🐈
» Forums » Freelancers » Re: Clients should respond to every Bid | At ...
Page options
lokeshjos
Community Member

Clients should respond to every Bid | At least - Yes or No within a defined time frame

Its agonizing wait for new Freelancers waiting for a feedback on their bids. There should be an inbuilt compulsory lock for the clients to respond to the bids with in a time frame with Yes or No so that freelancers can focus on the next opportunity. 

 

I believe that Upwork needs to make an even ground for both clients and the freelancers. 

 

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
petra_r
Community Member


Lokesh J wrote:

There should be an inbuilt compulsory lock for the clients to respond to the bids with in a time frame with Yes or No so that freelancers can focus on the next opportunity. 


No. Upwork should do nothing at all that drives clients from the platform in droves. Everything that makes clients leave the platform is detrimental to freelancers and means less jobs and less money. 

What good would it do you to be told by the client you're not hired? Unless you're hired, you're not hired. It's hardly rocket science.

You need to get into the habit of applying and then simply forgetting about it and "focus on the next opportunity"

 


Lokesh J wrote:

Its agonizing wait for new Freelancers waiting for a feedback on their bids. 


It won't be if you stop agonising over submitted proposals and simply get on with applying for other contracts.
 

View solution in original post

12 REPLIES 12
tlbp
Community Member


Lokesh J wrote:

Its agonizing wait for new Freelancers waiting for a feedback on their bids. There should be an inbuilt compulsory lock for the clients to respond to the bids with in a time frame with Yes or No so that freelancers can focus on the next opportunity. 

 

I believe that Upwork needs to make an even ground for both clients and the freelancers. 

 


Lokesh, 

I think we need more information about how this would work. I suggest that you add a client account to your Upwork profile (this is easy to do). Then, post a simple job that you would like to have completed. Make sure that it is a job you will actually pay someone to do. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair to them. Ask people to fill out a questionnaire for $5 or something similar. 


Leave the job open for at least 5 days and then respond to every single proposal you receive. Let us know how it goes. 

kinector
Community Member


Tonya P wrote:

Lokesh J wrote:

Its agonizing wait for new Freelancers waiting for a feedback on their bids. There should be an inbuilt compulsory lock for the clients to respond to the bids with in a time frame with Yes or No so that freelancers can focus on the next opportunity. 

 

I believe that Upwork needs to make an even ground for both clients and the freelancers. 

 


Lokesh, 

I think we need more information about how this would work. I suggest that you add a client account to your Upwork profile (this is easy to do). Then, post a simple job that you would like to have completed. Make sure that it is a job you will actually pay someone to do. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair to them. Ask people to fill out a questionnaire for $5 or something similar. 


Leave the job open for at least 5 days and then respond to every single proposal you receive. Let us know how it goes. 


Great tip Tonya! 🙂

 

Lokesh, we should not ask the platform to change anything that makes hiring freelancers more complicated for the client-side. We'd be sawing the branch we sit on!

 

I often hire 3D animators to customize game characters or do similar kinds of small tasks. I'd definitely take my business out of this platform if I had to go through every single proposal and make a reply to each of the 50 individuals trying to get my hundred-bucks gig with the standard proposal that usually says "I'm the best animator, please hire me." It would be so slow and painful! Bad proposals deserve to be ignored.

 

Just keep sending proposals to all the good jobs you find. Getting or not getting a reply doesn't stop you in any way.

lokeshjos
Community Member

I posted jobs and replied to every single Freelancer with a proper feedback. Nonethless I appreciate your insightful feedback!

petra_r
Community Member


Lokesh J wrote:

There should be an inbuilt compulsory lock for the clients to respond to the bids with in a time frame with Yes or No so that freelancers can focus on the next opportunity. 


No. Upwork should do nothing at all that drives clients from the platform in droves. Everything that makes clients leave the platform is detrimental to freelancers and means less jobs and less money. 

What good would it do you to be told by the client you're not hired? Unless you're hired, you're not hired. It's hardly rocket science.

You need to get into the habit of applying and then simply forgetting about it and "focus on the next opportunity"

 


Lokesh J wrote:

Its agonizing wait for new Freelancers waiting for a feedback on their bids. 


It won't be if you stop agonising over submitted proposals and simply get on with applying for other contracts.
 

Wow! Out of the three top class answers I recieved. I accept this as the most appropriate and motivational message to appreciate the good work being done by the Upwork.

ashrafkhan81
Community Member

Upwork cannot and should not force an employer to respond to every bid, just like Upwork does not force Freelancers to respond to any invitations received. 

 

Just like freelancer have an option to Accept / Decline or Ignore the invitation, clients also have an option to Ignore / Accept or Decline a Bid! 

 

So the option is already there but it is discretionary for clients to use it or not. 

 

There was once a funny job post and I applied with a funnier quote, so it got declined! Other than that never had a quote declined, clients just ignore the proposals they don't find appealing and move on with the one they are interested in, better kept that way. 

