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irieislandgirl
Community Member

More questions in Upwork Messages

Hi everyone!

 

Question? I applied for a job a few days ago. The client came back in messages asking me to go the link they provided and fill out a questionnaire. I filled it out. The next day, in Upwork Messages, the client asked me to answer more questions, and they added them to messages. 

 

I looked up the client. They have their own business, and I found their website and what company they have.

 

Has anyone else had to go through answering so many questions to land the job? What do you think?

27 REPLIES 27
tlbp
Community Member

How many questions? How in-depth? What kind of questions? 

I had one client ask me to take an online personality test and send the results. Most clients ask questions related to the gig. So whether your experience is beyond that, I'm not sure. 

Is it possible that the client is using the proposal process to get people to fill out a survey (free)? Do the questions seem rationally related to the gig? 

I sent in my proposal. Then I had a full page of questions with the questionnaire. (Job-related questions)

 

Now I have 15 more job-related questions in Upwork messages to answer. 


Melinda M wrote:

I sent in my proposal. Then I had a full page of questions with the questionnaire. (Job-related questions)

 

Now I have 15 more job-related questions in Upwork messages to answer. 


It isn't worth it, Mel.

A real client won't stress your life so, pre-contract. Take that from me.

Loads of questions all for a promise of a contract worth how much?

Is it a six-figure job or what?

 

And, have you checked how many other freelancers they are asking the very same questions.

Tell us how many FLs they're interviewing just for that job posting.


Melinda M wrote:

I sent in my proposal. Then I had a full page of questions with the questionnaire. (Job-related questions)

 

Now I have 15 more job-related questions in Upwork messages to answer. 


How many people is the client interviewing?

Does the client have a decent hire rate and verified payment method?

Is it a job you really want and is the potential value worth spending a bit of time on?

 

Personally I spend time on the interview phase if I want the job badly enough and the job is valuable (potentially many thousands, not tens of Dollars.)

 

Only you can know if it is time you could spend earning money or if it is an investment in potentially a lot of income.

 

 

Hey Petra,

 

Here is the job post.

 

**Edited for community guidelines**

Aha, they're asking 16 freelancers those very same questions.

I'd say, forget it.


Tonya P wrote:

How many questions? How in-depth? What kind of questions? 

I had one client ask me to take an online personality test and send the results. Most clients ask questions related to the gig. So whether your experience is beyond that, I'm not sure. 

Is it possible that the client is using the proposal process to get people to fill out a survey (free)? Do the questions seem rationally related to the gig? 


There's been a rash of this lately: using UW project posts to recruit survey participants, often promising a nominal payment and excellent feedback in return. I flagged and flagged and flagged for a while, then gave up. I see them because they are posted as research projects. (Why somebody who would fall for it is even looking at that category of project is beyond me.)

abinadab-agbo
Community Member

Don't let anybody waste your time with meaningless questions.

If the interview starts to feel like work, please move on with your life.

The fact that they are a business and you found their website is besides the point; it doesn't preclude them asking for free work or wasting freelancers' time with needless questions.

Melinda,  many, if not all, of your questions have been covered repeatedly in prior discussions.  I don't mean to sound curt but do suggest you review content here and in https://community.upwork.com/t5/New-to-Upwork/bd-p/New_to_Upwork.

Thank you for the link, but, the reason I asked another question here is that when I searched through the questions, and there are A LOT of them, I didn't find the answer to MY exact question. 

I can't speak for Petra but a 29% hire rate doesn't strike me as particularly positive ...

 

As to "exact" answers ... intelligent surmissing is the name of the game.  No two scenarios are ever identical.

Melinda, as a small business owner, only you can determine whether to answer the questions or not.  If they aren't asking for free work or personal information, I think they can ask away.  You need to determine if it's worth your time or not.  No one else can make that decision for you, nor should they try to.

29% of hire rate is too low in my book. I wouldn't carry on, but that's just me. Too many people being interviewed... and too many questions without a clear defined description for the position. It doesn't appeal a bit to me.

I was thinking the same thing as well. 

tlsanders
Community Member

Melinda, are you not concerned about the impact of all of these questions on your employability here? 

 

You're positioning yourself as an executive assistant, and it appears that you do quite well in that role. Yet, you create the impression in these (public) forums that you are unable to conduct basic research on your own and don't trust your own judgment. Either of those characteristics is a dealbreakers as an executive assistant, since professionals rely on those assistants to take things off their plates and act without constant input and reassurance.

 

Based on your profile, I suspect that you ARE quite capable of those things. But, your forum posts create a very different (presumably misleading) impression that would rule you out as an executive assistant for many prospective clients. 

 

 


Tiffany S wrote:

Melinda, are you not concerned about the impact of all of these questions on your employability here? 

 

You're positioning yourself as an executive assistant, and it appears that you do quite well in that role. Yet, you create the impression in these (public) forums that you are unable to conduct basic research on your own and don't trust your own judgment. Either of those characteristics is a dealbreakers as an executive assistant, since professionals rely on those assistants to take things off their plates and act without constant input and reassurance.

 

Based on your profile, I suspect that you ARE quite capable of those things. But, your forum posts create a very different (presumably misleading) impression that would rule you out as an executive assistant for many prospective clients. 

