Unresponsive clients for active candidacies

[lornamann]

Hi Everyone, 

Just wanted to try and find out if jobs are automatically closed after a certain period of time if a client does not select a freelancer to work with?

I currently have 9 active candidacies, some dating back to over a month ago with clients whom to begin with were responsive and keen to work with me but suddenly disappeared and have not gone on to award their project to another freelancer or close the job altogether. I politely follow up with all my active candidacies if I do not hear from a client but it I am finding it increasingly frustrating that I am loosing connects due to this. 

I understand that I can withdraw my application but will not receive my connects back. 

Any advice would be much appreciated. 

Lorna

[vladag · Accepted solution]

Hi Lorna,

Job posts are closed after 30 days of inactivity but note that hiring a freelancer is not the only activity which is taken into account. You can keep submitting proposals and if a client from your earlier proposals follows up after a certain time frame, you'll have the option to proceed with discussing the job if you have the time and are still interested in working with them.

[lornamann]

Thanks Vladimir, 

If a job is closed due to inactivity are the freelancers that applied awarded their connects back? 

Lorna

[jr-translation]

No

[lornamann]

Thanks Jennifer, 

This is really disappointing. I am sure Upwork get moaned at all the time about claiming back connects etc. but in an instance like this, I would have thought it was only fair that freelancers who apply to project, selected as a potential candidate but the job is then forgotten about for whatever reason and eventually closed by Upwork should be rewarded their connects back. 

I also think that clients should potentially be penalised (if they are not already) for not awarding a project to a freelancer or closing the job themselves due to there being no suitable candidate, to hopefully encourage better behaviour going forward. 

Lorna

[petra_r]

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@Lorna M wrote:

1) ....would have thought it was only fair that freelancers who apply to project, selected as a potential candidate but the job is then forgotten about for whatever reason and eventually closed by Upwork should be rewarded their connects back. 

2) I also think that clients should potentially be penalised (if they are not already)

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1) Giving freelancers more Connects is not in Upwork's Interest or clients' interest or freelancers' interest, which is why they were restricted in the first place.

2) "Penalising" the very people where the money comes from most CERTAINLY isn't in Upwork's Interest or clients' interest or freelancers' interest.

[richard_wein]

I'm not too concerned about the connects. Can I have my wasted time refunded instead, please?

[bobafett999]

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Petra R wrote:

Questioning client refund request

2) "Penalising" the very people where the money comes from most CERTAINLY isn't in Upwork's Interest or clients' interest or freelancers' interest.

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 Petra:  We 'started' our quarrel on a very similar topic, but now I see the point.  Now I think of Upwork as a big department stores.  They let everyone to use their restrooms even if they don;t buy anything.  The stores are hoping that the few from that 'loitering' customers may spend some money.

[petra_r]

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@Prashant P wrote:

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Petra:  We 'started' our quarrel on a very similar topic,

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 Haha, that was EPIC... I am sure all the moderators needed a day off after that one and had on average 5 more grey hairs on their heads 😉

I spent many years in Sales Management and Marketing. The first BS thing you drill into your salespeople is the fact that every timewaster and every "loiterer" and every "No!" brings them one closer to the one who buys...

They are a fact of life of everyone who sells something, be it a product or a service. Everyone gets them. The only difference between the great salespeople and the poor ones is how well they qualify prospects (so they waste less time on No-Hopers) and how skillfully they convert the "Maybes."

[lornamann]

Thank you both Petra and Prashat for comments.  

The last thing I want to do is start a quarrel and I really appreciate the time both of you took to advise on this topic. 

My question has now been answered and I appreciate that I clearly need to improve my skills as a salesperson going forward. 

[melaniekhenson]

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@Lorna M wrote:

Thanks Jennifer, 

This is really disappointing. I am sure Upwork get moaned at all the time about claiming back connects etc. but in an instance like this, I would have thought it was only fair that freelancers who apply to project, selected as a potential candidate but the job is then forgotten about for whatever reason and eventually closed by Upwork should be rewarded their connects back. 

