Upwork is (IMO) a major reason jobs are not awarded.

[penngrp]

More specifically the "Best Match" candidates that are pushed onto clients. Judging by the fact that out of 21 proposals sent, and only 2 viewed it seems painfully obvious that I am not among those Upwork considers an ideal match. This, despte the fact that I only do 1 type of job, and have done so for more than 100 clients on Upwork.

I also believe that this is one of the key reasons that a majority of jobs are not awarded. Quite simply, the potential clients get fed up with being inundated with Upwork's suggested freelancers who are not even remotely qualified for the job in question.

On a completely different topic. These preliminary questions can really be annoying and time consuming, so, can we at least make them available only to those whose payment method has been verified.  

[williamtcooper]

Jeffrey,

It means that your Cover Letter and / or the job post that you are applying to isn't resonating with the clients. My view rate is 40% instead of 10%. Try these success TIPS below:

COVER LETTER: Create a flexible cover letter that is less than 100 words. Long cover letters rarely get read, but instead are ignored. Break the cover letter into four sections. Section 1 : Acknowledge the job that you are applying for such as "Looking forward to discussing your graphics design project". Section 2: Highlight your validations stamps IE skills that are brought to their project. Section 3 Explain how you will solve their problem and the final section request an Upwork Zoom call to discuss their project.

JOB SUBMISSIONS: Tips - Only apply to Jobs that you are highly qualified, don't Bid for the top 3 spots unless you are an exact match and have a high probability of getting the job, don't immediately apply for jobs, but instead wait at least a few hours so your bidding is more accurate, don't get into bidding wars because serious Clients will view most applicant's cover letters, don't apply for Jobs that have 20 - 50 applicants in less than 24 hours. If a Client gets 50 cover letters, there is only a 2% chance of being hired; bad odds. I set my freelancer sort to apply for jobs with less than 20 proposals.