Upwork technical oddities

[Vesna M]

You should really rethink budget categories entry, intermediate and expert. I see people are chosing for example expert - willing to pay highest rate, and then in job description explicitly say they pay up to $33. Or they choose expert and you see history for that type of job never paid above $15, and average price they pay on the right bar is around $12. 

This is misleading and harmful for freelancers because we use filters to avoid cheap jobs, then we spend connects on exactly those types of jobs we tried to avoid, and it goes to waste because client will ignore application with rate above his budget.

If you have categories like that force clients to choose exact hourly rate range they are ok with. They'll have less irrelevant applications, and freelancers will less spend time and connects in futile.

[Richard W]

I agree with Vesna about the budget/skill-level categories.

I don't think the problem lies in clients trying to get a high skill level at low a price.  Let them try. It's a free market, and they may succeed. I think the problem lies in the fact that two different parameters (skill level required and how much the client is willing to pay) have been combined into one.

I suggest separating the two. Have a pure skill-level field that says nothing about money; and, for hourly jobs, have a field for the client to say what hourly rate they're willing to pay. For fixed-price jobs clients already have a field for saying how much they're willing to pay ("Budget"), so this would make the two types of job more consistent.

Disclaimer: I've only been on Upwork for a couple of months.

[Ken S]

I vary my pricing.  It depends on the task.  Some are simple and I can do it in my sleep so I put a lower price.  Also if it's a job I really want I may put a lower price to be more competitive.  

If Upwork has scanned a file and deemed it to be unsafe regardless of the extension I'd like to know about it and not have to find out after I downloaded it that it's malicious.

Personally I like the mobile app although today I wasn't able to update a saved search for jobs with the same saved search name.  I had to use the website. But receiving alerts is great when I'm away from my desk walking the dog.

[Jennifer M]

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@Ken S wrote:

I vary my pricing.  It depends on the task.  Some are simple and I can do it in my sleep so I put a lower price.  Also if it's a job I really want I may put a lower price to be more competitive.  

If Upwork has scanned a file and deemed it to be unsafe regardless of the extension I'd like to know about it and not have to find out after I downloaded it that it's malicious.

Personally I like the mobile app although today I wasn't able to update a saved search for jobs with the same saved search name.  I had to use the website. But receiving alerts is great when I'm away from my desk walking the dog.

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 Wouldn't knowing how to do something in your sleep mean you're experienced, so it costs more?

[Vesna M]

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@Ken S wrote:

I vary my pricing.  It depends on the task.  Some are simple and I can do it in my sleep so I put a lower price.  Also if it's a job I really want I may put a lower price to be more competitive.  

If Upwork has scanned a file and deemed it to be unsafe regardless of the extension I'd like to know about it and not have to find out after I downloaded it that it's malicious.

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Isn't there a limit under which you are not willing to go? Price that's too low for you? I'm not addressing the fact there are cheap and expensive jobs, but what I personally am not willing to accept, and information I have is misleading. Highest rate for design jobs were never up to $33. It may be for removing background from image, but not for presentations.

I don't know what Upwork does with files. Files have restrictions and I'm unable to download them. After I ask client to resend I get that same file and it's not infected. That means Upwork just put restriction no matter what status of the file is - infected or not. 

[Richard W]

I had the same problem a couple of days ago: not being able to download a file attached to a job description because Upwork deemed it unsafe.  It was a zip file that probably contained a macro-enabled Excel file.

I think we (clients and freelancers) should be told what sort of criteria the software uses for deciding that a file is dangerous, so we can do our best to avoid having our files blocked in this way. I frequently attach macro-enabled Excel files to my proposals as demos. I know that at least some of these have not been blocked, but now I'm worried that others may be.

Alternatively, we should be told at the time we submit a proposal (or job description) if our file is considered unsafe, and given a chance to revise the proposal.

[Richard W]

I just came across another job description with a blocked attachment, another macro-enabled Excel file (this time not zipped). It's beginning to look like Upwork is blocking all such files, which is going to be a nuisance, since much of my work involves them.

[Vesna M]

It doesn't block just macro enabled files. I work with .pptx. PowerPoint with macro enabled has different extension, .pptm. Still, from time to time I can't download .pptx.

[Jennifer M]

My client couldn't open my file that I submitted last night. blah

looks like we're gonna have to send in two places, and I hate that cuz I like to make them go to the submit area where it's easier for them to click the release funds button.

[Vesna M]

How do I delete previously saved search in my job feed? I don't see an option for it. Is this a glitch or a feature?

Edit: Nevermind, I found out how to do it.