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marisdj
Community Member

How to land my first job

I am baffled as to how to land a job here? When I first joined a couple of months ago I thought with my experience it would be easy. It seems to be impossible - not only on Upwork but other platforms too. Most employers here want 90% job application success rate and a rising star etc. but how do one even get one job?  

4 REPLIES 4
a_lipsey
Community Member

I can't speak to your proposals as I can't see those, but your profile could use some work.  The first two lines need to say the most important things.  Many clients don't get past the first two lines. 

 

Then, with everything else in your profile, ask yourself, is this unique or can every other accountant say this? What sets you a part from every other accountant on here? What is unique to your experience? Your profile reads pretty generic to me.  Be more specific about your achievements and expertise. You are obviously quite skilled; you just aren't highlighting enough that you are an expert. 

 

Also, while I completely appreciate the reasons for which you are freelancing, it's not important to clients and may even turn them off. They don't need (and often don't want) to know personal details about you.  I would exclude the final paragraph from both of your profiles. (Although I want to say  it's great you are a mom and making changes to facilitate caring for your family.) 

marisdj
Community Member

Thank you for the prompt response. I will put some work into making my
profile more unique and highlighting my skills. The reason why I had put
the reasons in for freelancing was because every job I apply to requires
that some projects already been completed and also the rate I list myself
at is below what I earned in the Corporate world so I wanted to without
saying it explicitly emphasize "I am cheaper but an expert - the reason I
am cheaper is because of my personal circumstances have changed" . If you
think that it is not necessary I will exclude that from my profile. Thanks
again for the advise.
a_lipsey
Community Member


Marisa D wrote:
Thank you for the prompt response. I will put some work into making my
profile more unique and highlighting my skills. The reason why I had put
the reasons in for freelancing was because every job I apply to requires
that some projects already been completed and also the rate I list myself
at is below what I earned in the Corporate world so I wanted to without
saying it explicitly emphasize "I am cheaper but an expert - the reason I
am cheaper is because of my personal circumstances have changed" . If you
think that it is not necessary I will exclude that from my profile. Thanks
again for the advise.

I would not advertise being "cheaper" in any way. If you can afford to have a more competitive rate then just leave it at that. That's the competition of Upwork. People who live in Georgia can offer cheaper rates than someone living in California, and clients can hire freelancers from anywhere and benefit from competitive rates for expertise from anywhere in the world. If you are able to keep your rates low, for whatever reason, then that can speak for itself as a selling point. Just don't undervalue yourself too  much, because a too low rate can actually detract clients as well. They may not think you are an expert if your rate is too low below the norm. 

marisdj
Community Member

Thank you - yes you are right about the rates in the different states. I
am still learning the differences as I just recently relocated to Georgia.
Will work on my profile first thing in the morning.

PS. I was not going to advertise "cheaper" - it was just a hypothetical
statement to you - something I was hoping potential employers would
conclude when reading my profile. 🙂

Thanks again for the support and the advice as finding work this way is new
territory for me.
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