Clients with 0 interview

[m-architects]

Hello,

I wanna rise up again a well known issue with clients who post jobs and never interview freelancers. Ok, ok... It's not the case when I'm not hired or whatever. It's when a job post has 50+ applicants but zero of them were interviewed. All of them spent connects and time for applying, right? And at the end of the day they are just ignored. What's the point of doing that?  Just shop around and than what? Sorry, but I cant get it. To me it looks like those people simply enjoy teasing others. 

Any siggestions?

[paywell]

Freelancers are limited in their interaction with clients by the amount of connects, which need to be purchased. 

Therefore, the connects purchased should be seen as a service.

As with every service, there are criteria, allowing to determine, whether it has been rendered or not.

I believe, that a Freelancer’s proposal has to be reacted to by the Client, in order to become an interaction.

This should include a button being pressed by the Client, resulting in accepting or declining the proposal.

Or, the proposal should be opened and not reacted to. Resulting in a view of the proposal in the Freelancer's profile.

No actions being undertaken by the client towards the proposal shouldn’t make the cut and shouldn’t be considered a service.

Since the end purpose of connects and the basis of their worth is their function of providing jobs, there should be criteria to determine, whether a client’s post is a job, or not.

Here is the definition of a job:

(1) a regular remunerative position

(2) the regular work that a person does to earn money

Hence, a job post, which doesn’t result in a Freelancer receiving a remunerative position, cannot be considered as a job.

We all should know, that working for free is considered a violation of the TOS.

Purchasing services and not receiving them is a violation far worse than that.

But that is only my humble opinion.

[m-architects]

Well, shortly speaking we are all playing lottery which does not even guarantee that anyone will win. So it's your choice to purchase tickets or not.

[martina_plaschka]

I'm not playing the lottery when I send a message to a client that convinces him I'm the best person for the job. 

[m-architects]

You may exhort yourself that you don't but the fact that you may be easily ignored (along with other ones) states that you do. Sad but true.

[martina_plaschka]

You are not getting this quite right. 

What service are you purchasing when buying connects? What about free connects, you are not purchasing anything with free connects. 

If you absolutely need to use the word purchase, what you are purchasing is the possibility to be connected to a client (hence connects), nothing else. Upwork does not claim that sending proposals is a guarantee to get hired. They provide a platform for this connection to happen, clients finding freelancers, upwork collecting their fee from the money the client pays the freelancer, which is the majority of their earnings. 

Making ALL connects free would have a minor impact on their earnings. 

I recommend you start considering connects for what they are - a cost of doing business. Do you refuse to pay your internet provider if you didn't like the content?  

Since the end purpose of connects and the basis of their worth is their function of providing jobs, there should be criteria to determine, whether a client’s post is a job, or not.

Here is the definition of a job:

(1) a regular remunerative position

(2) the regular work that a person does to earn money

I don't quite get what you mean by that. A lot of the jobs posted on upwork are one-offs, nothing regular about them, and people earn good money with them. By your definition not a job?

[paywell]

By buying connects, I am purchasing the privilege to contact clients, in order to get a job.

No reply / no action = no contact. 

Nobody being hired = no job. 

Free connects could be another story.

But Freelancers get free connects by getting through milestones.

As you well know, those are in a tight relation to earnings.

Are earnings on Upwork “free”? And, therefore, are those connects “free”?

I haven't checked, whether Upwork claims anything.

I think, that a connect can either result in being "something" or "nothing".

Which is the definition of a gamble, again, in my humble opinion.

I have not asked to make connects free.

I have merely indicated that purchasing anything merits a service being rendered or goods exchanged.

If you read my post thoroughly, I am just portraying my view on things. 

I fail to see the connection between my post and not paying for the internet service, because of me not liking “the content”.

If there is no client interaction - there was no "internet connection"

If nobody got the job - there was no "content"

Concentrating on the word “regular” when the most important part of the definition is “to earn money” and getting a “remunerative position”, is not failing, but denying to see.

And, as we all know, “no one is as blind as a person who doesn’t want to see”

Leading the blind is one thing. They want to get somewhere.

Guessing the reasons why somebody is denying to see the point and, without knowing their motives, trying to convince them otherwise is my definition of working for free.

