Location Filters in Search are coming!

[Tam L]

Hi all -

It’s taken some time (more than I’d have liked), but I’m excited to share that within the next few weeks you all can finally filter projects based on location.

Here are a few details:

• The location filter will appear on the left when you search by keyword or category. It will also be applied to your Job and RSS Feeds when you save the search.
• You can also filter by multiple countries if you wish - e.g. I can search for projects in Mexico, Vietnam, or Germany.
• The filtering will be based on the location clients have specified on their account. Clients who haven’t provided any information about their location won’t be included in search results after the filter is applied.

Hoping this makes it a tad bit easier for you all to find projects! As always, let me know if you have any suggestions or feedback.

[Stephen B]

Tam

can you please confirm for me and forgive me for being cynical here...) that this location filter will be purely voluntary and it will not be used automatically in any way (e.g. like hiding suppressing the visibility of applications by freelancers from different regions than the client's).

[Tam L]

Hey Stephen - 

Given the history around here, you have every right to be cynical. As an aside, one of the key things the Upwork Freelancer Team strives for is transparency and truthfulness in the product. We (the team) know that there is a lot to be done, but do know that we understand where you're coming from. 

To answer your question directly:

The location filter is meant for you, the Freelancer, to be able to filter projects by client country (at least where the client tells us they're from). Using this filter will not affect your proposal in any way nor will it affect the projects you see without you explicitly saying so.

Example 1:

- You run your search

- Choose not to filter by location

- Every thing works as is, all projcets are shown by however you sorted with whatever filters you have set

Example 2:

- You run your search

- Choose to filter by location: Canada

- Only projects where the client is from Canada are left for you to view

- To be extra clear, if the client has no location set, they will not appear in the results at this point. We've selected Canada after all =)

- Unchecking Canada from the filters will bring all projects back to the results

I hope this cleared things up. If not, I'll give it another attempt.  

[Wassim T]

Amazing news Tam. Please let me know when this is published so I remove the Upwork Search Power-up extension from the Chrome Store. 

Great job. Please keep it up! 

Best regards, 

Wassim 

[Tam L]

Hey Wassim - 

Your extension will still show the number of proposals though. We're not that far yet

The upside to using location on the site though will be that you can actually save your search. 

Hope you're doing well sir.

[Stephen B]

Hi Tam

Wow, do you really work for Upwork? What a refreshing mix of honesty, humility and commitment. Thanks indeed.

[Isabelle Anne A]

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Stephen B wrote:

Hi Tam

Wow, do you really work for Upwork? What a refreshing mix of honesty, humility and commitment. Thanks indeed.

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I was amazed when I read his post!

[Wassim T]

Hey Stephen how's going my friend? It's been some time... 

Tam is truly an amazing person. I had the chance to have a conference call with him a couple of months ago, and I can tell you he is a very honest, professional and transparent person.

I hope Upwork always find great people like Tam, Lena and Valeria. My favorite people working for Upwork  

Best regards, 

Wassim

[Mariska P]

Hi Tam,

Did Upwork decide on the location filter because of Wassim's app? 

[Dawn L]

Fantastic news, Tam! While I don't generally worry about filtering based on client location, I do know that it was a highly requested feature among freelancers here! Any ETA on when it will be available?

Next search feature suggestion.... allowing freelancers to filter fixed rate jobs by experience level (similar to how we can for hourly). Since Upwork has allowed clients to set experience level requirements on their fixed price gigs and hourly jobs, I personally would find being able to filter these for fixed priced jobs incredibly useful as well as save me a bit of time when browsing job listings.