What are the chances of this happening ?

orzac · ‎04-08-2022

Hello,

What are the chances of this happening? I`ve asked some questions before here in this forum. One forum member suggested to me that I should apply to jobs that have a low number of proposals. I`m ok with that but I have one concern. The people that hire on Upwork and have a low proposal count are also the people that have never hired on Upwork so they don`t know what a good quality freelancer looks like. I could do a very good job but still, only get a 3-star review after my work is done. And that can be a killjoy on me ever-rising my rates. So how should I go about this? How big are the risks of me getting hired by a client and him giving me a bad review?

Thank you

roberty1y · ‎04-08-2022

You should get an idea of what a client is like when you're discussing the job at the pre-contract stage. If they're clear and open from the start about the type and amount of work they want done, it's a good sign. Don't rush into a contract until you have a good feeling about the client.

martina_plaschka · ‎04-08-2022

Your whole argument makes no sense at all.

1. You presume that people who have never hired on upwork don't recognize good work. Why?

2. Further you presume that you will do good work and still get bad feedback. Why? Makes no sense at all.

3. How big are the risks of me getting hired by a client and him giving me a bad review?

Extremely low when your work is good. Extremely high when your work is bad.

orzac · ‎04-09-2022

Thank you all for your help. I feel much better now with the information that you have given to me

feed_my_eyes · ‎04-09-2022

Orza C wrote:
Hello,

What are the chances of this happening? I`ve asked some questions before here in this forum. One forum member suggested to me that I should apply to jobs that have a low number of proposals. I`m ok with that but I have one concern. The people that hire on Upwork and have a low proposal count are also the people that have never hired on Upwork so they don`t know what a good quality freelancer looks like.

No, the forum member didn't suggest that you should only apply to jobs that have a low number of proposals. They said that it depended, and when you insisted that you only wanted a "yes" or "no" answer, they said yes, because you've said in all of your forum posts that you don't want to bother reading anything and are only interested in simple explanations.

Here's a more detailed explanation, in case anyone else is reading and actually wants to become informed. A low proposal count has nothing to do with how many times a client has hired on Upwork; for that information, you look at the right-hand side of the page under "About the client". A low proposal count normally simply means that the job was posted less than an hour ago, so not many freelancers have had a chance to respond yet. But most decent jobs will have 50 proposals after an hour or less, and just because you proposed when there were only 5 proposals, it doesn't mean that your bid will be near the top of the list unless the client is in a rush to hire; proposals are ordered by what Upwork thinks is a "best match".

The other reason that a job could have a low number of proposals is because it's an obvious scam, or because a client has received (or given) bad reviews in the past, or because the budget is shockingly low, or the description is too vague, or because it's just a bad job/bad client for a variety of other reasons - so, it wouldn't be a good idea to apply for that type of job.

Basically, the only kinds of jobs that have a low proposal count and ARE good jobs to apply for, are the ones that require a very high level of experience and/or a niche skill that not many other freelancers possess, so relatively few people have bid; if you qualify for THAT type of job, then you have a good chance of being hired.

The best way to improve your odds of being hired are to have great skills and knowledge of your target market in order to successfully sell yourself. That's why it's a good idea to read everything about how to use Upwork, and use the Internet to find out everything you can about your niche and how to market yourself as a freelancer. The shortcuts that some new freelancers try to take - by trying to game the system or discover some magical formula for getting hired - rarely work out.

orzac · ‎04-09-2022

Hello,

So In your oppinion I should forget applying to jobs with people that haven`t ever hired on Upwork and have a low proposal count. Because they could have a **bleep**ty budget and the client may be someone that gives bad reviews to it`s freelancers? Do you think I should got for the jobs with a higher proposal count, the ones with 20-50 and just write them a YOU-focused proposal and hope to get hired by one of them?

Instead of jobs with less than 10 proposals because they might be an issue with the client?

martina_plaschka · ‎04-09-2022

Orza C wrote:
Hello,

So In your oppinion I should forget applying to jobs with people that haven`t ever hired on Upwork and have a low proposal count. Because they could have a **bleep**ty budget and the client may be someone that gives bad reviews to it`s freelancers? Do you think I should got for the jobs with a higher proposal count, the ones with 20-50 and just write them a YOU-focused proposal and hope to get hired by one of them?
Instead of jobs with less than 10 proposals because they might be an issue with the client?

