Recent Difficulty Landing Work / 100% JSS and Top Rated Plus

[dustin_slack]

Hello Upwork Community, please tell me if you are experiencing similar issues. Or if I'm crazy or doing something wrong, please tell me straight up. Also let me preface this by saying that I realize I'm not the best designer in the world. Always room to grow, I get that. But I do stand by my work and the vast majority of my clients are pleased with my work as well. 

I've been top rated plus 100% jss (graphic designer) since way before Upwork implemented these ridiculous changes. Connect boosts, 10 free connects a month (oh how generous - let's push the freelancers to boost their proposal so they'll run out of connects sooner and have to buy more), consultations, project catalogs... my work is in my profile! CLIENTS CAN VIEW MY WORK IN MY PROFILE. Not only that, if they search my name in Google, they will find my actual portfolio website. This leads my to my first concern listed below. 

Project Catalogs: If a client wants a fixed price pitch deck, they can find me and invite me to interview and discuss it with them in detail. Not all graphic design projects are alike. Some require more effort, some require minimal effort. Three tiers for a project just doesn't cover it. It is a nuanced discipline. It's more work for us trying to comply with Upwork's new standards and less money coming our way. Looking at it from a client perspective, it seems like they would think of us freelancers as unflexible, rigid, unwilling to budge, too complicated, and then just give up on the platform. I had to wait about 15-20 days and multiple fixes to get my first Project Catalog to go through. You know what Upwork said when I asked them what was taking so long? They are having trouble getting through the influx of similar concerns. I mean, that's a red flag right there. 

Consultations: Clients aren't dumb, they might need direction or need advice and might not know exactly what they are looking for, but they aren't dumb. Why are clients going to pay for a consultation when they can just message me through Upwork by inviting me to a job - even if they are unsure they'll even want to hire for the job? If the project looks good, my type of client, or design style, I'll respond, for free - because I potentailly want that specific work. What does Upwork think they are getting out of this? I'm not a lawfirm, consultations... I just don't get it. 

I haven't been receiveing invitations or landing jobs like I used to. I started noticing it about 3-4 months ago. It used to be like I'd snap my fingers and there was a good job at hand (even when I wasn't top rated plus!). Now it's nothing. I've been complaining to Upwork support about this for about a month, but I'm to be assured, these changes are working and are great for freelancers! I'm just not seeing it and I can't be the only freelancer not getting the same amount of work they used to get, not even close. I can't be alone in this, maybe I am, but intuition and years of experience tells me I'm not. 

Let me know if any of you fellow freelancers, especially graphic designers, if you're experiencing similar things or feel the same way or if you have a different opinion. I'm just trying to understand what is going on. I used to be able to make a living straight through Upwork. I've always respected Upwork so much that I'd route clients who reached out to me through my website back to Upwork, those who found me through Behance, or Dribbble, etc. Currently, it's almost impossible though. I've been using Upwork since about 2015-2016 or back when it was Freelancer. I've never had such a hard time getting work while being top rated plus at 100% jss. Something is amiss and it has to be these recent (within the last 9 months) changes to the platform. 

At this point I'm just frustrated. I put in so much work and so much effort to increase my jss to 100% and become top rated plus in my field. Now it feels like I did all that work for nothing. Great for discipline in general, not seeing the benefits monetarily anymore. 

Also, the less us freelancers get work, the less Upwork gets their cut of our pay. I think Upwork isn't looking at the fact that we (freelancers, clients, and Upwork) rely on each other. Which is why none of these changes make any sense to me. If I'm not making money on Upwork then Upwork isn't making money from me. When things start messing with your income, you notice. If I'm not the only one, then Upwork has to be experiencing less income (their cut), unless they are relying on us freelancers buying more connects to fund their platform - which just doesn't add up in my mind. 

The thing is, I'll keep using Upwork because aside from a few other sites, they've cornered this market - and like I stated before, I've been on here working since it was Freelancer. I just hope things change for the better and soon. During a time of inflation in the States, I'm not so sure about other places, having my income interrupted because of platform changes is quite frustrating. Maybe it's the platform changes, my feeling is that it is, but then I again I could be wrong. This is just my experience as of the last couple months. 

