Connects for Interviews Won

[2c724a5e]

This week, we are making two significant changes, we are no longer awarding free Connects for every interview won or disclosing the number of Connects rewarded in these cases. 

Check out the product update for Connects for Interviews Won and let us know your thoughts about this update in the comments below.

[opeyemi_owolu]

Why dont i recieve free connects again and my acoount dont get views again, this is sad for me

[martina_plaschka]

Upwork changed their free connects policy. Only apply to job posts where the client has hired before. 

[aamena-teamkoder]

Hello!
I got 4 new clients but still do not get free connects. So, May I know, Upwork policy has been changed?

[prestonhunter]

Yes. The policy has changed.

[mh-munir]

Hello there,

I got a interview 29/09/2022, and I got this job, but i did not get my award connects yet.

My job title was **Edited for Community Guidelines**

[lysis10]

lol I'm glad I got to see the job before it got edited out. yeah that trick doesn't work anymore, sport.

[konraad2015]

Looks like one of those that were cheating the system.

[lysis10]

---

Khangelani H wrote:

Looks like one of those that were cheating the system.

---

Yep. That link will get removed but that's what's happening here. lol It's a beautiful thing when this happens. System working as intended. lol

[martina_plaschka]

No more connects if the client has not hired before, new policy. 

[mh-munir]

Thank you

[engr-mansoor]

Hi Upwork Community,

Will the rule apply even if the interviewer hires the freelancer?

As I have been interviewed by a new client and he hired me for that job. 

Regards

[PradeepH]

Hi Mansoor, 

Thank you for your message. Please note that we recently put out an update that we're no longer awarding Free Connects for every interview won or disclosing the number of connects rewarded in these cases. You may want to check this recently posted update about the Connects for Interview Won.

Thank you,

Pradeep

[evelin_muresan]

So the truth is that freelancers have to spend a lot more money in order to get new jobs, and as most freelancers have less than 15% hire rate they are just waisting money and giving it to upwork with no tangible benefits, right? 

Can I read any official explanation as to why the quality of Upwork clients/jobs has decreased totally and why is Upwork only creating self serving solutions? Because in time this will mean people will leave or just use Upwork for scams.

[759e32fa]

Hi Evelin,

Freelancing is your business, and like any business owner, you have to make investments to sell your products or services. When business is conducted in person, you might take a prospective client to lunch, spend money on a special presentation, or travel to the client’s business or home to discuss the work. With these steps, you are not only marketing your services, you are also showing potential clients that you are serious about your business and invested in building a working relationship with them. Connects are the same thing- an investment toward your freelance career.

Please remember that you are not employees of Upwork in order for us to guarantee jobs- freelancers have to pitch for them, bid, and demonstrate expertise when sending proposals. Upwork is a platform where freelancers and clients meet, and create contracts and the service fees you pay are our investments too. Like how you pay for your electricity and internet to keep your freelance business running- Upwork also spends on resources to maintain its day-to-day operation.

[298b9f57]

I have two active Proposal but i did not get free connects.

[pudingstudio]

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Muhammad Ali S wrote:

I have two active Proposal but i did not get free connects.

---

That's ok, nothing to report?
Give you best to work on those jobs, just as you intended to.

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Feedback/Connects-for-Interviews-Won/m-p/1147330#M1515

[sadeemshreef]

I have win two interview in past but didnot get any connect. Then when i research about that i found out that upwork is not giving free connects because some people are scamming and getting free connects. But if you cannot award that free 10 connects than at least you can give us our connects back that we used for that job. Please someone help me in this matter.

[fb528221]

Hello it's already 2 october ,but i have neither received my monthly connects nor my interview connects with the new client, can you please check this asap, i am already running out of the connects i purchased

[LuiggiR]

Hi Neha,

Please know that we are no longer awarding free Connects for every interview won or disclosing the number of Connects rewarded in these cases.

Unfortunately, we learned from our community that some dishonest customers were gaming the system to get free Connects they didn’t deserve. We made these changes in response, to ensure fairness and preserve the value of Connects for those who honestly earn and buy them. Check out our announcement section for more information.

Regarding the free monthly Connects that you receive from your membership plan, please note that you'll receive these once your billing cycle renews, which in your case is on October 11th. You can check this help article to learn more.

[fb528221]

how is this supposed to be fair to us freelancers , you are only trying to justify it, but upwork provides only 10 connect per interview till the interview number reaches 50 so it was already fair regardless, because they are consuming from these 50 interviews only, and upwork instead of ignoring or fixing this problem decided to take connects from us people who have done nothing like that, are you saying this is actually fair to us people?!!! we are only losing our money irrespetive of the case since we have to now purchase those connects instead, it's not like we aren't already paying enough by giving 20% per project not to mention the taxes and transaction charges.

[feed_my_eyes]

People who get 5 interviews per week must be quite successful freelancers who can afford to buy connects. And if you're always getting interviews from genuine clients, then you'll still get freebies.

Scamming freelancers were posting fake jobs to award connects to themselves and their friends, and other freelancers were wasting their time and connects bidding on those jobs. Do you think that was fair?

[fuentescarlosok]

I believe that nothing in this world is fair. In any case, I suppose that if they consider themselves entrepreneurs, they should add to the client's budget the commissions that "Upwork" takes away from you. the electricity you spend in your home, in short, this is called a market study. Now also add 15 dollars of connections to the client and end the problem.

[dileepcs34]

Hi, 

I have not received monthly free connects this month and also I am not receiving connects on getting interviewed from a client.

I don't why this is happening.

Please help in this regard.

Thanks.

