Search engines on Upwork

[h_schwartz]

I'm new this week at Upwork and I've been trying to puzzle out the different ways that the search engine is set up because I get such bizarre lists. The "Recommended" lists usually lists outdated jobs - as in 2-7 months ago. Using "Skills" versus using "Categories" or just words in the top advance search blank are all completely different results with no way to tell the difference between them.  I've deleted all of my saved searches and am trying to figure out what each method focuses on but it's a mystery. In other words 1) Just use categories? 2) just use key words? 3) just use skills 4) a combination of all three? - I get lost because there is no clear way to know what each different search does. Very frustrating. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Helen

[tlsanders]

Helen, what kind of work do you do?

[h_schwartz]

Writing, Editing, Proofreading and Web Research.

[tlbp]

I select the writing category, check the "all" box until every subcategory is selected, then unselect the categories that don't apply. 

After you have been through the initial listings (I wouldn't go back more than a day or two), it is easier to keep up. Sometimes I will use a keyword once I'm in the writing category, but not often.

[h_schwartz]

I've been experimenting for a couple of days and today I tried using the Title search with my keywords, then I used the "exclude" for words which are in the jobs that don't apply to me but turn up all the time. That was a better search and more up-to-the-minute.

It would be "nice" to have a description of how each type of search impacts the whole....

[h_schwartz]

I just went back and did the same search, exactly the same, and the first job on the list, ranked by "newest" was 9 days old. Earlier in the day the same listings were minutes old. So I switched to key categories only and that's working. What a temperamental search engine. 🙂

Helen

[yitwail]

Helen,

'search engine' is overkill for Upwork. Google is a 'search engine'. Upwork is a search gadget at best.

[taustinray]

Helen, do not trust the order of your job search results. There isn't any and Upwork has acknowledged this. You need to scroll through the results. You will find more current listings mixed in the results. Granted, you may have to scroll past 6 jobs that are older to find a job that was posted today or in the last 24 hours but they are there. You just have to do the extra work to find them.

[h_schwartz]

Thanks all for letting me know about the wonders of Upwork's search gadgets. 🙂

No wonder I couldn't figure it out - there is nothing behind it that is completely logical. Ah, well, keeps me awake.

Helen

[vladag]

Hi Helen,

I've checked your account and see the oldest job on the Recommended list was posted 12 days ago, with other jobs being posted significantly later.

Your Job Feed is displaying the jobs in the correct order of recency as designed, as is your categories search list, with both of these showing the newest job posted six minutes ago.

Looking at your profile, I see  you've included two additional skills to the categories you shared in your post, so that might be one of the reasons why you're seeing seemingly unrelated jobs in your search results.

Please see this Help article for instructions on how to search for jobs that match your skill set.  

[h_schwartz]

Thanks for looking at the Recommended list. I got a lovely set of results like that perhaps twice in the past few days; the other times I did a Recommended search produced a selection where the newest was 9 days old. Since I first wrote I've performed a saved search twice (a different saved search) which resulted in two wildly different sets of results.

I've learned here on the board that search results sometimes seem to be a jumble.

Helen

[tlbp]

Yeah, just browse through the last few days of your category and don't let it keep you up at night.