Tips for Getting Started on Upwork

[MichaelJ]

Getting started on Upwork can be challenging. Here are some top tips that can help you succeed.

Complete Your Profile

First, it can be very helpful to complete your profile 100%. It’s important to understand that there are certain sections that must be completed in order to reach 100%. You can even technically exceed 100% completion. The more fields you complete on your profile, the better your chances of winning work. Also, your profile must be 100% complete in order to qualify for badges such as Rising Talent and Top Rated. Check out this help article for more information on the numerous ways you can reach 100% or more completion. I also recommend this article about why a great title and overview can make a difference.

Set Your Profile Visibility

Second, we recommend updating your profile visibility. Once you’ve crafted the perfect profile, you’ll want clients to be able to see it. When setting your profile visibility, you have three options: Public, Only Upwork Users, or Private.  If you set your profile to private, it will be excluded from the Upwork marketplace and search engines. This means clients won’t see you when they search for freelancers. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to set your profile visibility to Public or Only Upwork Users.

Submit Proposals

Third, submit proposals! This may seem like an obvious step, but it’s one that often doesn’t receive enough attention from new freelancers. By regularly submitting proposals for projects that fit your skills, you not only increase your chances of winning work, but you also prevent your profile from being automatically set to private, which can happen if you are inactive from the platform. As you submit more proposals, you will also learn what does and doesn’t get the attention of clients. Also, remember, that you may have to submit more than 5 proposals before you win your first project. Persistence is key. To help improve the quality of your proposals, I invite you to read about how to create a proposal that wins jobs and take in this proven advice from freelancers on Upwork. Also, check out this great article about How To Get More Jobs on Upwork in 2022!

[MichaelJ]

Hi Harold,

Thanks for your message. You have completed the pro-active steps toward earning the Rising Talent badge. To improve your chances of earning the badge, continue to submit proposals to job postings that are relevant to the skills listed on your profile.

We look at a variety of factors when determining whether to award Rising Talent status. This includes client feedback, the overall strength of your profile upon submission, including prior experience and skills and your educational background, as well as the opportunities available in the market. As such, this is an invite-only program that not all talent will be eligble to join.

[50517bbc]

I am really thanks to @Mike J because I perfectly done my Upwork profile 100% and recently completed my first work. 

[momo-arts]

Hey 

I am new to Upwork. I got 2 jobs last month. I have sent proposals to different projects but unfortunately no one answers. I feel like my profile is disappeared. I would be grateful if you can help me for my profile or my skills. I am waiting for your opinion. 

Many Regards 

Momina

[martina_plaschka]

---

Momina K wrote:

Hey 

I am new to Upwork. I got 2 jobs last month. I have sent proposals to different projects but unfortunately no one answers. I feel like my profile is disappeared. I would be grateful if you can help me for my profile or my skills. I am waiting for your opinion. 

Many Regards 

Momina

---

Your picture could be much improved by a neutral background. Polish your text a little, expand on what services you provide. Add many more examples of your work, think at least 15-20 examples in your portfolio. 

[momo-arts]

Hi Martina,

Thanks a million for great help. I will try my best. 

Many Regards 

[taz_bir]

Hello Mike, I have a few questions, please help me with this..?

1. What is the thing in a freelancer's profile that attracts any client other than reviews?

2. What is the thing a freelancer can add to his profile that possibly can attract any client?
&
3. How can I get the 'Rising Talent' badge

Thank you. 🙂

[MichaelJ]

Hi Md. Tazbir,

Thanks for your message. Your profile Title, Overview, and Portfolio are crucial. Review this article for more information.

You can find the requirements of the Rising Talent badge here.

[7aef21ed]

Hi Mike,

I am new to Upwork and am looking to hire for a couple projects. Question, as I am reviewing resumes/profiles and save potential candidates, am I able to share them with my colleague who is part of my hiring team?

Thanks!

Tavya Casad

[AndreaG]

Hi Tavya,

You can learn how to Add or Remove Team Members here.

[7aef21ed]

Thanks, I have already added the team member with full access but we can't seem to share saved potentials.

[7aef21ed]

Thanks but I have already added the team member. But we still can't see each others saved potential hires.  How do we do that?

[AndreaG]

Tavya, members of your team with the appropriate permission will be able to see freelancers proposals you receive on job posts. If you're referring to your saved lists please know that this is currently a test. Right now, your lists, notes and tags are only visible to the person that creates them. We will be expanding this functionality for multiple users in the future.

[edak13]

Dear Mike and Andrea,

Can you guide me how to complete my profile? It is 100% completed but I was wondering whether there could be more info that I can include in my profile?

