Invitation to Interview Frustrations

allysonk_h · ‎01-14-2021

Does anyone else get frustrated when you receive invitations to interview and they have questions in the application along the lines of, "Why do you think you would be a good fit for this position?"

If they are inviting me to interview, they obviously have read my profile and think I would be a good fit for the job. I'm sick of rehashing my profile blurb when I personally don't think I should have to if they have already read it and are choosing me to apply for the position. I feel like there should be an option to bypass unneccessary/repetitive questions and just reply with, "Yes, I would like to discuss this position with you." Also, if your description is minimal, why should I provide you with elaborate answers when I have nothing to go on?

I also love when they invite you to apply, I make all of this effort to come up with good answers, then they never reply to arrange the actual interview, and the job stays open for weeks or months. Why aren't there more efforts to reduce the number of Clients who aren't serious about using Upwork?

lysis10 · ‎01-14-2021

I put n/a unless I reeeeally want the job. Last night I did put "Because I was invited." That was my snark. lol

prestonhunter · ‎01-14-2021

As a client, one of the things that I to enhance the likelihood of success when inviting a freelancer is I make it as easy as possible for the freelancer.

When I post a job posting, there is an option to create a CUSTOM question, instead of using the canned ones. I will create a CUSTOM QUESTION which is easy to answer, such as a one-word yes/no question:

"Are you able to use TeamViewer to work with me on this project (answer yes/no)?"

Then - because I have a question in place, I am able to BLOCK the request for a cover letter. I routinely do this. There is a checkbox for doing this.

Then, when I send out the invitations or post the job, there is literally NO PLACE for the freelancer to even type in a "job proposal" or "cover letter."

This makes it super-easy for freelancers to reply to invites. And it makes it easy for me to hire people.

Many clients are NOT AWARE of how to do these things, so I understand if freelancers receive problematic invitations such as what the original poster described.

allysonk_h · ‎01-14-2021

Preston H wrote:
As a client, one of the things that I to enhance the likelihood of success when inviting a freelancer is I make it as easy as possible for the freelancer.

Many clients are NOT AWARE of how to do these things, so I understand if freelancers receive problematic invitations such as what the original poster described.

Well thanks for trying to make things easier for people. I have issues with the whole applying/interviewing/hiring process in general - not just remote stuff - because there is so much song and dance that is unneccessary a lot of the time. (That's a whole other post.)

Your last part made me laugh though...As I mentioned in another post, I've had to explain to Clients how to do things. Many people post jobs on here and have no idea how to write a good description or don't even know what they want in a Freelancer. Just last week I had a Client tell me the writing sample I provided wasn't the right tone. Well...If you would have described what you were looking for, I could have written something that was more appropriate. I have also had Clients drop me because they didn't realize what they wanted in a Freelancer, and that's really frustrating.

allysonk_h · ‎01-14-2021

I've done N/A before or have said something along the lines of, "I cover this in my profile/description of services," or something like that.

I feel like an @$$ when I do that, but at the same time, they're not being the best either for including such garbage questions...

a_lipsey · ‎01-14-2021

While I agree I wouldn't mind the canned questions being removed entirely, I take a different view. Most people who hire me have never had to hire someone like me before. So they don't even know what to ask. I take those questions as an opportunity to help them understand the process of hiring someone in my line of work better and how to work with me. I found that this has actually increased my response rate on direct proposals. I can't speak to invites because what I do is so specific that invites are different game for me.

tlbp · ‎01-15-2021

Amanda L wrote:
While I agree I wouldn't mind the canned questions being removed entirely, I take a different view. Most people who hire me have never had to hire someone like me before. So they don't even know what to ask. I take those questions as an opportunity to help them understand the process of hiring someone in my line of work better and how to work with me. I found that this has actually increased my response rate on direct proposals. I can't speak to invites because what I do is so specific that invites are different game for me.

Sincere clients who have never worked with a freelancer before are some of the best clients. They aren't trying to get the lowest price, they genuinely want a professional's help. There are "new" clients who don't know what they want and will blame the freelancer. But, I've found those situations can be limited, if not completey avoided, with a careful pre-contract evaluation.

feed_my_eyes · ‎01-14-2021

Upwork should get rid of those stupid, useless, time-wasting questions. I think we should all just boycott projects where clients use them. (I've already been avoiding this type of project for months - I find that clients who ask this stuff never hire me anyway.)

tlbp · ‎01-15-2021

Christine A wrote:
Upwork should get rid of those stupid, useless, time-wasting questions. I think we should all just boycott projects where clients use them. (I've already been avoiding this type of project for months - I find that clients who ask this stuff never hire me anyway.)

