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bushwik
Community Member

Best & worst about Upwork?

In a couple words, what is the best and worst about Upwork? If you can take a couple minutes to give your best & worst along with your business, then I'd like to include your quote in the presentation. I'll come back next friday and share the prestentation. 

 

Next Thursday, I'm presenting how I use Upwork to hire marketers & developers to help a group of small business owners grow their team or complete projects that continue to get pushed back. There are several different types of companies in the audience but it will be 25-30 owners with companies that offer home services, property management, industrial ecommerce, commercial cleaning, and construction services. Most are service not product companies.

 

Generally, the audience is new to Upwork with interests in:

  • How other companies use Upwork
  • What the pros / cons are using Upwork
  • How Upwork compares to other marketing, sales, & finance talent marketplaces
  • Lessons learned and how to get started

I've been a long time Upwork (and previously Odesk) client making 5-10 hires per year for me or my clients. I have my own biases on what works and what doesn't, and I'll enjoy reading how others are using the marketplace. 

 

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
bushwik
Community Member

Thank you to everyone who responded. I really appreciate the genuine comments.

 

I presented the attached slides to a group of small business owners (mostly service businesses) at different locations. A lot of questions about the process and best place to start. I get the sense that some are overwhelmed by the Upwork learning curve and view it as difficult to start out. Several were not familiar at all with Upwork or other marketplaces, so it was completely new to a few in the audience. There were a few marketing and real estate agencies that offered positive experiences and benefits to moving certain work to freelancers. 

 

Overall, I think it went well and I'll likely do this again in a couple months. 

 

Thanks again and let me know if you have any questions or recommendations for next time!

 

**Edited for community guidelines**

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25 REPLIES 25
luce-neidert
Community Member

To me, the worst is the competition, bringing prices and level down: I'm a translator and have to compete with machine translation users who pretend to be translators.

 

The very best is the technical quality of the platform. For example, I'm amazed at how easy it is to download and upload very heavy files.

Another best side Upwork is the forum, where clients and freelancers can meet and exchange on all sort of topics. You can get very lonely when freelancing, and it's so good to be able to chat with other users of the platform, and learn from each other.


Luce N wrote:

To me, the worst is the competition, bringing prices and level down: I'm a translator and have to compete with machine translation users who pretend to be translators.

 

The very best is the technical quality of the platform. For example, I'm amazed at how easy it is to download and upload very heavy files.

Another best side Upwork is the forum, where clients and freelancers can meet and exchange on all sort of topics. You can get very lonely when freelancing, and it's so good to be able to chat with other users of the platform, and learn from each other.


They do not only pretend most of them claim to be translators.

The worst is that Upwork does not suspend freelancer that have been reported multiple times for scamming and using stolen profiles or porfolio items.


Jennifer R wrote:



The worst is that Upwork does not suspend freelancer that have been reported multiple times for scamming and using stolen profiles or porfolio items.

Is there anything you can do to protect your work? Also, any recommendation to people hiring on how to spot stolen profiles or items? 


Todd B wrote:

Jennifer R wrote:



The worst is that Upwork does not suspend freelancer that have been reported multiple times for scamming and using stolen profiles or porfolio items.

Is there anything you can do to protect your work? Also, any recommendation to people hiring on how to spot stolen profiles or items? 


First step is to search for some phases in freelancer profiles. Try this one: "I have developed a wide range of websites for industry related to eCommerce, Mobile, and Startups to corporate clients" and you get an idea.

For stolen portfolio item you just need Google search. You see a design you like? Do an imange seach just to find out how many other people like it and where to get it for free.

 

The fake translators are easy to spot if you know what to look out for and if you are a native speaker of the target language. The once I reported for selling machine translation as human translation are still busy scamming. One claims to be a certified translator (he is not), has a reported stolen portfolio item and the latest portfolio item is obviously a machine translation of a srt file.

Reporting these freelancers is hopeless because the are not removed. In the worst case they just have to remove their stolen portfolio item which makes it harder for clients to identify scammers.


Jennifer R wrote:


They do not only pretend most of them claim to be translators.

