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yurynmuz
Community Member

Clients, do you read all proposals ? Do you see all of them ?

Please tell, it's interesting. Do you open all of them dispite of some filters (maybe - I'm not sure what you see there) ?

 

This question is only to clients - buyers.

 

Simply as I read many times you recieve tons of proposals and it's not easy to read them all. Do you go to the bottom ?

 

Please tell your own, personal way of dealing with these situations.

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

34 REPLIES 34
rpkersbergen123
Community Member

Great

Cheers Robert. So you don't read new freelancers proposals at all. with zero JSS

 

It confirms what I think.

Do I read all job proposals?

 

Oh my goodness, no.

 

I think job proposals are VERY important.

 

But as a client, I rarely read any proposals.

 

I mostly look at portfolios and work history.

 

But I think other clients read job proposals.

Cheers Preston

 

You wrote - But I think other clients read job proposals.

 

So you personally don't read them.

 

Have a good day.

Yuri just see your proposal views in stats to see how many read your proposals

Thank you.


@Yury M wrote:

Cheers Robert. So you don't read new freelancers proposals at all. with zero JSS

 

It confirms what I think.


 It confirms what you think. Indeed. Not the reality of the market.

-----------
"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless

Am sorry to ask... What then is the reality of the market?

Ok!

Cheers Robert

 

I understood about low JSS - some people read, some people don't

 

Have a good time

versailles
Community Member

The few times I posted a job I spent a tremendous time reading proposals. Usually I would filter out spams and proposals from people that have nothing to offer. And then I would refine the selection until only two or three of equal quality remain. Then, I would pick one.

 

I don't consider low JSS.

 

I totally consider people without JSS. I see them as an opportunity. Hiring someone with no Upwork job history is great because usually they want to make a very good impression for their first job.

-----------
"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless

Cheers Rene. Your info is very useful.

 

Ha Ha - maybe I will BE READ one day !! 🙂

 

I try to look on things with humor and selfcriticizing 🙂

 

Have a good time

 

 

blancanieve
Community Member

I hire only occasionally. It depends heavily on the typ of job and the amount of proposals. Usually I award a job within 24 hours.

 

For example, I once posted a tiny text entry job with a quick turnaround required. I didn't read all proposals, because there were just too many, and went with one of first ones (a new freelancer). 

 

But when I want to hire a translator and my favorite freelancer is not available, I read most of the proposals. I weed out the ones that do not follow the instructions given in the posting (especially if I want the proposal to be in German and someone sends it in English, I decline that person immediately). Then I discard those who sent a proposal full of spelling and grammar mistakes. From my experience, the quality of the proposal is a much better indicator for the quality of a translation than the exact JSS score, which is why I do not automatically exclude new freelancers, as long as they are able to write a proposal in decent German. For some translations I look up former work performed by a freelancer, for example when they got hired for a website translation and the job is public, I am able to check the translated website via their work history. 

Cheers Nadine for useful info.

 

So, you usually read the very first proposals only if they are not for translating job.

 

Have a good day

Yury,

 

when I post a job that doesn't require any qualifications (like a simple data entry job) I get about 50 proposals within the first 30 minutes. It is just not doable to read them all. So I hire one of the first ones whose quote is within my budget.

 

As a general rule, the more qualifications a job requires, the less proposals I get and naturally, the more time I dedicate to choosing the right person.

Nadine, your replies are helpful - I can look now on things from clients/buyers points.

 

Just one more question please.

 

Do you see the proposals from those who do not meet some preferred qualifications? (maybe they are hidden etc.)

 

Thank you very much

Yes, I can see them, they are not hidden. By default they are sorted by Best Match, but those "Best Matches" are chosen by Upwork and it is not clear at all to me why they would be a better match for the job than others. So this preselection doesn't have an impact on my hiring decision.

Cheers Nadine again. They are not hidden - very good.

 

🙂

datasciencewonk
Community Member


@Yury M wrote:

Please tell, it's interesting. Do you open all of them dispite of some filters (maybe - I'm not sure what you see there) ?

 

This question is only to clients - buyers.