[LuiggiR]

Hi Dileep,

I can see that you've already received your monthly Connects for this month. You should be able to see this if you click on "View Connects History" when you go to Membership & Connects. In addition, please note that we are no longer awarding free Connects for every interview won or disclosing the number of Connects rewarded in these cases. Check out our announcement section for more information.

[paywell]

Freelancers no longer get free connects for being interviewed.

This only happens with "established clients".

It wasn't disclosed, who an established client is.

I guess this has been used to cheese the system and get free connects, by "clients" conducting fake interviews.

[ffa66020]

Hi,

I can't figure out how to actually reach a support person for this.  I just made my account yesterday and bid on several jobs, boosting some of them with extra connects.  Three of them responded to me this morning, and are all clearly scams, requesting I enter in payment info on other websites.  How do I go about having the connects I used on these "jobs" refunded?

Thank you,

Shelby

[a28ac81a]

If they interviewed/messaged you on upwork, after you sent a proposal, you'll automatically win 10 free connects each time.

It usually takes a day for the connects to update..

[sofia2008]

No longer true since September 19, 2022. See changes below.

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Product-Updates/Connects-for-Interviews-Won/ba-p/1147321

[sofia2008]

No need to contact support for that. You just need to flag the job post as inappropriate.

See the help article below

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211063118-Report-Suspicious-User-Activity

If Upwork takes the job down, your connects will be returned later on.

Also check the announcement of September 19th 2022 for Connects no longer awarded on all interviews won 

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Product-Updates/Connects-for-Interviews-Won/ba-p/1147321

[aaqib-adil]

Hi, 

In the last month, I have interviewed twice (& I got hired on one job as well), but Upwork didn't give me 10 free connects for either interview. I bought 80 connects twice in the last one and a half months, and being new to Upwork, buying connects every now and then is something I cannot afford at the moment. 
When will I get connects? I heard that Upwork no longer provide free connects for scam reasons, but you can see the clients who interviewed me, and they are genuine. 
Getting 20 connects for 2 interviews would be a huge boost for me to apply on other jobs. 

Regards, 

Aaqib Adil

[LuiggiR]

Hi Aaqib,

As you've mentioned, we are no longer awarding free Connects for every interview won or disclosing the number of Connects rewarded in these cases.

Unfortunately, we learned from our community that some dishonest customers were gaming the system to get free Connects they didn’t deserve. We made these changes in response, to ensure fairness and preserve the value of Connects for those who honestly earn and buy them. Check out our announcement section for more information.

[serhiitarasiuk]

Hi Luiggi! I didn't get a single connect in the last week, even though I won five interviews with established client on Upwork.The rules state that when you intervene with an established client, connectns must be accrued. How can I deal with this situation?

[LuiggiR]

Hi Serhii,

As mentioned in my previous reply, we are not disclosing the number of Connects rewarded in these cases. Check out our announcement section for more information.

[the3dguru]

So that mean the number might be zero all the time?  If the above comment got five interviews and zero connects, that means the undisclosed number was zero five times in a row. So this is just a way of saying Upwork won't be giving any connects in future?

[a78d9a4d]

Haven't received connects for last 2 interviews 

[LuiggiR]

Hi Duncan,

Please know that we are no longer awarding free Connects for every interview won or disclosing the number of Connects rewarded in these cases.

Unfortunately, we learned from our community that some dishonest customers were gaming the system to get free Connects they didn’t deserve. We made these changes in response, to ensure fairness and preserve the value of Connects for those who honestly earn and buy them. Check out our announcement section for more information.

[695c98c2]

Hi Luiggi,

We understand UpWork logic to fight scammers and people who simply don't play by the rules. Our concern is that it seems that the vast vajority of freelancers are not scammers, so it seems quite unfair being sanctioned because of the poor choices done by a small group of scammers. Wouldn't be the case of improving your algorythms and put in place better monitoring tools (with AI for example) rather than changing a (very) welcomed old policy–i.e. a policy that benefited a vast majority of users playing by your rules?

As a new freelancer (3 months since started here) I noticed that for every 8 proposals I make, only 2 get viewed scoring 1 interview in average. Then my hiring chances are about 40%. I usually spend a significant time elaborating every proposal – something between 30-45min each, and distributing this time by the follwing proportion: 70% by researching and preparing the proposal and 30% of the time by writing the proposal. I know thi is a very subjective and relative perspective but the point is that without the free Connects I really have no significant incentive from the platform to keep finding good jobs without spending too much on the operational expenses (the Connects being the most expensive cost from now on with the new policy that in practice means that freelancers will need to purchase them, not earn them with their own effort and following your great guidelines on writing great proposals btw).

Please share those thoughts with your team and please convey our kind request to reconsider this policy change but find new technical ways to sanction only those who are really not playing by the rules. Thanks! 🙂

[3a98847d]

I have two Questions, 
First, I submitted proposal to two clients and later recevied emails from Upwork support that the job post was against the Upwork TOS and your connects will be returned back soon. Till now, I didn't receive my connects Back. Could you Please look into that. 
Second, I submitted the proposal and got interviewed with a client and within 24 hours I was expecting to get bonus of 10 connects. But this time I didn't receive any connects after interview. Could some one lease tell me why I am not getting the connects?

[martina_plaschka]

But this time I didn't receive any connects after interview. Could some one lease tell me why I am not getting the connects?

Because of the new policy, no more connects if the client never hired before.

[793cf420]

I've noticed that I haven't gotten connects on winning interviews recently and my monthly connects renewal isn't renewing. Is upwork no longer rewarding connects to freelancers on winning interviews?