To all freelancers looking for help

[#1]

I have always had freelancers come to me for help. In the last year, the river has swelled into an enormous ocean.

You don't need me; Upwork provides an enormous amount of information that few ever use. If, after you have gone through all the information I provide, you still have questions, that is when you ask additional questions in the forum.

If you think you will make big bucks right away, you are mistaken. The majority of freelancers never land a job because they have no skills and aren't interested in educating themselves. Others believe online freelancing is a path to full-time employment. It can be, but highly unlikely on this platform.

Freelancing is not for everyone. It means you are self-employed and must adhere to all regulations and laws governing responsibilities, such as paying taxes. Freelancing means you are on your own. No one has your back, including Upwork. If you don't follow the rules, no one will or can help you.

If you are willing to work hard, follow the rules and prepared to spend a lot of connects and proposals, you can be successful, as many are on Upwork. While so many fail, it is almost always due to lack of skills and treating freelancing like employment  where the employer will make sure you do the job correctly.

If you want to succeed, start with the Terms of Service, then read this from Wes. 

Then go here. Then here.  Next, check this site regularly for events such as webinars and other learning opportunities.

After that, go here for safety information, and then here. If you still need help, after you have gone through all the previous steps, you can find additional help here. This thread is dedicated to new freelancers. And here are announcements from Upwork that can help keep you up to date.

It will take some time to go through all the information. I'm not suggesting people should not post in the forum, I am suggesting before you ask questions and want help, you need to help yourself first.

From Prashant P: "And have relevant profile picture of your face.  Not some desks, or Mickey mouse, or full face covering." 

From Susan S: "And patience! Have patience! It takes a while to get started, even after going through all the information available."

From Martina P:  "Only one thing you forgot, namely telling people to use all 15 skills, if you have all 15 skills"

And with advice from Maria T, I will say, 

Refrain from personal messages, please read all the links I have added.

[#2]

I tried to edit my skills but it says only 10 skills maximum. ...and before I clicked edit I had 15?

[#3]

can you please tell me how did you use dark mode in upwork ?

[#4]

Upwork will not provide a dark mode, so you have to use programs from outside. I use Dark Reader.

Unfortunately, with Upwork messing with the jobs page, now you can't see the job titles with Dark Mode. Freelancers have been begging for a dark mode, for at least a decade, but Upwork refuses. So now, you can't use Dark Reader, unless you want to guess what the job title is.

There are other programs out there, and maybe Upwork will allow one of them to work. I have never understood why they insist on violating the accessible standards for all websites, and insist on temporarily blinding people. It's one thing to not offer a basic dark mode, and quite another to intentionally make the programs unusuable.

[#5]

Perfect Jeanne. Applause.
I've flagged your post to see if we can get it pinned along with Wes's in the top positions on both Freelancers and New to Upwork.
I feel sorry for you, but you are going to be inundated with messages.
I think you should add a phrase like "refrain from personal messages, please read all the links I have added".

[#6]

@Jeanne H

Every single word you have written, is true.

Most importantly, some of the new freelancers think that freelancing is a "get rich quick" scheme. They should remember, freelancing is a business, just like any other.

You need to learn the necessary skills. 

You need to invest money and efforts to succeed in this business.

Go through the material Upwork has provided. Learn some skills, or better still, check the job categories and see if you have some of those skills, then start applying for jobs.

Establishing any business needs skill, time, and investments.

If you don't have these, spend some time and money in learning the skills of some specific category. Then prepare some samples, and then open a "shop" on Upwork.

Just becasue you are shouting the loudest (spenidng 30-50 connects on a single job), doesn't mean that people will buy from you.

Freelancing needs hard work. If you are not ready to put in that hard work, you'll not succed. Here or anywhere else.

[#7]

Kindly review my profile and give me suggestions:

https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~01c40339962b2ea14c

[#8]

Raja,

Please use two Skills in the Title, rewrite the Summary into four compelling paragraphs minus the emoticons with a focus on the first sentence, and use all 15 Skills.