 

 



I don't know how others would read this, but you appear to be accusing Mel of incompetence. That's a no-no on the forums.


Abinadab A wrote:

Tiffany S wrote:

Melinda, are you not concerned about the impact of all of these questions on your employability here? 

 

You're positioning yourself as an executive assistant, and it appears that you do quite well in that role. Yet, you create the impression in these (public) forums that you are unable to conduct basic research on your own and don't trust your own judgment. Either of those characteristics is a dealbreakers as an executive assistant, since professionals rely on those assistants to take things off their plates and act without constant input and reassurance.

 

Based on your profile, I suspect that you ARE quite capable of those things. But, your forum posts create a very different (presumably misleading) impression that would rule you out as an executive assistant for many prospective clients. 

 

 



I don't know how others would read this, but you appear to be accusing Mel of incompetence. That's a no-no on the forums.


Read more carefully. Tiffany explicitly said that OP's profile & history indicate she is competent nad successful, but her forum posts asking very basic questions and seeking reassurance tend to undermine that impression. OP might not be aware of how many clients frequent this public forum. 


Phyllis G wrote:

Abinadab A wrote:

Tiffany S wrote:

Melinda, are you not concerned about the impact of all of these questions on your employability here? 

 

You're positioning yourself as an executive assistant, and it appears that you do quite well in that role. Yet, you create the impression in these (public) forums that you are unable to conduct basic research on your own and don't trust your own judgment. Either of those characteristics is a dealbreakers as an executive assistant, since professionals rely on those assistants to take things off their plates and act without constant input and reassurance.

 

Based on your profile, I suspect that you ARE quite capable of those things. But, your forum posts create a very different (presumably misleading) impression that would rule you out as an executive assistant for many prospective clients. 

 

 



I don't know how others would read this, but you appear to be accusing Mel of incompetence. That's a no-no on the forums.


Read more carefully. Tiffany explicitly said that OP's profile & history indicate she is competent nad successful, but her forum posts asking very basic questions and seeking reassurance tend to undermine that impression. OP might not be aware of how many clients frequent this public forum. 


I haven't read the other posts to know if she always comes across as one who needs much hand-holding.

 

But, wrt to this present post, freelancers, including executive assistants, should feel free to ask questions of experienced freelancers (within the boundraies of the forum guidelines) when in doubt.

 

It's what the forum is for.

 


Abinadab A wrote:

 

But, wrt to this present post, freelancers, including executive assistants, should feel free to ask questions of experienced freelancers (within the boundraies of the forum guidelines) when in doubt.

 

It's what the forum is for.

 

Yes.

They should also be aware of the possible impact the way they present themselves in forums has on the success or failure of their businesses so that they can make informed decisions about what they choose to say in public.

 


 


Abinadab A wrote:

Tiffany S wrote:

Melinda, are you not concerned about the impact of all of these questions on your employability here? 

 

You're positioning yourself as an executive assistant, and it appears that you do quite well in that role. Yet, you create the impression in these (public) forums that you are unable to conduct basic research on your own and don't trust your own judgment. Either of those characteristics is a dealbreakers as an executive assistant, since professionals rely on those assistants to take things off their plates and act without constant input and reassurance.

 

Based on your profile, I suspect that you ARE quite capable of those things. But, your forum posts create a very different (presumably misleading) impression that would rule you out as an executive assistant for many prospective clients. 

 

 



I don't know how others would read this, but you appear to be accusing Mel of incompetence. That's a no-no on the forums.


Sounds like an intentional misreading on your part.

 

Somehow it seems you managed to miss:

 

-it appears that you do quite well in that role.

- I suspect that you ARE quite capable of those things

-forum posts create a very different (presumably misleading) impression 

 

 

 

Thanks, peeps, for all of your input. It's all good now. I just wanted an opinion on this strange situation that has never come across to me before. I know how to handle it from here and in the future if it ever arises again. 

If clients read job posts, I wonder if I'd ever get hired 😉

 


Petra R wrote:

If clients read job posts, I wonder if I'd ever get hired 😉

 


Sure you would! If the job is teaching with a ruler in your hand to whack lazy students with... 😉

Smiley LOL Too funny Petra

petra_r
Community Member


Petra R wrote:

If clients read job posts, I wonder if I'd ever get hired 😉

 


and then, today, this happens 😄

 

forum.jpg

It's not that I am questioning myself or do not have the knowledge.

 

It's about not wasting my time on frivolous people and or job postings. I am here to apply to serious job postings for serious clients, and not ones that spam. In this day and time anyone can make up something on the net and it not be real. It may be more on Social Media but it is out there. I don't have time for that sort of thing. That is the only reason I am asking for opinions. Scams can arise on Upwork as well.

 

https://phys.org/news/2018-09-people-fall-fake-profiles-online.html 

Tiffany politely left one thing unsaid ... FLers, esp. those who participate in the forums, often make judgement calls for clients hiring for jobs outside of their expertize. Some hire directly for clients; others evaluate FLs and send best choice profiles on to clients. 

 

We might be tougher judges of character than most as 1) we will have to work - directly or indirectly - with the FLer and 2) our name is on the line if we recommend a FLer.

 

We judge capabilities, integrity, honesty, tenacity, intuitive smarts, common sense, etc. based on forum participation.

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