 

Simply as I read many times you recieve tons of proposals and it's not easy to read them all. Do you go to the bottom ?

 

Please tell your own, personal way of dealing with these situations.

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 


 I've taken to inviting specific FLs to a job rather than a mass job posting. 

 

As to reading all of the proposals when I've posted a public job, it depends...

 

Did I receive 5-10 proposals or 50+?

 

On the lower end of the proposal number, I'll review the profiles. On the upper end...no. That's when my "feature selection" kicks in.

Cheers Kat

 

Your info is also very useful

 

Have a good day

richard_wein
Community Member

Hi. As a new freelancer here, I'm wondering how to maximise the chances that my proposals will actually be read. I've been spending an hour or more carefully writing each of my proposals, and if my proposal's read I think I'll have a respectable chance of getting a job.

 

I understand that the proposal list seen by clients shows the first line of the proposal's text. So I've started trying to fit something attention-grabbing into that line. In my last proposal I wrote: "Hello, I've just completed a job very similar to yours.", which was true. (But obviously the job wasn't done via Upwork.)

 

What concerns me a bit is that this makes my proposals seem rather peremptory, getting straight down to business without the usual niceties. I'd be interested to hear what clients think about this, and what effective one-liners they've seen that have tempted them to read a proposal.

 

Actually, I know that at least one (out of about 7) of my proposals has been read, because I received a positive response from one client, even though he chose not to hire me on that occasion. But I suspect that most haven't even been read.

 

Richard.

Yury: like other clients have said, "it depends". I usually will at least skim most proposals. I have a few ways to immediately weed out spam/junk proposals, and I don't bother reading them. I don't rule out proposals with no JSS regardless of how many proposals I received, because I enjoy working with new freelancers (like Rene said, they often go the extra mile). If I'm pressed for time, I might rule out proposals with very low JSS (below 80%), otherwise I'll usually look at even those and try to figure out why their JSS might be suffering.

 

No proposals are hidden, but there is a "show more" accordion after the "recommended" ones that are recommended by Upwork's algorithm.

 

Richard: correct, only the first couple of lines of your proposal show in the proposal list. So it's important to grab the client in those couple of lines. You definitely don't want to waste that space with "Dear Hiring Manager, my name is Richard and I live in blah blah.....".

 

If I have a very long list of proposals, then those which address me by name will catch my eye, because it shows the freelancer has looked at my feedback history. But other clients report this as a turn-off, so I guess you may want to experiment with that. Otherwise just "Hello" is perfectly fine, I think. Your approach is pretty good, but you could maybe reframe it to be client-centric instead of focused on you. E.g. "Your job to do X will be straightfoward for me because this is a problem I've solved for many clients previously" or something like that. Tell the client what you can do to solve their problem, not why you personally are so great.

 

Make sure your proposal addresses key points in the job post and points to *relevant* experience. Don't blah blah about your experience making blog websites when the customer wants an ecommerce website, or something.

 

(Also, it *probably* doesn't make a difference to your hire rate but it amused me: when I view your profile, the show more link cuts off your geocoding bullet to say "Acquiring latitude/longitude from addresses, using the Google". I actually thought that was the complete bullet, until I clicked "more" and saw you really say "...using the Google geocoding API.". So maybe a slight rearranging of your bullet list might help.)

Cheers Jennifer

 

Everybody gave very helpful info for new freelancers.

 

So, I decided to keep this tactic: will write very short and actual proposal starting with names.

 

Have a good time

Cheers Richard, your info is very helpful also

 

Have a good time

 

 

kingjimjames
Community Member

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Clients/Clients-do-you-read-all-proposals-Do-you-see-all-of-them/td-...

 

I have to make a strong case here regarding the above Forum discussion. As we Newbies lack of any JSS or a Top Rated Badge, we can no longer compete and only wasting hundred of connects to get a Client. A clear fact was stated in community thread above. Upwork best match algorithm will not work as of course Top Rated and High JSS will show first vs your No Badge proposal will get buried along with your hopes. 

