Secret words or phrases

[mpeitsch]

Honest question (and a bit of a rant): why do clients require freelancers to submit proposals with a "secret phrase/words" at the top of their proposal?? I understand it's intended to prove that a freelancer has read all the way through the job description before applying, but I personally find it demeaning...having to type "blueberry pizza" or other nonsensical words at the top of a proposal makes me feel childish and unprofessional. 

Reason for this rant/question...I just was invited to submit a proposal for a job. I read the entire description, responded with proper information/answers to the entire thing, and submitted my proposal. I later received a message from the client with some additional answers to my questions, and information about moving forward with the job. That message was later redacted by the client, replaced with a message that said, "Although it seems you have read our description, you did not find the hidden words...if you feel you are still a good fit and just made a booboo [yes, they used the word booboo] we will give you a second chance..." Am I wrong in assuming that I shouldn't have to respond with the nonsense words when I've been personally invited, and am not just a random person submitting a proposal? Also, they readily admitted that it did seem that I read their description based on my response. 

Obviously, I no longer think the partnership would be a good fit, and it seems I may have dodged a bullet. However, the whole thing just got me wondering if other freelancers also hate the secret words/phrases? It seems that clients would ensure freelancers are reading the entire description by asking a few questions at the bottom of the project description; they'd know we're paying attention if we respond to those questions, rather than having to start our proposals with "banana pancakes."

Would love to hear what others think.

[feed_my_eyes]

Yes, lots of other freelancers hate that. I won't respond to projects if quoting the "magic words" is a requirement. It's a good way to filter out bad clients, IMO.

[the-right-writer]

I've had several excellent clients who had silly phrases in the job description. For me, it depends on the job and all the other things you look for in a client.

[tlsanders]

I don't want to work with a client who is extremely lazy, nor one who is fundamentally unqualified to assess the quality of an application. 

[feed_my_eyes]

x100. There's also an patronising smugness to it, like they think it's a clever trick that lesser clients (and us dumb freelancers) would never have thought of.

And why are the words that they want to use always so dumb and demeaning? Say "rockstar ninja" when you respond to this, or "banana hammers". If you want to make sure that people have read and understood your instructions, why not ask them to repeat something relevant like, "I understand that XX software should be used in this project" or to confirm that they can meet the deadline date?

[kkears]

I feel the exact same way. Although I understand the sentiment behind clients wanting a candidate who is serious about the job, these secret word job posts are insulting, and I don't have the desire or patience to deal with these childish "tests." Like Christine said, I also filter out these clients. 

[martina_plaschka]

Magic words are an instant skip. 

I understand where the client is coming from, getting hundreds of spam/bot proposals must be detrimental to the sturdiest of psyches. But what they don't understand is that they are alienating the more serious and professional freelancers who don't stoop that low.

[tlsanders]

I don't even understand where they're coming from. If they aren't capable of assessing whether a proposal is a blind cut-and-paste that has nothing to do with their job within a few seconds without magic words, it's very hard to imagine how they might possibly have been successful enough at anything to be able to afford a freelancer.

[gilbert-phyllis]

Clients who do that automatically self-select out of my consideration. If the client isn't confident of their own ability to (1) write a project description that will attract the candidates they're seeking and (2) scan proposals and discern which responses represent viable candidates, without resorting to a ruse like that, then we're ultimately not going to find happiness together. 

[paywell]

First of all: Mmm, blueberry pizza
And secondly: Mmm, banana pancakes!
 
I believe, that the worldwide job market is getting younger, and we have to deal with childish people on high positions.
They never had to learn professionalism or etiquette the old way, and that didn’t stop them from getting their job.

Heck, maybe they even get their job done with all the “booboos”, “pancakes” and smiley-faces all along the way?

When I think about it - it’s highly possible, that he got hired and trained in such an environment.

I personally have seen a rise in freelancer profiles as well as job postings with emojis. Obviously, text isn’t enough to catch and hold attention anymore.
TikTok and YT Shorts videos have disabled that part of the brain, and now people with the attention span of a squirrel are in HR. Oh my.

To answer your question:

You can try to convey your message to that recruiter who got in touch with you.
Maybe you will teach him/her to prioritize matter over form.
If you’re really a good match and he/she is not a baby (not to say “spoiled brat”) – you may get the point across and make life easier for the next freelancer he gets in contact with.