Bests,

Eda

[MichaelJ]

Hi Eda,

I looked at your profile and suggest you add more detailed information about the type of work you do. To give a clear impression you’re the person the client wants to talk to, here are some additional tips for writing a great Overview.

[thiagonagaoka]

Greetings Mike J.,

I have completed my Upwork profile but, as I send my proposals to projects, I cannot get any responses to them. How may I improve my profile and get my clients to see my proposals?

Thanks for your attention,

Best Regards,

Thiago Nagaoka

[imranmaani]

Hello!

I am bidding on upwork since last two months but I am not getting projects even though my bid is upto client's expectations.

Kindly, help me out in getting projects as I invested alot on buying connects.

Thanks.

[MichaelJ]

Hi Muhammad,

The beginning of your profile overview displays in prospective client search results and it’s your first 200-character pitch. So, your first sentence should include clear, relevant information about your primary skill sets and expertise. Currently your first three lines of text do not say anything about the services you offer. Then the keyword "AMAZON" appears alone by itself. I would suggest removing that too.

To give a clear impression you’re the person the client wants to talk to, here are some additional tips for writing a great Overview.

[hamzaqayyum54]

i am new to upwork and not getting much orders cann you please guide?

[MichaelJ]

Hi Hamza,

Your profile overview is short compared to the average. Upwork’s research shows clients see it as a positive signal if the profile is well written and comprehensive. Therefore, consider crafting your overview as a pitch to prospective clients. 

• Help clients understand your abilities better by listing information about your skills and experience in an original and creative way. 
• Focus on how you can help clients achieve their goals. For example, expand on who you are, the services you offer, and what you’re most passionate about. 
• Be clear on your expertise and mention specialized software or tools. 
• If appropriate, let your personality shine through (include some excitement), and show your qualities and praise the work you do, instead of focusing on yourself.
• Other examples of information you can include are past accomplishments and projects, preferred working style, and your business’ values (e.g. I believe in strong communications or thorough upfront planning), industries or lines of businesses you have worked in before, and the types of clients you have worked with before (start-ups, solo entrepreneurs, large businesses, etc.). 

To give a clear impression you’re the person the client wants to talk to, here are some additional tips for writing a great Overview. You can also request peer review of your profile by other freelancers in this thread.

[MichaelJ]

Hi Thiago,

Your profile overview is short compared to the average. Upwork’s research shows clients see it as a positive signal if the profile is well written and comprehensive. Therefore, consider crafting your overview as a pitch to prospective clients. 

• Help clients understand your abilities better by listing information about your skills and experience in an original and creative way. 
• Focus on how you can help clients achieve their goals. For example, expand on who you are, the services you offer, and what you’re most passionate about. 
• Be clear on your expertise and mention specialized software or tools. 
• If appropriate, let your personality shine through (include some excitement), and show your qualities and praise the work you do, instead of focusing on yourself.
• Other examples of information you can include are past accomplishments and projects, preferred working style, and your business’ values (e.g. I believe in strong communications or thorough upfront planning), industries or lines of businesses you have worked in before, and the types of clients you have worked with before (start-ups, solo entrepreneurs, large businesses, etc.). 

To give a clear impression you’re the person the client wants to talk to, here are some additional tips for writing a great Overview. You can also request peer review of your profile by other freelancers in this thread.

[0c61e566]

waiting for you replies

[kurt25ethan]

Thanks, sir, Let me try and apply all your advice. thanks

[munni2004]

Hello Mike,

This is very helpfull for me. Can you please have a look of my profile and advice me for correction.

Thank you

Best regards

Asma

[MichaelJ]

Hi Asma,

Your profile is off to a great start. To give a clear impression you’re the person the client wants to talk to, here are some tips for writing a great Overview. You can also request peer review of your profile by other freelancers in this thread.

[9b96b2bf]

Hi Mike,

First of all, I am very thankful to you because you are helping new freelancers very well. 

I am a Digital Marketer, and I have explained my expertise in the overview. Can you please check my profile and give me suggestions, if there is any need of correction. And also give me some tips to grab clients.

Thank you,

Best Regards:

M Shahzad

[MichaelJ]

Hi Muhammad,

I'm happy to provide some feedback on your profile. Your profile overview has a lot of information, but it's difficult to quickly scan and understand what your primary services and experiences are. It might help to organize it with paragraphs: for example, have your introduction paragraph, a separate paragraph for skills, and one for experience. In this way, you might emphasize certain areas, but use caution with adding lists of skills with few to no related work examples because clients may question the sincerity of your skills list.

