JSS dropped

[ibangajnr]

Hello.

This is my very first post here, though I have read a ton!

About a month ago, I woke up to find that my JSS had suddenly dropped from a perfect 100% to 89%, making me lose my Top-Rated badge. I was devastated as I couldn't just find out why. I had glowing reviews from all my clients and 100% said they would recommend me. The only thing I could point to was an offer I accepted from a client who became unreachable immediately after. He didn't respond to my 10s of messages. I had to end the contract since I didn't want another week to pass without any activity on the project.

I had thought that my JSS will show some signs of recovery, but no! It is still at 89% after two update cycles (last one today) and a few added jobs with pleased clients. What is going on? Is this some kind of bug?

I must add that just a few days ago, my client recommendation dropped to 75%, but that still doesn't explain why the JSS is fixed at 89% for 2 whole cycles.

It is frustrating for someone like me who strives to meet and, most times, exceed my clients' expectations. I had expected my JSS to reflect my efforts and my clients' rating of my work, as I have been rehired by a few of them.

Maybe someone with more experience can help me out. I am missing out on some jobs due to this.

[4206f43e]

Hi Olga,

Totally agree. The reason for all this may be none of these people are freelancers, they are coders and adminsitrators. I am also frustrated about their way of copy paste saying the same things over and over again, it seems like we - the complaining people -are crazy because they dont understand. There is a calculation that effects your success and you dont know the inputs, they only see it and dont tell you.

[cjhoward428]

I like your idea about removing the JSS score and just leaving public feedback. Then for the top rated perks and badge, that can be freelancers with a review rating average above 4.5.

Honestly, the public feedback is the best feedback. Clients who leave good feedback and bad private feedback typically do it because they're mad the freelancer stopped working with them or didn't do free work, but they want to keep the window of working with them again open.

When a freelancer is bad, they will have multiple bad reviews. For example, I saw this profile that had 11 three star reviews in the last 4 years. In 4 years, I've only gotten reviews below 4 stars three times and all of those were from clients I refused to continue working with.

And makes no sense that the JSS would drop due to inactivity. I am very sure Upwork only does that to deter freelancers from working elsewhere. Like you said, that is wrong because people do get sick, myself included. Also, if Upwork wants to stay here, they should provide a better service. Bring in better quality clients, offer a more fair review system.

[abubakar1024]

Hi Upwork,

My Rate Plus disappeared and JSS went down below 90% 2 weeks ago on 4th of September and I was hoping to get it back today but my JSS didn't go above 90%.

Here is the background:

- On 3rd of September my JSS was 95% and I had Top Rated Plus badge, my client ended a contract without giving feedback.

- Next day, on 4th of Sep, my JSS dropped to 89% and my badge disappeared.

- Going forward after few days, the same client gave my 5 star feedback.

- During these 2 weeks, another contract was ended with my long term client again with 5 start feedback, please note I had earned around 22,000 USD from this contract.

- So, I was waiting for today to get my JSS above 90 and had my Top Rated Plus badge back but today, after I saw stats are updated, my JSS is still 89%.

- I had spent more than 8 months build my profile with Top Rated Plus and good JSS but it is quite stressing and disappointing that all this gone without any valid reason.

Can you please guide/help me in this why my JSS wasn't raised today despite the fact that I got good feedback during these 2 weeks since my JSS dropped to 89%.

Thanks in advance

[PradeepH]

Hi Hafiz,

Thank you for your message. I am sorry to hear about your JSS. Please note that we update the score that you see on your profile on a biweekly basis. You may also see your Job Success score change due to the rolling time window over which the score is calculated. Because your score is calculated over multiple time frames and the best score from your 6-month, 12-month, and 24-month JSS displayed, a contract can sometimes slip out of that calculation, causing your score to change significantly without any recent activity. For example, a contract will no longer be counted in your 6-month window once it is 6-months and one day old. We have gone into great detail on how your Job Success score is calculated here.

Thank you,

Pradeep

[205bc922]

JSS issue, my JSS is currently 63% with three works completed ( two 5 stars and one 4.80 ) and I have four works in progress. How despite such success my JSS is 63%? Please advise. 

[LuiggiR]

Hello Negesso,

I’m sorry to hear about your score drop, but we're afraid that we won't be able to comment on an individual score or how specific contracts affect it. Factors such as private and public feedback, the dollar weight of the projects you've completed, and the long-term relationships with your clients can have an impact on your overall score. You may want to check this article to learn more.

[205bc922]

Thank you very much dear

[rahatur]

Hi Pradeep,
There is something wrong with the JSS window. I had 100% JSS till last week. One contract recently ended and my JSS vanished. Now it says "Not yet available"!

I had multiple contracts started and ended in last 24 months. Then how come all of a sudden it vanished?
From 100% JSS last week to no JSS this week! Now I am not even eligible for jobs that is asking for at least80% JSS!!! It displays a red flag in job posts.

[JoanneP]

Hi Md Rahatur,

I've escalated your concern to the team. One of our agents will reach out and assist you directly via a support ticket.

[3a8563e0]

Hello! 

