Is it worth working on a job posting with out getting the job or even client inviting for interview

[Sailesh N]

Hello fellow freelancers,

I have a top rated badge and have had a very high decline rate on my proposals. I have had recent success when i actually finished the job and then along with proposal send the done job. This works when my proposal is received by the client in the first 10 proposals.

Generally when you do this kind of proposals you land up not being in the first 10 but 50+, giving a rare chance of client going through your proposal. Any takes on this?

thanks

sailesh

[Sailesh N]

In fact a couple of 10$ jobs which i did turned out to be $500+ job and also got a regular clientele.

[Rene K]

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@Sailesh N wrote:

I have had recent success when i actually finished the job and then along with proposal send the done job.

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Say what?!?

Ok, maybe I am getting you wrong but are you saying that you do the job before being hired, and that you send the work along with your proposal? If yes, no wonders why you have a low success rate.

If you give the work away for free, why would the client hire you and pay you in the first place?

If this is what you are doing, you are doing something really stupid here.

[Sailesh N]

Hello Rene,

I dont do a large job. But lets say a client gives a link and gives the total job decription, I would say spend 15mins and send the sample. There are times when in 15mins have completed the simple job...I just send the proposal asking to regularie if output is good enough. Its clicked with repeat projects at times, not alway though when proposal numbers are large

Thanks

[Jeremy M]

Generally, clients asking for samples are really asking for free work. Why pay anyone when they can get the project done for free? Lots of invites and few hires/interviews is an excellent indication that the client is a scammer.

[Sailesh N]

Jeremy,

I do the due diligence check if the client history is good enough before i do some thing like this normally.

[Jeremy M]

Sailesh, checking prospective client history and score is a very good start. Yet after being scammed a couple times by clients with good feedback ratings when I first used Upwork for extra business, I now ignore those job postings. I tend to think that my portfolio and JSS should be enough for "real" clients in making their hire decision.

If you do choose to do "samples", you are definitely taking a risk. To answer your original question of "is it worth it?", no I don't think it is. You must have doubts too, or you wouldn't have posted. Besides, it's time spent working without guarantee of any payoff at the end - spend that time applying to better job postings!

[Ashish K]

Sailesh,

Doing free work is not only against ToS, but it also lowers the brandname of Upwork. We are not supposed to be Non-profit organizations. 

Clients will either say, 'The freelancers on Upwork are stupid', or 'Freelancers on Upwork are very very desperate'. Not to mention that the rates that are mutually agreed will always stay low, if enough people follow your strategy.

If you want to impress the client, tell him that you have his work done, but only send him the work after you get the contract. 

PS: Clients might respect you more if you stand firm on not doing free work.

Regards,

[Sailesh N]

Point taken Ashish..thanks

[Vince D]

Sailesh,

Although we in different areas (I do Filemaker development) I occassionally see jobs that are so simple that as you said it takes 15 minutes to do. My proposal in those cases is to fix the problem and either state that with very detailed information or send screenshots. I give them enough to know that I can fix the problem but not enough that they can do it themselves. It worked once and I got the job. The others I didn't worry about as it would not have been much income any way.

I view this kind of project as being helpful more than anything. You can also view it as a marketing technique. The next time that client has a project, hopefully she/he will remember you.