Anyway, let me know your thoughts. Whether we agree or not, much love and respect to my peers for responses.

Dusty

[tarrier-design]

Indeed. 

[tjmisny]

It's clear to me that while Upwork advertises with Broadcast spots that show elite Freelancers with expensive properties and artisenal coffee brewing... the algorithm of the platform skews heavily towards linking up Clients with the "MVP" Freelancers... borrowing this phrase from tech industry (Minimal Viable Product).  Clients are nudged in several ways towards Freelancers towards the lower end of the Client's desired range... from "Best Match" to numerous e-mail blasts.  Nothing in how Upwork actually functions suggests that it values the highest quality Freelancers - those who base their rates outside the (appalling low) median rate.  It is designed to match Clients with Freelancers who are most likely to be hired (meaning: cheap Freelancers who appear on the surface to be acceptible hires).  Upwork does this at the expense of cultivating relationships with high quality Freelancers who could bring in more money in the long run through larger contracts and higher powered clients.  

[dustin_slack]

Riard, thanks for your input. Your reasoning is logical for sure and I can attest to this during the height of covid in the States, I did get good work. But I can also say that I was getting good work before that and after that too. It wasn't until what many others in this thread originally brought up, that response rates and landing work slowed down around May(ish), this year. We are just trying to figure out the causes and keep the conversation going. 

So really thanks for your input, appreciate it Riard. 

[teri-tracy]

Hi!

I actually noticed a very weird uptick in the amount of work I've gotten, and for a short time, my job success rate was super low- like 30% low- until very recently (I was on an unexpected hiatus, and Upwork carried on without me). Long story short, over the past month or so, my views and responses have both increased dramatically, and I'm landing jobs left and right. I have no idea what flipped that switch, but it seems like once I started picking up a little bit of momentum, things exploded.

I'm hoping that this won't be just a cycle that repeats itself, where I find myself with lots of work and then all of a sudden I'm back to submitting dozens of proposals per day. It does almost seem like there's been a change in the algorithms on Upwork as of late. I don't work in graphic design, though, I'm an SEO writer and editor in very particular niches. 

[getcheeky]

Hey Teri!

Wow!! That's excellent news!! I'm so happy for you! 😊😊😊 My niche is I'm a Brand Designer and Copywriter, so maybe I'll have better luck on the writing side of things!! That's the BEST, most POSITIVE NEWS I've heard on this yet!!! Thank you for your input!! ❤️

[21ebc390]

Wow, Impressive.

[roberty1y]

It's the freelancers who need to be verified, not the clients. They need to be tested to ensure they have a minimum level of competence. Even if your entire profile text consists of "hello" and your profile picture is a photo of your cat, you can still pester the unfortunate clients with proposals.

[81f2681a]

---

Robert Y wrote:

It's the freelancers who need to be verified, not the clients. 

---

Freelancers are just verified. Its hard to set up a freelancer account, but is very easy to set up a client account.

---

Robert Y wrote:

They need to be tested to ensure they have a minimum level of competence.

---

And how do you suggest that Upwork tests the "level of competence" of each new freelancer? Who can say if a freelancer is competent or not is the clients, not Upwork. Portfolios exists for this goal: shows others your "level of competence". And Upwork just allows portfolios in profiles, so no needs to do any "test of competence". If a client likes the portfolio of someone, he will consider hiring.

How do you suggerst that Upwork says if someone is qualified or unqualified?

In Art & Creative categories is impossible to tell if a freelancer is qualified or unqualified, since art is subjective for most peoples and the standards is variable for each people. Someone may likes my drawings, someother not. A lot of peoples like picasso, I think he is stupid and paints like a child. Yes, I´m pretty sure that my paintings is too much better than picasso.

But in other categories, the only way that Upwork has to say if someone is qualified is asking about their graduations, studies, certifications and etc... and Upwork just does that. In freelancer´s profiles there is a lot of fields to place all your studies and knowledges.

