Hi Adam. Because you are new and inexperienced, please read this post. Learn about the Terms of Service and the Red Flags on Scams. You need to learn about having a professional profile. Currently, you are wasting space and opportunity with personal information already contained in your profile. Do not use names or greetings. If a client sees you in a search, you only have one short sentence at the top to grab them. Having an excellent profile is crucial to attract clients and keep the scammers away.
When a job is posted it seems like there are instantly 5-10 proposals sent, almost within a minute.
Yes, there are bots, farmers, agencies, and others who have copy-pasted proposals to send the second the job appears. Don't pay attention to the numbers. If you have every skill, and know you will do the job better than almost anyone else in the field, then you apply.
With many jobs I find the client just ups and vanishes - if the job was posted at 12:00 their last view is at 12:05 never to be seen again. Are these "bots" or is this normal behaviour? I feel like I've wasted a good amount of connects on jobs that never proceed anywhere (e.g. nobody ends up "hired" and the client never comes back), and these can be for clients that have a payment history.
Unfortunately, it has become "normal." As I mentioned above, it is bots, farmers, people who just signed up, and so forth.
get that clients are probably using multiple sites and can sometimes find a solution shortly after posting, but it seems to happen with a very high %.
Yes, it does. Some clients are looking on multiple platforms, and some are testing the waters to see what they can get.
Do we get connects back if the client disappears?
No. The connects are returned if Upwork determines the job is a scam or the client closes the job.
With some jobs I see for example 5 to 10 proposals, but 10 interviewing, 15 invites sent... is this a bug of the UI or am I missing something?
The client sent 15 invites, but only 10 people responded. When I see even one person being interviewed, I almost always stop applying.
I'm trying to stay on top of things so constantly refreshing the job board (when I can) using my saved search. I tried to set up an RSS feed but it only gives me a general feed with all jobs instead of based on my custom search.
- I feel like if I don't submit a proposal immediately the chances significantly drop due to point 2 (client disappearing quickly).
Oh, please don't do that to yourself. I know that a lot of people will tell you that is how you make money and have a career, but they are mistaken. If the client disappears quickly, they weren't a client, but likely a scammer. Once they have collected enough money, they close shop and return under a different name to do it all over again.
It is essential to spend a certain amount of time each day looking for jobs. However, I know more than a few who sit in front of their computer or phone, constantly refreshing and also applying for jobs they will never get. Some of that time would be better spent on profiles and proposals. Don't fall into the trap of thinking most clients hire in minutes. Upwork used to have a banner that stated most clients take three days to hire. It's far more important to make sure you have all the skills and will excel at work, than how fast you get your proposal in to the client. The people who hire the first one, are notoriously awful clients offering dirt cheap projects. Another trap to avoid is lowering your fees to nothing to get jobs. It's one thing to offer a discount in the beginning and another to do a job for dirt cheap. With proposals, you have two sentences at the top to hook them.
And finally, one of the links in the post I gave you at the top, will take you to events and announcements from Upwork. It will help you keep informed.