And that’s a violation of the TOS.

Feel free to send me a proposal and I will consider working on that. Until then – no dice.

[martina_plaschka]

But Freelancers get free connects by getting through milestones.

As you well know, those are in a tight relation to earnings.

Are earnings on Upwork “free”? And, therefore, are those connects “free”?

I don't know what you mean. What have free connects to do with milestones? Nothing. Every freelancer gets free connects every month. (And the interview thing).

Earnings on upwork are not free, you pay a fee. Some connects are free, some are not. 

It is entirely possible to create a profile, apply to jobs, and never incur any cost at all until you get hired and pay a fee on your earnings. 

And again, I don't consider it a gamble when I offer a professional service that clients need and are willing to pay for. 

[paywell]

Free connects can be managed differently, if you like it better that way.

It's the paid connects which should definitely be exchanged for a service:

If a connect serves as currency, exchanged for client interactions - a client should interact with you, or no connects should be spent.

If a connect serves as a means of getting a chance at a job - the result should be a paid task being assigned to anybody on the platform, or else there's no job to speak of, hence no grounds for connects being subtracted.

As you have mentioned yourself - connects are a miniscule part of Upwork's earnings.

Making them count is in Upwork's best interest.

Because, if connects are spent solely on client interactions (with a "yes" or "no" to every proposal, or at least a view) or on jobs (posts, which transfer into paid tasks) then there is more revenue to pay 5-20% off of. 

That is a win-win for everybody. 

But, by failing to set criteria of "job" and "client interaction" and not making the fulfillment of these conditions the grounds for connects being spent; and, in face of a raising number of empty "jobs" and fake "clients", Upwork ends up shooting itself in the foot.

Because Freelancers are not getting through to real clients and clients are not giving out jobs, because real Freelancers, which they are waiting for, are holding back their connects, afraid to hit a faux "job" with no hires, or not even getting their proposal viewed.

It's clear without me saying it, that with no client interactions and no jobs, there's no money to be made for nobody.

It's a lose-lose-lose for the whole trio of us - Clients, Freelancers and Upwork alike.

[ericaandrews]

The connects are an opporunity to connect, not a guarantee the other party will respond.  By your definition of making a 'connection' requiring a response, then every phone company owes their subscriber a 'refund' everytime that subscriber makes a call and the other person doesn't answer the phone?   So if some guy keeps trying to call his ex on the phone, and she doesn't answer, then the phone company didn't 'render service' because they didn't make her 'connect' with his call attempts?  No, sorry.  That's not how that works.

[paywell]

If the person doesn’t pick up, you don’t pay the connection fee.

If there is a connection, which persists, a tariff is paid for every minute of it.

I think you are missing the point here:

In your example, there IS a man and there IS an ex on the other end of the line, even if she doesn’t answer – she sees the missed call. 

What we’re experiencing is a geometrical rise in faux men and exes, and a telephone company, earning money for real connected, lasting calls, which doesn’t let real men find their exes and talk to them.

To earn more, the phone company should charge for connected calls only.

That way a real man can talk to his ex, they both pay the bill and the phone company gets it’s cut.

Not letting people ring through a couple more phony numbers to get through to real people is a problem for all parties included.

[spectralua]

With rejected candidate shown 0 interviews again. Did you watched job post long time?

Also scam job post can contain phone\messenger, so all going there with no interview.

But yes, it happened. Have applied for job an 16 hours ago. No interviews, to 50 proposals. Client look good, say job is urgent, must be done asap. Urgent within one week, one year?

[paywell]

The only solution I see is flagging such jobs and escalating them to moderators on the forum.

But that can prove to be a lot of work with no satisfaction guarantee. 

You might see your 6 connects back, you might not. 

Which is either a gamble, or putting work in for free.

I would love for those connects to return "home" whenever a proposal is not viewed and/or a job doesn't result in somebody getting hired AND paid.

Although, and this is me joking: they do return "home" in a way, since they came from Upwork.

[spectralua]

In my example nothing to flag. Job is legal, client not must to hire someone according to rules. This is just a legal blackhole for connects. We can not do anything with this kind of clients. Only accept it as-is.