It's the freelancers who have work/need work divide. If you are desparately searching for work, (IMO) you are more likely to answer any question and respond to any invite. If you have established your business to the point where you can choose your clients, you simply pass on those that hint at being problematic. I sometimes answer the questions, but also use it as a signal of a potentially problematic contract.

alexandernovikov · ‎01-14-2021

These stupid canned questions are useless and should be removed. I see them as a sign of a client not caring enough about his project (otherwise he'd type in his own, specific project-related questions, not click on pre-canned), and just not thinking about what he is doing (it's hard to expect the approach "let's put as many meaningless bumps on this road so only the truly desperate will bother to apply" to yield any positive results).

This is a reversal of a freelancer sending canned, copy-paste cover letters (that send a message "i want only the total idiot of a client to hire me, others are too hard to exploit"). Unacceptable behavior, that impact the overall quality of this platform.

feed_my_eyes · ‎01-14-2021

Alexander N wrote:
These stupid canned questions are useless and should be removed. I see them as a sign of a client not caring enough about his project (otherwise he'd type in his own, specific project-related questions, not click on pre-canned).

Definitely. The projects that have vague, one-sentence descriptions and then five canned questions annoy me the most. The client will say something like, "I need a brochure" and then say, "What project have you done that's most like this one, and why?"

Hard pass.

allysonk_h · ‎01-14-2021

Yes, I agree these are a sign of them not caring. I have no idea what things look like on their end either I assume when they write the post they have a list of questions they can choose from or they can create their own? I wish we could see what the process is like for a Client, because I have had new people ask me how to do things on here too, which is always weird...I get that they're learning, but there's also the forum, FAQ section, or you can probably contact someone directly.

tlbp · ‎01-15-2021

Allyson H wrote:
Yes, I agree these are a sign of them not caring. I have no idea what things look like on their end either I assume when they write the post they have a list of questions they can choose from or they can create their own? I wish we could see what the process is like for a Client, because I have had new people ask me how to do things on here too, which is always weird...I get that they're learning, but there's also the forum, FAQ section, or you can probably contact someone directly.

Hire someone to proofread a short piece or perform some other task you need. Understanding botth sides is very useful.

gilbert-phyllis · ‎01-14-2021

More than once I've responded "I don't know yet whether or not I'm a good fit but you invited me and I'm interested in learning more." Honestly, I couldn't tell you whether it came to anything or not because I almost never give a second thought to an UW bid or an invitation response until/unless I hear back from the client. Most of the ones that use canned questions don't come back, I think, and that's fine with me. I consider them a useful pre-screening tool for me. Clients who are initially clueless can turn out OK but it can also be a sign of laziness.

Time spent submitting bids, responding to invitations, tweaking my profile... it's all amortized across the year, it's a cost of doing business. I make a judgement call each time I decide to invest or not invest in pursuing an opportunity. Some days peanuts, some days shells.

tlbp · ‎01-15-2021

n/m

kfarnell · ‎01-15-2021

"What project have you done that's most like this one, and why?"

That one irritates me beyond belief. I assume it should be how that project is similar rather than why you did it? If you take it as written, 99% of the time the answer is likely to be 'to earn money'. Once in a blue moon, it might be 'because the client was exceptionally good looking,' 'I'm so brill at this and felt like showing off' or some other odd thing. But it's beyond me how such assertions could help anyone. Especially if the client was having an ugly day.

richard_wein · ‎01-15-2021

Kim F wrote:
"What project have you done that's most like this one, and why?"

That one irritates me beyond belief. I assume it should be how that project is similar rather than why you did it? If you take it as written, 99% of the time the answer is likely to be 'to earn money'.

That's interesting. It never occurred to me to interpret the question that way. I've always taken the "why" part to mean "in what way was that project like this one?"

To me this is just about the only canned question that makes any sense, and I usually answer it even if it isn't asked!