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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
abinadab-agbo
Community Member

Sorry, Valeria, but you cannot have it both ways.

You cannot in an original post say you are trying to highlight Top talent to top clients through this new badge

and then come down and say, uhh, oh well, we're not really highlighting but we're highlighting.

 

You can't have your words and eat them.

feed_my_eyes
Community Member

Isabelle Anne A wrote:

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??

 


I'm in the same boat; in fact, one was an Enterprise client and Upwork emailed us both and said that we HAD to start a new contract because our "current contract is coming to an end", otherwise I'd be over $5,000 with that client now.

 

But Isabelle, Valeria says above that you DO qualify for the badge. Valeria, could you please explain? Is the $5,000 threshold (I'm in the design category) per project, or per client?

moonraker
Community Member

 Valeria K wrote:

 

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.


That surprises me, I personally much prefer long term jobs. I thought others would as well. 

Valeria, could you please let me know if I qualify. I think I do. I currently have an active contract that's paid 40k so far, plus another 20k on closed contracts with the same client (with perfect feedback). 

VladimirG
Community Manager

Hi Christine,

 

I'm checking with the team to confirm the answer to the question you raised. In the meantime, I checked your reports and would like to ask you to send me a private message with more information about the client you believe you passed the 5K threshold with. Based on the information I'm looking at you, unfortunately, don't meet all the Top Rated Plus badge requirements.

VladimirG
Community Manager

Hi Jamie,

 

I can confirm you have the Top Rated Plus badge on your profile. You should receive an email notification confirming you received the badge soon.

iaabraham
Community Member

Valeria K wrote:

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. 


Thanks so much for the update! I'm not going to pretend I'm not relieved to hear this, but all the points Jessica made below are very valid. Obviously I'm happy that I qualify for the badge because I need all the advantages I can get, but if someone like Jessica, who is arguably much successful than me on Upwork, doesn't qualify, then these badges are misrepresentative. I dislike using the word "unfair" online since people tend to mock it, but can't think of a more accurate way to describe this situation 😞

 

And the "vetted" badge is even more confusing -- how can Upwork be a fair judge of which freelancers deserve to get this particular badge? Plus, those who get the vetted badge will seem far superior to the rest of us (whether rightfully or unrightfully so)

 

Since I have been a client in the past and will probably be again sometime, it's all a bit concerning. I hope Upwork will indeed find a way to better outline the differences regarding these badges -- other than putting little "?" icons next to them ... as I don't know how many clients actually look at or understand those.

iaabraham
Community Member

Christine A wrote:

 

But Isabelle, Valeria says above that you DO qualify for the badge. Valeria, could you please explain? Is the $5,000 threshold (I'm in the design category) per project, or per client?


Yes because like most of Upwork's new features, they make things up as they go along, so the rules will keep changing. (Not talking about the mods, who are just the messengers.)

 

So you probably qualify too. They have to clarify and update this in the original post.

moonraker
Community Member

Thank you Vladimir. 

tweendesign
Community Member

Hi Vladimir, This is a really nice addition to the platform. This will help freelancers to stand out in the pool of freelancers. Just curious to know if I'm eligible for the Top Rated Plus badge?

 

Thanks in advance,

Pankaj

VladimirG
Community Manager

Hi Pankaj,

 

Yes, you do have the Top Rated Plus badge on your profile.