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jwarren73
Community Member

Trouble getting started - does Rising Talent flag help, and how do I get it without landing any jobs

I am relatively new to Upwork - while I created the account several months ago, I've only been actively submitting proposals for the past week or so. Unfortunately, I haven't had a single response to any of my proposals - with no job success rating and no Rising Talent flag, it seems as if employers don't even read my proposal letter. The only suggestion I've gotten from friends that have used the system is to offer to do jobs for free to build a history, which isn't particularly appealing... any suggestions?

10 REPLIES 10
yitwail
Community Member

I’ll give you one piece of advice: don’t listen to anything these friends who have used “the system” tell you. Working for free is a terrible idea. I certainly never worked for free at Upwork and I would be shocked if many successful freelancers have worked for free. Ask to see your friends’ profiles, and let them prove that working for free is a good strategy.
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"No good deed goes unpunished." -- Clare Boothe Luce
AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hey Jon, 


Don't give up just yet. I checked your profile and would recommend that you remove this line - "I'm a highly experienced Excel programmer (including VBA) looking for some extra projects to tackle on the evenings and weekends, potentially leading to long-term contractual consultant work," and replace it with how you are a highly experienced excel programmer. It would be best to always talk about your skills and expertise on your profile overview so that clients have an idea what you can offer them with just a glance on your profile. 

Seeing that you are new here, I would suggest that you read up on these resources we have compiled so that you can read up on great tips on how you can be successful on your freelancing business here on Upwork. 

Additionally, you may also 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: 

Good luck, Jon!


~ Avery
Upwork
jwarren73
Community Member

Thanks for the tip - I've started reworking my profile, mind taking another look?

Hi, Can you check my profile with experts eyes?

I hope to meet long term work on here

 

How can I do that?

 

Regards,

Dmytro

holymell
Community Member

Jon,

Many of us never had rising talent. Don't worry about that. You don't need it. It's probably nice to have, but it's not necessary.

The best advice I have is to read the forums here (just don't respond to old threads). I have had a small amount of success here and I know it's because I read the forums. I read everything in Freelancers, Clients, New to Upwork, and even the Coffee Break section. I learned so much about the platform.

In your proposals, make sure to not talk much about yourself. Tell the client how you can solve their problems. The client only sees the first two lines of your proposal initially, so make those first two lines eye catching. Same with your profile. The client only sees the first two lines of that, too.

It took me over two months to get that first job. I did take a very low paying job, and I don't recommend it. I'm lucky that my low-paying client was a cool dude. Most are not. Don't take the chance of ruining your profile for that first job.

Good luck!

Hi Jon. I work in much the same line as you. (I probably shouldn't be giving advice to a potential competitor!)

 

I got started without Rising Talent. It took me nearly a month and over 20 proposals. I doubt that the Rising Talent badge would have made much difference. However, I would have attempted to get Rising Talent (by making my profile "100% complete") if I'd known it has another significant advantage: weeks spent as Rising Talent count towards Top Rated status.

 

I don't recommend working for free, as such. But what got me started was producing a custom proof-of-concept demo to show the client I could do what he wanted. I invested time making a few custom demos. But now that I've built up library of demo files I usually have a suitable one to send with my proposals, and haven't made a custom one for a long time. That said, I expect a lot of potential clients don't want to bother downloading a demo file, or don't want to risk running a macro-enabled file from an unknown source. So I'm aiming to improve my portfolio with more descriptions and images of past projects, so I can refer to those instead. I just haven't had the time to do it. 

They only see the first 2 lines initially? Thanks, I'll tweak my profile for that, great tio!
martina_plaschka
Community Member


Jon W wrote:

I am relatively new to Upwork - while I created the account several months ago, I've only been actively submitting proposals for the past week or so. Unfortunately, I haven't had a single response to any of my proposals - with no job success rating and no Rising Talent flag, it seems as if employers don't even read my proposal letter. The only suggestion I've gotten from friends that have used the system is to offer to do jobs for free to build a history, which isn't particularly appealing... any suggestions?


Working for free does  not build a history, because those jobs never show up on your profile. A client that you did free work for will expect you to do that forever. So that is not a great tip from your "friends" at all. 

I don't think rising talent makes a huge difference, and many people have reported that they get fewer offers when top rated, so you never know. 

If you have a professional profile, you will stand out from a lot of people, so just keep writing proposals. 

Edit that was an old post....

troyesit
Community Member

Hi Jon,

 

I totally agree with Melissa C that work on your profile and making your proposal eye-catching.

 

As Melissa C said that don't talk too much about your skills and your services. First, Understand the pain of the client and offer the best remedy. You will always be the winner with this formula.  

 

Never work for free buddy. If you think free work will value the client so no don't think so. Also, don't give cheap price job to get a job. It will damage your cash flow because, without fund, you can not give good services mentally and physically.

 

Again, in short, Work more on your profile improvement and bid on the job which you feel you can deliver 100% perfectly. Ask important project related questions so as the client can understand that you are trying to understand and you are interested what do they want. For sure you will get a job. 

 

I am also a new member here I just keep reading all articles here in the community.  I  just won 1 job out of 12 bids only. I bid only on the job which I can do perfectly and follow the same rule what Melissa C is saying. 

 

Another tip mate never listens to your friends or anyone who gives you short cut success advice. Otherwise very soon your account will be suspended by Upwork.  Read carefully all terms of uses. 

 

As per Melissa's advice always spare some time to read the content here on Upwork Community. 

 

I hope I have given good advise as per my knowledge, hope it will help you a lot.

 

Good Luck,

 

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Always remember: Rome wasn't built in a day, keep trying and be consistent.

Anonymous-User
Not applicable

Your friends are part of the problem on this platform. I wonder if they know it's just a matter of time before their accounts get banned.

Badges...we don't need no stinking badges.

Listen to the professionals here. Always.
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