[#9]

Thanks to whoever made the decision to pin the post at the beginning. I think it should also be in New to Upwork, but this at least helps.
I thought Wes's post was also pinned. He should still be there. Scammers are still up with their tricks and there are too many new freelancers as potential victims.
And we already know that they don't read anything, so if they see it on the first line when entering the forums, they might be curious.

[#10]

I don't think excellent advice from Wes is pinned. It seemed like I always had to search before I bookmarked it.

[#11]

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Jeanne H wrote:

I don't think excellent advice from Wes is pinned. It seemed like I always had to search before I bookmarked it.

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It was pinned and then they moved it to the links on the side and now as far as I can see it's lost on the Community Blog.

Right in the place where anyone would go looking for it 🙄

I don't know why they insist on losing sight of it.

[#12]

This is enormous info at a glance, especially highlighting the fact that you're on your own when you join the platform, and treating freelancing as a business rather than employment is pretty cool. 

Freelancers spent crazy connects on proposals.

[#13]

The links helps for sure, but saying that freelancers don´t get a job because they are unskilled is really a big mistake. I readed thousands of posts from skilled top rated freelancers saying that they couldn´t get a job in 2022 after the boosted proposal system implemented. For sure this system destroyed a lot of self-steems.

[#14]

I am inclined to agree with you here. Of course, this is a general post aimed at people who may be unskilled or need to acquire more or better skills. But that doesn't mean it's the core of the problem. No amount of skill is going to amount to anything if you're never even given the chance to demonstrate what you're capable of. While time investment is one of the important keys, I think the way things are now, many people will really have their self-esteem completely destroyed before the time factors in. And in the case of this, boosted proposal system, anyone who gets overshadowed by it despite their skill is just going to slink off elsewhere to find what they can get.

[#15]

There is no easy path. Many new people act as if I and other freelancers are favored. Do you really think we started that way? Well, you are wrong.

When I started online, I was already a highly skilled, respected freelancer with yards of testimonials. When I decided to branch out into online freelancing, it was like starting over. I had to put in numerous proposals. I did not drop my rates, I focused on jobs I was qualified for, had a great profile, and wrote fantastic proposals.

Anyone has the ability to do great here, if they have the skills. Upwork is not the place to learn a skill. If you don't have any marketable skills, you are wasting your time.

[#16]

yup,  I think its a slot machine mentality....i also think its a generational thing.....again tying back to the slot machine mentality, stuff is only handed over, not worked for.

[#17]

Don't get me wrong. I agree with you on many points. And never did I mean to insinuate that any one person started with a carpet rolled out for them in the community of Upwork. My main point was just to agree with the person above that someone just starting out on Upwork doesn't necessarily mean they're unskilled. 

As you would have just admitted, you were already highly skilled, but even you had to start over. And this is fair. But it doesn't exactly detract from anything that was said, I don't think. And as someone who has been in the position of all the people who are voicing their woes now, I want to presume you are at least somewhat empathetic to those who do all of the above many times over and still have yet to get a shot at anything. I would even thank you right now for having put all those resources right there in front of them and presenting the hard truth, and practically saying 'this is all the help you can get, good luck'. Skills or not, marketability or not, many are still going to still have their self-esteem completely blown and have a bad experience well before the factors of time and luck have materialized in any meaningful way.

[#18]

I have no issue with new freelancers. We were all new once. What I object to is the non-stop flood, encouraged by Upwork, of people who have no chance of getting a job. And there are millions. These same people are unable to find work anywhere. While it may be due to location or local or regional conflicts/war, it also has to do with no skills.

Also, this happens with all countries, all language speakers. Some people don't want to work.

