Hello, I'm an illustrator who has worked on Upwork for many years without previously engaging in social media. I used to find all my clients on freelance platforms, and that's how I worked until it became impossible...
In this post, I'll share how to get started on Upwork, how to showcase your portfolio, and how to apply to clients. The decision to work there or not is entirely up to you. I'll also share why I chose to leave.
How did Upwork Begin?
In the distant galaxy of the internet, in 1999, the first online labor exchange, Elance, was founded. It was founded by two individuals, Odysseas Tsaparas and, presumably, Santiago Bilbao.
Running a labor exchange business is quite profitable, as there is always a demand for work. However, dealing with hordes of scammers, various charlatans, and absolutely indifferent low-quality performers and employers has always been a significant problem for online work.
At that time, the exchanges were almost entirely free, and you could contact anyone without difficulties in registrations and identity verification. The spirit of freedom and no restrictions! Wow!
Separately, there was Elance's competitor, oDesk. In 2013, to better compete for users who used the internet only for entertainment, the companies decided to merge and created the pleasant green Upwork.
The Dawn Period
The company quickly gained momentum; there were many employers on the platform with ratings, but the issues remained the same...
List of platform problems:
- Fraudulent freelancers trying to cheat and trick clients or firmly believe that their skills contribute to solving the client's problem (although often this is doubtful). They swarm to a job posting, making it virtually impossible to see a specialist's resume.
- Clients can be rude, insult your work, and you can't ban or complain about them. Leaving a review might also harm your reputation, which cannot be deleted! Interaction is limited to the contact framework. There are also outright idiots who think that for $10, they will get a high-quality product, and within a month, they will sell it for $100,000.
- Everyone has to pay (more on that later).
Who is usually successful and satisfied with Upwork?
- Programmers, who always have work, demand, and a large client budget.
- Web and product designers; these skills are always needed.
- Marketers and producers; products need promotion.
Have I had successful cases?
Yes, of course, there are clients I've been working with for several years. Always interesting projects, and you can earn more than in my city. So why did I decide to leave?
I am an illustrator, and in my profession, there are some biases. For example, drawing is easy, you don't need much knowledge, just copy, and that's enough; the computer draws for you (well, now maybe AI does). Images are considered to be of no value; artists don't ask for much money. An artist is a poor, humble eccentric on the street drawing portraits. The Upwork client often wants to order an illustration as cheaply as possible, a lot of it, and sometimes likes to criticize (thanks to those who didn't).
After 3-4 months, the client usually realizes that creating a project is expensive for them, takes a long time, and they need more money for its promotion and advertising! The creation of art products is no different from the promotion of a movie. And then, oops! The client grabs their head and decides to waste money on an artist who, in their opinion, draws poorly (for their $10-15).
And what about the money?
And here's how the snowball from the mountain, Upwork added a chill to our relationship...
20% commission and paid connects completely upset me. In negotiations with the company's manager, I was told that they would not reconsider the "pay for everything" policy, and I supposedly invest in myself.
I know what investments are, thanks.
The essence was that one connect (permission to apply for a job) costs about $1-1.5; you can buy packages of 100-200 connects at once, for example, for $30. Usually, you need 16 connects to apply. Clients want to see quality performers and increase the number of required connects to filter out scammers. There is a certain percentage of jobs that no one will ever respond to; a person just posted it and changed their mind about hiring. So, to find a job, you need to submit about 20-30 APPLICATIONS!
Well? Count $100-200 you'll spend on finding illustration and comic book work. As you can see, the platform filters out workers from economically lower countries, for whom spending so much money just on JOB SEARCH is impossible.
It's like a casino; you place a bet with your money, but you don't know if you'll win, and you'll spend your money. Jobs are not searched for in this way! And I would look for specific legal acts to sue on this matter, only it's a private company, so no one will regulate anything... probably.
You want to pay, or you don't want to—leave.
Registration
Traditional registration on the site requires an email, phone number, and your passport. The portfolio is added to a very small and unimpressive gallery. Reviews cannot be deleted, and if someone did something nasty to you, everyone will see it regardless of the real reasons.
You will be interviewed in English.
A positive moment is that you can easily pay taxes and get your reports documented.
So, what do you think? Write in the comments.