[21ebc390]

Exactly, the portfolio says a lot about freelance competence. I guess that is Upwork test for freelance and also the Upwork test can also be used as a test of competence by the client if they really want to use intellect to judge competence.

[roberty1y]

Upwork can ensure that the freelancer at least has a well-made profile that suggests a knowledge of their advertised skills. Also, they can have a test to ensure freelancers know the terms of service, especially those terms that apply to offsite contact and payments. It's freelancers who don't know about these things that are attracting scammers.

[81f2681a]

Upwork just have these tests. I did a test asking if I know the TOS and another test asking if I knows how to use Photoshop.

[tjmisny]

Hi Dustin - thanks for writing this thoughtful post.  I'm experiencing something very similar.  I am an Upwork Expert Vetted Freelancer in film/video production, with 100% JSS and over $270k in earnings.

Since this summer, there has been a drastic, extreme drop off in number of quality jobs.  But overall, I have only been hired for 3 jobs all year.

I have applied to hundreds of jobs... until this summer when the number of quality jobs being posted has plummeted.  

Last year (2021) I did not have any of these issues, and I have not changed my approaches, rates and if anything, the quality of my work is getting better!  If I had booked work at the percentage of last year, I would have earned over $100k more on the platform so far in 2022.

I have tried to raise these concerns with my Talent Specialist, but she truly did not care and has ghosted me.

There is something seriously wrong with the Upwork platform that is scaring away quality clients beacuse I can't even find any jobs to apply for any more!  

Upwork, I would love to help improve your platform, but I cannot get anyone in a position of power to speak to me to relay my feedback.  

Everything here is broken.  

[dustin_slack]

Hi Thomas, yup. Pretty much the same here. Today I found two jobs to submit proposals to that I liked, but they weren't even close to the quality they were back before "the changes" happened earlier this year. Probably won't hear back. But I wanted to experiement, changing my proposal message almost entirely (I optimize for each potential job anyway), now that my project catalogue was finally approved (which is a dumb idea anyway) and my consultation is approved. 

I don't expect to hear back, but hey hey, I bought more connects to try as I'm sincerely interested in these jobs.

So there you go Upwork, have some more of my money. 

[belenc2018]

I completely agree!!

[Anonymous-User]

There isn't a single message from Upwork in this thread. It's interesting.

[spectralua]

What do you expect to hear? "We're sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you. Your suggestions are valuable and our department will definitely consider them. You won't know the results, but you can be sure that we're working hard on it." 🤗

[Anonymous-User]

I don't expect anything. I'm merely stating that I find the lack of interaction interesting. The boilerplate response that you mimicked jokingly would be the usual way that Upwork deals with various issues. Even that approach would mean some kind of acknowledgement.

I think Upwork's lack of interaction hints at management's (whatever that is) approach in dealing wih the issues that affects most (if not all) freelancers.  I also think that it's a deliberate choice by their part.

[belenc2018]

Actually, I got a very similar reply when I complaint

[tjmisny]

I made a huge push to get Upper Management to speak to me in the spring, and despite being an Expert Vetted freelancer who made $160k in my first year on the platform.... radio silence.  So... what "did I expect to hear?"  As one of the top Freelacncers in my field, I would expect SOMEONE at Upwork to want to speak with me when I claim that the platform has become nearly unusable.  

[paywell]

Being a publicly traded company comes with it's responsibilities and limitations. 

You are responsible for the companies image before the stockholders.

A customer support agent can't just go and willy-nilly say his mind.

A consensus has to be reached internally for anything to see the light of day (appear on this forum).

Upwork is not really responsible in front of the majority of users, however big it may be.

That would be called Bolshevism - the rule of the majority. And I seriously doubt that it is Upwork's ideology.

Forums are like Maidans, where people can go out and vent their feelings.

But what comes next as a result is decided by a small group of a privileged few.

Getting in touch with them could be possible, if a big enough social media trend / hashtag would arise.

Writing on the company forum is close to being useless, when it comes to initiating change.

