Many questions

[Richard W]

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John K wrote:

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Frank F wrote:

It seems the "Upwork Readiness Test" is an important step. Can I take that test now?

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You can take it whenever you like. You need to pass it to become Top Rated or Rising Talent, so it's worth taking.

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I'm just being picky, John, but that's not correct (unless the rules have changed in the last year). I'm Top Rated, but I've never taken the readiness test.

[Virginia F]

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Richard W wrote:

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John K wrote:

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Frank F wrote:

It seems the "Upwork Readiness Test" is an important step. Can I take that test now?

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You can take it whenever you like. You need to pass it to become Top Rated or Rising Talent, so it's worth taking.

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I'm just being picky, John, but that's not correct (unless the rules have changed in the last year). I'm Top Rated, but I've never taken the readiness test.

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Neither have I .... I'm not sure about this, but I think if you migrated from Elance, this has something to do with not having to take the test. But again, that's just a guess on my part.

ETA: I've often wondered what kinds of questions are on this "readiness test", because of the many, many major fails that newbies come to the forums with. Mostly I wonder what Upwork thinks makes them "ready" ... because most times, they don't seem to be ready at all. But I digress.

[Frank F]

I took the readiness test yesterday. It was easy. Taking the profile to 100% had this test or another option (forget what it was). So no, there is no absolute requirement for it if you take that option.

[Petra R]

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Frank F wrote:

When a client lists "preferred qualifications" which I do not meet, does that prevent them from seeing my proposal?

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Yes they can. Frank.

Clients get lots of proposals, they may not read all of them, and, especially as a newbie, you will not hear anything back from the vast majority of proposals, either way.

Your profile looks good and your portfolio looks amazing.

Your video is great but I would change the soundtrack and the robo-voice!

[Frank F]

Good to know the proposals are going through.

Yes there is no shortage of talent out there and I am low man on totem pole!

I expect to be overlooked in favor of those with Upwork experience and reputation.

Thanks for the comments on my profile and video!

Synthetic voice narration makes for easy script editing.

But you are not the first to criticize that approach.

So I will give that some thought!

[Virginia F]

Frank,

This is just a suggestion, but I would lose the "Mac-based" comment ... some clients lack so little knowledge that if they're on a PC, they might think that's a deal-breaker. I would also take out the comment that you've just joined ... no sense pointing that out.

My 2¢.

[Frank F]

Thanks Virginia! I'll give this some serious thought.

[Virginia F]

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Frank F wrote:

Thanks Virginia! I'll give this some serious thought.

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Just FYI - clients only see the first few lines of your overview, so it's advisable not to waste those first sentences with "greetings" or telling clients what your OS is or that you're new. They don't care about that. Get right into what you can offer right off the bat.

[Frank F]

I reduced the overview quite a bit and made it very direct.  Thanks!