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e2de8137
Community Member

Getting Paid for Teaching Other How to use Upwork

Hello,

 

Is it ethically acceptable by Upwork to set a job announcement that we offer paid tutoring sessions on how to get started with Upwork?

 

 

Looking forward to your replies. Smiley Wink

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi All

 

In general, offering services to tutor or coach others how to use Upwork isn't prohibited as long as it doesn't involve violating Upwork TOS. If you come across a specific profile or a job you find suspicious but aren't sure about, feel free to report it for the team's review using Flag as Inappropriate option.

 

I'd also like to note that a lot of helpful information about Upwork features and processes, as well as tips on how to get started and build business on Upwork can be found on Upwork Help pages, Resource Center and here in the Community.

~ Bojan
Upwork

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32 REPLIES 32
martina_plaschka
Community Member


Fatima H wrote:

Hello,

 

Is it ethically acceptable by Upwork to set a job announcement that we offer paid tutoring sessions on how to get started with Upwork?

 

 

Looking forward to your replies. Smiley Wink


Doesn't sound too ethical to me. 

Replying to Martina:

Thanks for sharing your view point and I would love more detailed explanation about this if possible.

roberty1y
Community Member

If someone can make money telling people how to get jobs on Upwork, I don't see anything wrong with that. But, if they're such experts at it, you have to ask yourself why they're not spending their time doing jobs here rather than telling others how to. 

 

In my view, by far the best advice on how to use Upwork is to be had for free here in these threads. It's given by people who have been through it all, from landing their first job on Upwork to making a decent living on the site.


Robert Y wrote:

If someone can make money telling people how to get jobs on Upwork, I don't see anything wrong with that. But, if they're such experts at it, you have to ask yourself why they're not spending their time doing jobs here rather than telling others how to. 

 

In my view, by far the best advice on how to use Upwork is to be had for free here in these threads. It's given by people who have been through it all, from landing their first job on Upwork to making a decent living on the site.


I'm too lazy to look into the ToS if it's strictly forbidden, but there are a million things wrong with the concept of charging a freelancer to train (?) them how to upwork, when the newbie could simply read the material the platform provides for that exact purpose. 


Martina P wrote:


I'm too lazy to look into the ToS if it's strictly forbidden, but there are a million things wrong with the concept of charging a freelancer to train (?) them how to upwork, when the newbie could simply read the material the platform provides for that exact purpose. 


With the number of questions from new people that are lazy to google their questions, I'm not surprised.

But honestly, unless someone well-established just wants to quickly get started as a freelancer, a simple newbie will no have enough earnings to hire a mentor. It's a luxury since good freelancers would rather work than teach someone to work and will charge not less but more.


Viacheslav K wrote:

Martina P wrote:


I'm too lazy to look into the ToS if it's strictly forbidden, but there are a million things wrong with the concept of charging a freelancer to train (?) them how to upwork, when the newbie could simply read the material the platform provides for that exact purpose. 


With the number of questions from new people that are lazy to google their questions, I'm not surprised.

But honestly, unless someone well-established just wants to quickly get started as a freelancer, a simple newbie will no have enough earnings to hire a mentor. It's a luxury since good freelancers would rather work than teach someone to work and will charge not less but more.


The freelancer would have to create a freelancer profile and a client account, be able to post a job or find a freelancer offering that service. Once he has mastered all that, he does not need tutoring any longer. 

Martina P. wrote:


The freelancer would have to create a freelancer profile and a client account, be able to post a job or find a freelancer offering that service. Once he has mastered all that, he does not need tutoring any longer. 


Touché.





The freelancer would have to create a freelancer profile and a client account, be able to post a job or find a freelancer offering that service. Once he has mastered all that, he does not need tutoring any longer. 


Touché.


Remove my full name


Martina P wrote:




The freelancer would have to create a freelancer profile and a client account, be able to post a job or find a freelancer offering that service. Once he has mastered all that, he does not need tutoring any longer. 


Touché.


Remove my full name


Weird how that even happened.


Martina P wrote:




The freelancer would have to create a freelancer profile and a client account, be able to post a job or find a freelancer offering that service. Once he has mastered all that, he does not need tutoring any longer. 


Touché.


Remove my full name


did you ever use the upwork plus URL rename? Looks it's visible here.... I messaged Valeria about it.

