How does Upwork work?

Many of you have been beating your heads on how to get started with your freelancing journey. You are a professional, well-skilled in your career field, probably not in any formal employment, and probably do not know how to use these skills to earn income. This article then is for you. Well, as we saw in the previous article, Upwork is one of the top freelancing sites. It is a freelancing marketplace that connects skilled professionals (freelancers) and clients (individuals or businesses) seeking professionals to complete their tasks or projects. So if you’ve been stuck, not knowing where to start from, here’s a guide on how to go about on Upwork and start earning.

As a freelancer

The first step towards earning income on Upwork is creating a freelancer profile. This involves detailing your personal information, skills, experiences, and work history. A stand-out profile increases the chances of getting hired on the platform.

The next step is bidding or applying to jobs that match your skills. After creating an eye-catching profile, the freelancer should then go ahead and bid on projects that require their skills. This involves writing and submitting a proposal for clients’ review. Clients review the proposals from different freelancers and select and hire the one they feel is most desirable for the task.

The next step for a freelancer on Upwork is getting hired. Once a freelancer’s proposal appears appealing to a client, they hire them, and the two parties can start communicating on Upwork’s messaging board, where they can discuss the project’s requirements and deliverables further.

After being hired, the freelancer then completes the project and delivers the completed work to the client on the platform and the client can review the completed work.

The next step for a freelancer is getting paid for the completed work. After completing and submitting their work, the freelancer then gets paid on Upwork through the platform’s secure payment option.

As a client

If you have a project and want to look for the most suitable freelancer to complete it on Upwork, you will need to start your upwork journey by signing up for a client’s account. This entails providing the required personal information.

After signing up on upwork, a client then posts their project or job. This involves detailing the requirements for the job and outlining its budget and timeline.

Once a client has posted a project, various freelancers submit their proposals and the client reviews the proposals submitted by different freelancers, and hires the most preferred freelancers.

Alternatively, clients can post their projects and invite the clients they feel are most qualified for the job instead of posting and waiting for any freelancers to bid (place their proposals). Either way, they have to review the proposals and hire their preferred freelancers.

A client is then expected to deposit the agreed amount to be payable for the project (milestone) to enable the freelancer to start working on the project.

Upon the completion and submission of the work by the freelancer, the client reviews the completed work and releases payment for the completed work if they find the work satisfactory.

Note that communication between the client and freelancer should only take place on the messaging board.

It is also important to note that clients and freelancers are not allowed to share personal information on upwork.

Key features of Upwork

• Upwork offers a wide range of skills and job categories such as writing, design, engineering, accounting, and virtual assistance, among others.

• Upwork uses an escrow payment option for fixed projects whereby the clients are expected to deposit funds (milestones) that are only released when the client is satisfied with the freelancer’s work. Escrow also provides security to freelancers ensuring that the clients pay for the completed projects.

• Upwork also has a feedback system whereby both the client and freelancers can provide their reviews on their experience from working with each other. The reviews are important because they help in building trust between clients and freelancers on the platform.

Types of projects

There are two types of projects on Upwork including fixed projects, and hourly projects. These have different characteristics and protection terms for clients and freelancers and when clients post jobs on Upwork, they are expected to choose either of the two types.

Hourly projects are those that which clients pay freelancers for hours worked. After an hourly project is awarded to them, freelancers are expected to track the number of hours they have worked via Upwork’s time-tracker. Clients then pay for the tracked hours at the agreed rate. Hourly projects enhance flexibility in case the client needs to make adjustments to the instructions or expand the scope of work because they can do so without having to create a new contract. With the hourly projects, it is also for clients to contact freelancers they have worked with before.

Fixed projects are those that require clients and freelancers to agree on a fixed price for the entire project. The client is then required to pay for the project according to the agreed milestones.

Next article: How does Fiverr work