 

 

mkincy7
Community Member

I really agree with you and just provided that feedback in a survey. I took some time off of Upwork until I got laid off from my full-time job due to the pandemic. At first I was getting interviews, but now a bunch of people who post jobs and never advance ANY proposal to a candidacy. I've had 4 proposals just sit for a month or more, and when I check, some haven't hired or even interviewed anyone (or at least inidicate through upwork). I think clients should have a week to at least select and interview candidates. Maybe a longer 2-3 week period for hire but there should be limits. I feel I'm just wasting credits with prospects who aren't really serious about using Upwork or who are not using the platform appropriately. 

 

Update: I see some of the responses indicating you don't want to chase employers away from UpWork. I really disagree. While I don't think they should reply to every bid, they should accountability to at least select someone or close out the job. To allow a job to sit for a month or more and not indicate they selected anyone for hire or interviews isn't nice. Especially now. 

petra_r
Community Member


Marisa R wrote:

Update: I see some of the responses indicating you don't want to chase employers away from UpWork. I really disagree. 


So you want freelancers to have have less opportunities to get hired and earn less money? You want less jobs for less freelancers?

 

Why would you want to harm freelancers? 

Marisa, I really feel that you are looking at the platform only from the freelancer's perspective.

 

Freelancers can indeed use this platform, and they can earn money here. But it can help understand why some things are the way they are if you think of it from a client's perspective.

 

Suppose Upwork's customers are the paying clients. Suppose that freelancers are NOT Upwork's customers at all, but are more like Upwork's partners in earning money. This can be a thought experiment. From this perspective, you can see how adding requirements to clients would be unwelcome by them. The changes you propose are only about your experience as a freelancer. You can also imagine that clients have no reason to post jobs here unless they actually plan to hire someone. Unless they are some kind of schemer, which is very rare, every client who posts a job on the platform does so because she wants to hire someone.

a_lipsey
Community Member


Marisa R wrote:

I really agree with you and just provided that feedback in a survey. I took some time off of Upwork until I got laid off from my full-time job due to the pandemic. At first I was getting interviews, but now a bunch of people who post jobs and never advance ANY proposal to a candidacy. I've had 4 proposals just sit for a month or more, and when I check, some haven't hired or even interviewed anyone (or at least inidicate through upwork). I think clients should have a week to at least select and interview candidates. Maybe a longer 2-3 week period for hire but there should be limits. I feel I'm just wasting credits with prospects who aren't really serious about using Upwork or who are not using the platform appropriately. 

 

Update: I see some of the responses indicating you don't want to chase employers away from UpWork. I really disagree. While I don't think they should reply to every bid, they should accountability to at least select someone or close out the job. To allow a job to sit for a month or more and not indicate they selected anyone for hire or interviews isn't nice. Especially now. 


I have had clients come back to posts up to 6 months after they initially created it.  And I made good money on those gigs too. The best tactic is to put it out there and move on to the next thing. Let all the leads come back to you in their due time. 

petra_r
Community Member


Marisa R wrote:

I feel I'm just wasting credits with prospects who aren't really serious about using Upwork or who are not using the platform appropriately. 


Have you tried looking at the client's hire rate? 

 


Marisa R wrote:

Update: I see some of the responses indicating you don't want to chase employers away from UpWork. I really disagree. 


Upwork is drowing in freelancers. Literally drowning. You've been away for 3 years and trust me, it's a whole different thing today, especially with the pandemic making everyone and their cat try to run to the platforms. Upwork is not drowing in clients. Chasing away clients is the opposite it ever wants to do and the opposite of what experienced Upwork freelancers want Upwork to do because it means less jobs and less money for freelancers.

tlbp
Community Member


Marisa R wrote:

I really agree with you and just provided that feedback in a survey. I took some time off of Upwork until I got laid off from my full-time job due to the pandemic. At first I was getting interviews, but now a bunch of people who post jobs and never advance ANY proposal to a candidacy. I've had 4 proposals just sit for a month or more, and when I check, some haven't hired or even interviewed anyone (or at least inidicate through upwork). I think clients should have a week to at least select and interview candidates. Maybe a longer 2-3 week period for hire but there should be limits. I feel I'm just wasting credits with prospects who aren't really serious about using Upwork or who are not using the platform appropriately. 

 

Update: I see some of the responses indicating you don't want to chase employers away from UpWork. I really disagree. While I don't think they should reply to every bid, they should accountability to at least select someone or close out the job. To allow a job to sit for a month or more and not indicate they selected anyone for hire or interviews isn't nice. Especially now. 




The fee for connects is the 'stick' portion of a carrot and stick method Upwork uses to encourage the behavior it wants to see. The platform makes money (and saves itself technology and labor costs) by nurturing the development of freelancers who weed out poor prospects and bid on profitable gigs. It may not seem fair to the people who are doing these tasks for free as they improve their search skills and preserve their connects, but it is the system Upwork has chosen. Similarly, the freelancer is 'carroted' to seek feedback from clients by receiving a benefit from the positive reviews. We do the work, and the platform gets USG. 

Marisa, 
As others have mentioned, the marketplace has changed in the past few years. Clients at your skill/price level are either trying freelance platforms for the first time or are experienced platform users. The former is cautious and will need convincing--they may test the waters and then disappear. The latter may be shopping across multiple platforms or have tight criteria. I would advise you to put some of your writing samples on your profile instead of sending users elsewhere. As I'm sure you know, every touchpoint can either add or reduce friction, and sending them off platform adds. 

Latest Articles
Featured Topics
Learning Paths