendy_writes
Community Member

Kudos to Andrew for "What Upwork should be doing is allowing clients with very long running and high-volume contracts the ability to provide reviews and feedback every quarter (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4), instead of having to close a contract completely to leave a review."

lysis10
Community Member

Andrew R wrote:

 

 

What Upwork should be doing is allowing clients with very long running and high-volume contracts the ability to provide reviews and feedback every month or every quarter (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4), instead of having to close a contract completely to leave a review. Upwork has vested interest financially in folks like me working with very long-term clients with the Upwork platform as the intermediary. Almost like an employee. They are now incentivizing contractors to engage in opening/closing/opening/closing contracts for the sake of upping the JSS, which puts awkwardness on client relationships. Why they haven’t addressed this issue years ago is beyond me… It should be a no-brainer.


They do. Longterm contracts count positively towards your JSS. If you're getting paid regularly every week or month, it helps. You don't need to close/re-open a contract. Just leave it open and keep earning. I've found these contracts are better than just having 1 contract that turned out well.

bqkelley170
Community Member
Now you should redefine it and rename it too. "Job success" is misleading in the sense that it sounds like if anything less than 100%, you didn't successfully complete some jobs. "The percentage of this freelancer's jobs that resulted in a great client experience." is outlandishly over simplified and subjective, IMO.

Isn't the goal to have an actionable metric for clients to weigh? The algorithm is so complex it's kind of become irrelevant to clients.