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breanne-joyce
Community Member

How long does it usually take to get hired?

I joined a few days ago and have applied to numerous positions. The only ones I have heard back from are scams. I really need work and the rest haven't responded. How long does it usually take?

25 REPLIES 25
blakecodes
Community Member

Hi Breanne, 

 

The job application process is tedious and has to be thought through. The best approach in my opinion to getting a new job is finding a target audience. Based on your criteria you should try to narrow down the jobs you target. 

 

Your criteria should include things like your current skillset, ideal pay/budget, client history, etc. 

 

Make sure your proposals are crafted specifically for each job you post. Try to understand the concept of the job post and the goals of the client. Explain to them how your previous experience and knowledge gives them a step up by using you. 

UpWork provides an easy way to build trust with employers by building your online reputation. Try to be an impactful and meaningful member by caring about jobs just as the employers do. 

 

Hope this gives some insight!

don't expect to get anything right away.  i've been trying for several years.  and ended up getting one and only made 20.00

 

 

prestonhunter
Community Member

You are presenting yourself as a virtual assistant, with no Upwork work history, no portfolio, and no specific skills, expertise, or specialization.

 

So it may take longer for you to get hired than somebody who has in-demand skills.

jr-translation
Community Member


Breanne J wrote:

I joined a few days ago and have applied to numerous positions. The only ones I have heard back from are scams. I really need work and the rest haven't responded. How long does it usually take?


It depends a lot on how you present yourself in your profil and proposal. Try to write more about your experience in your profil. You only have four sentences and one of them is redundant. You are competing against VA from low cost contries that are willing to work 24/7.

martina_plaschka
Community Member


Breanne J wrote:

I joined a few days ago and have applied to numerous positions. The only ones I have heard back from are scams. I really need work and the rest haven't responded. How long does it usually take?


For over 90% of the 2 million+ freelancers on upwork, it never happens. I firmly believe that it is possible for newcomers to establish themselves on the platform, though, provided they are serious professionals, have the skills and the mindset to apply themselves, create a great profile with a portfolio and tests, are able to translate all of that into a winning proposal, and finally, obviously, deliver excellent results each and every time. 

What upwork is not: an easy way to make money.

yurynmuz
Community Member

As for me, I think clients don't see my applications at all )

I come here 1 time a year and still no result )

This time I accidentally remembered about Upwork and decided to look in )

I run a number of businesses (websites) on 3 continents and from here - nothing )

I'm not complaining, I think Upwork is COOL place, but it has many filters against new people Man Happy

Maybe I'm not right - simply my opinion Man Happy

 

@Yuri M "filters against new people", yes, it seems like that. It seems like most clients are "freelencers badge driven", they are mostly looking for Top Rated, Job Success, Rising Talent, etc.... An newbie is not eligible to have all this, so they should have a way to promote  peofiles of new people too.

And again, remote jobs limited to country or regionis one of the drawback for overseas freelancers as Upwork got more clients from US and EU, if a job is limited to regon or country is not 100% and they should know this platform is international.

you are so right.  when you have to pay money for a job and don't get any responses, makes  you wonder if this isn't just another scam outfit.

 

Hi Carolyn,

 

I'm sorry to hear you feel this way. Submitting a proposal has a financial cost, just like the other expenses you incur as a freelancer running your own business. If a client never hires but doesn’t close the job, your Connects are not returned. In this situation, we continue to encourage the client to hire or close the job, but ask that you consider the cost of Connects as part of your business expenses.

 

~Andrea
Upwork

Hy, in which field you are working, hope this question help me for finding some work.

3efb5b24
Community Member

You know I see all these people saying they’re having to pay to propose contracts but I haven’t had to pay once. Some quick tips to help fellow newbs

- fill out your profile fully so that means pictures portfolio and every other section possible
- only make proposals on jobs you know you can do an amazing job on, I can’t count the number of times I almost wasted credits on somthing I could pull off versus somthing I know I’d crush

- follow the instructions for rising talent, they literally keep my credits full at all times

- start by applying to projects with shorter lengths that require less credits
msublette
Community Member

I think it greatly depends on your previous work experience, skills, area of work, and luck.  I was able to land the first job I applied for, but I know that was mostly luck. It actually left me scrambling to figure out the ins and outs of Upwork. Use the time you have to read about submitting proposals, tweak your proposal and profile, and narrow down the set of skills you want to market.  You have 60 free connects, use them to try out your proposals and see which ones seem to work and which ones do not. You'll see it takes many people a few months to land their first job.  And often, clients do not respond for quite some time.  A client just responded to me today from a job I applied for at the beginning of the month.  Even with my skills and a good history here on Upwork, I still get no response from clients who invited me to interviews.  Or they will respond and then stop responding.  Don't give up.  If you have a skill that people are willing to pay for, you will eventually find something here.