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi All

 

In general, offering services to tutor or coach others how to use Upwork isn't prohibited as long as it doesn't involve violating Upwork TOS. If you come across a specific profile or a job you find suspicious but aren't sure about, feel free to report it for the team's review using Flag as Inappropriate option.

 

I'd also like to note that a lot of helpful information about Upwork features and processes, as well as tips on how to get started and build business on Upwork can be found on Upwork Help pages, Resource Center and here in the Community.

~ Bojan
Upwork


Viacheslav K wrote:

Martina P wrote:




The freelancer would have to create a freelancer profile and a client account, be able to post a job or find a freelancer offering that service. Once he has mastered all that, he does not need tutoring any longer. 


Touché.


Remove my full name


did you ever use the upwork plus URL rename? Looks it's visible here.... I messaged Valeria about it.


Thanks. No I never used that since I never had upwork plus.


Martina P wrote:


Thanks. No I never used that since I never had upwork plus.


Welp, she said showing the username is by design and seem to be an issue from long ago:
https://community.upwork.com/t5/Coffee-Break/Usernames-showing-in-the-forum/m-p/463629/highlight/tru...


Viacheslav K wrote:

Martina P wrote:


Thanks. No I never used that since I never had upwork plus.


Welp, she said showing the username is by design and seem to be an issue from long ago:
https://community.upwork.com/t5/Coffee-Break/Usernames-showing-in-the-forum/m-p/463629/highlight/tru...


I've never seen a user name of anybody here, so I don't get it...


Martina P wrote:

Viacheslav K wrote:

Martina P wrote:


Thanks. No I never used that since I never had upwork plus.


Welp, she said showing the username is by design and seem to be an issue from long ago:
https://community.upwork.com/t5/Coffee-Break/Usernames-showing-in-the-forum/m-p/463629/highlight/tru...


I've never seen a user name of anybody here, so I don't get it...


You could try to ask them to change it because it is visible in the source code...

Its been doing that for quite some time and there were people talking about it alot, about say 6 months ago.

prestonhunter
Community Member

Fatima:

There is nothing unethical about what you propose.

 

It is allowed by Upwork TOS.

Thanks for sharing and stating the fact tht it is not considered Unethical.

Well, I'd say that it could be unethical, depending on what you're teaching. I've seen loads of people posting incorrect or even damaging advice on places like Facebook and You Tube, or else making exaggerated claims about how much success people will have if they pay for coaching. Such practices are definitely unethical. Before I would pay anyone to teach me anything, I would want to know what their qualifications are. If you've never done any Upwork projects yourself, then where is your expertise coming from?

She isn't asking if it could be unethical. She isn't asking if it is unethical to do it if done in an unethical manner.

 

She is asking if it is unethical as a general concept. It is not.

 

Is it possible to do it in an unethical manner?

Yes.

Everything can be done in an unethical manner.

 

More specifically, she asked if it is acceptable by Upwork. It is.

 

That does not mean that we recommend that the original poster herself do this.

And it doesn't mean that we recommend ANYBODY do this.

 

There is nothing wrong with not wanting the original poster or anybody else to do this.

I had no trouble understanding the question, Preston, and I know there's nothing unethical about the concept of teaching in general. I was questioning - the OP, not you -whether it would be ethical for somebody with zero Upwork experience to offer their services as an Upwork coach. And is there really nothing in Upwork's terms of service that say a freelancer shouldn't misrepresent their skills and expertise?


Christine A wrote:
I had no trouble understanding the question

I actually do have issues understanding the OP's original question.

 

Here is what she is saying "set a job announcement that we offer paid tutoring sessions on how to get started with Upwork?" and the title of the thread is "Getting Paid for Teaching Other How to use Upwork"


She asked if it OK to post a job offering to teach others how to get started on Upwork. 

This does not make any sense. It actually WOULD be a violation to offer freelancing services on a job post (there is even a flagging option for it)


Some seem to have taken it that the OP wants to hire someone to teach her. That is not the case or at least not what she wrote.

 

She clearly wote that she and whoever makes up the "we" part wants to offer a service that teaches others.

Where the ethical problem comes into it is that the OP isn't really in any position to teach anyone how to get started on Upwork given that she hasn't accomplished that herself yet...

 

It is unethical to ask for payment for teaching something you don't know much, if anything, about.

 


Petra R wrote:

Christine A wrote:
I had no trouble understanding the question

I actually do have issues understanding the OP's original question.

