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alexnder91
Community Member

Proposal declined. Reason?

When I decline an invitation to interview, I have to give a reason (fee too low for example). So on the assumption that reasons are equally given to declined proposals (please confirm), then why is this detail not shown to the freelancer?

Would be hugely helpful as freelancers to understand why certain proposals are being declined, to allow us to adjust our approach and increase our chances of securing future work.

Feels like we’re being kept in the dark here, this added transparency would be welcomed by most I imagine.

Discuss...
3 REPLIES 3
petra_r
Community Member


Samir A wrote:
When I decline an invitation to interview, I have to give a reason (fee too low for example). So on the assumption that reasons are equally given to declined proposals (please confirm), then why is this detail not shown to the freelancer.

It used to show on declined proposals.

The things is, I don't find my proposals are declined that often, most close because someone else was hired, or because they expired.

 

I just went through the last 10 pages (100 proposals) and there was only 1 that was actually proactively declined. All others were closed when the client chose someone and closed the job post, or I withdrew or was hired, or it just timed out.

 

So really, even if the reason was still shown, it would not provide me with any meaningful info as 1% (or less, I didn't go beyond the first 10 pages, is not representative.

 

It would not make sense to force a client to provide a reason for every applicant, clients can get dozens of proposals for their job posts...

 

kfarnell
Community Member



When people are declined after an interview, a certain percentage of those would argue. And possibly in a mad way.

 

A lot of bids would be declined for reasons you could do nothing about (preferred someone who lives near the North Pole); were so subjective they were meaningless in terms of adjusting your bid (I had a bad feeling about...);  or had more to do with the other bidder succeeding rather than you failing (you looked good but that other chap was a true marvel).

 

Adjusting your approach based on feedback could be helpful if you bid again on a project posted by the same client, but may have a totally different effect when bidding on a project posted by others.

 

And the above assumes that the feedback is honest and not just a random tick in a box.

rnspeights
Community Member

It would be helpful, but Upwork was never meant to help freelancers. I now choose other and write n/a when declining proposals. It's not worth the labor on my end if I don't recieve feedback as well. Upwork knows that would allow us to compare their resons for declining to the freelancers they did hire, and promote competetition. Instead, we get told by one guru that the information isn't useful, while others will tell you the best practices are to study other freelancer profiles. If we should study other profiles, then how is direct feedback not a good idea? The upwork community unfortuantely dances around this topic across forums. If anything feels unfair, the only thing you can do is lously do what they ask, until Upwork understands that as feedback and an unneccesary feature, hopefully removing it in the future.

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