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Exp U Community Member

Job warning signs

When reading a job description, what causes you to go "Ut-oh!"? What red flags do you see in applications that at least puts you on your guard, if not actually skip to the next one? Here's some of mine (and others):

 

First and foremost The work is yours until you are paid in full. You own the copyright until you have been paid the agreed sum. If you choose to work for 15 cents per hour then that's your problem. If it takes longer than you thought..again, down to you. BUT. If you have done your bit according to the contract that you agreed, then the work is yours until it's paid for.

 

Asking for payment or to use your own accounts (Thanks Dave!) Money comes from the client to you; anything else and you're doing it wrong. Do not ever (unless you know the client really well, and give it second thoughts even then) pay for something for the client unless you have received the money from them first. Deposit for something; webhosting accounts; domain name; subscription for site X that is "essential for the job" etc etc. No money. Ever. Similarly, do not use your own eBay, Craigslist etc. accounts to list things for sale...chances are high that it will end badly and wreck any good karma you have built up there. And it'll be you in the frame if it turns out that it was illegal.

 

"Bait and Switch" (Thanks Selcalmel!) Clients advertise one job and then offer a different job at interview. Now there can be valid reasons for this; but a big difference between the job description and the work you're being offered should be viewed with extreme suspicion. Mostly on oDesk it's either jobs that you wouldn't have applied for if the job was described honestly or changing the rules to try and get the price down.

 

Too many people being interviewed This can be a sign that the buyer is dividing the job up and giving the various parts as a 'test' to applicants...with the intention of getting the job for free. It could just be that the buyer is looking for a very specific set of skills, or other innocent motive, but maybe not.

NOTE: (Thanks Brandon!) This also applies to the client's history...check the total number of jobs posted versus people hired. If there are a load of jobs posted but few contracts awarded, then proceed with caution.

 

Only low bidders being interviewed If you're not one of the low bidders on that job then it's probably not worth applying.

 

Long list of demands, silly budget We've all seen them; the jobs for an all-singing, all-dancing website for $100, followed by either a HUGE feature list and/or a long list of qualities required by the contractor. Luckily for you, the buyer is advertising the fact that they are a wanker (behaviour which is unlikely to change if you were unfortunate enough to land the contract). This buyer knows the market well enough to know exactly what they want; and must therefore know that the budget is exploitative...move on. And as a corollary to the above (Thanks Louis!):

 

People who bellow orders, often in capitals "SUCH SUCH WILL NOT BE READ I IF [insert term].... OTHERWISE I WILL DELETE YOUR APPLICATION IMMEDIATELY". Or "MUST ATTACH SUCH AND SUCH OTHERWISE YOU ARE WASTING MY TIME". Some people -presumably after watching Alan Sugar or that twat Trump- think that this is how bosses should behave. I see it mostly as a sign of either someone being new to being in a position to call the shots and is a bit insecure about it, or someone who is a natural git. In either case your job will be more difficult because of it. Also, these types of application are frequently paired with a ridiculous budget. Any buyers who are reading this should note that this isn't the way to go about things...also all capitals make it harder to read and you're increasing the chances of applicants missing an important detail. Annoying people before they've even applied for your job cannot possibly help. Am I the only one, by the way, who feels the impulse to reply in kind?: "Listen up bitch. I reckon I can do it in 10 hours which'll cost you $450 and if that isn't good enough then you can just **Edited for Community Guidelines** would be a fairly short application, probably.

 

Mention of half-finished job/previous contractor/s There are two factors here...sorting out what someone else has done often takes longer than just doing whatever it is from scratch. You will very probably be inheriting a hairy-arsed nightmare. The other factor -and a question you should be asking yourself (and the buyer, come to that)- is exactly why the previous contractor didn't finish. It does happen that buyers get a run of bad luck with contractors (often after playing in the lower budget ranges), so it isn't necessarily the buyer's fault. On the other hand, it could be. Rescuing a client from a wall-to-wall catastrophe at the 11th hour is one of the best smug feelings you can get as a freelancer; but these jobs are high-risk...you need to ascertain for yourself that the buyer is genuine before getting in too deep. A note to any buyers reading this: If you've already been through two or more contractors and you still don't have a result, you need to seriously consider throwing a match in and starting with fresh code. I've had jobs where it took significantly longer to find out what the hell the previous guys had done than it would have taken to just bin everything and do the job. And with other people's code, you can never be 100% sure that you haven't missed something important/broken/nasty.

