As someone who’s had a ton of success on Upwork, the number one question I get is about how a freelancer can increase their odds of getting hired. It’s a great question, and I can understand why the question comes up so often. It’s tough out there.
As more and more people flock to the platform, the competition is only getting tougher. I find that the majority of people that struggle to get hired are making key mistakes in two main areas: their proposals and their profile.
Below you’ll find the best seven tips that I have to make sure your profile is sharp and your proposals get you noticed.
PROPOSAL
Ease their Pain — Empathize with the job poster
This is the #1 place where freelancers make mistakes. The majority of proposals flow something like this:
- This is what I have done.
- This is how many years of experience I have.
- Me, me, me.
This is completely backwards. The good news is that it’s an easy fix, and that the majority of your competition is making the same mistake. To get a leg up, you have to explain how you can ease the client’s pain. I wrote about this at length in my article “How to Write a Proposal on Upwork that Actually Gets you Hired” if you want to dig in more, but the summary is that the entire point of writing a proposal is to show the client you can fix their problem, so your proposal should focus on this.
Proof is in the Putting — Provide examples of similar jobs you’ve successfully completed
If you’re applying to jobs that you’re truly a good fit for, you likely have sample work you could be sending to the client. But most of the proposals I get include no such thing. So, if you’ve got great samples of work, attach it to your proposal, none of your competition is.
To get an even bigger advantage, spend a little money or time ensuring the design of your attachments are awesome. A little extra effort will go a long way here.
Here’s an example of the Onboarding Document that I attach to new potential bookkeeping clients.
This attachment shows that I’m professional, I’ve taken the time to document my process, and that I know what I’m talking about. As yourself — who would you hire? Someone who just submits a proposal or someone who submits a proposal with a well designed and branded attachment.?
Show them the Path — Explain how they can get started
Getting hired often happens because you’ve described the clearest path between their current state (they have a problem/need) and the solution (you’ve shown them the way).
This is the section that ranges the most for me. Depending on how specific the requirements were in the job posting, I will spend anywhere from two sentences to two paragraphs explaining the path I’ll guide them down. Give them a glimpse into the process that you’re going to walk them through. If you’re going to elaborate on any of the sections of your proposal, I think this is where you can get away with a little bulk. Tell them the first few steps you’d go through with them.
The Early Bird Gets the Worm — Submit your proposals quickly
My last proposal tip is all about timing. I have found that there is a high correlation to the proximity of a proposal’s submission time and the time the job posting. I recall numerous times where I’ve my proposal was submitted within a couple hours of the job posting, and being hired shortly after.
I recommend bookmarking the common searches you do for jobs, and checking them every couple hours. If you see something that you’re a good fit for, write the proposal now.
PROFILE
Your Job Success Score
If you’ve been around Upwork for a while, you’ve probably acquired a Job Success Score (JSS). A JSS is how your past hirers have rated you. Simply put, if you’ve delivered awesome results, you’ve probably got a great JSS. I consider a JSS of 90% or higher as strong. If this is you, your JSS is probably not holding you back.
If your JSS is below 90%, that puts you at a disadvantage against the market, and you probably need to spend more time ensuring that you’re making the customer happy with what they’re getting.
There are always risks of having a nightmare client that expects too much, or doesn’t fit your personality. Even the best of us, get a less than perfect rating once or twice per year (in the long run it’s inevitable). If you think about it, you can’t really blame a potential hirer for excluding you from their shortlist if you have a history of providing work that the customer wasn’t happy with.
If your JSS is lacking, it’s not a quick fix, but you need to focus on delivering better results. Regular check-ins with clients can help. Also, if you’ve gotten bad feedback, consider reaching out to the client to see how you can make them happy with your work together.
A Great Profile Photo Ensures a Great First Impression
This one is pretty simple, but is an area where I see people trip, every day. When setting up your profile, did you grab the first decent photo you could find? That’s the impression I get when I see the majority of profile photos. Big mistake.
As humans, we want to work with people we think we’ll like. We are more likely to think we will like someone with a smiling profile photo. Yet, most of us grab a photo of the wedding we went to, crop out everyone else, and never revisit again. If this is you, keep reading.
A solid profile photo, is one that contains a smile, professional attire and a calm backdrop. So get to it:
Option #1 — Invest the money in a professional headshot. You’ll make the money back the first time additional time you’re hired.
Option #2 — If the budget is an issue, grab your iphone a friend to help you grab the perfect shot. You can get a great profile photo using just your iphone.