Upwork - Job Success Thread **title edited**

[jademilburn]

I want Community Forum Moderators to add to this thread, and really listen to what is going on.

I, like many others am sure have the same story.

I used to love Odesk, and got many job interviews each week. I had all 5 star feedback, and glowing written references from my clients. Then Odesk made alot of changes and introduced Job Success rate. I was shocked that mine was 67%. That was until I looked at other discussions and heard of other people who had five star feedback, lots of good references and yet had a very low job success rate.

This system is beyond unfair as

!)Upwork introduced new changes and a new feedback system. They should NOT include information that people believed was being entered anonymously, prior to the changes. The Job success rate includes information that clients did not think would be shown publicly. They left star feedback that would be shown publicly. You CANNOt use retroactive data for a new system.

2)Since the Job success rate has been started, I am now not getting invited to interview for ANY jobs, so how could I get my Job success rate, even if I tried?

You have made a very bad error with this.

Can every freelancer on this forum who wants to get rid of the job success rate feature, reply with 'Get rid', and lets see if they listen to us.

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi MD. Saiful,

Please, note that even contracts where no money was paid or full refund was issued can contribute to your Job Success score. Before you accept the offer, please make sure you are able to complete the task and communicate with the client in a timely and professional manner. 

[great-name]

I don't understand how JSS benefits anybody...

My JSS was over 90%, but now, due to contracts not being closed by clients or leaving feedback it is 85%.

This doesn't help clients, who already have every opportunity to close contracts and leave negative feedback, request changes and more. 

This doesn't help freelancers; we cannot force a client to close a contract nor can we force them to leave feedback.

This doesn't help Upwork as it encourages freelancers to pester and badger clients into closing contracts and leaving feedback. 

I'll be looking for another freelancing platform. 

[darnedo]

Hi Guys,

Hi, I would love to know why my Job Success Score  is getting down, after a 5 stars successful project?
Before it was 75 and now 73%.

Thanks for your support,
Debora Costa

[5315eb4a]

If you would finish the work you agreed to do, it would be a five star rating. 😞

[glen-s]

Relieved to a degree that I am not the only one distressed about this poor rating system.

Much of my work has been done on PPH before I arrived here 2 months ago. I now have 4 x 5 and 2 x 4.6 star reviews. I finally got my JSS today and it's set at 72%!

It's not only staggering that people can leave great feedback and then - for some unknown reason - provide negative feedback behind your back to sabotage your hard work. I've had no complaints, no refunds, been hired twice by two separate clients (which accounts for 4 of the 6 jobs) have no outstanding open contracts (apart from one I am actively working on) and had feedback left for them all. I've met deadlines, always been courteous and communicated frequently to keep clients up to date. It's crazy.

I'm deeply concerned that this poor score will mean I will not be able to win further work, as the robotic advice on Upwork says scores under 75% make it extremely hard to win work. Especially as it will remain at that same score for half of the working month. They then send you 'helpful' links so you can 'improve' your score, but if you are not told what the problems are, how the hell can you fix them?!

[jonathanmunyoki]

My JSS dropped yet I completed a job and got a 5 star rating recently. Is there a way that this could be explained because I haven't had any cancelled contract in between the last 2 updates of my JSS? If there is, what can I do to increase my JSS. Infact, it dropped from a 71 because of a client who was very unprofessional and scammed me halfway the project to cancel the project. I am still wondering why we have to pay with a drop in our JSS if we perform as expected but our clients are not cooperating and some are even in to scam us and request for refunds halfway through the project. This results in a double loss of both time and also affects negatively the JSS which inturn makes it very difficult to get a new job.

[atharhaleem803]

Hi

I joined Upwork about year ago. It was a real pleasure to work here with most of the nice clients. After few months my score start decreasing rapidly and after contacting team they said few unpaid contracts may be the reason. A freelancer has no authority to push client to go for more work it's client responsibility to end contract or go for more work but unfortunately you have to pay the price if you are a freelancer. Moreover, clients shouldn't be given too much leverage as I have seen that in few contracts clients gives feedback 3-4* in deadline column even if you have delivered your work before deadline. Same case is with communication etc.

