Hypothetical Question (Invites Only)

[celgins]

In your opinion, what do you think would happen if freelancers were prevented from submitting proposals and only clients could send invitations? (Sort of like an employer with a pile of resumes can invite candidates for interviews, but candidates cannot submit bids/proposals.)

[christopherbudde]

Without selling connects? Selling connects seems to be upworks main business model.

[celgins]

Yes, without selling connects or any proposals, boosting, or prodding by freelancers.

Interesting observation, too, Christopher B. I may need to look through the latest Upwork data to see if there are any numbers regarding revenues from connect-selling or client spend. Since there are more freelancers than clients, do you believe Upwork makes more money from freelancer connect-selling than client spend?

[christopherbudde]

Not sure. I do believe they saw the rise of AI generated responses and came up with the boost thing as a way to get read and get some money upfront.

[25005175]

Will's post covering the recent financial projections has a bit of speculation on that. Upwork’s 2022 Financial Results 

[tlsanders]

As a client, you have the option of setting up your posting that way.

To make that the only option would be horrible. In any given field, there are thousands to hundreds of thousands of freelancers. It's a total crapshoot whether the best ones will turn up in search. 

I usually invite a few freelancers when I post a job, but I almost always end up hiring someone I did not see when I searched.

[feed_my_eyes]

I think that would be a terrible idea that would punish newbies in particular, and make it even more difficult for them to land their first job. And how is it the same as your employer example? The candidates had to submit their resumes for consideration in the first place, so it's exactly the same as freelancers who submit proposals but can't initiate an interview.

[celgins]

And how is it the same as your employer example? The candidates had to submit their resumes for consideration in the first place, so it's exactly the same as freelancers who submit proposals but can't initiate an interview.

Like an employer (client) with several resumes (freelancer profiles) to view based on the job they're trying to fill.

I view freelancer profiles like resumes (i.e., qualifications, skills, education, project descriptions, etc.) but view proposals differently. The cover letter/proposal is targetted to a specific job posting, while a resume can be more broad and reflective of a freelancer's background/skills, etc. The biggest difference is probably the fact that most people don't get their resumes pushed to the top of the pile by "boosting" or paying the hiring manager.

For the record, I think an invite-only scenario is a bad idea too.

[williamtcooper]

Clark,

I have received 172 Invites in 2023.

In some ways clients are starting to move in that direction themselves because of the flood of bad proposals they receive when posting. My clients are seeking an Expert and don't want to waste their time on non-Experts. It is going to be interesting to see if this trend continues. This is how it works on other sites that I am on.

[celgins]

William,

I can understand why clients would start to move in that direction. With 50+ proposals received for some jobs and several of those proposals being auto-generated or submitted by non-experts, it makes sense for some clients.

Even though I think an invite-only scenario would be problematic, it might force freelancers to focus more on the quality of their profiles, portfolios, etc. As Christine A pointed out, it would be terrible for newbies because many clients would simply choose experts like you, and ignore the non-experts.