Not a good starting experience.

[mtaylor42]

I am new on Upwork. 

So far it seems like these proposals will never quite make it to "hired" and "paid." My last proposal tried to e-mail me on a fake company e-mail. Little do they know, the real e-mail is publicly listed, and returns a vacation response. I feel like I'm pouring connects on people who have no intention of hiring or paying. Either it's not responded to because there's someone offering $50 on a $1200 job, or it hovers on active status with a hint that I should start the work, or it's a scam like above.

I honestly feel like more measures should be taken on Upwork to mitigate these issues or better connect clients and workers. For example, they could have heuristic analysis of proposal listings, clients and workers. IP bans, better reporting tools, etc. For the undercutting, I don't know of a solution, but there's no way that Upwork could be a viable earning tool if someone could sincerely offer $50 on a $1200 job. For the listings, it's so strange they spent so much energy into writing out a more technical proposal, specifying even database technologies or well known dev work, but the fraudulent e-mail was the typical vague and generic kind of work. 

There's also way too many clients not hiring anyone. I realize it's a client centric platform, but there has to be some kind of protection for us as workers. What is in place now is just not adequate. 

[joansands]

Matthew - I think most successful freelancers on Upwork will tell you that it usually takes quite a bit of time before getting a first job and a lot more time before becoming successful. It's difficult but one just has to keep at it if one wants to be a freelancer anywhere.

[AveryO]

Hi Matthew, 

I understand how this experience can be very frustrating for a new freelancer like you. I'd like to let you know that we have systems, and teams in place that ensure the marketplace are safe for both clients and freelancers. However, there are times that there is not enough evidence on a freelancer's profile or client's job post for the team to take action on the account. Sometimes, we find out about these fraudulent users during an interview, or when a contract has already been set up. In cases like this, we request our community of users to flag these job posts, and freelancer profiles to that it goes to the team's queue for their review. Just the same, I will share your suggestion with the team for their consideration. 

In the meantime, I would definitely recommend that you read up on the "Safety First!" section of the freelancer resources we have compiled, and these tips for avoiding questionable jobs for more information about working safely through Upwork.