2. Other main concern I am going to discuss is that a client shouldn't have access that if he gives 5 star rating publicly and gives you 4 out of 10 in private feedback. There shouldn't be this much difference in private and public feedback, may be two points difference should be acceptable.

https://www.upwork.com/o/profiles/users/_~01b5949c27ec7a0517/

[allergywriter]

Athar:

I know JSS is frustrating.  But you still have very positive feedback on your profile. The clients that bother to say anything only say good things.

I think we would all agree that Upwork should not assume that no feedback = negative feedback but I don't think they will be changing it.

Just keep turning out the good work that the reviews say you do and you will keep getting clients.

Hang in there

[luciana_goyhman]

Hi. 

Im suffering from the drop of my JSS too.

It started droping since January, from 100% to 83% and now Im stuck in 88%. 

Im getting great feedback, not having inactive contracts and getting paid for my job. But my score is still there.

Is not easy to get new jobs if your score is under 90%, because most clients in their job posts dont accept freelancers with less than 90%.

I hope upwork could do something for freelancers and take that more in consideration.

We´re workers that are damaged by a score that does not represent our hard work and responsibility.

Thanks

[jmlaidlaw]

---

@Athar H wrote:
Hi

2. Other main concern I am going to discuss is that a client shouldn't have access that if he gives 5 star rating publicly and gives you 4 out of 10 in private feedback. There shouldn't be this much difference in private and public feedback, may be two points difference should be acceptable.

---

So you are suggesting that Upwork check on the "points [of] difference" and correct any untoward discrepancies? That could certainly be done. Of course, you might be unhappy ("be careful what you wish for") when Upwork ends up resolving your concern by lowering the public feedback you receive so that it matches the private feedback you receive. Would that be "acceptable," as you put it?

[tlbp]

That's a great idea. That way clients could provide feedback without repercussions but we would still be able to find out what they really thought of the freelancer. 

[mohammadabuola]

Hello,

I'm a translator and I completed 11 jobs. I got 5 stars for 9 jobs, 3 stars for one and no feedback for one. My job success rate is 89%, I think this is unfair!

For the job that I have no feedback for is done very well and the client was very happy with it. He said that he will send me other files to translate but he didn't. I ended the contract once I knew I could do that and asked him to give me the feedback but I guess he is not on upwork anymore.

The second job is not related to translation and I got it during my first days at upwork becasue I didn't have any other jobs. I did two hours worth of work then I stopped because I figured that it's inapproperiate. The job was commenting 20 different possitive comments on 20 different sites using different fake names. 

I did a mistake in accepting the job from the start but I stopped and my rating shouldn't be affected this much!

Please advise

[jmlaidlaw]

@ Mohammad --

It looks as if you have a strong start on Upwork. I congratulate you for recognizing the inappropriate nature of the job that you chose to quit. It's unfortunate that this may have affected your JSS somewhat, but you did the right thing. Most of us have been in a position where we have taken a hit to JSS because of a client who was less than ideal (a scammer; a "farmer"; a little bit "off" or unstable; unrealistic with expectations; disappeared into outer space...).

Your JSS is not at all bad. My own has been worse, and is now very good. You can bring up the JSS with continued good work. 

No, JSS is not always "fair," as a freelancer sees it. There's no use in worrying about it. The good news is that you are clearly applying for jobs that suit your skills. The better news is that your profile shows a record of good comments and satisfied clients.

[rsm2016]

@Mohammed

The JSS of UpWork may seem unfair. Believe me, if you scroll up, I too was a victim of a bad JSS ( I mean really bad. It dropped down to %52). My point being is that it has been my personal experience from both a client and freelancer point of view that the JSS is a recommendative number and it still boils down to public feedback and your ability to craft a well-written proposal to stand out. I'm working on a future piece about this and recovering from such mighty blows. Hang in there my friend. It does get better.  Instead of creating additional banter on what many of us have been working to get changed for awhile, try research different ways you can bring value to your proposal and other techniques you can use. UpWork has an amazing set of resources on this topic. I agree with Janean, positive public feedback and great job success are more important than the JSS.

[vkendrick_]

Guys I really need help, I dont know why I got 57% Job Success Score, and now it's really hard for me to get a job.

