Getting irrelevant job interview requests

[nhc123]

I am based in Germany but work exclusively in English as it is my native language and that is clear on my profile. 100% of interview requests I receive are for German speakers or require the German language to complete the job. Obviously, I decline all these requests as they aren't relevant, but I'm concerned that I must be missing out on being considered for English language jobs because I'm not appearing in the relevant searches. Has anyone else found a solution to this problem? 

[nyonomega0]

Try doing this (in case you haven't already) -

- Remove the mention of German/Germany everywhere from your profile (you might've chosen it as an additional language?)

- Make sure there is no mention of German in your skills

- Try adding more skills related to the services you provide

This might help!

[nhc123]

The only place that refers to Germany is my location, which I cannot change, obviously.

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Nathalie,

I checked your account and can confirm that everything is working as designed. Regarding the search results, freelancers in search results are shown on a rotating basis so that everyone has a fair chance to be discovered. You can always check out our resources here and learn more about how to improve your profile. Thank you.

[nhc123]

Thanks. I'm still concerned I don't show up in searches for English-speaking jobs, only yesterday I had an interview request for German speakers.

[colettelewis]

Nathalie, 

This is not much comfort, but  the algorithm picks up on location. I live in France, and I often get invitations to translate from English to French (my language pair is French to English) as well as French proofreading jobs.  

I think you could stress in your overview that you only offer writing/editing skills in English. That may help a bit, but don't count on it!  The other thing is Upwork has a geoblocking policy (US and UK) in place, so you may not see some relevant jobs from these countries. 

[nhc123]

Thanks Nichola, This was my suspicion, immensely frustrating and short-sighted by Upwork. Disappointing that the algorithm is so useless to ignore native language over current location.  Got another German native speaker request this morning!

[sofia2008]

Hi, besides your Education, maybe indicate the country after (if it allows it)

ex. University ABC, UK

[nhc123]

Done, and by the looks of it zero effect, thanks though for the suggestion!

[a5a1715a]

As a client, when searching for an English editor or proofreader, I usually limit my search to specific countries. That may explain, at least partially, why you are not getting noticed as often compared to your peers in UK, US, ...