 

Here is what she is saying "set a job announcement that we offer paid tutoring sessions on how to get started with Upwork?" and the title of the thread is "Getting Paid for Teaching Other How to use Upwork"


She asked if it OK to post a job offering to teach others how to get started on Upwork. 

This does not make any sense. It actually WOULD be a violation to offer freelancing services on a job post (there is even a flagging option for it)


Some seem to have taken it that the OP wants to hire someone to teach her. That is not the case or at least not what she wrote.

 

She clearly wote that she and whoever makes up the "we" part wants to offer a service that teaches others.

Where the ethical problem comes into it is that the OP isn't really in any position to teach anyone how to get started on Upwork given that she hasn't accomplished that herself yet...

 

It is unethical to ask for payment for teaching something you don't know much, if anything, about.

 


Agree. And if she actually set up a job posting for this, she would be paying the freelancer who accepts the job. I'd say she is in no position to teach, as she does not understand how this works at all.

e2de8137
Community Member

The confusing part is when someone replies to the person, not the post itself. We do not always have to post mainly about our concerns but rather common thoughts that concern the community. So, the question has no relation with the one who is posting it unless the person states that this is a personal question where in my question it was too general. Thanks for sharing your viewpoint though. 

re: "It actually WOULD be a violation to offer freelancing services on a job post (there is even a flagging option for it)"

 

Good point.

 

I assumed that she did not mean that literally.

I think most of us just assumed that, based on context.

 

I could have been more explicit:

As a general concept, there is nothing unethical and nothing prohibited by Upwork TOS about posting a job asking to be taught how to do something.

And there is nothing unethical and nothing prohibited by Upwork ToS about offering services to teach people how to do something.

 

This extends to teaching how to use Upwork effectively, although that is not what we would normally expect a client to hire a freelancer to teach. I have been hired to teach clients database design techniques. As a client, I have hired freelancers to teach me Linux configuration techniques.

 

As others have pointed out, the wording in the original post isn't clear.

petra_r
Community Member


Fatima H wrote:

Thanks for sharing and stating the fact tht it is not considered Unethical.


He didn't state a fact.

He stated an opinion, based on a faulty premise.

 

He thought you, the inexperienced newbie, want to hire and pay someone experienced to teach you how to use Upwork. Because clearly that would be logical as generally those who want to teach know their subject inside out.

 

Preston H wrote:

As a general concept, there is nothing unethical and nothing prohibited by Upwork TOS about posting a job asking to be taught how to do something.


She isn't asking to be taught. She wants to do the teaching! 

 


Preston H wrote:

As others have pointed out, the wording in the original post isn't clear.


Together with the title of the thread and the OP's background it is clear enough.

e2de8137
Community Member

Again, when replying to a post, it is better to link to the content, not the person posting. Thanks for sharing your views. 


Fatima H wrote:

Again, when replying to a post, it is better to link to the content, not the person posting. Thanks for sharing your views. 


Then you need to do that yourself, because you are also not being clear in who you are responding to. Others, however, are quoting what they are responding to, which is common in forums like this one. 

martina_plaschka
Community Member


Fatima H wrote:

Hello,

 

Is it ethically acceptable by Upwork to set a job announcement that we offer paid tutoring sessions on how to get started with Upwork?

 

 

Looking forward to your replies. Smiley Wink


You want to pay freelancers that accept your job?

c63ea194
Community Member


Fatima H wrote:

Hello,

 

Is it ethically acceptable by Upwork to set a job announcement that we offer paid tutoring sessions on how to get started with Upwork?

 

 

Looking forward to your replies. Smiley Wink


In that case you will be the freelancer that offers a service (teach others how to use something (= "Upwork" in this case) ) 
This should be a service stated in a freelancer profile, or a project Catalog, this should not be a job posting. 

This is my opinionthough, I personally, as freelancer, wouldn't like to see such job postings in my job search list. 

If you want to find freelancers to pay you to tech them how to use Upwork better, then you could do it in other communities or other marketplaces, in reddit, etc. Even here in the community. However I think that this would be unfair to all experienced freelancers with 10ths of thousands of messages here, that have been offering their help to other freelancers for years, with no charge.

I think that this would not fit here in this specific community

65c0507e
Community Member

I want to work here and grow by easing this is good platform for make earnings. 

d36c0df7
Community Member

It is so easy you should sign up and look for your skills on up work

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