Solved: Interviewing Outside of Upwork - Page 2

jorgensons · ‎05-27-2021

In the last few weeks, I've seen a huge uptick in the number of clients asking me to communicate outside of Upwork prior to hire, despite this practice being banned in the TOS. Today alone I've had two -- one who wanted to talk via phone and another who wanted me to contact the person in charge of the specific project I was interviewing about. Both jobs and clients seemed 100% legit; they just prefer to communicate outside of Upwork. (Can't blame them. It's so much easier, and who wants to learn a brand new platform when existing communication methods work just fine? Not me...)

I reviewed the TOS to make sure things hadn't changed without me noticing. Nope. We're still not allowed to communicate outside of Upwork prior to hire, except with Business and Enterprise clients. (Who are the vast minority, at least for the type of jobs I do.) My question is...

(1) Any chance Upwork will revisit this policy? Clients have told me I'm being passed over because other freelancers are willing to communicate via Zoom/phone/email. In other words, I'm being punished for following the rules. I know I'm not the only one.

(2) Any chance Upwork can do more to make clients aware of the policy and incentivize them to follow it?

(3) If the policy isn't going anywhere, could Upwork consider adding Upwork Plus clients to the exceptions list? Or clients who have shown they're trustworthy with a 4-star rating or higher as long as they've completed a certain number of jobs? (Maybe 5 or 10?)

I'm following the rules and don't have any intention of doing otherwise -- I'm just getting frustrated by how often I'm being asked to go against the TOS (especially in the last week or two), and I'm getting frustrated by knowing that others are breaking the rules in order to get a job. I'm curious to know what Upwork is doing about this situation...

gilbert-phyllis · ‎05-28-2021

Robert G wrote:
Phyllis G wrote:
l feel like we should keep bumping this thread to keep it on page 1 until UW offers a meaningful response.
What would you expect a UW participant to say on this forum other than a "We appreciate you thoughts and will look into the issue" type statement?

Because sometimes an UW manager joins a rational, respectful conversation like this and at the very least, acknowledges the issue(s) being raised. If we ensure this doesn't devolve into an UW-bashing session, there's reason to think it might happen here.

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fyjocelyn · ‎07-06-2021

Hi, Thanks for the response. So...I gave this potential client my email address...she sent me a link for a Microsoft Teams interview (but I did NOT accept the MS Team link calendar). I'll circle back and tell her we need to do the interview through Upwork and see if she declines or ignores me.

mikabesina · ‎07-27-2021

Hi Jocelyn, is there an update?

fyjocelyn · ‎07-27-2021

I declined the interview and that was it.

business901 · ‎07-29-2021

The 3rd time this week I wrote this repsonse:

I am not allowed to schedule a meeting before I am hired outside of Upwork. It is a violation of their terms and conditions. There is a scheduling feature but I am not sure it is functional or where ot find it. Happy to have a conversation but not sure what alternative I have as a freelancer at this point. Hope you understand and are willing to meet here.

Disappointing that Freelancers are being forced to police this action. I understand the scheduling app is coming but please don't ask us to be the police and create an obstacle for a customer to not only use us but also the rest of the community. The only people willing to write the above note back are the freelancers that are successful and abide by the terms and conditions of the platform.