JSS

[Brian F]

Are you a writer Tonya?  Do you understand how the editing process works?  What kind of work do you do, because it doesn't sound like you're a writer or an editor, not by a longshot.  If you are, that's bery troubling.  It's a collaborative process from beginning to end!

[Petra R]

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Brian F wrote:

Are you a writer Tonya?  Do you understand how the editing process works?  What kind of work do you do, because it doesn't sound like you're a writer or an editor,

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 Funnily enough she is. With 140+ contracts and with a 100% JSS. (As you could have ascertained yourself with two clicks of the mouse.)

So it seems it can be done. Maybe ask Tonya how she is managing not to end up with her clients leaving her poor feedback?

[Tonya P]

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Petra R wrote:

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Brian F wrote:

Are you a writer Tonya?  Do you understand how the editing process works?  What kind of work do you do, because it doesn't sound like you're a writer or an editor,

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 Funnily enough she is. With 140+ contracts and with a 100% JSS. (As you could have ascertained yourself with two clicks of the mouse.)

So it seems it can be done. Maybe ask Tonya how she is managing not to end up with her clients leaving her poor feedback?

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 Just for the record, I have had clients leave me bad feedback. And, I've learned from each of those experiences. When I've stepped outside my core skills, taken on clients who aren't a good personality fit, or overpromised, I've paid the price. Job success isn't about doing what *I* think is adequate, it's about ensuring a quality experience for the client. Sometimes, I miss the mark.

There is a huge difference between what I would wish for in an ideal client and what clients are obliged to do. And, there is no benefit to complaining about a client who didn't meet my ideal. Freelancers who want to succeed on a platform like Upwork learn to quickly identify clients who are not their ideal and avoid them.

[Matthew B]

I had a similar situation in which the job I had for a client was to revise some website copy. They were very nice to work for, very respectful of me - they even suggested that I raise my rate over my initial proposal, which I did. They provided the copy to me in a document with clear instructions to revise only the sections that were highlighted and they didn't want me to change the other parts.

This is what I did, rewrote the highlighted parts and suggested in my message along with the work submission that they add to the case study section of their website, which was very weak, but in most cases is key to providing conversion. I offered to do this for them, but I couldn't augment the case studies without data from or knowledge of the case studies.

In the end, They gave me a 4.65 rating, which isn't awful, but I've never received below a 5. More troubling was their response to my submission message, which read, "it was ok, but we would have liked to see more salesmanship in the writing." I replied that I'd be happy to revisit the entirety of the copy, including the parts that I'd left aside, according to their clear instructions. No response.

They left good public feedback on my profile, but I was left scratching my head. Then, all of a sudden my #$%^&* JSS score goes from 100% to 89%. I guess they must have left bad private feedback. But of course that's all conjecture since there's no way to accurately predict the Orwellian JSS score. I'll never know.

When I was at 100%, I was getting 4 or 5 interview offers a week. Now, at 89% I get nothing. I sent out 20 proposals last weekend, and I've gotten one phone interview (so far). Drop below 100% and this platform becomes pretty useless. 

OF COURSE there should be a client score dispute process! Name a school or university that doesn't have a well-defined grade dispute protocol? And before the "the client is always right" **Edited for Community Guidelines** get on my case, I think the clients should have a way to dispute their scores from freelancers as well.

Keeping the JSS opaque and keeping the bargaining power away from freelancers allows Upwork to properly commodotize and monetize our collective labor. More importantly, it allows them complete control of the client/freelancer relationship. If those relationships move off of the platform, on a macro scale, it's a huge threat to their profitability. 

Upwork has succeeded in inserting itself into the freelancer/client relationship by use of the very manipulative JSS score.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[Petra R]

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Matthew B wrote:

When I was at 100%, I was getting 4 or 5 interview offers a week. Now, at 89% I get nothing. I sent out 20 proposals last weekend, and I've gotten one phone interview (so far). Drop below 100% and this platform becomes pretty useless.

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 You came back from a JSS of 44% (!) a year ago so clearly the platform does not become "pretty useless" unless someone has a 100% JSS.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[Matthew B]

Yes I did come back from a JSS of 44%, and for several weeks I got no contracts. Luckily I don't rely on Upwork for my income. After a long dry period, a client who was new to Upwork, and didn't know or care about the JSS, reached out to me because of my specific skills that were useful to him.

Why did I have a JSS of 44%? I signed seven contracts the day before breaking several bones in a bad accident that required surgery and necessitated bed rest and a course of painkillers for about a month. I was new to Upwork with only 2 contracts before I signed those seven, and I initially thought I could recover sufficiently to complete them, but couldn't and so the client cancelled all seven contracts with no money exchanged. 

In relating this tale in the past on this forum, most of the "Gurus" excoriated me for my lack of responsibility, but the truth of the matter is that this is exactly the kind of situation that warrants a review of the JSS, as a concept as a whole, but at the very least on a case-by-case basis for situations like mine. The inane formulary of the JSS renders a success/failure, black or white binary judgement  when life, and work as a large part of life, is immeasurably gray. 

The more thoughtful clients will understand this, but consider why most are hiring on this platform: they are in a pinch and need a successful job outcome quickly. If they are part of a large corporation, they have a mindset that values other large corporations and is extremely wary of individuals. This is why they are using the Upwork platform, Upwork is a large corporation with a corporate protocol should the client/contractor relationship go south, and so they are reducing risk by using it. Upwork in turn commodotizes the contractor population by assigning a numerical JSS score that purportedly measures "success" to separate the wheat from the chaff. By choosing a contractor with a high JSS, a client is reducing her risk, because more times than not, someone with a high JSS will be a good hire.

But there are situations like mine, and I'm sure like many others on here, where an unsuccessful job outcome is not the result of incompetence, but of sheer happenstance. A score dispute process would help the JSS better reflect what it should truly measure: a highly competent, skilled, successful employee.

Upwork doesn't want to bother with this because they don't have to: there is a large and growing pool of contractors that have been displaced or alienated by the traditional employer/employee relationship, and so we are dispensable as individuals. To hire staff to mediate disputes would cut into corporate profits.

My skills and competence as a contractor haven't declined over time, and in fact I'd say they've improved, as well they should. But my JSS has fluctuated wildly. That indicates that the JSS is not a reliable measurement, and it's why I no longer rely on Upwork for new contracts. If the winds of fate blow my way again and I get a JSS of 100% again, I'll use it, since the offers will come pouring in. But I will have remained the same strong asset to the workforce all along.

[Valeria K]

All,

Some posts were edited or removed as they included content inappropriate for this Community and in violation of the Community Guidelines.

[Jonathan R]

I assume the guideline violated was the one below?

• Posting deliberately disruptive and negative statements about Upwork.
  
  

[Ram P]

Three of my contracts that were started in 2017, clients paid for the deliverables. But they did not terminate the contracts. I was not aware that these unclosed contracts will influence my job success score. I sent a couple of messages to the client. Looks like they are not active for a long time. 

What should I do now?

[Petra R]

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Ram P wrote:

Three of my contracts that were started in 2017, clients paid for the deliverables. But they did not terminate the contracts.

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 Those contracts, provided money was paid, have no effect on your JSS

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Ram P wrote:

What should I do now?

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 Whatever you like. If the clients have been gone for ages, just close them yourself.

Not all at once, just one at a time.

Your JSS is poor because of the feedback you did get, not because of those inactive contracts.