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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.

 

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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
gilbert-phyllis
Community Member

Two questions:

 

(1) Is the project value based on the budget stated in the original job description or the actual amount paid?

 

(2) What counts as "positive feedback"?

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Janean and Tiffany,

 

I'd just like to clarify, the badge IS showing on Janean's profile when clients noted in the original announcement view it. All freelancers who meet the requirements listed here will have the badge.

The emails, however, are being sent gradually throughout the day, so it's possible Janean hasn't received her email yet. I'll check on the email situation with the team. 

 

iaabraham
Community Member

Janean L wrote:

I heard from a number of Upwork freelancers that they had received email notifications saying that they are now designated "Top Rated Plus," even though these freelancers cannot yet see the badge on their own profiles. Significantly, potential clients can see the designation.

 

I did not receive such a notification, despite the fact that my earnings and stats clearly make me eligible (indisputably) as "Top Rated Plus" according to the metrics outlined.

 

A few minutes ago, I called Upwork Support to ask about this. A very pleasant young man checked into this, and confirmed that my numbers and profile make me eligible for the program. However, as he 'splained to me, Upwork is implementing this program "over time." (Guess it takes a while for the central computer to run these complicated numbers?) So, I am not to be among the lucky first wave chosen for the badge.

 

Naturally, I asked when I might receive the coveted email. Alas, the CS person did not know that. He could offer no idea at all. Not even an educated guess.

 

I feel like one of the sad little green stuffed alien toys who populate the claw machine, in the old "Toy Story" movie. As my companions are lifted out by the magical mechanism who chooses the Select Ones, I am left on the bottom of the machine, staring up sadly and calling out in a piteous voice: "The Claw... The Claw..."

 

I breathlessly await my own Selection. Based on whatever random [inscrutable? opaque?] criteria Upwork uses.


So sorry, despite your misfortune, I laughed aloud when reading that part Smiley LOL and now I feel like watching Toy Story again!

 

I am among the "lucky" first wave to get the badge. I am waving at you from the heavens, waiting for you to join us Robot tongue

jmlaidlaw
Community Member

Thank you for checking, Valeria. This is most perplexing, because the CS rep in question actually took the time to check with his "Team Lead," who told him that I would not be receiving the email, and was not yet part of the program. I gave particular credit to the information provided, because the CS rep asked for my email in order to check on my inclusion in the program. (I assume that perhaps he used my email to see whether or not I was on the notification list...?) By contrast, he (and his Team Lead?) seemed to use my Profile information to verify my eligibility for the program.

 

The confusion regarding both (1) timing of the program's implementation, and (2) timing of notifications seems to have percolated through at least two tiers of Customer Support. 

 

Thank you again for checking on this. I await notification.

thedreamerdesign
Community Member
Superb initiative. Just curiousthat roughly how many freelancers or what percentage would be part of the top rated plus plan.
tomzilla1
Community Member

Got an email saying I am now Top Rated Plus but I don't see it? Anyone else know what's up.

davidcmarcus
Community Member

Nishant S wrote:
Superb initiative. Just curiousthat roughly how many freelancers or what percentage would be part of the top rated plus plan.

They announced that roughly 3% of FLs would attain Top Rated Plus.

 

Mods could you tell the community roughly what that number is (I can't find how many registered freelancers there are now especially as a result of COVID-19) - I'm guessing it's in the hundreds of thousands, which is why it's taking so long to send out all the email notifications!

 

Mods could you also tell the community how all the farmers (FLs who subcontract their work without running an agency) will be handled?  Will they also get this elite status?  Will all their minions also receive a polite e-mail informing them that they all collectively worked for below minimum wage to help that farmer get noticed by even more elite clients so they can effectively continue to hide behind Private Talent Clouds all the while earning Upwork oodles of commission?

 

So my question is this:

How many freelancers who are also clients and have more than $10k per annum on both of their profiles will earn this Top tier?  It should be pretty easy to calculate.  Please tell us, I'm convinced it doesn't violate any of your secret cunning plans, it's just plain transparency.

 

I received the email today and at first I was quite excited, it's certainly phrased that way:

 

We're introducing a new Top Rated Plus badge to make it easier for high-achieving professionals like you to win more large contracts from top clients on Upwork.

We're excited to let you know that you've just received Top Rated Plus status. Congratulations!

Your new status highlights your success on large or longer-term contracts—which means clients who see your Top Rated Plus badge will recognize you as someone who can take on more high-value projects.

tomzilla1
Community Member

I got an email saying I'm Top Rated Plus, but I don't see the badge? Also... can I get an invite to the expert vetted?

davidcmarcus
Community Member

 


Tom Z wrote:

I got an email saying I'm Top Rated Plus, but I don't see the badge? Also... can I get an invite to the expert vetted?

 

Read the email again, the one I got said this:

Your Top Rated Plus badge will be visible to Enterprise, Business, and some Plus clients (as we continue to release this to more clients on a paid subscription). All freelancers (including yourself) will continue to see your Top Rated badge for now. We'll let you know once you are able to see the Top Rated Plus badge on your profile.

 

Also the expert vetted is invite only, you can't ask for an invite, otherwise it would be called an application.

 

davidcmarcus
Community Member

@tomzilla1 wrote:

Got an email saying I am now Top Rated Plus but I don't see it? Anyone else know what's up.


My email said this:

 

Your Top Rated Plus badge will be visible to Enterprise, Business, and some Plus clients (as we continue to release this to more clients on a paid subscription). All freelancers (including yourself) will continue to see your Top Rated badge for now. We'll let you know once you are able to see the Top Rated Plus badge on your profile.