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calicocopy
Community Member

Clobbered by the algorithm

I am having an incredibly frustrating experience with rating. I have receive 5-star ratings on all but 2 jobs. I've only been with Upwork since the end of Feb and made $6K so far. Most of my jobs tend to be large -- $250 or more; I'm finishing up two four-figure jobs where the clients are happy. One client simply disappeared and I don't know if the open contract counts against me. I got a 4.05 from a client for whom I did one tiny project as a test; that type of project shouldn't even be rated, let alone low; and I did another test and got a 4.6. And now I'm rated at 79%.

This seems totally unfair and misleading. A 5-star rating on a $500 website should count for more than a 4-star on a small test project. I've been getting feedback on all my projects. For a couple I've been their first Upwork contact and since they were happy they're likely to look for more. I'd think I'm exactly the kind of freelancer Upwork should be encouraging and instead I'm caught up in a misleading algorithm. I've applied to several other jobs; I'm an Expert and deliver great work, but the rating seems to be scaring people. Very, very frustrating. I'm looking into other platforms. 

2 REPLIES 2
feed_my_eyes
Community Member

That IS frustrating. Your profile is set to private so I can't offer you any insights, but one or more of your clients must have given you poor private feedback. I don't think that a single open project - especially since it's only been open since February - would be having any impact. On the plus side, you're doing really well if you only joined a few months ago and you've already won so many projects; I'm sure that if you continue at this rate, your JSS will go up in no time.

martina_plaschka
Community Member


Catharine G wrote:

I am having an incredibly frustrating experience with rating. I have receive 5-star ratings on all but 2 jobs. I've only been with Upwork since the end of Feb and made $6K so far. Most of my jobs tend to be large -- $250 or more; I'm finishing up two four-figure jobs where the clients are happy. One client simply disappeared and I don't know if the open contract counts against me. I got a 4.05 from a client for whom I did one tiny project as a test; that type of project shouldn't even be rated, let alone low; and I did another test and got a 4.6. And now I'm rated at 79%.

This seems totally unfair and misleading. A 5-star rating on a $500 website should count for more than a 4-star on a small test project. I've been getting feedback on all my projects. For a couple I've been their first Upwork contact and since they were happy they're likely to look for more. I'd think I'm exactly the kind of freelancer Upwork should be encouraging and instead I'm caught up in a misleading algorithm. I've applied to several other jobs; I'm an Expert and deliver great work, but the rating seems to be scaring people. Very, very frustrating. I'm looking into other platforms. 


The rating is weighed, so a smaller contract should count less than a larger one. The most important number, though, is private feedback = clients that would recommend you in your stats. What does it say?

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