 

Writing an astonishing proposal and hundreds of connects spent, a premium membership with a well-crafted portfolio has no chance to survive with the TOP Rated and JSS Badge. Unless, Upwork start interviewing newbies, assessing their skills and start believing raw talents, endorse them to Clients. 


Jim Chrochie E wrote:

 

Writing an astonishing proposal and hundreds of connects spent, a premium membership with a well-crafted portfolio has no chance to survive with the TOP Rated and JSS Badge. 


That is just not true. 

When I hire, top-rated badges and JSS are not deal makers or breakers. If I am suitably impressed by an application, I will hire. I will also overlook people that are top-rated etc if their applications don't impress. Other people in this very thread have said similar. 
I hire at the lower end of the payscale, similar to the rates on your profile. I actually look for new freelancers because some are quality freelancers that have artificially low rates because they are trying to build a profile. 
Also, everybody else on Upwork started off as a newbie. If they can do it, then there's no excuses for others. 

None of us had a JSS at the beginning.  In fact, when I started, Rising Talent didn't even exist.  We wrote a profile and proposals that highlighted our experience and expertise before we came to the platform and sold our clients based on that.

Yury,

 

If you know what the algorithm is that produces JSS please share it. Otherwise, I have no clue what a JSS is measuring, so I ignore it. Badges and awards are bright shiny objects and I am sure some people are easily distracted by such things. I'm not. Nor am I a typical client. When I was focused on large complex projects for some time, and needed to hire specific  expertise to fill holes, I used invitation only. Due to health concerns I haveI shut down management consulting; my clients came to me with existential issues, and I know that some day, probably sooner rather than later, I will not be able to meet clients' needs in resolving them. So, I passed the clients on. Now, I am writing.

 

I do most of my hiring on another board that is not quite so self-absorbed. I acknowledge every application and thank the freelancer for taking the time to reply. If the individual makes sense, I set up a voice-to-voice chat. I keep every applicant in the loop throughout the selection process. For those whom I don't choose, I tell them why they didn't win the work. I just hired an illustrator through UW, and my favorite was simply too expensive. It isn't that he isn't worth what he charges; I'm a hobbyist writer, and can only afford to invest so much in any single book. His fees would guarantee that I lost more money than I was willing to lose on the work.

 

This is rare, because I usually decline based on the price being too low. If you don't think you're worth much, I'm not going to dispute that. If feedback is used at all, I ignore all feedback without a narrative. Thus, a 4.2 with narrative is far more valuable than a 5.0 with no words.About half of my hires have zero records. If they're good, I try to help them get more work so they don't leave freelancing to get a full-time job.

 

Good luck.

Mary's comments hold true for every single person who has found work here.  As Jamie said "everybody else on Upwork started off as a newbie. If they can do it, then there's no excuses for others."

 

And as far as a track record > Bill summed it up perfectly.  Stars, whistles, shiny things are worthless.  As is JSS - trying to sort and understand a 'secret' algorithm makes it useless to both buyers and FLers. Words count.  If a client takes the time to write more than "good job" - that is worth the world.

Thank you for this. As a newbie this encourages me to continue applying, you have give me hope that some clients do actually think of newbies and give them an opportunity to prove themselves. Kind Regards.

Dear Mr. Jim Chrochie E,

I am new to upwork sir. I am student of digital marketing and unable to find any job. I am ready to participate in any survey, Data entry, Mobile app or website testing, English transcribtion, general virtual assistance. Please give me some work if you have some

d5402514
Community Member

No, it's a waste of time. I do what I can in a reasonable amount of time, and if I don't get to them... to bad. It wasn't meant to be

ec713077
Community Member

Ok this is bad as someone who has just started on Upwork and with only 1 job so far, the client did not want to leave feedback on my work. I have plenty of experience and how am I supposed to go about finding work if not all proposals are read?? 

ec713077
Community Member

I revoke my previous comment due to the fact that my proposals are now being seen more often. It is enlightening to see that clients do offer the opportunity to new freelancers. Given the benefit of the doubt not only encourages new freelancers to apply more often, it gives them hope that there are new prospects and ways of sharing their potential skills with various companies. This is just my opinion and I am speaking for myself in this regard. 

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