Solved: Job Posting Improvement Suggestion

35bb4f91 · ‎02-09-2021

Hi,

I am quite new to Upwork and even newer to Upwork Community. In this community, I have seen a lot of posts that talk about fake jobs, fake client, freelancers posting a job, client's not hiring anyone, etc. But until now, there is still post that complains and discuss that matter. Personally, I think it is quite normal to have bad people especially on a competitive website and there is no logical and effective ways to remove them from this sites. However, I have tought of something that might be useful to create a healthier atmosphere.

I thought about a deposit money for client to pay for posting a job. It have to be really low price but logical like $5. If the client hire at least 1 freelancer or close the job within certain timeframe, they will get their deposit money back. In the long run, clients with high hiring rate with a minimum of certain number of job posting would not have to pay the deposit anymore.

I believe this kind of system will deter any petty people that post jobs for fun because I think most of them do not have a way to pay for $5 deposit. Even if they have a way to pay the deposit, they will make sure to close the job within the timeframe which will cause connects to be returned to the respective freelancers. I think it could solve 2 problems that I've mostly seen on this community which are fake jobs and connects shortage.

What do you think about this? I really appreciate a healthy discussion here. Thank you

petra_r · ‎02-09-2021

Feraldi F wrote:
It is not a charge. The clients will get their money back if they hire a freelancer or close the job within a certain timeframe, say 14 days after they post the job. Also, I would never suggest this kind of idea to any other freelancing websites. Why? because Upwork has been proven to be a great choice for freelancing activity. If Upwork is a newly-built website, then yes, it is very stupid to do so.

I am clearly not an expert on a business system. However, I think there is something wrong if a client do not want to pay a small fee with a guaranteed return for closing the job in time.

This is actually a base of an idea. There is many possibilities if people agree to discuss on this matter. It could be an optional choice for client so their job stand out better than other jobs. I believe that real clients also does not want to be hindered by other fake jobs.

I also completely understand about the clients might think that Upwork did not "trust" them anymore by applying deposit money, then make them not using Upwork anymore. This idea clearly not be the best, even might be the worst. However, I think having a discussion about this is more appealing. It is hard to accept that everytime this matter is discussed, the only answer is to be careful and watch for suspicious jobs.

Of course it is, whether it is returned or not. That makes it an idea that is dead in the water.

Do you know why none of the main platforms do this? They don't do this because it s a terrible idea and one that would leave the platform with less clients and less revenue.

Feraldi F wrote:
I am clearly not an expert on a business system. However, I think there is something wrong if a client do not want to pay a small fee with a guaranteed return for closing the job in time.

No, there isn't anything wrong. Real clients told us that they would never have posted their first job if such an idea had been implemented. They'd have been lost to the platform and their money lost to freelancers

Feraldi F wrote:
It could be an optional choice for client so their job stand out better than other jobs.

That already exists and is called "featured" job post. Doesn't happen that often.

Feraldi F wrote:
I believe that real clients also does not want to be hindered by other fake jobs.

LOL, clients don't give other job posts a second thought.

Feraldi F wrote:
It is hard to accept that everytime this matter is discussed, the only answer is to be careful and watch for suspicious jobs.

A bad idea does not get any better by being brought up repeatedly every time someone thinks they had a "new" idea.

Bottom line: I'd rather skip over 20 job posts which are no good, and find 4 that are great, than only have 1 to choose from because the other 3 great ones weren't posted.

View solution in original post

petra_r · ‎02-09-2021

Feraldi F wrote:
I thought about a deposit money for client to pay for posting a job. It have to be really low price but logical like $5.
What do you think about this?

Absolutely not! This (or versions of this) kind of thing gets suggested over and over, by people who mean well but clearly haven't thought this through.

If you pay attention to the client stats if you need to be frugal with your connects, you can avoid bidding on contracts from clients who have a poor hiring history. That is part of what the connects-system is there for: It is designed to make people pay attention to which jobs they apply to.

Charging clients and forcing them to add a payment method before they have found a freelancer they want to work with would stop clients from trying Upwork, and that would be really bad for all freelancers.

35bb4f91 · ‎02-09-2021

It is not a charge. The clients will get their money back if they hire a freelancer or close the job within a certain timeframe, say 14 days after they post the job. Also, I would never suggest this kind of idea to any other freelancing websites. Why? because Upwork has been proven to be a great choice for freelancing activity. If Upwork is a newly-built website, then yes, it is very stupid to do so.

I am clearly not an expert on a business system. However, I think there is something wrong if a client do not want to pay a small fee with a guaranteed return for closing the job in time.

This is actually a base of an idea. There is many possibilities if people agree to discuss on this matter. It could be an optional choice for client so their job stand out better than other jobs. I believe that real clients also does not want to be hindered by other fake jobs.

I also completely understand about the clients might think that Upwork did not "trust" them anymore by applying deposit money, then make them not using Upwork anymore. This idea clearly not be the best, even might be the worst. However, I think having a discussion about this is more appealing. It is hard to accept that everytime this matter is discussed, the only answer is to be careful and watch for suspicious jobs.

prestonhunter · ‎02-09-2021

Feraldi: How will your suggestion help clients?

petra_r · ‎02-09-2021

Feraldi F wrote:
It is not a charge. The clients will get their money back if they hire a freelancer or close the job within a certain timeframe, say 14 days after they post the job. Also, I would never suggest this kind of idea to any other freelancing websites. Why? because Upwork has been proven to be a great choice for freelancing activity. If Upwork is a newly-built website, then yes, it is very stupid to do so.

I am clearly not an expert on a business system. However, I think there is something wrong if a client do not want to pay a small fee with a guaranteed return for closing the job in time.

This is actually a base of an idea. There is many possibilities if people agree to discuss on this matter. It could be an optional choice for client so their job stand out better than other jobs. I believe that real clients also does not want to be hindered by other fake jobs.

I also completely understand about the clients might think that Upwork did not "trust" them anymore by applying deposit money, then make them not using Upwork anymore. This idea clearly not be the best, even might be the worst. However, I think having a discussion about this is more appealing. It is hard to accept that everytime this matter is discussed, the only answer is to be careful and watch for suspicious jobs.