 

One-line descriptions Buyers quite often don't know the information that a contractor needs in order to produce a final product the client will be happy with; that's not a problem and it's the contractor's job to ask the right questions. But when you see a job like "I need a website. Plz replie", just move on. If they can't be bothered, then neither can I.

 

Payment method not verified Sign either of a first-time user or a scammer. If the unverified user is overly familiar with the way oDesk works...warning! If it's a first time user, you may well have to do some unofficial oDesk support and talk them through it. And you might still get scammed at the end.

 

Anything where you have to create a user account on another site (that isn't the site you're working on) before you start. No. Just no.

 

Business plan with failure built in As a webdesigner, I hear 10 plans for world domination before breakfast. Some job descriptions have fail built into the very fabric of the scheme. The worst ones are the ones where you have to mess around with NDAs and soothe the buyer that you're not going to be over the horizon with his masterplan (which often as not turns out to be another bloody facebook or youtube clone). *sigh*

 

Jobs where 'clients' are mentioned I don't really like sub-sub contracting. Firstly there's there's the thought of the buyer sitting on his arse collecting cash for my work; which rankles a bit. Secondly -and more important- is the 'Chinese Whisper Effect'; where the original client's specs is filtered through the middleman's idea of what the end-client wants. These specs may well not be accurate. You *will* be doing extra work because of this. The same applies to large companies where an underling has been given the task and is now offloading it onto you; but in this case the specs are more often written down. The worse case in this latter scenario can be where it's a committee and everyone present has to get a design change in there -no matter how pointless- just to get their name in the minutes of the meeting.

 

"It will only take 5 minutes" No it won't. No job in the history of contracting has ever taken only 5 minutes. It takes longer than that to liase with the potential client, for a start.

 

Jobs that aren't worth it ((Your hourly rate) * (Number of hours you think it will take)) + (Say 10% safety margin for extra missions/unexplained bits) = (Your price for the job). If there's not enough money or not enough time, then it's usually best to move on.

 

Anything that mentions CAPTCHA or removing watermarks It's naughty. Don't.

 

Web scraping Nah. Probably illegal (copyright) and definitely immoral. You're stealing someone else's work. Worse...you're automating stealing someone else's work.

 

Jobs where it looks like a reasonable budget for the job until you read the description and it turns out that the budget is a monthly wage for full-time work of the same type This is annoying and wastes time.

 

Non-profit organisation (Thanks Mahesh!) A non-profit organisation is not the same thing as a charity. Some are, of course, but some are tax dodges, some are for groups of people, with the aim of the organisation being something you don't necessarily approve of..."Mothers in support of the ruthless oppression of Brits in Spain"; "White supremacy"; "Black supremacy"; whatever. Or -as Mahesh points out- it could just be weasel-wording for the fact that they haven't made any money.

 

Buyers asking for free work samples/tests (Thanks Anna!) It is the buyer's right to ask, just as it is your right to refuse. It's also discouraged by oDesk. All the veteran contractors (including me) will advise against free samples and in any case that's what your portfolio is for...to show previous examples of work and the standard that you're capable of. For contractors it just is not worth it...if there's 30 applicants to the job, you're spending time doing work for a 1 in 30 chance of getting a job. You can spend your entire life doing this and not make a penny. Now that I've said all that, a free sample is what landed me my first job on oDesk...someone wanted a graphic vector conversion and -having some free time- I just did it and sent an (unusable) sample graphic in. The buyer didn't demand a sample (I would not have applied if that were the case), but I proved I could do the job by doing it. Traditionally in design work, it used to be the case that the designer offered several alternate designs; but those were for *much* larger-budget jobs. It isn't worth even considering for the sort of jobs that are at oDesk. If you do choose to give free samples, always watermark them (Thanks Ernesto!). In the case of writing samples, send them as a graphic or locked PDF so that the text can't be used without paying you.

 

Free work samples - Part II If the buyer is asking for free samples and if it's the sort of job that can be broken up into smaller tasks then pay extra attention; and also look closely at the number of people being interviewed.

 

"Great opportunity for newbies" (Thanks Judith!) This means that a buyer is offering a risably small budget for work in exchange for giving you feedback. This is either feedback blackmail or investing time in order to get in the game, depending upon your point of view. You are definitely being taken advantage of; but really it's your decision...as long as you go into it with your eyes open and as long as it's all agreed at the start. Buyers trying to use feedback to change the terms after the job has started, however, should be reported.