My question is how can I regain my Job success score? and is it possible to get a job with a Low Job Success Score? Tips and feedback are very welcome

Thank you

[marina_hramina]

I got an unfair negative feedback - that wasn't my fault, just a demanding client. As a result despite the successfully-closed projects I have a score - 31%. That makes my work on upwork absolutely impossible. I have to start extremely cheap projects just to change the situation. What should I do? When can my JSS be improved?

[VladimirG]

Hi Marina,

I'm sorry to hear about the frustration your Job Success Score is creating. Please note that one bad feedback can't impact your score by that much and the only way to improve your score is by successfully completing more contracts and getting feedback.

[marina_hramina]

I understand that only one feedback can't spoil  whole JSS - that's why I'm so surprised. I have only one unsuccessful project, the other are over 4,5. When the JSS is updated - once in 2 weeks?

[VladimirG]

Hi Marina,

Please note that your clients also leave private feedback, similar to the feedback process on your end, which is included in your score's calculation. Please check this Help article for more details.

[fb45f098]

Completely wrong! You can finish the work you were asked to do, then the client can give you whatever JSS rating they want. Or they might leave no JSS rating (not realizing the importance) which also negatively impacts your JSS. You won't even know why they gave you that score (so you can't actually improve your rating) so you can't improve if you went wrong or you definitely can't contest it. Sound fair?

[VladimirG]

Hi GM,

Please note that clients like yourself leave feedback for freelancers they hire on Upwork, which is later included in their Job Success Score calculation. 

[adouek]

Hello, I have always had great relationship and reviews from my employers yet my Job Success score is quite low. I've never left a project incomplete, but some contracts are still open as the client is either idle or wants to have the opportunity to add more work in the future. 

How can I help that? Thanks

[allergywriter]

Andrew, your JSS isn't "quite low" you just would like it to be higher.

The job with no feedback is probably dragging you down a bit. I know, it doesn't seem right to freelancers, but no feedback = not successful in terms of JSS.

It might be possible that some of those 5 star public people marked you a little lower in private.

Just keep turning out great work and your JSS will reflect it

[adouek]

Hi Cheryl, 
 thanks for replying. I've added clients for the long-term, more hourly hours and yet my scored dropped. Only thing that could drag me is 2 clients who are idle (asked me to wait as they are busy/collecting source material). So I should cancel their jobs to improve my JSS? It would be rude imho, it should count against me if I'm the idle person, not the client. That could be helped e.g. by checking who's the one who replied last.

[allergywriter]

So here is the danger in closing those contracts.

If you close them, the client might not leave feedback. No feedback will count against you.

I know people say to close long idle contracts, but I have a few I have kept open just because I know if I close them the client probably won't leave feedback. These are contracts that can sit idle for months and suddenly in pops the client wanting some work.

It's bad if you close them and bad if you keep them open.

[mwangiwanjiru]

Hi,

Job success score can influence the rate of getting jobs. When you are applying to a project that has JSS beyond yours and yet you feel that you are competent to take the project. Most of the clients are posting projects and assign a 90% qualification for freelancers hence an extra effort for freelancers who are below JSS of 90%. Since client's unresponsiveness and open projects can influence JSS, I believe there's an assumption that freelancers with over 90% JSS are better. Could there be other parameters of showing competitiveness of freelances to clients.

Many thanks,

Jorum

[ritzar]

Dear Upwork community,

Please let me tell some thoughts about JSS system:

So, despite on a fact that it was implemented 3 years ago, it is still frustrating for many freelancers.

I'd like to propose some minor upgrades to Upwork team based on my own experience:

Recently I send help request about my own JSS and got the following responce:

- over 2 years is 74%
- over 1 year is 92%
- over 6 months is 100% and more recent is 100

It means that Upwork support has access to detailed statistics, as well as statistics about spent connects and conversion rate.

So is it possible to include such statistic (3 JSS's , applied jobs per month , approx. conversion rate, and probably, 'predictable JSS') in 'My Stats' tab? I am sure that this could make situation much more clear for freelancers and would help to avoid many help requests.

Also I am interested, why skill tests do not affect anythig? Formerly, you could get additional quotes for 5+ passed tests. Is it possible to modify this section so it could also affect our marketing effectiveness?

Thanks

Eugene

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Eugene,

The team has considered adding more information about Job Success Score over various time windows to My Stats. However, we don't yet have any ETA for when it may be implemented. We do appreciate your feedback. 