Furthermore, I believe all that has been written here was already known, nothing new has been even proposed:

Dustin, the creator of this thread, said he wouldn't provide a list bullet points (what needs to change), until the need arises / such a list is requested.

The answer I read from this is "never".

For all this reasons, I wouldn't hold my breath for an answer from "higher up", nor from the moderators.

[tjmisny]

From what I read Dustin made a very specific proposal with a number of bulletpoints.  I would recommend re-reading the thread.  

[paywell]

I would prefer to let Dustin speak for himself:

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Freelancers/Recent-Difficulty-Landing-Work-100-JSS-and-Top-Rated-Plu...

I will share "bullet points" with whoever the appropriate people are when I or we are ready to and if others want to join in

Hence, my point remains valid.

Nevertheless, thank you for your recommendation.

[oquintela]

I'm sure my post will not reassure those trying to find answers, but I wanted to contribute with my experience, which has led me to a very unromantic point of view.

I've been here for 10 years now. I used to worry about the unbalanced nature of my life as a freelancer: lots of work one day, none the other. I started by blaming Upwork; then turned to blaming myself. But then remembered that I'm part of an adventure that will change/is changing everything: we're at the mercy of algorithms and what feeds them. We're the first generation to be hired, and some of us are already being fired, because of algorithms. Every year, around May-June, things change around here. Sometimes it benefits A and is bad for B; next time around it will probably be the other way around. I know I've already gained from and been hurt by these changes. It will always be this way. 

[tjmisny]

I think this is great perspective, Olga.

However it presents the question... if our labor is creating value for Upwork, why are we being kept in the dark about some of these algorithmic changes?  Why do we have to go through a full year of little work before it's clear that something beyond our control is impacting our livelihood?  Why are we guinnea pigs to see what makes the platform the most profit?  

Clearly this is not a democracy, this is a capitalistic company with a profit motive of course.  In our current system that's the way it is expected to be.  But there has to be a way to inform and include Freelancers so we can more readily adapt to these changes as Upwork manipulates the invisible hand of the market via algorithms, new features, broken search functionality, etc etc.  

If Upwork takes large %'s of our income, the least they can do is include us in the process to some degree so we're not flying blind... investing time and energy into a platform that doesn't care whether or not we have food on the table.  

[oquintela]

Thomas, in this new world, we should expect less transparency. The continuous, never ending flow of data at Upwork’s disposal is like an invitation to constant experiments and change. Individually, we’re not part of this equation; it’s the data we provide in our interactions with the platform that's part of the equation. This is the brutal reality. But then, it’s nothing more than a point of view, my point of view.

[tjmisny]

Of course that is the reality in this age of surveillence capitalism.... but as the source of this company's value, why should we accept a dismal reality?  I will always choose to fight for a better future.  And transparency is a big part of the better future I want to fight for.  

[tomzilla1]

Dustin this has been an issue since late February - dramatic decrease in invites, while I've seen some improvements recently in invites, the quality has not been the same like you said.

Project Catalogues - yes, it took about a month for any of my project listings to be approved, and it was stuck in review for a long time I had to email support 3 or 4 times, each time took them anywhere from 2 to 5 days to respond back.

Consultations - I do see value here, for example, for some projects I do credit the consultations back if we do a project. However, the booking system is severely broken. I set my minimum days to at least 2 days in advance, but of all my consultations they were all able to book literally less than 24 hours, so I can't even reschedule or cancel. And the support is still checking because they said "my case is more severe". It's been I think a week for the latest case. Last time this happened, they told me it's all resolved. (Things like this make me question other things, like are the reviews working, is JSS working...)

I'm always a huge supporter of Upwork - I think it's the best community out there. But it has been going downhill this year for both clients and freelancers. I'm seeing slight signs of recovery, but who knows. As for the free connects doesn't make sense, well. Yes I agree with you - it also creates a 50+ proposal on a job post within minutes problem. The client gets overwhelmed with fake proposals or very low quality freelancer profiles, so they just say "alright, fake platform, let me find alternative" or "I don't have time for this..." The bigger picture is Upwork is a publicly traded company, the job of leadership at any publicly traded company is to please the investors, not the users - not all, but most. What do investors want to see? Growth in users - be it high quality or low or fake. Profit, believe it or not, is not that important to long term investors. Because the wisdom is a well led company in the long term, say 10 years from now, will be profitable. I'm no day trader but that's my small understanding of such topics.

