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matt_timm
Community Member

Getting more Work

I have been submitting proposals and am wondering if there is anything I can do to land more jobs. I have been checking on my proposals and many seem to not even be reponding/hiring anyone. I was wondering what the average response rate is on contracts and if there is anything I can do to put in a better proposal. 

 

I apperciate the feedback. 

12 REPLIES 12
gilbert-phyllis
Community Member

If you switch your profile visibility to UW members, then you'll likely get some helpful advice. Without seeing your profile, it's impossible to offer any meaningful comment.

 

This is definitely a long game. It took me over a month to land my first UW contract and over a year to feel like I was starting to get some traction. 

Thank you for your response.

It won't let me make it public without earning first. The other option is to pay but I don't know if I want to invest in that right now. Do you have any other tips? I included relevant examples with all my proposals as well as a link to my portfolio.

In your Profile Settings under Privacy, you should see three options: Private, Other Upwork Users, and Public. I'm positive you can choose that setting regardless of whether or not you've earned anything.

 

I have never paid for membership here. 

Maybe your profile was switched to private because of no earnings. There are 3 ways to turn it public again: making money, paying the membership and asking support to do it. Unless they have changed that you can go to the Help Center and ask them to switch your profile to public status.

 

As for landing more jobs, it's a long road as Phyllis said. You need to be very persistent and focused. In my case it took me about one year to land the first one! And even after some time it never gets easy because there are hundreds of thousands freelancers here and not so many job opportunities in comparison.

Hi Phyllis,

 

I saw your response to another person and I have a question...

 

Is it better to put your profile on PUBLIC or UPWORK USERS ONLY?

 

I have spent a lot of time on my profile with no success. Also, accoring to my stats it seems like no one is viewing my profile. I have sent many proposals and I am wondering if they are getting seen.

 

Would welcome any advice.

 

Thanks,

 

Elizabeth

gd-nomi
Community Member

Hi  Elizabeth,
I am also wondering about that 
Is it better to put your profile on PUBLIC or UPWORK USERS ONLY?
Which one is better, If you find an answer please share with me.

Regards
Muhammad Nauman

I have same experience ma'am ,but still waiting for the job contracts.

vastianzzz
Community Member

While all the other replies are true (took me at least a couple of months to get my first job, and I'm still having difficulty getting consistent work) I think I can also give a couple of details/strategies that might help you out.

 

First, look at a job post well before you apply. Not only to understand what they want but also to learn more about how the client is and how likely it is to hear back from them. Something I always watch is the frequency with which they check their post. I think that generally, if a job was posted 27 days ago, and last seen on that day, even though it might have quite a few proposals, that's not the best sign.

 

Check as well the amount of proposals. Since I think usually a lower number of proposals grants you more visibility.

Then, also be mindful of how well the post is written and how dedicated the client seems. If they didn't put much of an effort in their post, it's likely they don't hold the project in great esteem, and it's also likely they won't be super enthusiastic when it comes to helping you out get their project completed.

 

Other than that, never stop improving your proposals. And try to always chose the jobs for which you have the most relevant portfolio pieces.

 

Or well, at least that's what I can tell you going by my experience. I'd like to know what others think about this.

Very well said, Sebastian. From my experience I would say your advice is spot-on!

True about quality of the post. I have seen "I need PR to get me some press in media." PASS

nrurmi
Community Member

facing same situation Smiley Sad

even not getting any job invitations Smiley Frustrated

cutterji
Community Member

Matt T   A couple of things:

•  When UpWork switched my provile to invisible due to lack of work I had success calling customer support and they switched it back on.

•  This link to an UpWork workshop video gives some excellent tips on improving your profile, vetting potental projects amongst many more tips.  I suggest you check it out.  It helped me make some valuable changes:  https://vimeo.com/386352744

•  And finally.  More freelancers are on UpWork.  For me historically the number on proposals topped out at 10-15 and someone was hired.  Now I am seeing 20-50 and 50+.  Thank you COVID19

 

Best of luck!