Landing that first job?

sophie-stoltz · ‎10-01-2018

Does it really have to be this hard to and your first job? I know I am pretty ugly, What would you change on my profile?

martina_plaschka · ‎10-01-2018

@Anne-Sophie S wrote:
Does it really have to be this hard to and your first job? I know I am pretty ugly, What would you change on my profile?

Are you drunk? You look nice. Your profile is set to private, though, so I can't see it.

sophie-stoltz · ‎10-01-2018

Thank you, Getting drunk right now sounds rather cool. This is the second time they set my profile to private. No idea why as I am on here constantly

BojanS · ‎10-01-2018

Hi Anne-Sophie,

Your profile has been set to private because you haven`t earned any funds in the past 30 days. Please let us know if you would you like us to go ahead and reset your profile visibility back to public. Thank you!

~ Bojan

sophie-stoltz · ‎10-01-2018

Hi Bojan,

I am too aware that I have not earned money in the last 30 days, not for a lack of trying, Could you please set my profile to public, I have asked the support team

Thanks a mil

colettelewis · ‎10-01-2018

Could someone who knows correct me here.

If Ann-Sophie is new, how come her profile has been set to private? I thought newcomers were exempt from this 30-day rule?

petra_r · ‎10-01-2018

@Nichola L wrote:
Could someone who knows correct me here.

If Ann-Sophie is new, how come her profile has been set to private? I thought newcomers were exempt from this 30-day rule?

They get 50 (if I am not mistaken) days. They are not exempt.

BojanS · ‎10-01-2018

Hi Anne-Sophie,

I just set your profile visibility back to public. You may want to consider checking out these helpful blog articles to help you write winning proposals, improve your profile and tips on how to be successful on Upwork. When you apply to jobs, make sure your proposal is well written and that you're absolutely qualified and certain of your ability to complete the job you're applying for. Feel free to reach out if you need further assistance.

~ Bojan

sophie-stoltz · ‎10-01-2018

Thank you so much Bojan. I have read and watched everything I can get my paws on. I would appreciate any help anyone had to offer as I just can't seem to crack it

gilbert-phyllis · ‎10-01-2018

At 4:27 PM EDT, I tried to look at Anne-Sophie's profile and it's still set to Private.

sergio-soria · ‎10-01-2018

I cannot see it either. Anyway these are my tips:

- Choose a skillset of yours and stick with it. One of the mistakes newbies make is try to cover everything. It's not that you cannot be good at several different areas, but clients here usually look for specialists and they want to get the best at a particular task.

- Don't go crazy on applying to everything. Apply to jobs only related to that skillset you chose, jobs you are 100% sure you can complete succesfully. Your connects are precious. Check the client's history and the job offer carefully. If it sounds too good to be true avoid it because it may be scam. Also avoid applying to jobs that already received 20-50 proposals, it's highly unlikely they will read yours.

- Polish your profile and add pieces to your portfolio. Take a couple of tests related to your skillset but hide the results if they are below average. In your summary talk about you and what makes you different from the rest, but keep it brief.

- Keep the proposals brief as well. In proposals don't talk about you, talk about how you would manage the job in question. The client is interested to see what is your solution. If you already did a job outside upwork similar to the one described in the offer send a sample attached. Keep your speech friendly but professional, and don't send the same generic text to everything. As I said you should address the specific job.

- If you set a low hourly rate think about increasing that number and don't bid too low in fixed-price jobs. While some clients may be looking for the lowest price on earth, the serious ones tend to think that if you consider yourself cheap your work is not good to deserve a better pay. So be careful with this point.

Be persistent. It's hard to land the first job, but not impossible.

sophie-stoltz · ‎10-02-2018

Thank you so much everyone, Over here my profile shows as active.

I have been a bookkeeper for most of my life also did some customer support. Not sure what to do with my skilset, been trying to tweak it, not successfully which is why I need your input.

martina_plaschka · ‎10-02-2018

@Anne-Sophie S wrote:
Thank you so much everyone, Over here my profile shows as active.

I have been a bookkeeper for most of my life also did some customer support. Not sure what to do with my skilset, been trying to tweak it, not successfully which is why I need your input.

I agree you should decide on one skill. If somebody clicks on your profile, they will see bookkeeper/translator and think, well, which one is she, and skip it.