No invitation after the 6 th proposal

[#1]

Hi my dear freelancers, I'm a new freelancer. I have submitted 6 proposals. When I submitted the 6th , I hopefully thought that I would receive the invitation because I thought of the magic number 5. However, I haven't got any job so far. I'm really depressed. Can anyone give me your valuable advice? Thank you for reading my question.

[#2]

Hi Tram, 

While we won't be able to advice agencies and clients with how they select freelancers, you can definitely create a proposal and a profile that would make you stand out from everyone else. You may want to check out these articles from our Hiring Headquarters to help you create proposals that win jobs, and help you boost your career on Upwork:

8+ Tips to Help You Create a Profile That Stands Out

Upwork Profiles: Why a Great Title and Overview Can Make a Difference

A How-To Guide for Your Perfect Profile Picture

Get Your Profile to the Next Level with an Intro Video

4 Ways to Create a More Successful Portfolio Regardless of Your Skill Set

Let me know if you need anything else. 

[#3]

Hi Riri, 

Thank you very much for your willingness and for your suggestions . I will do it.

Tram

[#4]

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Tram N wrote:

Hi my dear freelancers, I'm a new freelancer. I have submitted 6 proposals. When I submitted the 6th , I hopefully thought that I would receive the invitation because I thought of the magic number 5.

---

What is magic about 5?

There are thousands of Vietnamese translators, of which 85% have never won a single job (yet) or earned a single Dollar (yet.)

6 proposals are nothing. Keep going and work on your profile, it could do with a lot of improvement. In a list view, all the client sees is the first two lines of your overview, which you waste with a salutation (completely superfluous) and with telling the client what they know already (your name and where you're from)

You then carry on talking about being a teacher (rather than a translator)

In fact, there is nothing on your entire profile that even hints at any translation experience until the very bottom which states that you translated something a quarter of a century (!) ago...

There are no portfolio items, no indication of translation experience.

Contrary to popular belief translators are not just people who speak two languages.

That's a bit like thinking that anyone who owns a scalpel is a surgeon.

[#5]

Hi Petra R,
Thank you very much for your comment on my profile. As you know, I'm a
brand new freelancer, so I don't have anything to attach to the portfolio
part except the two documents I did years ago. I'm in a dilemma, to mention
an old translation experience or leave a blank in the profile.
What about the magic number 5? I once received an encouraging mail from
upwork, asking me to continue submitting proposals, saying that freelancers
who have submitted 5 proposals are more likely to get jobs.
I look forward to listening to your advice .
Tram

[#6]

Tram, when I came to Upwork I had nearly 30 years of freelancing experience and some very specialized qualifications. I believe that I had submitted 35 proposals before I got hired for the first time, though ultimately 6 of those original 35 clients hired me. 

Some freelancers get hired in the first week, but others submit proposals for months without getting hired. 

[#7]

Thank you very much for your sharing experience with me.

[#8]

---

Tram N wrote:
Hi Petra R,
Thank you very much for your comment on my profile. As you know, I'm a
brand new freelancer, so I don't have anything to attach to the portfolio
part except the two documents I did years ago. I'm in a dilemma, to mention
an old translation experience or leave a blank in the profile.
What about the magic number 5? I once received an encouraging mail from
upwork, asking me to continue submitting proposals, saying that freelancers
who have submitted 5 proposals are more likely to get jobs.
I look forward to listening to your advice .
Tram

---

Well, don't believe everything upwork tells you. What they don't tell you is that there are over 2 million freelancers on the platform, but 90% of those have never been hired. And that's just the profiles that have not been set to private, so the real number is much higher.

You MUST have a portfolio to demonstrate your skills. So just take a few texts and translate them, it does not have to be paid work.

[#9]

Thank you very much for your sound advice. I will do it.

[#10]

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Tram N wrote:

What about the magic number 5? I once received an encouraging mail from upwork, asking me to continue submitting proposals, saying that freelancers who have submitted 5 proposals are more likely to get jobs. I look forward to listening to your advice .
Tram

---

I think that you might have misunderstood that email. They probably meant that most freelancers need to submit AT LEAST 5 proposals.  There's no way that most get hired on their sixth attempt.

[#11]

Dear Christine A,
Thank you very much for reading my question. Your idea is exactly what I thought. I just hopefully 🙂 thought that I would get hired,not definetely sure that I would in the 6th attempt.
Tram