If you could see some of the total garbage proposals, you would be shocked. Just look at people's profiles. No photos, no intro, no portfolio. They don't take the courses and then complain they were scammed or can't find work. There is a percentage of freelancers who don't have skills and will never get them. Online freelancing is not the place to learn a trade. Yes, in my post I explain I had to start over, but I had real, marketable skills and knew my field very well. That is the big difference.

Freelancing isn't about luck or fairness. I don't want innocent, naive, non-skilled people wasting money and hope when they will never, ever get a legitimate job. I only want freelancers to know the reality of freelancing.

[#19]

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Willie D wrote:

Skills or not, marketability or not, many are still going to still have their self-esteem completely blown and have a bad experience well before the factors of time and luck have materialized in any meaningful way.

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If somebody needs a mentor, or someone to pat them on the back, or guide them, or help them with their self-esteem, then they'd be better off seeking traditional employment. Having the right skills is just part of the equation, it doesn't mean that you're suited to running your own business. Among many other characteristics, you need to be a self-starter (not only somebody who's willing to figure things out for themselves, but who prefers to do so), willing to continually learn and upgrade your skills on your own time (as opposed to being trained/retrained by your employer), and be able to stand up for yourself so that you're not taken advantage of. It's not for the faint of heart.

These days, there are far too many people who have the mistaken idea that freelancing is some kind of a marvellous and easy lifestyle choice. They get this from the endless bloggers/ Instagrammers/ You Tubers or what have you, who want gain followers or sell online courses by perpetuating the myth that anyone can stay home and make easy money. Then people like Jeanne (and me), who try to give these people a reality check, are accused of being mean or too negative. I think that it's much more unkind to encourage people to keep trying, if they're only going to waste their time and money.

[#20]

Hey,

I am a well skilled data entry operator. I am new in this field of freelauncing. Can u guide me and help me that how I get hired and do work here.

[#21]

True 

[#22]

Of course, there are many highly skilled freelancers who are suffering because of many factors, including far too many totally unskilled, lazy people who just want to make money.

[#23]

I think that rates here are pulled down by freelancers that accept work at 50 USD or less. If you see, much proposals are fixed price 50 or less.

[#24]

There have always been a percentage of low paying jobs. When the floodgates were thrown wide, more unskilled freelancers flooded in that will work for next to nothing because they have no skills. Clients don't always want the best. Some want cheap and easy, and they don't care if it's spun content or just plagiarized. Or even if it's good writing. For proof, look at a few random websites. Many don't even bother to use a free spellcheck program. Clients have said to me, "I don't care how it looks or reads, just get it up, so I have a website!"

Upwork's minimum is $3.00, I believe. It is extremely difficult to find equitable rates between the huge range of financial and skill situations. However, new freelancers make a mistake by gutting their rates just to try and get a job. Even if they do land a job, it is usually a terrible situation and locks them into the same fee. Yes, if you are working locally, you may have to use the going rate. But for those with skills using this world-wide marketplace, they should charge going rates for their skills.

[#25]

Is there a gentler way to say that?

I have reviewed perhaps hundreds of profiles and find a great deal of people who seem to have no clue what the word freelancer means or implies. But I would not jump to the conclusion that they are lazy. And many appear to be marginally skilled given the standards of an educated person from a modern, developed country. But you have to be dead to be unskilled. If you can talk on the phone to some employers that qualifies as skilled. I think we can raise the rhetoric to a more generous or maybe just a more polite level than lazy and unskilled. 

In addition, I'm not convinced the less skilled workers upset the Upwork marketplace in any shape or form. The less skilled workers have always been there; now, because of Upwork, they are more visible. That doesn't mean they didn't exist before.

It's up to the marketplace to sort out the highly skilled, the marginally skilled, the hard workers or whatever else. It's not Upwork's place to tamper with that anymore than necessary. 

[#26]

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Anthony H wrote:

But you have to be dead to be unskilled. If you can talk on the phone to some employers that qualifies as skilled.

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🤔 So, when economists refer to "unskilled labor", they mean jobs so basic that even a corpse can do it? 😜