I speculate further that all the changes this year are directly from investors - they want to see new features, new growth in different offerings, I think Upwork had good intentions but the rightful implementation so far has yet to be seen - at least in my experience.

[leticia17]

Hi Dustin, 

OMG I was telling my daughter yesterday that suddenly for the last 6-8  weeks I stopped getting the amount of request I was getting before, Im 100 Top rated in my feild and been on Upwork since 2017 and Im use to getting minumum 7-10 interviews request a week and suddenly there is a dry spell Im not getting much and its scaring me because this is how I make a living and my income is drastically going down I dont know what to do.  

[paywell]

An extreme measure would be going outside and marketing your profile (through Linkedin, Facebook, whatever is available to you). 

I would bring such clients to Upwork through a direct contract (but be aware, that it doesn't show up in your profile overview) or by them signing up and giving you the job on the platform.

But bottom line is: Getting more profile views by all the means, which are available to you. 

And getting those proposals out, to make that income go Up again!

Plus, holding your thumbs for the right changes / fixes here on the platform (or who knows, maybe even globally?) to be implemented.

[fdynasty]

Hey Dustin,

There 3 major issues:

- The amount of fake proposal has increase in past 2 months.

- Clients usually write detail job description, which is a green flag for me and that's where you land a job, but for past 2 months i am not getting such leads to be honest.

- Proposal boosting is another hurdle even if you are 100% qualified for the job and wrote a perfect proposal with relevant work sample, chances are client will never have a look at it.

Boosting proposal should never be a thing, it should be replace a best fit feature.

How it will work let me explain:

- Freelancer Plus member will have 3 Best Fit Feature credit, which he can use by spending 10 Connects each time.

- The best fit feature will come on top listng in proposal area and the client will know who are the best option for the job with relevant work sample

- Once the client hire the freelancer he will get 10 connect back for landing the job with this feature.

- If any freelancer try to spam it, he will be wasting his 10 connects and best fit credit for the month.

- In this way everyone will have equal opportunity in landing a job even if the freelancer is new and a good fit for the job.

Let me know if you  like the idea or their is any gray area in it

Thanks

[tomzilla1]

---

Azam R wrote:

Hey Dustin,

There 3 major issues:

- The amount of fake proposal has increase in past 2 months.

- Clients usually write detail job description, which is a green flag for me and that's where you land a job, but for past 2 months i am not getting such leads to be honest.

- Proposal boosting is another hurdle even if you are 100% qualified for the job and wrote a perfect proposal with relevant work sample, chances are client will never have a look at it.

Boosting proposal should never be a thing, it should be replace a best fit feature.

How it will work let me explain:

- Freelancer Plus member will have 3 Best Fit Feature credit, which he can use by spending 10 Connects each time.

- The best fit feature will come on top listng in proposal area and the client will know who are the best option for the job with relevant work sample

- Once the client hire the freelancer he will get 10 connect back for landing the job with this feature.

- If any freelancer try to spam it, he will be wasting his 10 connects and best fit credit for the month.

- In this way everyone will have equal opportunity in landing a job even if the freelancer is new and a good fit for the job.

Let me know if you  like the idea or their is any gray area in it

Thanks

---

I don't like the boosting, and I don't like the best fit being essentially a boosting just a different name. Boosting/bidding should never be a thing. Exploiters will always find ways to farm free connects and they will always outbid you. Clients are not looking for the highest bidder... They're looking for the best talent to solve their challenges. If Upwork wanted to go this route, they can, and shouldn't be rocket science. But. Remember, Upwork is a publicly traded company, so they answer only to their largest shareholders. If shareholders say - Upwork, you need to work on your revenue. Then... Upwork will do their best to work on bumping up their numbers for revenue. And boosting revenue comes in many ways that does not involve matching the best talent.