Furthermore, I personally, sometimes stress about not finding that special word after posting a proposal.

Sometimes it makes me read the posting with more attention, before I make a proposal. So it kinda filters auto-posters with their templates.

Therefore, I wouldn't call this instrument pointless.

But I would definitely prefer it to be something job-related, like:

“please start the cover letter with a creative sentence with the words hedge fund” (in a fintech related job) or

“write only the word product without the vowels as the answer to our second question below” (in a language-related job).

This could filter out uncreative people, who don’t know what a job-related word means or can’t follow instructions.

It would also enable creative people to shine, or good-natured people to show their sense of humor.
Requesting pancakes to filter out unwanted freelancers is a total waste of this instrument.

[martina_plaschka]

I don't think it's an age thing. I think it's the same people that put endless canned questions into their job postings, doubling down on alienating serious freelancers. 

[jared_k]

No, Pavlo is 100% correct. These same unserious people who write these job posts are the same unserious people running the world. It's truly a sign of the times. 

[pudingstudio]

Similar to most of you who posted on this topic, I too love those clients.

Such an easy way for me to be aware that it's not someone I'd like to deal with. Very nice of them to let me know not to apply to their job.

[ericaandrews]

Honestly, I won't even bother to respond to  (or send a proposal) to any client including something that childish in a job post. Like a kid playing 'peek-a-boo' or daring you to eat Tide Pods.  It's insulting and foolish and an immediate sign of immaturity, lack of professionalism, and pettiness. A client that includes something like that in any job post has already insulted me by asking me to 'prove' that I possess basic literacy stills, leaving no reason whatsoever for me to initiate any discussions with somebody that rude.  The client has already proven they are incapable of treating me like an adult and with respect.

More often than not, if something would be considered rude in 'real life', it's usually rude online as well. If I went into a 'real life' in-person job interview and the interviewer asked me to 'cluck 3 times like a chicken, so that I know you're a real person', my response would be complete silence just prior to turning my back to them and walking out the door.  I wouldn't even dignify that level of idiocy with a response or another second of my time wasted.

A client can take the time to add meaningful questions in their job post (Not generic/vague junk questions like 'describe other projects you worked on that were most like this one'), and all the 'proof' they need that the freelancer understood the job post can be found in the quality of the answers provided by the freelancer.

It definitely sounds like that client has some distorted values if a freelancer repeating some idiotic phrase verbatim is more important to them than the freelancer actually being qualified to perform the work.  Most likely would not be a pleasant client to work with, and it's better to find out sooner rather than later.

[the-right-writer]

I seem to have a different take on the phrases. It doesn't annoy me. It tells me it is a real client who is likely sick of plowing through non-relevant copy-pasted garbage. One client who hired me for such a job told me it immediately weeded out 90% of the applications.

[pudingstudio]

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Jeanne H wrote:

I seem to have a different take on the phrases. It doesn't annoy me. It tells me it is a real client who is likely sick of plowing through non-relevant copy-pasted garbage. One client who hired me for such a job told me it immediately weeded out 90% of the applications.

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But.... They end their job post with "If you read this, start proposal with "chocolate panda" so that I know you read lalala...".

It's in the last sentence. People who skim through job posts, all they do is read first and last line. Not sure their keyword is helpful than.

Clients who have a special passcode and place it in the last sentence are, I believe, the same ones who use template questions within the job post ("What past project or job have you had that is most like this one and why?").

Of course I'm aware that not ALL clients are the same.

[the-right-writer]

Some clients put it at the end, some at the beginning. I also apply to jobs that ask questions and have had some great clients. I don't rule anyone out because of something minor like asking for a phrase.

[tlsanders]

To me, a client who needs magic words to be able to instantly tell whether a proposal is worth reading or not is a client who doesn't have the necessary skills/knowledge/experience to be a decent client. 

Your client underestimated, though--it ruled out 90% of the freelancers who sent proposals and potentially dozens of highly qualified freelancers who no longer have to play that sort of baby games. 

[spectralua]

I have no problem with this. If Upwork does not filter spam then the client does. I understand it.

It better than 5-10 stupid extra questions not related to job. Sometimes filling out answers will take longer than doing the work.