Breanne, I know it's frustrating but get into the mindset that you'll never hear back from any job posters. Apply and forget. Some times you get a surprise and hear from someone and it could be days or even weeks later. Some times you get a response they want to pursue but you don't hear back from them. Just last month a job poster replied he was impressed with my proposal and wanted to talk on the phone. After telling him to contact me at a certain number, I did not hear from him, even after reminding him to call as soon as he's available.

 

Remember that they are under no obligation to contact any of the proposals made. Could be many reasons they don't. First, UW is not the only freelance site out there, although I believe it is the biggest but hardly the best. I've seen the same job posted elsewhere so you are not only competing with those posting here at UW but other sites as well. I've seen jobs here also posted on Craigslist.

 

I think one reason of not getting contacted are posters looking for someone local, especially if it's long-term. I swear some don't understand that this a an international site and that they'll get responses from all over and that these jobs can be done from anywhere. There's also some spammers, scammers and feelers. I'm sure too some wait until the time is elapsed before even looking at submitted proposals. Given the klunky platform, you may have been contacted but the system never lets you know. Some may feel so overwhelmed by the number of responses, they just don't bother.

 

In short, there's no average number of days before you hear back and it will depend on the individual. But in my experience, only a small percentage will respond, even if there's just a few applicants.

 

I don't know about Martina's stats about the 90% or even if there are 2 million freelancers here. But I agree there is likely a sizable percentage of them who will never get hired. That's just the reality. Many will quit only to be replaced by someone else.

 

Some bit of advice. Don't just apply to all jobs you are qualified for. There are too many one-liner jobs that say nothing. I don't apply to those, it's a waste of time (and maybe scammers) unless something in their hiring history suggests it may be worthwhile. But usually I stay away from them.

 

It's been mentioned to make a proposal crafted to the job. Yes and a reason not to answer to vague one-liners.

 

An issue I my opinion with you is, having looked at your profile, you don't seem to have any specialty. That could be a reason. Me personally, I don't want a jack of all trades. If I need a heart surgeon, I don't want a GP and the heart surgeon for a cold is overkill. I think as someone said you are positioning yourself as a VA which is fine. But put your best skills forward.

 

Finally, don't rely only on UW. As mentioned, there are other freelance platforms but don't rely just on these types of sites either. Market yourself in other ways, in other places, even offline. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

 

I wish you good luck.

Hi Pierre

I have read your answer and would like to thank you for the information you shared with everyone.
I would be delighted to hear your opinion on my profile.
Best regards

Elis

Thank you for this. I recently started using Upwork this week and found myself being discouraged after not being able to find a job. But now that you mentioned it takes people a few months to land their first job, I can now move forward with more hope, optimism, and a realistic time frame of when I'll get a job.

Hey have you found a job since?
colettelewis
Community Member


Breanne J wrote:

I joined a few days ago and have applied to numerous positions. The only ones I have heard back from are scams. I really need work and the rest haven't responded. How long does it usually take?


__________________________________

 

Breanne,

 

It really can take weeks if not months to get any traction on Upwork. The whole concept of getting the odd gig to make a bit of pocket money on sites such as Upwork is mostly a thing of the past. If you want to make money as a freelancer, you need to be committed and find a niche for yourself that will work. 

 

If you want to find work here you need to offer something concrete to a potential client and to show the client that you can deliver on his or her requirements. Unfortunately your overview is a perfect example of how to attract a scammer. So you should concentrate on this first. 

 

Figure out the things as an adminstrative assistant you can do best. You say you have been doing this for years, which is patently not the case, as you only left school a few years ago. So you want to cut out the fields that you do not have experience in such as HR and "experience in almost every field possible".  Your clients are not interested in teaching you (that is for the B & M world). You have to know that you can deliver a professional package to those clients to whom you have submitted a proposal. 

 

At this stage, be vary wary of any invitation you receive - the chances are that it will be a scam. And well done, by the way for recognizing those for what they are. There are quite a few people who don't. 

