Hi Md, I feel your pain. Even as a top rated plus freelancer (at 100% JSS) my experience has been that job opprotunites on Upwork comes in waves. To answer your question:
1. For my cover letters I have never included personal experiences (even before my Top Rated Plus Badge). I keep it limited to 3 sentences focusing on overviewing my skillsets (short and sweet). A cover letter that is too long can become long winded or not throughly read by a busy client.
2. I only include samples if the client request them. Its okay if you don't have a sample of the exact job the client needs completed. You can also showcase samples that show the skillset matching the job description as opposed to the same exact work samples. Remember that the type of work will change from client to client but you more than likely will use the same skillsets for the different jobs. So show case your skillets in sample. Your client can also see your work history and samples on your profile if they consider you for the job.
Additional tips that may help is changing your skills tags towards the bottom of your profile page every few weeks. Find a freelancer profile that does the type of work that you are desiring (Top Rated/Top rated Plus/atleast 90% JSS/recent or active jobs) and check out their layout and skillset tags to see what is helping them land the jobs that you want.
Golden Ticket Rule: Being invited to joining cloud talents and agencies to do work with conncects you to a network of clients and jobs that are not posted publicly on upwork. This is where you break your next money making barrier on Upwork. As your profile and job experience cotinues to grow on Upwork you will begin being invited to more of these job opprotunites. So when you come across this opprotunity take it! Even if its not your ideal type of work (but you have the skillset to complete it) this will increase your job opprotunites in the long run.
If none of this helps you land another job, consider free courses online or YouTube channels that can help you increase your skillsets and add them to your profile. Please add and inbox me for additional info. Good Luck and you are not alone.
