Re: Talent Specialist

jr-translation · ‎04-08-2020

Dear Talent Specialists,

you are all hired at an hourly rate so why can't you take the time to read the profiles of the freelancers you invite?

I know I could opt out any skip invites from you but did you know that I landed a job after replying to a client with a list of freelancers that actually matched the job description? Clients that want to implement an existing translation with a specific are not looking for a translator. There is also no need to invite for jobs that pay 10% of our hourly rates.

You are paid by the fees we are paying. Would you send out useless invites if we had the chance to give a direct feedback that would make it into your JSS?

pudingstudio · ‎04-08-2020

Jennifer R wrote:
Dear Talent Specialists,

you are all hired at an hourly rate so why can't you take the time to read the profiles of the freelancers you invite?

I know I could opt out any skip invites from you but did you know that I landed a job after replying to a client with a list of freelancers that actually matched the job description? Clients that want to implement an existing translation with a specific are not looking for a translator. There is also no need to invite for jobs that pay 10% of our hourly rates.

You are paid by the fees we are paying. Would you send out useless invites if we had the chance to give a direct feedback that would make it into your JSS?

Wow, that is a nice idea. I wanna!

browersr · ‎04-09-2020

Trying to think of a practical solution here because the real solution is not likely to be realistic. The real solution is about hiring specialists who are actually specialists in given areas. What is happening here is that these are all generalists who are using simple keywords to try and find a match. However, many professions have nuance and effective "recruiting" occurs when the specialist has a deeper understanding of what the job is asking for and what you as a freelancer can actually deliver. Without significant investment this is not the kind of specialist we can expect to see here. Of course this does not include things like rate of which anyone who understands numbers should be able to discern.

As far as practical solutions. One possibility is to allow interested freelancers to fill out a separate form that is only for these specialists. This form would allow us to better frame our skills and what we are looking for from clients. If there are specific questions that UW thinks would be helpful for a specialist to know, they can certainly add these otherwise this is a "free text" space for freelancers to frame things they think will best assist a generalist in making a match. Think of it as a profile meant only for Talent Specialists. Of course the specialist would need to take the time to read it before making a recommendation. This would undoubtedly slow things down but at the same time at least provide for the potential of a more successful outcome. I don't expect UW to spend massive money hiring recruiters with specific knowledge across all areas; however, I am more than happy to provide some guidance so that the folks they do hire can have a better chance at making useful recommendations. It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

allpurposewriter · ‎04-10-2020

My bet, because cynicism is almost always a sure thing -- I've made a lot of money off of cynicism over the years -- there is no end of clumsiness when it comes to a third party matching someone's blurby profile with a client's egocentric needs. They would get it wrong no matter how hard they tried.

Secondly, as I've said here before: Upwork is not interested in getting this right. They are only interested in listing this inane service to people about to join Upwork. It's a selling point purely for selling and nothing else. It sounds good on a brochure. "We also offer job matching for clients and freelancers -- followed by as many exclamation points they can find. Other freelance sites offer this, so Upwork does, too. Freelancers just have to treat it like junk mail. Don't lose any sleep over it. It doesn't matter that it doesn't work. Not to Upwork, anyway.

richard_wein · ‎04-13-2020

Jennifer R wrote:
Dear Talent Specialists,

you are all hired at an hourly rate

Just curious, do you know this for a fact? I thought perhaps they're paid per invitation, as that would explain why they make so many useless ones. Or maybe thay have a quota to fill.

Anyway, I opted out of TS invitations ages ago. I didn't think it was worth the time spent reading them for the 1 in a 1000 chance of a job. But maybe people read them for the laughs, not the jobs. 😉