Premium Freelancer Program

[jorgensons]

When I logged in today, the "Congratulations, you're Top Rated!" box popped up on my screen. This was weird because I've been Top Rated for many years now. Still, I read the text to see if anything had changed. The final bullet point caught my eye: "Eligibility to apply to our Premium Freelancer Program (only for select skills)." However, when I clicked the link, I got the "page you were looking for doesn't exist" message. Nothing came up when I searched the "help" articles, and all the posts I'm seeing in the community are from several years ago -- mostly 2017. 

So...what is the Premium Freelancer Program? Does it still exist? (And if not, why am I still being told I can join it?) And if it exists, how do I sign up? What are the benefits of participating?

[petra_r]

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Signe J wrote:

When I logged in today, the "Congratulations, you're Top Rated!" box popped up on my screen. This was weird because I've been Top Rated for many years now. 

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Doesn't it say Top Rated Plus?

[jorgensons]

Nope. I was welcomed into a program I've been a part of for years. I wouldn't qualify for Top Rated Plus -- I don't work on long-term contracts (most only last a week or two), and most of my jobs bill at $300 or less (my primary business on Upwork is resume writing).

[alexis35]

same happened to me

[petra_r]

Looks like they pressed the wrong button lol, I got it too when I logged in, and I've been top rated from day one when it was invented.

[robjohnson55]

Whenever I’ve logged in today I’ve got a message saying Congratulations, You’re Top Rated’. However, I’m already Top Rated.

Is this supposed to be telling me I’m Top Rated plus? I have an ongoing 5k+ contract in the writing category, so I think I’m eligible.

Or is it just a mistake?

[jay7134]

Same happened to me today and I don't think it is for top rated plus. It is just indication of top rated developer 🙂

[petra_r]

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Javed I wrote:

Same happened to me today and I don't think it is for top rated plus. It is just indication of top rated developer 🙂

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I suspect someone just pressed the wrong button, and instead of informing the Plus people that they are plus, it informed the Top Rated that they are Top Rated... Or sent the wrong notification to the Plus folks.

I've been Top Rated from the day the program began... I just got the notification pop up...

[nancykz]

I just got the notification today too. I was already top-rated but I thought maybe it goes away and you have to like re-qualify or whatever. But what is this "plus" thing y'all are talking about?

[richardrader]

If you get Top Rated Plus you should get an email. The contents are as follows. I do know they are rolling this feature out so your bug may or may not be an indicator that you may be top rated plus. As Petra said, they could have just "pushed the wrong button". I wouldn't assume you are top rated plus until you get the following email. If you meet the criteria, you will probablly receive an email at a later time (its still rolling out)

Hi {Name}

We're introducing a new Top Rated Plus badge to make it easier for high-achieving professionals like you to win more large contracts from top clients on Upwork. We're excited to let you know that you've just received Top Rated Plus status. Congratulations! Your new status highlights your success on large or longer-term contracts—which means clients who see your Top Rated Plus badge will recognize you as someone who can take on more high-value projects. How to maintain Top Rated Plus status • Meet Top Rated requirements (see here for details) • Earn $10,000 in the last 12 months • Receive positive feedback on one or more large project in the last 12 months (see here for details) Your Top Rated Plus badge will be visible to Enterprise, Business, and some Plus clients (as we continue to release this to more clients on a paid subscription). All freelancers (including yourself) will continue to see your Top Rated badge for now. We'll let you know once you are able to see the Top Rated Plus badge on your profile. Wishing you continued success, The Upwork Team

[jorgensons]

This is all great, but...can anyone answer the actual question? What is the Premium Freelancer Program, does it still exist, how do we sign up, and what are the benefits?

[MichaelJ]

Hi Signe,

The Premium Freelancer Program has evolved into the Expert-Vetted Talent program. We are working to update the pop-up.

I hope this helps!

Thanks,

Mike

[qaseem_r1]

It happened to me as well, and I have received an email describing that I have earned "Top-Rated Plus" status. However, UpWork is testing these new features on rolling basis, so most probably we will have better information on this soon.

[jorgensons]

This isn't Top Rated Plus, which I wouldn't qualify for anyway due to the nature of my contracts -- it's the normal Top Rated program. I assume this notification is just a glitch. I'm not worried about it, and that's not the focus of my post. Rather, I'm curious about the Premium Freelancer Program that's mentioned in the glitchy notification. I want to know what it is, whether it still exists, how to apply, and what the benefits are. I can't find anything meaningful from searching the "help" articles or the community posts, so I'm hoping others can point me toward resources and/or explain the program.

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Signe and others,

I'm checking with the team about the Top Rated pop ups showing for freelancer who aren't new to the Top Rated program. There appears to be a tech issue with that.

As for the Premium Talent program, it was designed to distinguish expert talent via an assessment process. We are currently working on improving upon that program separately and will also work on updating the pop up accordingly. 

[aditipie]

Yeah, I'd want to be a part of this Expert-Vetted Talent pool. But a) it is not an option for writers. b) the criteria for invitation is unclear. My Christmas wish is - Given the increasing number of freelancing marketplaces, someone comes up with a platform rating system. Then to maintain its top rated position among marketplaces, Upwork is forced to become more transparent.

I like Upwork features except its lack of transparency.

[ilianamontauk]

Hi Aditi, just a quick note to let you know that we are rolling out Expert-Vetted category by category. Expert-Vetted is by invitation-only for now while we launch the program.

Writing is one of the categories we are considering expanding into! We will let you know once we are able to do that and once we can share more transparency on the criteria to qualify.

Thanks so much for using Upwork and for sharing your feedback! We truly appreciate your engagement. 

[kochubei_valeria]

Signe and others, 

I'd like to provide an update about the bug with the Top Rated pop-up showing. We released code today that accidentally re-triggered the "welcome to Top Rated/Rising Talent" notifications to freelancers who were already Top Rated/Rising Talent. We have rolled back that code which should have resolved this bug. Thanks so much for notifying us quickly about this bug.