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Harry's avatar
Harry W Community Member

New to upwork, need some advice please.

I joined upwork a few days ago, and I'm not sure how long I would expect to have to wait before landing a job ? I realise it's not an exact science so the answer will vary based upon the people I submit proposals to. 

 

I have a huge amount of experience and believe my profile represents the best of what I have to offer, yet I haven't received any responses yet. I think I have submitted around 20 proposals or something like that so far.

 

Perhaps I could get some feedback on my profile ?

 

Am I doing something wrong ? 

 

Thanks in advance !

 

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
Sergio's avatar
Sergio S Community Member

Hi Harry! Your profile is impressive. If you really played in those bands I take my hat off to you. I don't see anything wrong with your profile except two things:

 

1. I would hide the English Spelling Test or retake it until it gets a better score.

 

2. You start your overview with "Hi there," and leave a blank line. There's nothing wrong with the greetings. The problem is that when the clients check the list of proposals they only see your name, title and the first line of your overview. You are wasting your first line! And in your title you could even put "Composer and Professional Piano Player" already, leaving your first line for your experience with the bands. If you write "Pink Floyd" and "Tom Jones" in the first line I assure you they will at least open your proposal and read it.

 

Appart from that, I must tell you that 20 proposals in a few days (maybe one month) is nothing, really. Most people land their first job after many months of trying, because even if you have a great experience in "the real world" here you are a beginner because you don't have clients' feedback yet, and you really need to cut your teeth as you were just out of high school. That's the hardest part I believe. Besides, there are thousands and thousands of freelancers applying to jobs here and unfortunately many clients look for very low prices instead of quality, so your hourly rate probably scare away some of those 🙂 I am not saying you should charge less, in your case I really recommend that you use the filters that come with the advanced search and look for those clients who are willing to spend big bucks. They do exist!

 

One more thing, your proposals must be straight to the point and about the solution you are offering specifically for the job you are applying to. Don't talk that much about you in the proposal, talk about the job instead. For more information about proposals read this article https://www.upwork.com/hiring/for-freelancers/how-to-create-a-proposal-that-wins-jobs/

 

Smiley Very Happy

 

 

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9 REPLIES 9
Sara's avatar
Sara R Community Member

Harry

I am also new to this platform.

Your profile and background are awesome! 

I think patience is probably the best way to approach this service.

I am also trying to figure out what I need to do to improve my chances of being picked up as a freelancer.

Any ideas would also be appreciated.

Sara

 

 

Martina's avatar
Martina P Community Member


@Sara R wrote:

Harry

I am also new to this platform.

Your profile and background are awesome! 

I think patience is probably the best way to approach this service.

I am also trying to figure out what I need to do to improve my chances of being picked up as a freelancer.

Any ideas would also be appreciated.

Sara

 

 


 Your profile is set to private so you will not show up in search results and will not receive invitations at this time.

You can still send proposals and try to get a job this way. 

Harry's avatar
Harry W Community Member

Hi Martina,

Thanks for the suggestion, but to me it shows my profile as public. 

Could you explain why/where it shows private to you ?

Thanks

Harey

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

Harry, in all honesty, trying to succeed here as a composer simply means you are in a tough niche. Far fewer jobs in that category than there are practitioners.

 

The good thing is that hosting a profile here and applying to jobs is 100% free.

 

So other than your investment in time, there is no cost to you.

 

Keep trying. It becomes easier once you have a history here.

But while my people can work purely on Upwork and have enough work for their financial needs or goals, it is likely that Upwork will only be one of multiple revenue streams for a composer.

Sergio's avatar
Sergio S Community Member

Hi Harry! Your profile is impressive. If you really played in those bands I take my hat off to you. I don't see anything wrong with your profile except two things:

 

1. I would hide the English Spelling Test or retake it until it gets a better score.

 

2. You start your overview with "Hi there," and leave a blank line. There's nothing wrong with the greetings. The problem is that when the clients check the list of proposals they only see your name, title and the first line of your overview. You are wasting your first line! And in your title you could even put "Composer and Professional Piano Player" already, leaving your first line for your experience with the bands. If you write "Pink Floyd" and "Tom Jones" in the first line I assure you they will at least open your proposal and read it.

 

Appart from that, I must tell you that 20 proposals in a few days (maybe one month) is nothing, really. Most people land their first job after many months of trying, because even if you have a great experience in "the real world" here you are a beginner because you don't have clients' feedback yet, and you really need to cut your teeth as you were just out of high school. That's the hardest part I believe. Besides, there are thousands and thousands of freelancers applying to jobs here and unfortunately many clients look for very low prices instead of quality, so your hourly rate probably scare away some of those 🙂 I am not saying you should charge less, in your case I really recommend that you use the filters that come with the advanced search and look for those clients who are willing to spend big bucks. They do exist!

 

One more thing, your proposals must be straight to the point and about the solution you are offering specifically for the job you are applying to. Don't talk that much about you in the proposal, talk about the job instead. For more information about proposals read this article https://www.upwork.com/hiring/for-freelancers/how-to-create-a-proposal-that-wins-jobs/

 

Smiley Very Happy

 

 

Harry's avatar
Harry W Community Member

Thanks Sergio,

That all seems like excellent advice. 

My profile is set to show my full surname, can you explain why it only shows “Harry W” in my profile ?

Someone else said that my profile is set to private, but it’s public in my settings. Any ideas ?

Thanks for the help 

Harry

Martina's avatar
Martina P Community Member


@Harry W wrote:

Thanks Sergio,

That all seems like excellent advice. 

My profile is set to show my full surname, can you explain why it only shows “Harry W” in my profile ?

Someone else said that my profile is set to private, but it’s public in my settings. Any ideas ?

Thanks for the help 

Harry


 Harry, I can see your profile now, I might have been mistaken and looked at some other freelancer's profile. 

I agree the setting for the name is confusing, I've never seen anybody's full name here, so the setting does not make much sense. I guess it is something that was taken over from prior companies before they became upwork, and never was fixed. Your full name will never show up on your profile here, just don't worry about it, it's the same thing for everybody else. 

Reinier's avatar
Reinier B Community Member


@Harry W wrote:

Thanks Sergio,

That all seems like excellent advice. 

My profile is set to show my full surname, can you explain why it only shows “Harry W” in my profile ?

Someone else said that my profile is set to private, but it’s public in my settings. Any ideas ?

Thanks for the help 

Harry


 Off topic, but back in the day when I still tried to learn to play the guitar, my strongest motivation was my (idle) dream that I might one day get to audition for a gig with Pink Floyd. Never got to that though, and I still can't play the guitar. 

 

ETA: In my estimation, anyone who gets to play with Roger Waters and/or David Gilmour on the same stage at the same time is a genius. 

 

Harry's avatar
Harry W Community Member

Thank you !

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