The worst is that Upwork does not suspend freelancer that have been reported multiple times for scamming and using stolen profiles or porfolio items.


Yesterday one of them posted why he isn't getting hired. When I went to his profile to take a look, he not only claimed "unlikely" language proficiencies (multiple ones), he had also stolen a chunk of **my** profile.

 

My response was deleted, his profile is still up.


Petra R wrote:

Jennifer R wrote:


They do not only pretend most of them claim to be translators.

The worst is that Upwork does not suspend freelancer that have been reported multiple times for scamming and using stolen profiles or porfolio items.


Yesterday one of them posted why he isn't getting hired. When I went to his profile to take a look, he not only claimed "unlikely" language proficiencies (multiple ones), he had also stolen a chunk of **my** profile.

 

My response was deleted, his profile is still up.


And don't we all love profiles including "Translation, Copywriting and Proofreading are my bread and butter" that just copy other peoples profile.

I am continually relieved that I work in a highly specialized field.  In 8 years, I haven't found anyone trying to copy my profile.  Whew.


Mary W wrote:

 In 8 years, I haven't found anyone trying to copy my profile.  Whew.


I have some dealt with once or twice a year when I remember to check. So far Upwork have removed them swiftly. 

 

One of them was a reasonably regular forum participant who copied my overview entirely (not just a paragraph here and a paragraph there).  The only thing he changed was German for Swedish...

lysis10
Community Member


Petra R wrote:

Jennifer R wrote:


They do not only pretend most of them claim to be translators.

The worst is that Upwork does not suspend freelancer that have been reported multiple times for scamming and using stolen profiles or porfolio items.


Yesterday one of them posted why he isn't getting hired. When I went to his profile to take a look, he not only claimed "unlikely" language proficiencies (multiple ones), he had also stolen a chunk of **my** profile.

 

My response was deleted, his profile is still up.


It's good they focus on the real problem....the people pointing out the fraud.

sjbercot
Community Member


Petra R wrote:

Jennifer R wrote:


They do not only pretend most of them claim to be translators.

The worst is that Upwork does not suspend freelancer that have been reported multiple times for scamming and using stolen profiles or porfolio items.


Yesterday one of them posted why he isn't getting hired. When I went to his profile to take a look, he not only claimed "unlikely" language proficiencies (multiple ones), he had also stolen a chunk of **my** profile.

 

My response was deleted, his profile is still up.


Wow.

Luce, thank you for those comments!! Competition is absolutely tough especially when we start competing with the world.

kbadeau
Community Member

Best: As a book designer, I have more work than I can handle, Upwork takes care of the billing so I don't even have to think about it, authors/clients come to me... I don't have to look for them.

 

Annoying: When they try to babysit top rated freelancers with x amount of earnings. We know what we're doing. Don't send auto check in messages; don't give me crappy invitations from Talent Specialists who are anything but, don't spoon feed clients interview questions to ask when they're looking for a freelancer. I'll tell you about my experience and skills in the cover letter. If I don't, you shouldn't hire me.

 

Worst: Job Success Score. It's totally opaque and WAY too heavily weighted towards giving clients power, and my guess is 90% of clients don't even know their bad review can have such a terrible effect on us. I think they're trying to leave feedback that might help but the ironic thing is that we don't even get to see the feedback that hurts our score the most... would you recommend us, and why.

bushwik
Community Member

Thanks for the comments Kelly! I especially like:


Kelly B wrote:

.... don't give me crappy invitations from Talent Specialists who are anything but, don't spoon feed clients interview questions to ask when they're looking for a freelancer. I'll tell you about my experience and skills in the cover letter. If I don't, you shouldn't hire me.

...

Tell us when your book comes out, Todd. 

 

Smiley Wink

 


Todd B wrote:

Luce, thank you for those comments!! Competition is absolutely tough especially when we start competing with the world.


Todd, as long as I'm competing with people who know what translation is - and how long it takes to make and proofread a real translation - world competition is not a problem. Besides, translation into French should only be offered by native French speakers, preferably who have studied translation.

 

The problem is that many people assume that as long as they know two languages, they can boast to be a translator from any of the languages to the other. This works for very simple sentences, but not for elaborate text.