[bluexm0]

totally agree with this post.
why clients would post a job and never interview is a total mystery ... what is the point of that? is it fishing for free consulting when freelancers apply and give part of a solution? Bots probing the popularity of certain jobs ?

Regardless, in such cases, and after several weeks since the job post and freelancers have applied with none getting an interview, the job should be canceled and the connects returned. 

[m_terrazas]

Perhaps because by the time, perhaps, they find someone who suits them, they have had enough of reading stupid proposals.
Keep in mind that Upwork is not the only freelance job portal. They have been able to post the same work on multiple portals.
Connects are an investment for your business.

[bluexm0]

Thats exactly my point: if a client is not serious about this platform in one way or another then freelancers bidding for his job shouldn't be penalized.
It's pretty unlikely that 50+ propositions will be stupid. 

[m_terrazas]

Some client here could tell you how far the subject goes.
And clients don't have to know anything about connects. It's your issue, not theirs.
You should take it for what it is, not as a penalty, but as a business expense.
You send a proposal and forget about it until, hopefully, the client responds.
What you are commenting on has been discussed in the forums thousands of times. They have been withdrawing the return of connects even from the interviews won. And reduced from 60 to 10 those who gave each month.
They only return them if the work is fraudulent or if the client closes it without hiring.
So, you better get used to the idea.
Upwork is not going to require customers to respond, close the contract or, of course, hire someone.

[the-right-writer]

Oh, no, it is likely that clients will receive 50+ "stupid" proposals. Unless you are a client, or talk to them, you have no idea of the total garbage they receive. Here are real opening lines I have seen for myself,

"give me job"

"i do good work"

"i need job"

"I am best writter on Upwork"

"i luv to talk and share."

"I am top rated, 100% good job score" (This person was not top rated and they didn't even have a JSS yet.)

"hire me I will do great job for you!"

No one has to spend connects. If you set aside Upwork yelling at you to spend, spend, spend, apply, apply, apply, and boost, boost, boost, you won't spend much money.

Freelancing costs money. It is self-employment. Everyone who thinks freelancing is only about making money, needs to take a basic business class.

The good clients have left/are leaving. I can't even find jobs to apply for. The clients tell me and others, they don't want to wade through 50+ or 100+ or 5000+? garbage proposals from unskilled freelancers who will never land a real job, and if they do, they produce terrible results, ensuring the clients hate other freelancers and don't trust the platform because no vetting of freelancers occurs.

[f322a342]

Is there anywhere on Upwork where I can post some of my samples to be critiqued?

[calado-marco]

Looking at your profile you should look for groups like "content writers" or "writers" maybe there they can help.

[the-right-writer]

I looked at your profile for examples, and you have work to do. Your profile is almost empty, and the introduction needs to be rewritten. The intro is the place to catch the attention of the client. Your opening lines are very important.

You need to start at the beginning, and learn Upwork's rules. There are a lot of scammers here, waiting for new freelancers to take the bait.

Read this post, and pay special attention to the Terms of Service and the Red Flags for Scams from Wes. If you make a portfolio, then people can see your work.

[bluexm0]

I didn't realize that clients receive so much garbage and left or are leaving.
but this is also my point; to have a platform with quality clients and freelancers it's chicken and eggs. So upwork has to accommodate for both. 
And that includes not wasting freelancers time and connects (or call it investment if you want) on non serious clients.

[27976d7e]

I got an invite from a social media agency. I was invited by name. Very polite and positive. I spent a good few hours doing a proposal. Then I didn't get any reply back. I don't think they even looked at it. The company was from blackpool, the UK. (UK is where I work). After such such a polite introduction, I would have expected at least a template rejection reply. The fact that they have invited me made me want to try harder. It's just a bit odd that's all. It makes me think there is more to it. I have had a few of thiose. I wondered if the profile picture looked too goods to me true 😞

[calado-marco]

Here's a funny thing;

Upwork recently started to show in your proposals the ones your client saw with a litle eye in front (attached my screen shot), i think it's awesome they started to do that.

The funny part is that (at least in my proposals) none of the boosted bids were viewed by the clients.

Nonetheless, and i said this before, the same way you work with several platforms, so does the client. Who's to say that the client didn't hired another freelancer from another platform and just didn't care to close this one here?

Or just gave up the work and again didn't care less?

This happens and you know it does.