Tests contribute to your profile completeness which is essential for many programs such as Top Rated, Premium Programs, etc. We don't have any plans to increase the amount of connects freelancers receive with their Basic and Plus Memberships.

[ruwhan]

Hello there,

Last time I was working with Upwork was 1 year ago, and now my job success score stats/client satisfaction stats is empty. Is there still any chance for me to get a work? Is empty stats counted as 0%? Last time my JSS was 72% or 74%.

Thanks,
Rully

[AveryO]

Hi Rully, 

While you do not have a Job Success Score, you should still be able to apply for jobs on the platform, and land projects with your existing profile. Your profile is good, you have consistent 4 to 5 starts in your contracts in the past and it is something that clients will not overlook.

[hossain-noman]

Hi,
My job success was 91%. But I wonder when I completed the last job and get paid with good rated, it changed to 67%, Can any one help me,
Last payment screen shot has been attached

* I can't post any message to upwork help center. Submit a request button doesn't work

Thanks
Noman

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[tlbp]

It is possible that all of your October 21015 and prior jobs are no longer included in your JSS calculation, leaving you with fewer reviews to be considered. Have you refunded or canceled any jobs in the past 24 months?

[hossain-noman]

Sorry I was busy with doctor and hospital.  couldn't connect with. 

At first client posted 3 project in 1 job post (icon + coral + decor + structure) for $625

and then he break it down in 3 job

1) _ icon and coral for $250

He did not change the name and amount of contact which should be icon and coral for $250 instead of icon + coral + decor + structure for $625 (screenshot added) wish I can make understand 🙂

if problem is here what should I do then?

2) _structure for $225,

He paid $280. ($55 as extra cost)

3)_decor for $ 150

will be start soon, within 2/3 days.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[jmlaidlaw]

@ Md M. --

Why does your name appear as "Md M.," while your post is signed as "Noman"? Meanwhile, your clients' feedback refers to you variously as "Mahamud Hossain" and "Noman."

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Md,

Please send me the screenshots via PM and what is your concern about this contract and i will advise your further. 
Publishing private information is not allowed, as it is stated in our Community Guidelines.

[betheboss]

Today my JSS updated and it decreased 92% to 88%. In this time frame, I have totally got 5 feedbacks. In one job the client send me offer and I accepted and next day he closed it. I haven't got any feedback and also earned nothing from that contract. Another contract called **Edited for Community Guidelines**  Where I got 4.45 and I think she also didn't give me good private feedback. Other contract called *...Community Guidelines** where I got 5stars and I think she also left good public feedback too but I am not sure. I got anoth...

Here my questions are-

1. How can my JSS decrease? I got just one bad feedback out of 5.

2. Did Upwork count Saturday feedbacks? or Not?

Please help me.

Thank you in advance

Al Imran

[priyamahendra]

Dear Sir/Madam, My Job Success Score is still not updated. Right now 89% that is also same 89% from previous update of 14 days.Long-term clients: last 14 days it was change from 28% to 31% So, I thought it will increase to 90% But feedback is still same from previous month. my recent client could not provide feedback so, what can i do for this. My questions are 1. Is there update or not? 2. how would you take the missing feedback of client (because some of them get the result and gone)? 3. now i have 31% long term client so its not use for my stat increase. hereafter, suppose repeated client will not come means decrease long term client. So, how can i improve myself? Please consider my request because most of client could not select below 90%

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Mahendra,

Yes the update for JSS is today around 2-3 UTC, you might have a short delay on your update. But since your mentioning the same feedback is from before your JSS has is remaining same as before.

Contracts with no feedback have a slight negative impact on your JSS.

You can focus on smaller fixed price projects so that they are included in your calculation a little bit faster.

[dzadza]

I've decided not to be held hostage anymore by unprofessional clients who simply don't care how this site works and don't close contracts / leave feedback. I've had 18 open contracts at one point - so I've decided to close 7. I know that clients won't show up to leave feedback (they haven't logged on in months - they just released milestones, took the work and left), so I will have several contracts closed with no feedback and I can expect my JSS will end up being around 60% I guess.
At this point, I don't even care...

[allergywriter]

Sanja:

Why not stagger closing those contracts?

When you finish a job with a closed contract and good feedback, go close an old job.

Maybe that will minimize the hit to your JSS