Fixed contract payment

[barbara1809]

I just got my first job and it's a fixed price contract. However the person sent the file to be translated through the chat and that's it. It feels very informal. The job is not on my "Active Contracts" page. Should it be? I'm worried about sending the final product and not getting paid. I should have a contract there before I hand it in, right?

[prestonhunter]

re: "I just got my first job and it's a fixed price contract. However the person sent the file to be translated through the chat and that's it. It feels very informal. The job is not on my 'Active Contracts' page."

There are two possibilities:

a) This is not a real client. This is a scammer. She is trying to trick you into working for free.

b) This is a newbie/inexperienced client who does not know how to use Upwork properly.

re: "Should it be?"

Yes.

re: "I'm worried about sending the final product and not getting paid. I should have a contract there before I hand it in, right?"

That is right.

If you work now, you are working for free.

[prestonhunter]

re: "I should have a contract there before I hand it in, right?"

Not "before you hand it in."

You need a contract in place before you BEGIN WORKING.

You need to see the contract here:

Upwork -> My Jobs -> My Jobs

And you need to see the full amount of money FUNDED in escrow.

[barbara1809]

Okay. Thank you.

Luckily it wasn't much work. Rookie mistake.

I was excited to finally get a job here that I didn't worry about that until now.

Hopefully it isn't a scam.

Thank you for the quick reply.

[prestonhunter]

Barbara:
It might not be a scam. It's easy to find out. Tell the client:

"Henry, thank you for the opportunity. I'm ready to work on this immediately. As soon as you have a chance to click the Hire button on your end, I'll accept the contract and get started."

[kat303]

If they sent you the file through chat, that may be ok. You can use it to your advantage. You can listen to it to hear the quality of it and how difficult it may be to hear and/or understand any spoken words. You can listen to 5 or 10 minutes of it to determine the above. If you feel that this is something you can deliver and of course if it fits your skill, you can then message the client letting them know you listened to it, and feel you can deliver a completed job to their satisfaction. Let them know that as soon as they hire you on Upwork, have their account verified (if it's not) and FULLY fund escrow (if it's a fixed rate job) you'll get started on the job. Of course, if you need more information or have questions, communicate that BEFORE accepting the job. 

So unless you see that you see the job under Active Contracts and you see escrow Fully funded (fixed rate jobs), Do not start work. 

[AveryO]

Hi Barbara, 

You received excellent advise from our Community here. In addition, I would recommend that you read up on these freelancer resources and these tips for avoiding questionable jobs, for help getting started, and for more information about working safely through Upwork. Hopefully, you'll be able to identify red flags when applying for jobs in the future. 

[prestonhunter]

Good news:

If you actually did go ahead and complete work on the file...

Then the work BELONGS TO YOU.

If the client never actually hires you and pays you for the work, then everything you did belongs to you permanently.

You may put this into your portfolio.

[barbara1809]

That's good to know. At least I get something out of it.

It doesn't look like he is going to reply to my request for the contract.

Thank you.

[petra_r]

---

Preston H wrote:

If the client never actually hires you and pays you for the work, then everything you did belongs to you permanently.

You may put this into your portfolio.

---

No, she may not. You keep saying that and it simply isn't true. (in most cases)

Unless she owns the original, she does not own the translation. 

[martina_plaschka]

---

Barbara C wrote:

I just got my first job and it's a fixed price contract. However the person sent the file to be translated through the chat and that's it. It feels very informal. The job is not on my "Active Contracts" page. Should it be? I'm worried about sending the final product and not getting paid. I should have a contract there before I hand it in, right?

---

Sending the file through the chat function is, in itself, nothing at all suspicious. Unless the file is attached to the job posting, it is IMO the best way to send it. Other ways could be your private email or any other means of communication that you agree on with the client, but I've never found it necessary to use anything else but upwork channels.