[fe9b8d82]

Clients who do this are insta-skips.  I'm a licensed attorney, and while I don't take myself very seriously, I do take my work seriously, and having to type a secret squirrel code word at the top of my cover letter to a potential client is absolutely demeaning, and I refuse to do it.

I'm so glad to see that so many other freelancers feel this same way, and walk when a client asks for such silliness.

[grendon]

Wow. Some people have really strong feelings about this. 

Personally I don't mind the passphrase/code thing. 

I just imagine them, receiving 20+ proposals in less than 5 minutes, in which probably most of them are automated and templates. That is a way for them to filter out a bit, and then focus on the ones that really read the job posting. 

[ericaandrews]

Unfortunately, a 'pass phrase' is not an effective way to reduce the volume of 'junk' proposals at all, because a 'bot' or somebody that didn't read the whole post will still SEND in a proposal anyway, which still lands in the client's inbox, and they still have to reject/ignore it or deal with the extra 'clutter'.  The only thing it 'really' filters out and 'reduces' is the volume of proposals they get from truly qualified freelancers that find it offensive.   Basically, because nothing about that pass phrase technical stops somebody from sending  a proposal, all the client is really doing is increasing the ratio  of junk they receive. 

If you are going to receive 90-100 proposals no matter what you do, which is the better ratio?

100 proposals: 90 from bots/spam, 10 from qualified freelancers  (90% junk)

95 proposals: 90 from bots/spam, 5 from qualified freelancers   (-5 who didn't submit a proposal because they 'passed' on the job posting after seeing the pass phrase), 94.7% junk;   This means fewer good choices & a higher chance you can't fill the job

If you're going to get 90 from bots anyway, there's no advantage to 'scaring' off a small portion of the handful of freelancers that are actually qualified to do the job, thereby limiting the available 'pool' of qualified people you can choose from.

It's not about it being a 'bother' to type a pass phrase, but about the client leaving an initial 'first impression' of being unprofessional and disrespectful.  I've also noticed that many clients that do this type of thing also tend to have lots of negative feedback in their profiles from freelancers, generally related to 'personality defects' or abusive/rude/unprofessional behavior of the client.  People that have similar personality traits tend to  have similar behaviors in common. I don't like the personality trait(s) normally associated with that type  behavior, which is why I pass on those clients.

As you work on UW longer, you'll see that there are common 'red flags' in behavior amongst clients that are likely to be unpleasant

[colettelewis]

IMO you did dodge a bullet.  I've only had two invitations like that, and I declined them, with a little note to the client as to why. 

But if any client came back to me (even if they hadn't asked for idiotic headings to proposals) and used words like  "booboo", they would receive an instant refusal!  

[a_lipsey]

Melissa, I just want to chime in that I take a hard pass on job posts that include special words/phrases. Doesn't matter how good the money is. I'm a professional, and I bring real value. I don't need to repeat a silly word/phrase to show that. If I get an invite, I presume they invited me for a reason and ignore the special word/phrase. 

It's a line I draw. As Christine mentioned, I find it a good way to weed out clients who won't be a good fit. Don't feel bad if you take a pass on these jobs. A lot of us do. It's just not the right dynamic for us. 

[renata101]

Hey Melissa,

As a few others have mentioned, I sometimes use this as a filter because the use of little tricks like this gives me the impression the client is trying to get me to sit, fetch and stay, none of which I'm temperamentally inclined to do on command.

If we trace the history of the Upwork secret word phenomenon, it probably first arose in an explainer video or help page how-to about building an effective job post. And I remember that the precise term when I first started seeing this in job postings was "purple cow." Purple Cow was the title of a bestselling business book. According to author Seth Godin entrepreneurs need to provide the world with purple cows (unique or noticably different ideas, products, or services that differentiate them from competitors). But for Upwork freelancers, it had a different meaning.

I don't know why that ended up on the help page. But I do know that certain clients also had a penchant for using words like rockstar and ninja to describe work requests, even when they were looking for accountants and data scrapers.

I think most people develop their own list of weed out terms. On days when I've got time on my hands and I'm feeling a little adventurous, I sometimes explore job posts I normally avoid. Occasionally, the results surprise me.