My JSS has been updated today and it went from 100% to 69% knowing that I ended only one contract in the last 14 days. I have 2 reviews on that job 5 stars, and  4.5 stars. In my stats section it still shows 100% but on my profile it's 69%. I don't know why help please.

[spectralua]

Your JSS shown as 100 from me. Wait for sync an day-two.

You can not see private feedback. Client can give you 5+ public but 1+ private. It affect JSS. So not 4.5 calculated realy.

[3a8563e0]

Thank you Mykola! 🙏

[6ea2c122]

Hi

So I have completed eight jobs on Upwork so far and have gotten all 5-star ratings from my clients except for two who were not responsive, so I had to close the job after a month of not working. 

Please solve my issue. It's not my fault if those two clients were not responsive. My profile is now affected due to such a low job success score. 

Thank you

[spectralua]

Upwork said that contracts without feedbacks wont affect JSS. Is it lie? Upwork team, pls clarify.

[the-right-writer]

If you closed your jobs with no payment, it will affect the JSS. Also, public feedback is window dressing and doesn't count towards the JSS.

[sofia2008]

Closing jobs for which you received payment and for which the client did not give feedback does not impact JSS. Private feedback does affect JSS.

[84798706]

They say that they don't count self-closed contracts towards JSS but they do.

[3a8563e0]

Hello! 

My JSS has been updated today and it went from 100% to 69%, I ended one contract, and I have 2 reviews on that contract 5 stars and 4.5 stars but after seeing my new JSS I think that I had poor feedback in private, But I have 5 stars on all the other jobs. I wanted to know if I'm out of the business with a JSS like that or if I still can be Top rated, knowing that it's been only one month since I got my JSS. I was really excited to have it now it works against me.

Any suggestions/help please.

[spectralua]

Keep working. 70 is good JSS. It mean you have 2 jobs done good, one fault. Noone is a God, anyone can fault. You will get more succefull jobs and raise JSS. Create well proposals, apply to jobs with no proposals. Some client won't like to check JSS and waste time, he need job done, so you will be hired. Good luck!

[AveryO]

Hi Lotfi, 

I'm sorry to hear about your score drop, but our team won't be able to comment on an individual score or how specific contracts affect it. Factors such as private and public feedback, the dollar weight of the projects you've completed, and the long-term relationships with your clients can impact your overall score. You may want to check this help article to learn more. 

[3a8563e0]

Hello Avery!

So I just had a conversation with the client who gave me 4.5 stars and he said that he left a good review in private, and he even came back and changed his public review to 5 stars and recommended me. So why my JSS dropped like that? 

Thank you! 

[djswebdesign]

Very similar situation.  Out of 13 jobs I have feedback on 7 with then following scores:  4.7, 5,5,5,5,5,2.  When averaged out that is 4.52 or 90.5%.  The Upwork score of 67%.   The score of 2 was because I ended the contract when the client kept changing the requirements.  

[nmelssx]

Title.

[martina_plaschka]

It can at anytime if you don't have enough contracts to calculate in the 6/12/24 month windows. 

[vikram-malik]

I am in the exact same boat! My JSS inexplicably dropped to 89% and I cannot fathom a reason for that. I had some fairly good-quality jobs in the interim that were received well by clients and paid for quite promptly. Yes, they aren't closed yet with no public (or presumably, private) feedback received till now, but surely that should not lead to a drop in my JSS Score! On the contrary, I was fairly confident that my JSS Score would see an uptick this Sunday.

In the "real world", these things don't matter, since one is not merely a "score", but given the unrelenting competition, innumerable proposals, and understandably short attention spans of clients here, the JSS Score serves as a quick benchmark for them to filter applicants. Dropping below the 90% mark certainly leads to a significant diminution in job prospects. 

I have already written to Upwork Support on this matter and would appreciate clarity on it.  

[cjhoward428]

You're definitely suffering from a glitch with the JSS, you have a high amount of 5 and 4 star reviews. It's easy to tell when a freelancer is bad because they will have a lot of 3 star reviews. People here love to blame it on private feedback, but from my experience, the premise that clients leave good public feedback to be nice is not true. They may leave a freelancer a decent review, but likely nothing over 4.5 rating. I suspect a few clients have done that to me and they did not leave ratings above 4.5. Also, most were clients were mad I stopped working with them or they were poor clients in-terms of unrealistic expectations and communication. 

I'm in the same boat, I been top rated for the last 3 years straight. In November I dropped down from 96% to 89%. At that point, I only closed out 2 projects, good public feedback on both. Pretty certain both left good private feedback, my client recommendation increased and both were happy with my work. Then my last update on Christmas, I dropped down from 89% to 85%. I closed my contracts at that point and one of my current clients left me good feedback.

[nicosdesigns]

I've just had a similar case happen although slightly different in that I started off with having no job success score, and in spite of having outstanding 5 star reviews, I landed at 64%! This is as good as getting 0 jobs from now on despite all the hard work I've put in to making my profile great and giving my clients incredible value for what they're paying for. As well as following all the rules. If you go to my profile I have all 5 star reviews and I've went beyond what's expected of me in the jobs I've taken. I've written to customer support hoping that they will fix it because this just doesn't make any sense.