I also highly recommend these articles:

• Upwork Profiles: Why a Great Title and Overview Can Make a Difference
• How to Write a Cover Letter
• How to Create a Proposal That Wins Jobs
• How to Write Proposals: Proven Advice From Freelancers on Upwork

[9b96b2bf]

Thank you for your feedback, I will improve my profile according to your
suggestions.

[22ebcf1a]

Thank you Mike for the information! I am new to Upwork

[22ebcf1a]

Hi Mike

Could you kindly view my profile and advice me what i can work on?

I also may have made a mistake with my very first proposal and i need some help understanding how afew things work when starting out.

Thanks

Ivy

[ed258947]

Hello,

I am appling to jobs from July and nothing comes. Nobody is contacting me...

What should I do?

Best regards,

Lucian Vatca

[habibchowdhury]

Hello Mike,
Thank you for your support.
I know you are a busy bee, It would be very kind if you could take some time and review my profile and can let me know how my profile is and if you have any suggestions to make it outstanding please let me know.
In addition, if you could tell me how to increase my profile visibility/traffic it would be great.
Thanks in advance

[MichaelJ]

Hi Md. Habib,

I looked at your profile and one suggestion I have is to remove your work and education history from your Overview. There are specific places for these in your profile. By adding them to your Overview, it becomes very long which may lead some clients to not read it. 

I hope this helps!

[habibchowdhury]

Thank you @Mike. I will follow that.

[bfe1cc4f]

I'm a brand-new freelancer on Upwork and I just got my first contract. My client is also new to Upwork. I have my project ironed out and fees set. What do I do next? How do we get the ball rolling regarding pay? I also want to make sure I'm in compliance with Upwork. Is there a beginner's guide? I've tried reading the Terms but can't find the direction I'm looking for.

[MichaelJ]

Hi Cassie,

Congratulations on your first contract! The information you're looking for can be found in the Help Center. I've linked some key articles for your questions below. Please note that some of the information varies depending on whether you have a fixed-price contract or an hourly. As your current contract is hourly, I've provided links related to that:

• Get Paid for Hourly Contracts
• Manage How You Get Paid

[morganlaineee]

Hi Mike! 

I am new to Up-Work and have questions about moving forward. I submitted a proposal and have a business asking for my personal email to send a request for a background check through Checkr. Excuse my ignorance but being new and expecting the communications to go through the Upwork platform, I feel like this is not nessecery. Is this scammy? 

Thanks, 

Morgan 

[MichaelJ]

Hi Morgan!

In general, sharing contact information before the contract is in place isn't allowed. However, when it's required for legal purposes (including for background check), it's allowed. So, you may share your email address for that purpose, but all communication must remain on Upwork until a contract is in place. While it's definitely up to you whether you decide to proceed, requesting a criminal background check would not be a violation of Upwork TOS and can be part of the interview process.  For more information, check out this help article. 

[liz_chaparro]

Hi Mike!! Thank you very much for all the tips. I'm relatively new to Upwork, and I'm still learning everything about it and how to use the platform successfully, so this definitely comes in handy.

I'm trying to build a profile as an English-Spanish translator; however, I'm having trouble getting at least an answer from the jobs and proposals I have applied for over the past few months. Out of 100 applications, I only got ten answers and three hired projects. I know this is not an easy task as this is a highly competitive field and that it takes time to build some reputation, but it's clear that I need to improve my profile and applications to succeed.

That is why I would like to ask for your inputs, feedback and advice so that I can continue to develop my freelancer profile and start getting some positive outcomes from my applications.

At the moment, I try to apply only to those I know I'm a good candidate for; I always write and tailor each proposal to the jobs I'm applying for and even send samples of past works when possible. I guess the ones that I don't know how to approach are those jobs that are just a line and don't give much information. How do you apply to those? Is it even a good idea to apply to those?

Thank you all in advance. I'm looking forward to learning from you.

[MichaelJ]

Hi Lizeth,

I think your approach of carefully selecting opportunities and tailoring your proposals for each is a good way of handling things.

I reviewed your profile and one suggestion I have is to add more to your portfolio if possible. Your portfolio gives you the opportunity to impress potential clients with real-life examples of your skills and expertise. To help you look your best, consider showcasing 4+ examples of your best work. Learn more about building a great portfolio here. 

I also recommend these articles:

• How to Create a Proposal That Wins Jobs
• How to Write Proposals: Proven Advice From Freelancers on Upwork

[a3fe3a63]

Hello Mike,

I'm very new to this space and I would appreciate it if you could have a look at my profile to see how I can improve it.  I know I am being quite ambitious but I'd really like to land my first job as soon as possible.

Thanks in advance for your help. 

Kaydia C.