[fdynasty]

With the above method, there is no out-bidding basically it will give an equal chance to freelancers to at least land a job, because once you have limitations you are always careful, on the other hand boosting means more investment which is not equal in terms of currency, this is another thing upwork needs to look at because someone with strong currency can buy more and invest more as compared to Asian countries so how does Upwork solve this?

[dsmgdesign]

I'm a graphic designer and I haven't noticed a significant difference in interviews or landing new jobs one way or the other. Same old same old. Summer was slow, but it's always slow. Things are just starting to pick up now. Just gotta keep plugging away, learn what works, and what kind of clients work with you. Capitalize on that. Go get 'em, 

[indija99]

Hello everyone,

I too agree with some of the replies posted here. I've been a Top-Rated plus freelancer for years with a 100% job score and I always had profile views and job invites without applying to jobs. However, I started applying for jobs from April and since May of this year, I noticed that I'm not getting ANY profile views (maybe 2 weekly), invites or responses to my job applications. 

This has never happened before. I spent so many connects, even upped my weekly connect amount for the availability badge hoping this would make a change. Can anyone please tell me if Upwork started blacklisting or "shadow" banning accounts for any reasons? 

I'm really struggling and it is also scary. 

[the-right-writer]

I understand, and it is scary that between the continuing flood of freelancers that Upwork promotes, the dearth of jobs, decent-paying jobs, and the constant scams that must be avoided Upwork is no longer the platform it used to be.

Diversify your work and look into other platforms or promote yourself. There are other ways to earn income as a freelancer. That being said, it's baffling to me that short-sighted decision-makers would run the platform into the ground.

If Upwork stopped allowing anything to be a freelancer, many of the problems will disappear.

[webzoneto]

I totally agree. I am also here since 2017 and since last year, it's right down to hell with invites. Clients were professional before with their hiring success rates but now, it seems the Upwork is more focusing on keeping the clients happy, Freelancer can suck it as there are more where we came from.

[the-right-writer]

Upwork has always focused on the clients. However, as I have stated many times, the biggest problem is the open door to anything as a freelancer rule. I'm sure Upwork makes money off of all the connects. In the immediate short term, this does bring in money. Millions of freelancers x X connects do add up. However, while gaining some cash, the platform is going down because of unskilled and scammer freelancers. The clients are inundated with garbage proposals and are disgusted and leave. If the scammers didn't find easy marks begging to be scammed, they would go elsewhere.

Upwork doesn't care about freelancers because there are now millions on the platform. (Would a moderator like to tell us the exact amount?) The management thinks all freelancers are equal. They do not care about the quality of the work. Whatever brings in cash right now is the rule. Meanwhile, the foundation is rotting away and nothing is being done.

Short-sighted business owners are everywhere, but usually, in a company this large, someone with sense is looking at tomorrow, instead of the next ten minutes.

[kenmex]

Hey Dustin, Kostas here, database developer.

Same thing for me, dry as the desert... surely you are not alone in this,and Upwork must do something about it ASAP. It will be then beginning of the end if this keeps going on.

Hope something will change soon and we will all be able to work as we used to...

Regards

Kostas 

[tjmisny]

It's true - I haven't seen a job worth applying for in at least 30 days (video production / writing / editing / animation).   

[fe9b8d82]

The following is just my experience - 

Looking at my stats, since I started here I've sent about 200 proposals or which only 85 were even viewed.  In the last 30 days I've sent 61 proposals, of which only 25 were even viewed.  Before you say "oh, but the client is inundated with 50 proposals," no, they're not.  This is for legal work looking for licensed attorneys, most of the jobs have less than 10 proposals.

I also only apply to clients who are verified with payment, and looking only for US based talent.  There does seem to be a drop off in the amount of clients who are actually serious about hiring someone to complete their project.  I really don't know what's the cause, I am just sharing what I see in my own search for freelance projects.

I realize that this is absolutely anecodotal only, and your mileage may vary.