Webinar: Beginning Your Freelancer Journey on Upwork

[Samantha H]

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Amy M wrote:

Do you think it's worth then using your Connects on bidding if they are interviewing someone?

And THANK YOU for the great info on the webinar.  :-)

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I think that depends - In my opinion, the entire context of the job status should be taken into consideration. How many proposals did they get? When was the client active last? I think I'd make the decision on whether to send a proposal to them based on a cumulative amount of factors vs just the amount of people they're interviewing. I also don't believe that interviews are the most important factor out of all of them; although they can show that they are interested in a few people, it might not be completely indicative of whether or not they're settled on a hire. They could also be hiring more than one candidate.

Ultimately, I always say that if you feel like it would be a great mutual fit - meaning that you are really excited about the work and you can provide evidence or a detailed expanation of how you've done similar work successfully in the past - go for it! 

ps- thanks for attending the webinar, I'm glad you enjoyed it! :-)

[Farah Z]

Hey, guys, I am Farah Zain a new content writer at Upwork. I am struggling to find a way to get a job.. But haven't got any.
Can anyone suggests me or want to work with me?

Wanna hear from you.
Thank you.

[Andrea G]

Hi Farah,

Submitting proposals doesn't always guarantee that you will get hired or get a chance to be interviewed, but you shouldn't give up on sending proposals to potential clients. You may check our Resource Corner and find some excellent topics there:

Submitting a Winning Proposal on Upwork

Make Your Freelancer Profile More Visible & Appealing

Enhance Your Freelancer Profile for Greater Success

When you apply for jobs, make sure your proposal is well written and that you're absolutely qualified and certain of your ability to complete the job you're applying for.

Thanks!

[Mahamud H]

Hey,

Thanks for giving wonderful webinar. I am a new freelancer in Upwork. How I get 1st order in Upwork. I am very interested to work with Upwork.

Thank you

[Aleksandar D]

Hi Mahamud,

I suggest checking out this Community thread to help you get started on Upwork along with the Freelancing Resources board in which you'll find plenty of articles to help you with writing proposals, negotiating with clients, setting your rates, enhancing your profile, and so on.

Thank you.

[Brigid L]

Hi Samantha!

I was on the webinar today, and I have a follow-up question from one you answered earlier. Someone asked about how to propose a rate if the job description doesn't give specific details about the workload. You suggested having a conversation with the client in order to get a specific scope of the project. Are you suggesting we do that in the proposal or once the proposal is accepted and we go on to an interview? Or should we, like you also suggested, mention a rate in our proposal based on other work we've done, but then follow it up with something like, "This rate is dependent on the specifics of your project?"

Thanks for your help!

Brigid

[Andrea G]

Hi Brigid,

For help getting started please check out this Community thread. You can also find some great topics in the Freelancing Resources board like: Negotiating Your Rate on Upwork.

Thanks!

[Samantha H]

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Brigid L wrote:

Hi Samantha!

I was on the webinar today, and I have a follow-up question from one you answered earlier. Someone asked about how to propose a rate if the job description doesn't give specific details about the workload. You suggested having a conversation with the client in order to get a specific scope of the project. Are you suggesting we do that in the proposal or once the proposal is accepted and we go on to an interview? Or should we, like you also suggested, mention a rate in our proposal based on other work we've done, but then follow it up with something like, "This rate is dependent on the specifics of your project?"

Thanks for your help!

Brigid

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That's a great question! I think there are a couple of different ways to approach this. In my opinion, you should mention it in the proposal if your bid amount could change. It's totally fine to let them know in your proposal that the total cost is dependent on scope, but a ballpark budget might be "xyz".

Be sure to discuss this further in the interview and then have any adjustments or changes on project pricing written into the contract correctly before you accept it. Really, communciation is key in this kind of situation. The interview is the time to really start to define the scope of the project and decide whether this is something you'd be willing to undertake for a mutually agreed upon rate. Remember, you're interviewing the client just like they're interviewing you. It may not be a good mutual fit, and you are not obligated to accept anything unless you want to.

ps - thanks for attending the webinar! Glad to see you again. :-)

[Ashley B]

Hi Samantha!

Thank you for the webinar! I have a couple of questions:

1) In regards to verified payments you said that we shouldn't start work until there is money in the milestones. However, with hourly jobs on your slide you said that we are billed on a weekly basis. Will that money be in escrow too? Should I ask the client to verify payment before beginning hourly work?

2) You said not to include work experience that is unrelated to the job in my profile. Although I have retained the knowledge, the last time I worked in an office was 10 years ago and most of my professional experience is in restaurants. As a manager I have worked in Excel, Adobe PDF editor, Word, payroll, and scheduling along with many other skills learned in restaurants and I feel ignoring that would be a disservice to myself. As a server/bartender I have exceptional costumer service skills. Do you believe that including that kind of information would be helpful or hurtful to winning proposals?

[Andrea G]

Hi Ashley,

When working on Hourly contracts your client is invoiced automatically every Monday. We suggest you make sure your client has verified their payment method before starting work on an Hourly contract in order to qualify for Hourly Protection. 

You can find some advice on how to build your profile here as well as some other great topics in our Resource Corner.

Thanks!