 

Vague specifications (Thanks Louis!) It's harder to work with vague specifications, mostly, but you see quite a lot of jobs with insufficient detail. If you're extremely lucky, it's a buyer who wants this Thing to perform this Function; is busy; has correctly assessed your level of competence; and trusts you to get 'er done. This is rare. It is, however, also difficult to write job descriptions with exactly the right amount of detail. Insufficient detail could be due to laziness; unfamiliarity with the oDesk system; lack of knowledge (which is after all why the buyer is getting a professional in)...lots of reasons. The best way of approaching this -I believe- is to use the application letter and interview to clear up any ambiguities and to focus in on the specs so that you and the client both agree on what the job actually is and where the boundaries are. If you start the job and only have a vague idea of what the client wants, you are going to have problems. Possibly big problems if the job description also states...

 

Unlimited redo A job description containing these words should be approached with caution. Particularly with website work, as you're essentially agreeing to maintain it forever as part of the deal. Add a bit of mission creep to a contract like this and you're in a world of hurt. I always specify 'reasonable amount of re-do' in the cover letter. It's a contract and you should never agree to something that can suck up an infinite amount of your time for free. I understand that buyers want their work the way they want it and the 'unlimited' is mostly just a way of ensuring that their needs will be met. You, the contractor, also needs to ensure that you're covered, so best to renegotiate this phrase.

 

"Send us ID" This is not needed to work at oDesk. Don't do it or you will be very sorry. Verify who you are through oDesk, if you must, but ***NEVER*** send ID; bank account details, PayPal, eBay or any other information that can be used by ID-theft types.

 

Write to me outside of odesk This isn't necessarily a problem...everyone has their preferred methods of communication. At the first hint of paying outside of oDesk you should run away quickly: It's against oDesk rules; will get your account terminated if you're caught; and you will probably get stiffed by the buyer anyway.

 

Phishing (Thanks Santos!) The way this works is that someone sends you a link (usually an obscured one like "http://bit.ly/whatever"). This takes you to a page that *looks like* a login page to a common internet service (Gmail, Paypal, Amazon, whatever), but isn't. What the page is, is a copy of that login screen and the idea is that you type your password in and it gets captured by naughty people. It's then standard practice to use that email/username/password on lots of other common services to see if they work. If you 1) fall for it and 2) use the same password everywhere, you're stuffed. Don't trust an obscured link; and ALWAYS check the URL on a login screen, just to make sure you're in the place you think you are. Personally, I go a little further than that and keep a link with my (encrypted) password file and I only use my local link to visit web services.

 

Good luck out there!

981 REPLIES 981
Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

There have been so many complaints lately about scam job postings.

 

A large share of the blame for this belongs to the contractors.

 

If new contractors did not so readily participate in and fall prey to scam jobs, there would not be so much willingness by nefarious individuals to post such jobs. Or at the very least, there would not be so many contractors having problems, because they would be able to easily ignore those jobs, or flag them as soon as they see them.

 

Once again, I call on Upwork to improve the training and education new contractors receive so that they can identify and avoid scammers. There should be compelling rewards offered to contractors who complete additional training and demonstrate more advanced awareness of Upwork policies, safe practices and scam awareness.

 

New contractors SHOULD NOT RECEIVE A FULL MONTHLY ALLOWANCE OF CONNECTS UNTIL THEY DEMONSTRATE a higher level of Upwork knowledge, which includes passing cheating-resistant skill tests that show that they understand the difference between legitimate jobs and scams.

Lisa's avatar
Lisa W Community Member


@Preston H wrote:

 

 

New contractors SHOULD NOT RECEIVE A FULL MONTHLY ALLOWANCE OF CONNECTS UNTIL THEY DEMONSTRATE a higher level of Upwork knowledge, which includes passing cheating-resistant skill tests that show that they understand the difference between legitimate jobs and scams.


Preston,

 

I completely agree, and I say this as a new contractor. There is so much information to weed through, it's really difficult to find every hard and fast rule that tells you how to separate the good from the bad, especially since some of the 'potentially bad' requests for an interview ended up being good, and some of the good ended up being bad. It's just not possible to learn everything by randomly clicking through information pages - so many of us are browsing the community and learning lessons the hard way.

