Enormously frustrated with JSS

amethystfae · ‎02-03-2019

I am so horribly frustrated with JSS.

I have been working hard to bring up my JSS for more than a year, with few negatively ended contracts. Most of my clients are satisfied. I have a 43% repeat client rate.

Yet my JSS keeps dropping. I have one open contract right now. No negative outcomes in the past two weeks. Yet my JSS DROPS from 75% to 69%?! How is that reflective of anything? I went through my contracts for the past two years and even counting the one where I was the one to open a dispute with a client as a knock against me (it shouldn't be, they tried to scam me but that's besides the point), it still wouldn't work out to 69%. This is such a completely broken system. It doesn't seem to matter how hard you work or how many clients are happy with you. There's no way I can raise this now, as clients don't even look at freelancers with a low JSS. I'm considering leaving the platform entirely unless this is fixed.

yitwail · ‎02-03-2019

Kelsey, I rarely comment on JSS anymore, since anything I say will be an educated guess, but since it sounds like you've probably tried a number of things, my suggestion would be to politely contact some clients who haven't left you feedback in case they're willing to leave you feedback, because there doesn't seem much to lose by doing so. Good luck!

__________________________________________________
"No good deed goes unpunished." -- Clare Boothe Luce

hodgesh · ‎02-03-2019

Kelsey N wrote:
No negative outcomes in the past two weeks. Yet my JSS DROPS from 75% to 69%?! How is that reflective of anything? I went through my contracts for the past two years and even counting the one where I was the one to open a dispute with a client as a knock against me (it shouldn't be, they tried to scam me but that's besides the point), it still wouldn't work out to 69%.

Since you don't know what private feedback you got, you don't really have any way of knowing whether your JSS should be 69%. Check the Clients who would recommend you percentage on your My Stats page if you haven't already done so.

Make sure you understand all the factors that affect JSS. Maybe you've already read up on it...but lots of freelancers have not, it seems.

I don't know anything about your work, but you might try being more discerning when you choose clients. Unprofessional, cheapskate clients can be wanton with their feedback, even if only the private feedback.

m_sharman · ‎02-03-2019

I don't know anything about your work, but you might try being more discerning when you choose clients. Unprofessional, cheapskate clients can be wanton with their feedback, even if only the private feedback.

Yes, client selection is key and it would be great if Upwork provided more tools to help freelancers evaluate the clients. It takes a lot of digging, which isn't possible when a client provides an offer without asking for a interview. The complete responsbility seems to be on the freelancer and regardless of communication, some clients end up not on the same page.

tlbp · ‎02-03-2019

Do a lot of clients send offers without an invitation to interview first? I would simply reject those with a message explaining that you can't enter into a contract without more information.

amethystfae · ‎02-03-2019

It's sitting at 96%. So it doesn't make a lick of sense.

gilbert-phyllis · ‎02-03-2019

Have any excellent outcomes aged out of the calculation window?

barada00 · ‎02-03-2019

Kelsey N wrote:
I am so horribly frustrated with JSS.

I have been working hard to bring up my JSS for more than a year, with few negatively ended contracts. Most of my clients are satisfied. I have a 43% repeat client rate.

Yet my JSS keeps dropping. I have one open contract right now. No negative outcomes in the past two weeks. Yet my JSS DROPS from 75% to 69%?! How is that reflective of anything? I went through my contracts for the past two years and even counting the one where I was the one to open a dispute with a client as a knock against me (it shouldn't be, they tried to scam me but that's besides the point), it still wouldn't work out to 69%. This is such a completely broken system. It doesn't seem to matter how hard you work or how many clients are happy with you. There's no way I can raise this now, as clients don't even look at freelancers with a low JSS. I'm considering leaving the platform entirely unless this is fixed.

Kelsey, JSS calculated in 6 months, 1 year, 2 years windows. Your 6 months window doesn't have enough jobs for calculation anymore so now it is the best of 1 and 2 years windows. If you can complete 3 or 4 jobs with good results, it will come up. Not having bad results doesn't stop JSS from getting lower because of the falling good results. Also you have too many jobs with no feedback, like 10 in 24 in the last 2 years. That might be a cause. If there are jobs not visible in your profile because no money changed and/or funds returned to client they also have serious effect on JSS.