 

To recap: Rewrite your overview and offer only those skills that you know absolutely you can do as well as another freelancer who might have more experience than you. 

 

msublette
Community Member

I'd also hide your office skills and virtual assistant test results.  If they were side skills, I think these scores would be fine.  But since you are selilng your expertise I'd hide them and try to retake them until you are at least in the top 10%.

 

 

ahammed_farid
Community Member

Hi Breanne,

 

Don't give up , keep applying for the jobs which you feel close of your skills and experience. I was in same situation like yours in 2016. Even I have learnt many things from this community which helped me to achieve where I am now.

 

Good Luck !

 

netdiatom
Community Member

I just started 3 days ago and landed my first job on the first day. I am new to upwork but have designed websites since 2008. I have submitted 77 proposals and am pending 3 now with 1 job completed. 

 

This is my proposal style script

 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

I hope you know about 3000 NEETs per hour will be copying this and spamming proposals with your info.

Like everyone said before. Don't come to Upwork thinking it's going to be an easy way to find a job to work from home... It takes a long time to get hired. You are competing with a lot of established people. If I had a penny for every "so hard to find a job" topic here.... I think I'd have enough for a benjamin.

 

jelleplevier
Community Member

Usually about 2 days I would say. But as you might suspect it differs from client to client. Some clients reply within 10 minutes and hire you after a chat. But some might forget about their job or let the job accumulate proposals to get the best fit for up to a week. My latest reply was even after 1 and a half weeks after sending the proposal. 

Generally, I feel that you can predict it from the job description. Is the job description thought full and passionate about the job then they will probably hire and interview someone very quickly, Is the job description short or incomplete they might never hire anyone or take very long because they don't like managing this job. Take this with a grain of salt since it's not proven and it's something I experienced in my time on Upwork.

My last tip would be to be enthusiastic to get started in your proposal and promote yourself as the best fit. This will help with the client making a decision and stating the interview process. Most clients only hire you after a short or even long chat. 

Also when you don't feel good about the way a client is interviewing you, turn down the job. This could be a sign of a very aggressive or unpassionate client who is going to ruin your day and your job success score. But only reserve this for the last option.

0e43c14b
Community Member

I created the account a few time ago and started applying to every other job and I ended up wasting my connects and felt bad about it. As a result, I forgot this platform and never came back to it. Then last month I lost my permanent job - It was out of nowhere. I started looking for new jobs, i was applying all over LinkedIn and other platforms. 
This time it was different for me on Upwork, I had time, i was spending all of my day here, not applying to the jobs (yeah - you heard it right). I was just reweing other people profiles. I noticed how a successful profile looks like. In short- i was able to land my first job after 2 weeks, it is long term and still in progress 🙂
Today It makrs 1.5 months and there is one job in completed and 4 in in progress. all long term.
be patient, spend time, the reward will come.

c4041646
Community Member

The time it takes to get hired on Upwork can vary significantly depending on various factors, including your skills, experience, the demand for your services, and the competitiveness of the job market within your chosen field. It's important to note that Upwork is a platform with a large number of freelancers, so competition can be fierce.

While there isn't a fixed timeframe for getting hired, here are a few tips to increase your chances:

  1. Build a strong profile: Ensure that your Upwork profile showcases your skills, experience, and portfolio in a professional and compelling manner. Highlight your expertise and provide relevant samples of your work to demonstrate your capabilities.

  2. Craft tailored proposals: When applying for jobs, take the time to write customized proposals that address the specific requirements and needs of each client. Show that you have read the job description thoroughly and provide relevant details about how you can meet their expectations.

  3. Set competitive rates: In the beginning, consider setting your rates competitively to attract clients. As you gain more experience and positive reviews, you can gradually increase your rates.

  4. Be proactive and persistent: Keep applying to jobs regularly and consistently. It may take time to find the right match, so don't get discouraged if you don't hear back immediately. Additionally, actively engage with the Upwork community, participate in relevant discussions, and seek feedback to enhance your profile and increase your visibility.

  5. Focus on building your reputation: Deliver high-quality work to clients who hire you, communicate effectively, and provide excellent customer service. Positive client reviews and ratings will help build your reputation on Upwork, making it easier to secure future projects.

Remember, getting hired on any freelance platform takes time and effort. Keep refining your skills, improving your profile, and applying to relevant jobs. With persistence and dedication, you can increase your chances of finding suitable freelance opportunities on Upwork.

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