 

I think 10 connects should be offered at the beginning, with an additional 10 added for each skill test that details how to use Upwork successfully. It might discourage those who aren't serious about it, and frustrate people who think they shouldn't have to waste the time, but I think it would help in the long run.

 

Lisa 

Heleen's avatar
Heleen O Community Member

Having written several test texts that did not result in being hired, or the client wanted to work on another platform which I personally do not trust, it is a great idea to send the test texts as a graphic! The rest of the warning signs were certainly helpful too.

Jay's avatar
Jay V Community Member

Thank you so very much for this post. Learned a lot in a few minutes and this is really, really good post for newcomers like me. Thanks again

Lindsey's avatar
Lindsey G Community Member

When a blog specifically blogs about billionaires and they want to hire a blog post writer and they're not even paying $20 per post.

 

giphy (9).gif

Jennifer's avatar
Jennifer M Community Member

Arrested Development is one of the greatest shows ever.

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

I am pretty sure that blog about billionaires isn't owned by a billionaire. If I was a billionaire*, the last thing I would pay people to blog about is other billionaires.

 

--------------

* This post should not be interpreted as a confession of non-billionaire status.

skyla's avatar
skyla m Community Member

I would like to add, that if something looks too good to be true, it probably is. I got picked for an interview and the lady wanted me to log into google hangouts and have an interview with her. I researched the company and things were fishy. I did some digging and come to find out, these people have been scamming a ton of people. I then got another email from a different company but it was the same exact email, just different names. I contacted UpWork, they found the members were scamming people and dealt with it. They also credited me back my connects I used to apply to the two jobs.

Evelynn's avatar
Evelynn J Community Member

I'm glad everything worked out, but that's horrible! 

Evelynn Jones
Business Development and Customer Support
About.me/evelynnmimijae
Tracy's avatar
Tracy H Community Member

Man Indifferent This sounds very similar to something that I nearly got caught on. The position was offering everything I was looking for and then at the bottom, they said the work would be out of Upwork.  I did some research and sure enough it was a scam and it was said in the end after a long interview process they ask you to wire $450 through to Western Union so they can send you the software.

 

I very much enjoy doing my Virtual Assistant work through Upwork, so these warning signs mentioned earlier will definately be in my forefront of thinking when I am selecting work.  As you say if it looks too good to be true it probably is. 

 

 

skyla's avatar
skyla m Community Member

It sucked mostly because I got my hopes up. I guess these people mail you a cashiers check or money order for you to purchase equipment from their "vendor" only to not send you the items and your on the hook for the check when it bounces. Atleast that's what I read in another forum when I checked this people out to make sure their legitimate.
Evelynn's avatar
Evelynn J Community Member

Yep, that's typically true. I have not experience it on here, but on Craig's List. Never again! 

Evelynn Jones
Business Development and Customer Support
About.me/evelynnmimijae
Aimee's avatar
Aimee V Community Member

Thank you for this list and for all the replies. Very helpful for me as a rather newbie and also helping me to follow the guidelines here.

 

Aimee

Wahida's avatar
Wahida S Community Member

I am freelancer.but,I have no job experience.I do not get any job.where job warning sign show.

Wahida's avatar
Wahida S Community Member

how i communicate other freelancers.add my list.what is my room.

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

Wahida:

 

You posted an hourly rate of $111/hour to write poetry and short stories, with neither a viable portfolio nor any manifest ability to write.

 

Even if you are the world's greatest poet and short story writer, you can't make a living doing that here.

 

With your current profile page, you can't make any money at all doing that.

 

Clients simply are not paying contractors to do those things here. Especially when those contractors profess to be electrical engineers who are "interested" in writing. Would it not make more sense for a client who wanted to hire somebody to write poetry to hire a poet rather than an electrical engineer? (Never mind the fact that clients on Upwork are not hiring poets.)

 

Competition among writers on Upwork is fierce. It really isn't a place to start training as a writer.

 

If you want to make money writing poetry and short stories (which is what you state on our profile page) then:

 

a) You need to make money through some other means, not through Upwork.

 

b) If you want to make money doing this on Upwork, you need to post portfolio pieces that you wrote that make me believe you are a professional-quality poet and short fiction writer. Every word and image on your profile page needs to work together to convince me that you are a better writer than nearly anybody else on Upwork, including native-English speaking writers born and raised in an English-speaking country such as the United States.

