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New talent badges are now available!

ilianamontauk
Community Member

Earlier this year, we shared some of our upcoming plans to highlight top talent on Upwork. We understood that you are looking for more ways to stand out and want better access to high-value opportunities with quality clients. As we continue to attract more businesses seeking flexible talent solutions, we have also heard their need to more quickly find talent they can trust for complex, strategic, and long-term work. To further our continued efforts towards this vision, we're excited to announce two new talent badges: Top Rated Plus and Expert-Vetted.



Screen Shot 2020-07-07 at 8.54.10 AM.png

TOP RATED PLUS

 

What is Top Rated Plus?

 

Top Rated Plus is a new status for talent that has a proven track record of excelling on large or long-term contracts on Upwork. On average their contracts last 7 months. These professionals and agencies are highlighted because they have delighted clients on large contracts. Businesses frequently seek talent for large projects or longer-term relationships, and trust talent with this proven experience on Upwork. Right now Top Rated Plus talent has earned more than $100K on average through Upwork, four times as much as Top Rated talent.  



What are the benefits?

  • Priority access to work with Upwork Enterprise and Business clients: they will be able to find you more easily in search, and our Talent Services teams will prioritize inviting you to their invite-only jobs. 
  • A Top Rated Plus badge displayed on your profile visible to clients on Upwork’s Enterprise, Business, and Plus plans (to all other clients you will continue to appear as Top Rated)

 

What are the requirements to become a Top Rated Plus freelancer?

  • Earned $10,000+ in total earnings (all contracts included) the past 12 months
  • Worked on one of more large projects in the past 12 months without negative feedback. What is considered a large project can vary depending on the skill category:
    • $5,000: Design & Creative, Engineering & Architecture, Legal, Translation, Writing
    • $10,000: Accounting & Consulting, Admin, Data Science & Analytics, IT & Networking, Sales & Marketing
    • $15,000: Web, Mobile & Software Dev
    • $20,000: Customer Support
  • Are not an exclusive agency contractor
  • Maintained Top Rated status

 

What are the requirements to be Top Rated Plus as an agency?

  • Earned $20,000+ in total earnings (all contracts included)
  • Worked on one or more large projects in the past 12 months and no more than 10 percent of the contracts had negative outcomes. What is considered a large project can vary depending on the skill category:
    • $10,000: Design & Creative, Engineering & Architecture, Legal, Translation, Writing
    • $20,000: Accounting & Consulting, Admin, Customer Service, Data Science & Analytics, IT & Networking, Sales & Marketing
    • $30,000: Web, Mobile & Software Dev
  • Maintained Top Rated status

Timing

  • The Top Rated Plus badge was released today to some clients. If you qualify for this badge, clients on Upwork’s Enterprise and Business plans will now see it on your profile, as will some clients on Upwork’s Plus plan. You will start seeing the badge on your own profile and MyStats later this summer - we’ll notify you by email once you can see it there.

 

Screen Shot 2020-07-07 at 8.54.16 AM.png

EXPERT-VETTED 

 

What is Expert-Vetted Talent?

 

Expert-Vetted Talent is a new status for talent that has deep experience in their field, on or off Upwork. Upwork invites this talent to participate in a rigorous pre-screening process. We chose to highlight these professionals because businesses frequently seek talent with a strong combination of expertise and soft skills, and they trust talent that has been pre-screened by professionals in the relevant field. This talent will get prioritized for clients on Upwork’s Enterprise and Business plans, whose average project value is over $8,000. 

 

What are the benefits?

 

  • An Expert-Vetted badge on your profile to help you more easily stand out and find quality work with top clients on Upwork’s Enterprise and Business plans. All other clients will see your Rising Talent, Top Rated, or Top Rated Plus badge if you have one.
  • Priority access to work with clients on Upwork’s Enterprise and Business plans
  • A personal relationship with an Upwork Talent Manager who helps match you to opportunities aligned with your goals

 

Our team is hard at work to further enhance the Expert-Vetted experience, so expect more exciting updates on the horizon including opportunities to engage with this exclusive community of professionals like you and other ways to more easily access high-value work.

 

What are the requirements to become an Expert-Vetted freelancer or agency?

This opportunity is available by invitation only. Keep your eyes peeled for an invitation in your email inbox or when you log into Upwork. Once we are able to offer this opportunity to more people, we will provide an update here.

