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dlh66
Community Member

Experienced Graphic Designer, still no work?

Hi, I'm a skilled and experienced Graphic Designer. For the past 10 years, I've worked as an independent contractor for companies such as Microsoft, InfoSpace, RealNetworks, T-Mobile, and many others.

 

I've been on Upwork for the past month and have gotten 1 response but no gig. I've taken a look at other portfolios and feel that mine is strong and competitive, actually, I can't believe some of the people making the money they make doing the work they have done, but more power to them.

 

If somebody could give me some insight that would be great, and please feel free to speak freely.

19 REPLIES 19
cylver1z
Community Member

Hello Derek,

 

I'm sorry to hear that. Please click these links to help you boost your chances of getting hired:

 

Getting your first job

Submitting a proposal

Enhance your profile


Untitled
barada00
Community Member

Hello Derek,

 

Check this post please.

tomeweb
Community Member

I feel you man.  I don't have a resume up yet but I had one on **Edited for Community Guidelines** for a few months and not one person contacted me.  I'm new to web design so I didn't plan to make a ton of money so I set my rate low and I knew I could do the job but just couldn't get anyone to contact me.  I'm now with a few more months of experience so able to offer a better service.  I'm going to review my ad and compare it to what others have posted to see why my ad isn't working and keep my fingers crossed.  Good luck to you and keep your spirits up.  keep testing.  

ishiffer
Community Member

Take this with a grain of salt, but if I saw someone with your experience charging as low an hourly as you do I would be confused. At least in my area, an experienced graphics person charges three times that. 

inna_alexandra
Community Member

Hi Derek,

 

Well, I'm sorry to hear you got no work, you have a great portfolio.

Upwork is kind of hard at the beginning, unfortunately, most of the clients look at our reviews and not our portfolio! I had many situations when the clients tell me that they didn't know or saw that I have a portfolio on my profile, so I usually send pics with my work samples in the proposals.

I think most important is to make some 5* reviews at the beginning, when I've first started here I made 30$ the 1st month haha, and after that, I've started growing, I think it takes some months to make a steady income here and regular clients.

 

Good luck,

Alexandra

 

Thank you for your input and your encouragement Alexandria much appreciated.
michael9001
Community Member

Your profile description needs to be optimized to highlight the types of materials you can create for clients. Think of it just like optimizing a web page: you're not going to show up in a search for "XYZ designer" if your page doesn't say "XYZ" and "designer." Right now, your profile doesn't tell anybody exactly whay you can do.

 

I'd try to show more variety in your portfolio — more brands and different types of projects.

 

Edit the testimonials in your profile down to one sentence. There's a realy solid sentence in each one, but very few people will read a paragraph-long endoresement.

 

Charge more. Your rate is too low for someone with your experience. You'll lose out on the low-end jobs (no $50 logos) but it will position you better for the sophisticated buyer who's looking for a true professional.

flinn_terri
Community Member

I'm feeling the same way. I'm wondering if my hourly rate is too high (just posted that question above) but I'm not really willing to lower my rate because I think it's fair considering my experience level. Maybe everyone is out bidding with ridiculously low rates?

numbsain
Community Member

Derek, It took me over two months to get my first job. I was about to give up when i bid on a job for a ridiculously low rate, Got the job. Did not make much on it but made the client happy, got a great review and after that i started getting hired. breaking in is the hardest part. One suggestion is more light on your profile pic, you are kind of in shadow, and smile too. I know it's silly but that matters to some people. lastly i have found that specializing is better than offering a lot of services. I know it's weird because what graphic designer only does one thing, but when i narrowed my skills offered to one main thing i got hired more. other than that it is a tough place to make a living and work consistently but after you get the first job it gets easier. good luck.

I totally agree with ray, being top rated I got the chance for a personalized profile review from them, so they told me to narrow down my area of expertize to min 2, so I chose graphic design and illustration, even do I do packaging too, a bit of this a bit of that.

Why don't you consider to lower your rate until you get Top Rated? ( this way people will know you are trusty) as a designer and I guess you can charge as much as you want and have an argument for that.

silw
Community Member

keep in mind that the majority of upwork clients isn't looking for the best qualified option, but the cheapest option.

flinn_terri
Community Member

Well that's annoying, but good to know, this might not be the place for me 🙂

yes . that is always 

voronoi
Community Member

Hi Derek!

From my experience, the proposal is 50% of how you get your job. No work history or portfolio items will suffice if you don't sit down and deconstruct the job you have before you. There are several replies on your post that link to various posts which can help you get familiar with how to score your first job. I just wanted to say: follow them through. Upwork blog posts have been an invaluable training that not one single person can provide. Jsut stick to what people tell you there.

My first job, as well as most other jobs I have here, are a consequence of me having a skill that the client desperately needs, and the willingness to deliver the best possible work in the shortest amount of time. These three points have shown to be the two most important things to my clients.

After introducing yourself in a nice and friendly way, go ahead and describe in detail how your process looks like, and the time it will take for each step of it. Tell the client how their job is going to get done in sheer plasticity (non-creatives have a tough time imagining this stuff!)

You seem to have the technical quality that is required for high-level jobs, and those aren't lacking on UpWork. I would also suggest offering a competitive price reduction for the first couple of jobs, so if your hourly rate is not set in stone, offer the client a better bargain in exchange for an awesome review and let that rising talent badge shine. Once you pull through the initial period, things really start to turn for the better.

That's how you get a job. You are given 60 Connects at the beggining of the month, that is more than enought to keep you occupied for 30 days of dedicated proposal writing. One hour every day will probably land you a job after a week or two.

Sorry for the lengthy reply. I would also change my profile pic to something friendlier (you don't have to wear a fake smile, but right now you come across as worried!)

"It's never crowded along the extra mile."

Well Put Ivan!!

imedium
Community Member

Hi Derek,

It was the same thing to me, experienced video editor for 12years, and first i faced a difficult situation applying to jobs with ne reply fromclients, being patient and improving my portfolio i got my first job then more then 30 Jobs successfully done.
🙂

murad_tlawey
Community Member

 

simply .. try to bring your clients to upwork untill you make strong rate then it works dairy its self !


Dairy??? what does milk, butter and cheese have to do  with upwork? Oh I get it! If you're smooth like butter you can milk the clients and they'll give you lots of cheese! They can be your cash cow if they don't act like pigs and get your goat. But don't put all your eggs in one basket and don't be chicken to accept a challenge. You may not get the cream of the crop at first but keep churning out great work just like any cocky-dude'll-do. Right?

What is this you say?!

do not consistent behind a word And begin to create your equations !

daily not dairy ! 

 

hehe ..