[sullivanliz]

For me it depends. These phrases are not an immediate 'no', but they are big red flags. If the client seems otherwise OK, I might pursue the project. If (as is more often the case) the secret phrase is accompanied by a million generic questions and other red flags I'll leave well alone.

[lysis10]

Do a little trolling and type it in backwards. I think I will do that next time I see it.

[pudingstudio]

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Jennifer M wrote:

Do a little trolling and type it in backwards. I think I will do that next time I see it.

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You'll smile. Though, is it realistic you'll ever know if anything happened on the other side?

I'd expect that you'd just give yourself a nice smile and never heard back from that client as they wouldn't even realise what happened (they'd just skip as you haven't start your proposal with super secret bestest word).

But yeah, hope you do do that! Your idea alone makes me smile. Would love to know you have done it.

[renata101]

Ooh. I like that. Someone once sent me an invite to a job where one of the questions asked applicants to count the periods in a piece of sample text. I responded by asking if this was something I'd normally be billing them for.

[martina_plaschka]

Not a bad idea at all! Even better, put your answer in the kind of code that will only be deciphered in 30 years, so you'll not hear back from that client in a good while. 

[81f2681a]

I realy don´t care about secret words or phrases. Its part of the job. It is completely usefull to filter those that just don´t read the job post and do proposals with copy-paste. No password, no proposal readed. Simple as that. No, this isn´t childish, its a way to get proessionals focused that can read a post.

[a_lipsey]

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Andre A wrote:

I realy don´t care about secret words or phrases. Its part of the job. It is completely usefull to filter those that just don´t read the job post and do proposals with copy-paste. No password, no proposal readed. Simple as that. No, this isn´t childish, its a way to get proessionals focused that can read a post.

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It really doesn't help them filter out though. I'm a client. I can put a keyword in a job description and still get plenty of junk proposals from people who found the keyword but wrote a terrible proposal still and shouldn't have bothered applying. It does not help filter out quality freelancers. It only helps filter out people who didn't put the word in or won't submit a proposal that requires that. They are not the same thing. 

[martina_plaschka]

It should be a given that freelancers on upwork are professionals that read job postings before they apply. I know that is sadly not the case. Clients having such a bad experience so they need to resort to these absolutely desperate measures - they have my sympathy. But maybe they attracted the wrong kind of freelancers. Maybe their budget was too low, their job description too bad, too vague, their hiring history and feedback too bad, so that no serious freelancers applied. 

[tlsanders]

Mostly because they don't know what they're doing and have read horrible advice like this: https://articles.bplans.com/how-to-find-great-freelancers-on-upwork-formerly-odesk/

I don't respond to postings with that nonsense in them, but I do feel a bit sorry for clients who think they've learned a useful strategy and don't realize that they're weeding out most of the skilled freelancers viewing their post.

[renata101]

Hey Tiffany,

Despite the purple frog advice, that article did have one redeeming feature:

[shummas]

I don't think that's applicable anymore with the recent influx of undercutters from cheaper countries, many of whom are equally skilled and qualified as someone from a first-world country.

[shanev1]

I ran into a new one today.  Watch my 3 minute video in which I describe the job and reply in your first sentence what's wrong in the video.
He was overdriving his mic, causing severe popping and making some of his words difficult to understand.  I assume that was the "wrong thing" he meant.  I didn't notice a guy in a gorilla suit walking through the frame behind him.

[a_lipsey]

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Shane V wrote:

I ran into a new one today.  Watch my 3 minute video in which I describe the job and reply in your first sentence what's wrong in the video.
He was overdriving his mic, causing severe popping and making some of his words difficult to understand.  I assume that was the "wrong thing" he meant.  I didn't notice a guy in a gorilla suit walking through the frame behind him.

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Haha, that's because you're a professional and the client is not. And exactly proves the point that so many of us are trying to make about this silly practice. 

[paywell]

Thank you Shane, that comment made my day. 

It would be hilarious if the clients reply to you mentioning his unintelligible audio, while omitting the gorilla, would be declining your proposal, because you can't focus on important details.  

[roberty1y]

Another thing I don't like is the boilerplate questions offered by Upwork.

"How do you know if your work has been successful?"

Answer: "The ecstatic clients lavish me with bonuses, rave reviews and proposals of marriage".