re: "I have one question for you. can we in any way determine whether a freelancer is real or not? now I’m thinking about hiring him and I just want to make sure I don’t pay him a thousand dollars and then I don’t get what we agreed on that he won’t stick to his part of the deal. so is there a chance to check it first to see if it is real or just a true spirit profile?"
Vid:
This is a valid question.
Upwork has multiple protocols for verifying the identity of freelancers.
MOST Upwork freelancer profiles that you see are accurate in terms of presenting real names, and real locations.
ALL Upwork freelancer profiles are created by real people. Even if those people present some information that is not accurate, they are still real people. Upwork does not present profiles that are created by algorithms.
But, you should be aware that no freelancer platform, including Upwork, can guarantee that all of the information you see about a freelancer is 100% accurate.
There ARE ways for you yourself to check up on details, such as by interviewing a freelancer using a video-conferencing call. Upwork's Messages tool allows you to do that through its built-in call functionality, and through its built-in integration with Zoom.
Having said all that, you should know that when it comes to your main question...
IT DOES NOT MATTER.
You are planning to spend thousands of dollars to get a project done?
That is great.
But whether a freelancer is "real" or not (meaning: is all of that freelancer's profile information accurate or not)...
IT DOES NOT MATTER.
If you hire a freelancer whose profile information is 100% accurate, you STILL NEED TO use best practices when it comes to managing your project.
You could hire a freelancer whose profile information is 100% accurate, and it is still possible that the freelancer isn't the right person for the job.
Please don't think that hiring a freelancer whose profile information is 100% accurate will "guarantee" that if you pay that freelancer money, you will get exactly what you want.
You should NOT pay any freelancer a large lump sum of money. You should start with smaller pieces of your project, and you should carefully evaluate the work you receive from freelancers. You should hire multiple freelancers. You should continue working with the freelancers who provide you with great work at a great value. You should stop working with underperforming freelancers.
To avoid losing money or having funds tied up in large fixed-price milestones, you should hire freelancers to work in a MODULAR fashion using small incremental fixed-price milestones, OR you should use hourly contracts that you can end at any time if necessary.
You can hire 100% honest freelancers who still fail to help you achieve the results you seek. If you want to avoid wasting money and make sure your project succeeds, you will need to do these things no matter who the freelancers are.