 

My tip to see whether you're interviewing a translator and not a machine translation user is to ask how many words they translate a day. For example, a human being can't translate 50 000 words a day, as some naive clients expect.

My tip to see if you're interviewing a real translator is to check his/her profile. A person that claims to be able to translate into languages that are not his/her native language and has never studied translation should be avoided. However, there are exceptions, and the freelancer can explain why he/she can bypass these rules.

df0cff5f
Community Member

The good ... lots of excellent people on Upwork, I'd argue the best on the internet, and the new standard projects

The bad ... the user interface changes often, searching for people is not as easy as it once was, and lack of support for smaller shops 

 

I heard good things about **Edited for Community Guidelines** and **Edited for Community Guidelines**

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

malanore08
Community Member

My Experience here is low. I just had 40 hours work. But I think the Best thing about Upwork is that you can show yourself eventually. I mean If you are talented there is opportunity for you here. The worst part is that you are in a wide competition. It can be really challenging for new people. I mean It's not like outside. In real life people most of the times see if you are new, and will consider that. Here, you should compete with every levels.

 

Farewell.

Everything in upwork seems good except one thing. 

WORST: GETTING FIRST WORK IS SO TOUGH.

 

kinector
Community Member

The best part of this platform in my case, by far, is that making all clients happy and having a clean work history pays off really well when you know how to pick and change your niche.

Result being all those beautiful invitations from great clients, even top corporations, without doing a single thing.

Just wait for emailed invitations. Don't even need to log in.

Brilliant!!! 👍😁👍


Mikko R wrote:
The best part of this platform in my case, by far, is that making all clients happy and having a clean work history pays off really well when you know how to pick and change your niche.

Result being all those beautiful invitations from great clients, even top corporations, without doing a single thing.

Just wait for emailed invitations. Don't even need to log in.

Brilliant!!! 👍😁👍

I have to admit I like this as well. I get invites here (as well as on LinkedIn) by doing next to nothing. While it takes some time to build up your profile, once you get established, if you're smart about how you market your skills, services, etc., Upwork basically becomes a passive marketing channel that brings you regular work. I'm not saying I never send out a proposal, but with the right keywords on an established profile, you can trigger invites to everything in your niche. It may not work as well if you aren't specialized enough, but this is the thing I like the most. I have to spend very little time and money finding clients. 

Exactly, Amanda.

Every business is, in its essence, all about efficiency.

That being said, perhaps the only negative side I have is the endless need for sympathy for so many others who haven't realized this fact yet. It feels bad to see so many try and fail, many even hoping to build a business by just joining some website like this one. The expectations are all wrong and disappointment heavy, which explains the amount of negative comments regarding this platform.

Good guys always top the game. Law of nature. We can't beat it even if we wanted to.

I echo what a lot of others have said.

The good:
I'm doing OK here and sometime this year I hope to have raised my rates to a point where I would be reasonably comfortable financially. 

The Bad:
Some of the stuff that Upwork come up with. 'What are you working on' reminders, for example. Really, Upwork? Really?

Not dealing with scammers and plagiarists. The rest of us work hard and with integrity, while Upwork gives the cheats an easy ride. 

The whole Trust & Safety group/ profile review group need to be retrained and/or replaced.  The fraudulent profiles and portfolios are rampant and hurtful.  The way profile flags are handled is negligent at best.  Please, somebody at Upwork, help us!!

Mary,

The OP should box your post in green as best response. 

bushwik
Community Member

Thank you to everyone who responded. I really appreciate the genuine comments.

 

I presented the attached slides to a group of small business owners (mostly service businesses) at different locations. A lot of questions about the process and best place to start. I get the sense that some are overwhelmed by the Upwork learning curve and view it as difficult to start out. Several were not familiar at all with Upwork or other marketplaces, so it was completely new to a few in the audience. There were a few marketing and real estate agencies that offered positive experiences and benefits to moving certain work to freelancers. 

 

Overall, I think it went well and I'll likely do this again in a couple months. 

 

Thanks again and let me know if you have any questions or recommendations for next time!

 

**Edited for community guidelines**

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