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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
AleksandarD
Community Manager

Hi Shweta,

 

Top Rated Plus is a new variation of Top Rated status. It’s especially for freelancers who not only have a history of delivering great work to their clients on Upwork, but have also taken on larger projects. Clients have told us that they  have a difficult time finding talent that are both interested in larger projects and also have a track record of working on them on Upwork. You can check this help article for more information.

 

Thank you.

herman_tk
Community Member

Hello. 

 

I encountered the following problem. 

I have a design contract that passed the threshold of $5000 this Monday. According to the Terms, it has to be classified as a large contract. Unfortunately, when the client created the contract they marked it as “Web, Mobile and Software Development”, and the threshold for that category is much higher. But this is not a development contract, and I am not a developer. I am a designer, and this is a purely design contract. 

 

I referred to the support, and they said they are not going to do anything, and they cannot help me. 

The contract is defined by the type of work that is done, not by some checkbox deep within the settings. The client did not even pay much attention to it. 

 

Is there anything that can be done about it? 

VladimirG
Community Manager

Hi Herman,

I’m sorry to hear you're having this problem. Let's see if there is anything we can do to help the situation. Please follow up on your open support ticket and our team will continue to assist you directly.

cgutomachado
Community Member

Hello Upworkers! I'd like to clarify something that has been going... 

 

I am currently working towards becoming top rated plus (currently at Top-Rated Status). 

My question is simple, although I am a bit confused. 

In order to become a top rated plus, I should have made 10.000 within the last 12 months, or do I have to have made 10k and participated in a large contract as well? Can I become a top rated plus solely by having earned 10k from different clients, or I need to have both made 10k and have a large contract?

 

I have made 7000 within the last 12 months but ended the contract, and am wondering whether all I need now is more 3000 (from a new client), or a new project that is going to earn me a large-contract of 10000+ dollars.

 

I hope I have made my doubt clear enough

AleksandarD
Community Manager

Hi Carlos,

 

The criteria for becoming Top Rated Plus is:

  • Total earnings over $10,000 in the past 12 months
  • Worked or working on one or more large* contracts in the past 12 months without negative outcomes.
    • You must earn funds on your large contract within the past 12 months for it to remain qualified. Otherwise, it does not qualify for Top Rated Plus.
  • Maintained Top Rated status

 

Every condition needs to be met in order to receive the badge. I suggest checking this help article for more information. You can also go to Find Work > My Stats and check the 'Do you qualify for Top Rated Plus?' section to see whether you're meeting all the requirements or not.

 

Thank you.

elle-jh
Community Member

(oops!  I seem to have put this in the wrong place but can see no way to delete it. I'm copying this to the right place. Perhaps a mod could delete this for me? Thanks!)

 

I'm bidding on a job outside of the Upwork platform but wanted to point out my history and rating here,

 

Whenever I link someone to information from any platform, I always test out what the recipient will see, assuming they can't log in. So I've just discovered that when I access my Upwork profile when not logged in, I only see the top rated badge, not the top rated plus.

 

Is this by accident or by design? If by accident, can it be fixed?

petra_r
Community Member

Lezli H wrote:

So I've just discovered that when I access my Upwork profile when not logged in, I only see the top rated badge, not the top rated plus.

 

Is this by accident or by design?


By design.

In fact, most clients don't see the Top Rated Plus badge even when they are logged in either.

AleksandarD
Community Manager

Hi Lezli,

 

Petra is correct, it's by design that only Business, Enterprise, and some Plus clients are able to see the Top Rated Plus badge. Visitors can't view the badge.

 

Thank you.

nikolas79
Community Member
 
nikolas79
Community Member

Hello, I've just realized that my Top Rated Plus Badge is only visible to Enterprise, Business, and some Plus clients.

 

I'm very proud of this badge and all my accomplishments on Upwork over the years.

I strive to create high-quality work for my clients!

 

I have been mentioning that I have Top rated Plus status in my proposal to potential clients when I write proposals, and I also have been mentioning this accomplishment on my profile page.

I have just realized that this probably makes me look like a liar to potential clients who do not have access to view this badge.

 

I feel this badge should be visible to all Upwork job posters as it gives me a potential edge to win more clients and I feel that I have earned this right.

with the hard work that I have produced over the years and keeping my Upwork reputation intact.

 

Very much appreciate of being a part of this elite category and having a chance to work with Enterprise, Business, and some Plus clients and to be part of talent cloud,

but I feel that there isn't much work for me in these specific categories at the moment in my specific field.

 

So I'm stuck trying to find work like I had to before they awarded me Top Rated Plus Status.

 

Is there a way Upwork can change this ???

 

Awaiting for a response from Upwork,

Thanking you in advance