I also think that clients should potentially be penalised (if they are not already) for not awarding a project to a freelancer or closing the job themselves due to there being no suitable candidate, to hopefully encourage better behaviour going forward. 

Lorna

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Clients shouldn't be penalized. Sometimes a job just doesn't work out, or...things don't go as planned and a previously needed job is either discovered not to be needed after all, or the client simply can't find someone she feels comfortable awarding the job to. 

The more clients are penalized, the more they'll think it's too much work to go through Upwork. That is why (and I get it, ouch, this part hurts...I'm a freelancer) freelancers seem to have much more in the way of penalties, say for instance via losing connects as you've stated, or through JSS dings for various reasons, than clients do. 

We freelancers have the responsibility of choosing as wisely as possible when we apply to projects. If a client has a very low hire rate compared to open jobs, it's up to us to say "this seems too risky." If shtuff just "happens" and an otherwise solid client (or a brand-new client without such a history to look at) never fills a job, it's expected that this will be in the comparative minority v. jobs we've applied for that are viable. Overall this is pretty obviously true, as much, much money is made by freelancers off Upwork. Many jobs are filled, every day.

MORE connects mean more "spaghetti to throw at the wall," more spam in clients' folders, freelancers being less choosy about whom they approach with proposals, more bother for the clients, and less client satisfaction, and when clients go, guess what goes with them? Jobs. And if you were a client and were told you would get penalized if you didn't fill a job whether you found someone appropriate to fill it or not, and that you'd have to accept loads of total non-match proposals into your folder due to freelancers having a zillion possible Connects each month, what would you do? Go. Right? I would.

[lornamann]

Thanks Melanie, 

Think you misunderstood my post slightly. I would not suggest penalising a client for not finding a suitable freelancer for a job and I completely understand that jobs sometimes don't happen or get paused for whatever reason. The part that had frustrated me slightly is when a job is just left open and a client goes quiet on you, after selecting you as a potential candidate and sending multiple messages, instead of politely letting you know that they are no longer interested in your services etc.

I also am not suggesting more connects for freelancers. Again, I appreciate this would increase spamming etc. I was just tentatively trying to see if it was possible for freelancers to regain their lost connects in these unfortunate circumstances. 

I understand it's tough for freelancers but my question has now been answered so thank you for your comments. 

[colettelewis]

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@Lorna M wrote:

Thanks Melanie, 

Think you misunderstood my post slightly. I would not suggest penalising a client for not finding a suitable freelancer for a job and I completely understand that jobs sometimes don't happen or get paused for whatever reason. The part that had frustrated me slightly is when a job is just left open and a client goes quiet on you, after selecting you as a potential candidate and sending multiple messages, instead of politely letting you know that they are no longer interested in your services etc.

I also am not suggesting more connects for freelancers. Again, I appreciate this would increase spamming etc. I was just tentatively trying to see if it was possible for freelancers to regain their lost connects in these unfortunate circumstances. 

I understand it's tough for freelancers but my question has now been answered so thank you for your comments. 

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 ____________________________

Lorna,

Whatever the perceived unfairness of connects, the only time connects get returned, is if the client cancels the post (without any contract), or if Upwork delists the job for breach of ToS. They do not get returned if the job goes into the ether and there is no hire or cancellation, and on the latter, there is no way that Upwork is going change that.

Someone once said that connects are like postage stamps, so consider lost connects as a stamp on a B & M world proposal letter that was ignored by the company you sent it to. Are you going to complain to that company about a postage stamp?  (What is more, Upwork gives us free "postage stamps"!) 😉

[lornamann]

Thank you, Nichola for your response. 

I am now very clear that I was in the wrong. 

I would just like to make clear that I would never complain to a company for not responding to my proposals. This is fair enough if they are not interested.