 

If you are invited to participate, you will need to pass a rigorous pre-screening process which may include a portfolio review, coding tests, interviews, or other steps relevant to your area of expertise. Agencies participate in a similar process to assess the agency’s expertise.

 

Our initial focus is Design & Creative; Web, Mobile, and Software Development; and Sales & Marketing.   



How is this different from previous programs, like Upwork Premium?

Expert-Vetted replaces previous programs for expert-level talent. We’ve done extensive research with businesses seeking expert-level talent on Upwork for large projects and created new criteria in line with current client expectations. If you’ve previously taken an assessment for Upwork Premium or Upwork Pro, thank you! We have your results on file and will take them into consideration as we grow the program and extend additional invitations. Your results also continue to be available to our Talent Services teams which take them into consideration when sending invitations to jobs.

 

Timing

  • The Expert-Vetted badge was released today to some clients. If you qualify for this badge, clients on Upwork’s Enterprise and Business plans will now see it. You will start seeing the badge on your own profile and MyStats later this summer - we’ll notify you by email once you can see it there



RISING TALENT & TOP RATED

 

Freelancers who are currently Rising Talent or Top Rated will continue to keep those badges and benefits. Expert-Vetted and Top Rated Plus are not replacing Rising Talent or Top Rated.

 

When you earn Expert-Vetted or Top Rated Plus status, your new badge is only visible to Upwork's Enterprise and Business clients—as well as select Plus clients for Top Rated Plus.* All other clients will see your Rising Talent or Top Rated badge if you have one.

 

See the chart below to learn which badge clients see when they look at your profile, depending on the client type.

Screen Shot 2020-08-17 at 6.57.38 AM.png

 

 

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We care deeply about helping you succeed on Upwork. There is plenty more to come! We will continue to invest in our talent badges and other solutions. We'd love to hear your thoughts on how these new statuses impact your work and other ways we can help you achieve your goals.

 

Thanks!

 

Iliana Montauk

Product Manager

 

*Beta test update July 2021: We are always working to improve features on our platform, from time to time some users may see options while we test changes for this reason. Over the next few weeks we'll be testing a way for badges be visible to all clients when searching Project Catalog. If there are any changes that will permanently take effect we will update you here!


559 Comments
iaabraham
Community Member

Steven E. L wrote:

What does the badge for health insurance look like?

 

I'd like to sign up since we're transitioning from a freelance platform to a full-time staffing agency.


Smiley LOL Smiley LOL

 

Ugh, so many questions and annoyances about the way this is set up. One that's particular to me: I've had positive feedback from one client on multiple projects in the past 12 months. Collectively, these contracts from him have passed the $5K threshold for my category. But I won't qualify because the client set up a new contract for each task/project, instead of letting one contract accumulate over $5K (which is fine by me). But just for that I'm excluded from this??

 

Obviously I wouldn't care about having another gimmicky-looking badge on my profile if it weren't for the fact that not having these silly icons makes us lose out on potential work!

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Jessica and others,

 

Top Rated Plus is only an indicator that a freelancer worked on a successful large contract and had earnings of at least $10,000 in the past year on Upwork. Clients have told us that they have a difficult time finding talent that are both interested in larger, more complex projects and also have a track record of completing them successfully on Upwork.

It does not mean, however, that these freelancers are better or have a higher Job Success Score. Plus, since we only expect about 3% of freelancers to earn this variation of Top Rated status we know the Top Rated badge will still set you apart as having a great reputation on Upwork.

iaabraham
Community Member

Valeria K wrote:

Hi Jessica and others,

 

Top Rated Plus is only an indicator that a freelancer worked on a successful large contract and had earnings of at least $10,000 in the past year on Upwork. Clients have told us that they have a difficult time finding talent that are both interested in larger, more complex projects and also have a track record of completing them successfully on Upwork.

It does not mean, however, that these freelancers are better or have a higher Job Success Score. Plus, since we only expect about 3% of freelancers to earn this variation of Top Rated status we know the Top Rated badge will still set you apart as having a great reputation on Upwork.


Valeria, that's still not very comforting 😞 I do well on large projects / long-term projects, but I won't get this badge.