I don't know why you even think about getting bad reviews. That should be the last thing on your mind. A serious professional doesn't worry about it, because they know that their work is flawless.

What you should worry about is not getting scammed.

feed_my_eyes · ‎04-10-2022

Orza C wrote:
Hello,

So In your oppinion I should forget applying to jobs with people that haven`t ever hired on Upwork and have a low proposal count.

I didn't say that at all. I frequently bid on jobs for new clients who have a low proposal count - IF the job sounds good and IF I think that I'm a good fit.

Orza C wrote:
Do you think I should got for the jobs with a higher proposal count, the ones with 20-50 and just write them a YOU-focused proposal and hope to get hired by one of them?
Instead of jobs with less than 10 proposals because they might be an issue with the client?

Re-read my response. I said that there are NO definitive answers to your question; it depends on the individual circumstances. Yet, you're still looking for yes or no responses and easy rules to follow. You're just going to have to face the fact that it requires time, patience and research to learn how to be a successful freelancer.

martina_plaschka · ‎04-09-2022

Further to Christine, I would suggest to stay away from jobs with very few proposals, because that's an indication that something is wrong with them that other freelancers were able to pick up on. I would stay away from jobs with excessive proposals, too much competition for a newbie without a job history or a convincing profile.

The best jobs to apply for are the ones with not too few, but not too many proposals.

nhansen · ‎04-09-2022

I don't agree. I often apply for jobs with few proposals because that means that I have a better chance at getting the job. I find that often jobs with very specific qualifications or jobs where the client actually bothered to write a very detailed and comprehensive job description get far less applications than those that are one liners that don't even give you a clear idea what the client needs.

renata101 · ‎04-09-2022

Martina P wrote:
Further to Christine, I would suggest to stay away from jobs with very few proposals, because that's an indication that something is wrong with them that other freelancers were able to pick up on.

Not necessarily. Proposal numbers don't always tell the whole store (or possibly any story at all). If there are very few proposals, it could be an indication that the client is asking for something specific and that most people don't have the right experience. If your experience is a fit, it makes sense to send a proposal. Some jobs get lots of applicants, but it could be that not all of the applicants have strong qualifications and that yours are better. If your experience works with what they're asking for, it makes sense to send a proposal.

However, that might be a good rule of thumb for customer service jobs (unless the product is highly specialized).

I don't really look at how many proposals are there because I've landed contracts on both ends of the spectrum (posts with very few proposals and posts with quite a few). I simply pull out anything I've done that is relevant to what the client is asking for. If the post is short, I provide a brief general summary and include a request for more detailed information. I also ask a lot of specific questions that make it sound like I'm paying attention (this sort of thing tends to go over very well with clients who have jobs to do).

If the proposal sounds bad to you, don't apply. If you're not sure, ask someone else what they think.

@Orza You've got nursing and massage therapy in your background. These might be good specifics to emphasize for certain types of contracts.

orzac · ‎04-09-2022

I put up the nursing and massage therapy because i don`t want a gap to appear. I`m still doing massage therapy but it doesn`t cover 8 hours a day. Because of 1.lack of customers and 2. it`s really hard. So i need a filler for the other 4 hours. and something like customer support or virtual assistant sounds good and can fill up my time table

renata101 · ‎04-10-2022

That's a good plan. I just pointed it out because there are all kinds of companies that require customer service, and Upwork is a global platform, so it is possible to find almost anything here. Your background could be a real asset in certain industries.

I understand about not being able to do massage for 8 hours a day. I have a friend who's a massage therapist. It's been hard for her because massage therapy was not considered an "essential service" the way other therapies in the healthcare system are.

orzac · ‎04-09-2022

Hello Martina,

What would you say for a newbie that would be a good proposal count less than 20 more than 10 would that be the area where you think a young fish like me could swim?

martina_plaschka · ‎04-09-2022

Orza C wrote:
Hello Martina,

What would you say for a newbie that would be a good proposal count less than 20 more than 10 would that be the area where you think a young fish like me could swim?

Frankly I would discourage everyone from joining upwork at this time, because they are seemingly unable to get a grip on the scams that are going on.