[mintumondal65]

Hi Community Team,

I have just noticed that my JSS dropped, I do not understand why. It was 97% and now 92%.

Could you please let me know why my JSS dropped?

[ahmadamin0332]

Hi Upwork Community, there are two cases that happened to me in the last two weeks:

1. About two weeks ago, there were 13 jobs shown beside my earnings on my profile, however, I've worked on a total of 12 contracts till now(in progress and completed), I thought it may be a bug... But it's still there ..... In my contracts list, there is a total of numbered 12 jobs with titles but on my profile, there are 13(don't know which is the 13th one) ......

2. The second case is that yesterday, I saw my profile and got astonished, my JSS dropped to 96 from 100 without any reason, although all of my feedback is 5-star rated.

 I'm a top-rated freelancer and need your help to resolve this issue...................... If JSS is related to that bug please resolve that one or if there is anything else please guide me also..... Thanks.

[kashiffumer]

To Whom It May Concern.

I need your help! Last month I contacted the Upwork Support team and had a long conversation over email about my JSS decrease. Whatever the reason was, I was shocked to know about my low JSS. 

My JSS was 100% and then downgraded to 50% from 100% within a week after completing the last project with a 4-star rating. I was still ok with that, and I continued my struggle to win more projects and bring up my JSS once again but week after week my JSS still came down. It came to 41% from 50% and then it come to 36%, I wonder If at the movement I have no active projects then why it is still coming down more and more? 

And, what is the solution to increasing my JSS apart from wining projects, I mean if I wait for the new year would my profile JSS goes to normal as a newbie? 

Thanks in advance

[martina_plaschka]

Bad private feedback. It's really the only factor that counts. 

The longest calculation window is 24 months, after which the JSS disappears. With a JSS that low, unless you have recurring clients willing to hire you, IMO the only option you have is to wait until your JSS disappears completely, in around 24 months.

[kashiffumer]

Hi Martina. 

Thank you for your precious time. I know that a client has given bad private feedback and it downgraded to 50% from 100% but, could you please guide me on why this JSS downgrading is recurring week by week? 

[84798706]

 They have bugs in their calculation score and private feedback looks like a blanket term for anything they can't explain or don't want to.

[ArjayM]

Hi Nabeel,

Thank you for your message. I can confirm that there's no bug with the Job Success Score (JSS) calculation. Allow me to explain. Your Job Success Score can change for a number of reasons, even without recent activity. Your best JSS score will be displayed based on the rolling windows when it is calculated. Sometimes, new contracts are added that impact your JSS. Other times, old activity is aged out. For example, a contract will no longer count in your six-month JSS window once it is six months and one day old.

Your JSS can change because:

• You’ve received poor public or private feedback from one or more clients
• You’ve received very positive public or private feedback from one or more clients
• A higher-value job is added to your JSS and it outweighs lower-value jobs
• Past jobs are no longer considered because they fall outside the time frame

We do hope this clarifies. Thank you!

[84798706]

Thanks for clarification Arjay. I may be wrong but I deduced it from posts of many freelancers who suddenly had a big drop in their JSS and I also talked to some freelancers. All cases had similarities like most closed the inactive contracts on their own but you say closing inactive contracts don't affect JSS.

[AveryO]

Hi Nabeel, 

Keeping contracts with no recent activity open will not affect your score negatively. If you have open contracts but no further work needs to be done, you can still consider asking your clients to close them or go ahead and close them yourself. Please note that when you complete a contract, the client is notified and will have 14 days to provide feedback on the contract. If they don't provide feedback, it will not impact your score. 

In the case of contracts without earnings, while the parties won't be able to provide public feedback on a contract that didn't have any payments, they can still provide private feedback. If the client provides positive private feedback on a contract with no earnings, that contract will be excluded from our score's calculation. If the client specifies in their feedback that the contract had a negative outcome, that will be counted in the score. If the client doesn't provide private feedback on a contract with no earnings, that contract will be excluded from the JSS calculation.

Many factors go into the JSS calculation, including private and public feedback, the weight of the contract, etc. You can check out the article Arjay noted in his reply for more information about it.

[84798706]

Thank you for your clarification

[cjhoward428]

Exactly, they love to say oh it's private feedback. His current JSS is 19%, since late 2020 he has eight 5 star reviews and one 4 star. Clients definitely do not leave you a 5 star review and then leave bad private feedback. I'm not saying never but it's definitely rare. If a freelancer is bad, you'll see a lot of people giving them below 4.5 star ratings. And as a freelancer you know when a client is not happy.

[mintumondal65]

Is there any way to create bad private feedback for the client? One of my clients has given me a 3.85 rating, and I have also given a bad rating to him. He wanted me to complete all the tasks at a low price and I submitted all reports on time still, he did not understand the reports that I sent but he was not able to understand and he ended the contract. He was cheap-minded if the client has an awful why my JSS would affect this? 

[spectralua]

You got feedback so have contract. You can leave own feedback to client. Both, private and public.

Also as top-rated you able to remove feedback from own JSS.