 

c) Or you need to clearly state on your profile page that your focus is on writing in your native language, for clients in your own country.

 

If you are serious about wanting to work on Upwork, you need to spend a long period of time (minimum of 2 months) studying Upwork policies, Upwork Community Forum posts, and the profiles of successful Upwork contractors. AFTER this period of study, you need to redo everything in your current profile. You need to replace the portfolio items, overview text, profile title, profile photo, and nearly everything else.

 

To your credit, I am absolutely convinced that everything on your profile page is something that you yourself created.

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

re: "how i communicate other freelancers?"

 

You just did.

 

That is what the Community Forum is for.

Darcy's avatar
Darcy C Community Member

Thank you for the post!

 

The information provided in the original thread is great. As a starter Upwork freelancer, it is always nice to find other freelancers helping each other out. It is sad that there are those out there who are wanting to take advantage of new (and even existing) Upwork freelancers. I actually ended up printing this up for myself so i can recall the information quickly.

 

Thanks!

Darcy Cardinal

Md.Ramzanul's avatar
Md.Ramzanul H Community Member

Wow very informative post . 

Thanks for share it .............

Ramzanul
Mathew's avatar
Mathew P Community Member

I just joined Upwork a few days ago, and my first response immediately raised red flags. This was the response (I put in italics, the most concerning portion):

 

**Edited for Community Guidelines** 

 

I couldn't actually find that company anywhere, and the name is associated with a few Linkedin profiles. One of them is an editor, but no profile picture exists (that's odd, too).  

 

So, I think I'm 0 for 1 on upwork, so far. 🙂

Matt

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

Matthew, you don't need to google company names or the names of people who contact you through Upwork. It's a waste of time. A scammer can copy legitimate names.

 

Don't look for your clients on LinkedIn. LinkedIn has nothing to do with making money on Upwork. My clients aren't on LinkedIn, but they pay their contractors hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

Your instincts are correct. This "client " is just a scammer. Real Upwork clients don't ask for all that info. They know you have already established a profile on Upwork.

Armela's avatar
Armela C Community Member

Preston, that  is  exactly  what my thoughtline was.  I am  just waiting  for   the  client  to communicate  with me  again  as  they initiated  an  interview.   my  client  links  dont work  as  I want to  see  their  profile  or  website  as  an  open   line is created   with an  invite  for  interview or when they  respond to an  application.    Not unless it  is  an official  research work,  I would  be  googling  on  names  or  companies.    Nut  unless  instructed  by  the  client, Ethics  require  that  we,  job seekers, freelancers  or contractors,  to  see  back and  let Upwork  take  care   of  our needs  while  we wait.   Thereis really no way  around  it.  Those  are  called  boundaries.

 

Can we  have  a  link for the Client  Page, as  when they present themselves  to Upwork and is verified?  Or is it an  information that  is  a trade secret as Upwork database? 

 

I had several invites  for interview and Im awaiting a job offer or a response discussion as relating the invite  for interview.  When days become  a  week and weeks run  silent,  I cant help  myself ask  Help Desk to follow up for  us.

 

Thanks  for your post.

Vladimir's avatar
Vladimir G Community Manager

Hi Mathew,

 

Please do not share your personal information such as ID numbers, driver's license or bank account information with clients. Please report this user directly to Support and share the list of requirements you received from the client. 

 

To help you work safely on Upwork, please have a look at tips and warning signs shared in this thread and Help article

 

I edited your comment since it's a violation of our Community Guidelines to quote private communications.

 

~ Vladimir
Upwork
Mathew's avatar
Mathew P Community Member

Thank you. As I sated, I did not actually provide any personal info, and the only reason I looked to find the compnay/person online was just to see if it existed. I had already decided to refrain from engaging with the "client." I only wanted to share the info with the community. 

 

However, I will definitely forward the info to support next time. I have only been on here a few days, so this was my first experience. I'm still learning how to navigate upwork. 

 

Thanks!

Mathew's avatar
Mathew P Community Member

Sorry for including that post in the thread. I assumed that sharing a letter from a spammer was not the same as a true private conversation (I didn't know we had  to protect the confidentiality of a spammer looking to steal freelance writers' identities). I thought it would be helpful for newcomers to see how a letter might look, thus avoid it. My apologies. 

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