 

As a client, I'd choose Top Rated Plus every time over Top Rated. Unless you put a banner across every page of the site breaking down these badge descriptions (and maybe even then), clients won't understand the nuance and will just choose the freelancer with the better-sounding (or -looking) badge.

pandoraharper
Community Member

This is right in line of where Upwork is going. Keeping the top 3% of the freelancers, and faciliting the hookup to a small number of Enterprise level clients.

 

Most or all of the updates in 2020 been initiated to further the above directive.

 

Edit to add: I like working for small companies. I left the corporate world for a reason.

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Kelly, Jennifer and Pandora,

 

I'm checking with the team to confirm if a long-term contract needs to be completed and closed in order for it to count toward the Top Rated Plus status or not. I'll get back to you once I have more information about that. UPDATE: Yes, active long-term contracts do count. Also, we have a solution in the works that should address the issue you're bringing up with long-term active contracts that don't receive feedback until they are closed.

 

And... all three of you have the Top Rated Plus badge. We'll be sending out emails to notify freelancers who receive the badge shortly. 

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Isabelle Anne,

 

We are taking steps to educate clients so they understand that Top Rated Plus is only an indicator that a freelancer worked on a successful large contract and had earnings of at least $10,000 in the past year on Upwork. It does not mean these freelancers are better or have a higher Job Success Score than those with traditional Top Rated status.

 


Isabelle Anne A wrote:


 I do well on large projects / long-term projects, but I won't get this badge.


 

Actually, you already have this badge and will be able to see it yourself on your profile later this summer. 

 

 

pandoraharper
Community Member

Valeria K wrote:

Kelly, Jennifer and Pandora,

 

I'm checking with the team to confirm if a long-term contract needs to be completed and closed in order for it to count toward the Top Rated Plus status or not. I'll get back to you once I have more information about that. UPDATE: Yes, active long-term contracts do count. Also, we have a solution in the works that should address the issue you're bringing up with long-term active contracts that don't receive feedback until they are closed.

 

And... all three of your have the Top Rated Plus badge. We'll be sending out emails to notify freelancers who receive the badge shortly. 


Thanks for the update Valeria. Sometimes it feels like those of us who work on long contracts get the shaft because of the lack of feedback from clients.

dzadza
Community Member

most logo design projects have $100 budget - that means the designer has to be awarded 100 logo design projects and finish them within 365 days.
oh, and most of those projects are never awarded to anyone

...at least I don't see that stupid rocket next to my name anymore - so that's a plus 😉 

 

EDIT: ...and the rocket is back...meh...

jessicasimko
Community Member

Valeria K wrote:

Hi Jessica and others,

 

Top Rated Plus is only an indicator that a freelancer worked on a successful large contract and had earnings of at least $10,000 in the past year on Upwork. Clients have told us that they have a difficult time finding talent that are both interested in larger, more complex projects and also have a track record of completing them successfully on Upwork.

It does not mean, however, that these freelancers are better or have a higher Job Success Score. Plus, since we only expect about 3% of freelancers to earn this variation of Top Rated status we know the Top Rated badge will still set you apart as having a great reputation on Upwork.

 

 

 

Clients who come to Upwork to find freelancers willl see this as a badge with higher superiority than just "top rated". No one will know there is a project price you have to hit to earn it -  they will just think the freelancer does better work than top rated freelancers - they don't have the time to look this stuff up.  You guys need to learn how to think like a client.  There is a top rated badge and top rated PLUS badge which to me, if i didn't know better, would just mean the plus people are the VERY top tier - like the top 5%, 3% or even 1%.   This is not something I would ever think just relates to long term higher price contracts. The name doesn't insinuate that at all as it contains the "top rated" wording which just means the freelancer does exceptional work and maintains a 90% JSS. The plus version should not have the same name if all top rated freelancers can't earn it just because their jobs are only short term and simply can't be long term by design.

 


 

lysis10
Community Member

Valeria K wrote:

Kelly, Jennifer and Pandora,

 

I'm checking with the team to confirm if a long-term contract needs to be completed and closed in order for it to count toward the Top Rated Plus status or not. I'll get back to you once I have more information about that. UPDATE: Yes, active long-term contracts do count. Also, we have a solution in the works that should address the issue you're bringing up with long-term active contracts that don't receive feedback until they are closed.

 

And... all three of you have the Top Rated Plus badge. We'll be sending out emails to notify freelancers who receive the badge shortly. 


Noice.