How long does it take for a client to respond/hire?

[62f3385b]

Hi, I am new here and I´m starting to get a bit frustrated. I bought 20 more connect to apply for jobs but I am not getting get many responses.
Anyone knows how long does it usually takes for a client to hire? Or if they don´t hire anyone, how long does it take to close the job?

I have two active jobs were the client sent me a messege, I answered their questions, and then nothing. It has been more than a week from their contact. What should I do?
I read that if a job was cancelled you get a refund on the connect, but I am not sure if it is a 100% refund, and in wich cases.

[prestonhunter]

As a client, I often hire freelancers within a few minutes after they send their proposal. It is likely that most hiring is not as quick. Clients may take hours to hire. Or days. Or weeks.

What successful freelancers do is submit their proposals and then forget about them. After you submit a proposal, that job has nothing to do with you, and you owe the client nothing.

Focus on other work, or your portfolio. When you hear from a client, then you start to pay attention.

[emmaboyz]

What if a client asks you to do a job, and he has not hired you yet. Can you submit the job after working on it. Or I should wait for his approval or get hired before submitting.

[prestonhunter]

re: "What if a client asks you to do a job, and he has not hired you yet?"

Then he is not your client.

There is no contract.

You haven't been hired yet.

re: "Can you submit the job after working on it?"

No.

Don't do that.

re: "Or I should wait for his approval or get hired before submitting?"

That's right. You need to wait until the client sends you the official "Hire" offer.

You need to see the contract listed here: Upwork -> My Jobs -> My Jobs

[jm8257]

I have worked on 3 jobs for Upwork.com and I find them honest, but sometimes it is like working for a company where one end of the building is clueless about what the folks on the other end is doing.  I work as a tutor in South Korea and I have my own clients, but age discrimination is a fact of life here, so doing proofreading and editing is easier.

I just completed some work for a client, in which both the client and Upwork.com sent me an offer to do work.  I accepted it and things are fine.

However, I have gotten "offers" from other clients whom Upwork.com had no idea that I had.  These messages came through Upwork.com's message system, so I assumed these were offers and that I could accept them by messaging back that I accept the offer.  Apparently, that is not how this works, as I have had to send messages to these clients to click on my profile and send their offers through that manner.  Otherwise, I will end up sending multiple messages until this is done and a "contract" is recognized by Upwork.com.

Joel M.

[robin_hyman]

Apply and move on.  You can't dwell on the past.  Those clients may never hire a freelancer on Upwork or anywhere for that matter. 

Create a strategy for applying to jobs.  I avoid the following jobs:

* Hire rate < 50%

* > 10 proposals submitted to date

* Feedback client receives and submits are less than stellar (needs to be consistent; if client never gives 5 stars to freelancers, for example)

* Description does not have enough information.  Those posts with one line - "I need help writing my website content"

Next make sure your proposals stand out and are customized to each job post.  It could take months to land your first job.  Freelancing is very competitive.  Don't give up. 

[110452ac]

It's not been a month yet, but I've sent almost 60 proposals by now, I know it's a competitive market but I am afraid of spending more and more money on connects where my earning is 0 right now.
And I haven't even recieved a single invitation yet, it's like talking to a wall, and some jobs I am literally perfect for.
This is just a rant 😛 I know it's a difficult market but it's nice to speak to people from the same community.

[feed_my_eyes]

You need to do a lot more work on your profile. Your profile title says merely, "Freelancer". That's not a niche, that's literally what absolutely everybody on Upwork is! And you list a whole bunch of skills; clients aren't going to think, "Wow, this guy is multi-talented!", they're going to think, "This guy isn't an expert at anything."

But the biggest problem is that you have no portfolio items whatsoever. If a client is looking for a graphic designer or writer or photo editor or any of the other skills that you claim to have, who do you think they're going to choose - somebody with samples that match what they have in mind, or the guy with zero samples? 

Sorry, but Upwork is very competitive. You're going to have to make a lot more effort than that.

Also, why does your name in the forum say, "Nash R." but when I click on your profile link, it says that your name is, "Moiz B."? You're going to have to sort that out ASAP, before Upwork suspends your account.

[397f152f]

Hello Ms. Christine!

I'm a new freelancer on Upwork. I would really like some tips from you to build my profile and get jobs. I'll really be grateful if you could please take a quick look at my profile and provide me with suggestions on how I can improve it.

Thank you for those strategies up there. I'll try to follow them as well!

Tashnuva I

[c0f4be3e]

I agree with Robin. Look at the client's hiring history and feedback. 

And if you're finding you're often stuck with a lot of competition, look for a niche that isn't very popular because maybe it's a boring industry or requires a lot of research. These niches often pay the best because they find it difficult to attract talent. The more you specialize the more leverage you'll have with clients. 

[martina_plaschka]

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Nicolas D wrote:

Hi, I am new here and I´m starting to get a bit frustrated. I bought 20 more connect to apply for jobs but I am not getting get many responses.
Anyone knows how long does it usually takes for a client to hire? Or if they don´t hire anyone, how long does it take to close the job?

I have two active jobs were the client sent me a messege, I answered their questions, and then nothing. It has been more than a week from their contact. What should I do?
I read that if a job was cancelled you get a refund on the connect, but I am not sure if it is a 100% refund, and in wich cases.

---

Connects are refunded very rarely, only if the client cancels the job (only very diligent clients do that when they realize their project has changed and they don't need the work any longer, hired someplace else, etc., most just let the job expire) or it was an upwork ToS violation. 

[d3d45aa8]

I am new to Upwork but I work almost 5 years as a freelancer.
Do not be frustrated, I've got my first job after 13-14 proposals, now I have more than 30 active and nothing...it is freelancers life, deal with it.
If the client replies to your proposal it is marked active, but it doesn't mean you are hired, or you are #1...they just want to talk with you little more before they decide.
You can always see when was clients last interaction with post, and if they didn't do anything in past few days you wait, if they were active forget about that job and find more.