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prriyyanka13
Community Member

Jobs remaining open forever

Hi

Lately, I have started seeing a lot of jobs thta just do not have any closing. I am referring to those that I have applied for and have received a response from the client.But as you start discussing the job further, the client stops responding. Most of these jobs were urgent and needed quick turnaround time. At certain occasions, I also sent sample output, yet no response. I can also see that these jobs are still open and no one has been hired even though many days have passed. I find this a little weird and wondering if some one could through light on what's happening? Are these fake jobs? How to avoid applying for such jobs?

10 REPLIES 10
JoanneP
Moderator
Moderator

Hi Priyanka,

 

I understand that it can be disappointing when clients don't reply to the proposals you submitted. We do encourage clients to update their job posts if they no longer need to hire a freelancer for the job.

 

Submitting proposals don't always guarantee that you will get hired or a chance to be interviewed, but you shouldn't give up on sending proposals to potential clients. You might want to check out the following articles to help you get a higher chance of getting noticed by clients:

 

- How to Make Your Freelancer Profile More Visible & Appealing to Big Clients on Upwork

-Enhance Your Upwork Freelancer Profile for Greater Success

-How to Create a Proposal That Wins Jobs

 

Thank you!

~ Joanne
Upwork

I appreciate your response Joanne. I am new to this forum so not sure how to reach out to Upwork with any suggestion/request. Please see my response to Martina. I would like to request Upwork to refund connects if the job expires. Not sure if you can help.


Priyanka J wrote:

I am new to this forum so not sure how to reach out to Upwork with any suggestion/request. 


By posting in this forum you have done so. No need to do anything else. Your suggestion will be as meaningful as everyone else's who has made the exact same suggestion during the previous years....

 


Priyanka J wrote:

I would like to request Upwork to refund connects if the job expires. Not sure if you can help.


 

You and thousands of others. Upwork, on the other hand, wants to protect clients from drowning in proposals. The two "wants" are mutually exclusive.

 

I would like to request Upwork to completely stop returning any connects except for fraudent job posst, so people stop getting so confused and upset about different circumstances when connects are or are not returned.


Just stop returning them unless the job post was a scam, and be done with it.


Petra R wrote:

I would like to request Upwork to completely stop returning any connects except for fraudent job posst, so people stop getting so confused and upset about different circumstances when connects are or are not returned.


Just stop returning them unless the job post was a scam, and be done with it.


Hear, hear. By returning connects when some clients close their projects, freelancers just end up being resentful about the clients who don't, and will keep pestering Upwork to "do something" about it. Connects should be treated as a marketing expense, and, like every other type of marketing expense, there's no guarantee that it will yield results every time (or even most of the time).

 

I thought the whole idea of paid connects was to make freelancers to spend them wisely, instead of expecting to get them back whenever they're unsuccessful? The test with the blue dots just confused people even more. (And I assume that it was unsuccessful in terms of clients being more likely to hire a freelancer, otherwise Upwork would have changed the policy permanently.)

 

Returning connects when nobody got hired was a test and this test is over for now as it seems:

 

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Announcements/New-test-to-refund-Connects-on-no-hire-contracts/m-p/7...

 

 

-----------
"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless

I don't know if its that simple, especially in current times where there is so much uncertainty for businesses than ever. My observation is that number of jobs expiring without hire have gone up significantly in last couple of months. In normal times I wouldn't have complained. For example, I received an overwhelming response from a client on a proposal and I was quite certain to get the job. However, few days later they responded saying that the business couldn't sustain during COVID times and had to shut down. So the job is cancelled now. I wonder what Upwork is doing to help freelancers during these tough times.


Priyanka J wrote:

 In normal times I wouldn't have complained. 


These aren't "normal times."

 

What people fail to understand is the fact that having more connects does not mean getting more jobs, because when everyone has more connects, more people apply and the individual's chance of being hired goes down while clients are drowning in proposals and overwhelmed.

 


Priyanka J wrote:

I wonder what Upwork is doing to help freelancers during these tough times.


Frankly, the mere fact that Upwork exists helps freelancers.

There isn't (realistically) much they can do other than aggressively try to attract clients, which they are doing.

 

You are asking for the wrong thing.

 

Asking for free (or returned) connects is nonsensical, because ultimately that does NOT help. It will not get you more jobs, arguably it will lead to less.


Ask for more clients to be available. Ask Upwork to make the platform attractive for clients. Ask Upwork to treat clients like royalty.

 

Ask what Upwork is doing for clients in these tough times. Clients mean jobs for freelancers and that is what we need.

 

 

martina_plaschka
Community Member


Priyanka J wrote:

Hi

Lately, I have started seeing a lot of jobs thta just do not have any closing. I am referring to those that I have applied for and have received a response from the client.But as you start discussing the job further, the client stops responding. Most of these jobs were urgent and needed quick turnaround time. At certain occasions, I also sent sample output, yet no response. I can also see that these jobs are still open and no one has been hired even though many days have passed. I find this a little weird and wondering if some one could through light on what's happening? Are these fake jobs? How to avoid applying for such jobs?


Clients sometimes don't hire. Pay very close attention to their hiring rate in the job post and avoid ones with a low hiring rate.

Jobs expire after 30 days of inactivity, but you only get connects back if the client cancels the job, or upwork closes it because it's some kind of violation against ToS.  

@Martina, thanks for the response. Is Upwork sending notifications to clients to close their jobs if they no longer need to hire? Because, they might not know that freelancers are losing connects. It would be great if Upwork can return connects for jobs that expire irrespective of whether the client closed it or not.


Priyanka J wrote:

@Martina, thanks for the response. Is Upwork sending notifications to clients to close their jobs if they no longer need to hire? Because, they might not know that freelancers are losing connects. It would be great if Upwork can return connects for jobs that expire irrespective of whether the client closed it or not.


I don't think that they do, from their point of view I understand they don't want to annoy clients with reminders. I agree it would be nice to have connects returned when the client never hires. 

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