Online Side Hustle Series: Getting Your UpWork Profile Approved.

Photo by Manny Pantoja on Unsplash

Many of my readers have been complaining about getting rejected on some freelancing platform after the signup process, especially on Upwork. Upwork is now strict with their vetting process for new freelancers. There is a reason for that. One major one being that they want to keep their clients safe from scammers and fraudsters and also make sure that freelancers who work on Upwork have the right skills to do the work for their ever growing clients.

Current freelancers also stand the risk of being banned from the site if any fishy activities are noticed on their part while dealing with clients.

Reasons Why New Freelancers Get Rejected On Upwork

• Incomplete Profile
• Lack of Social Proof
• Lack of Evidence To Prove Your Skills

In this article, I will show you how to complete your profile so you can easily get approved. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve been rejected. We will work through this and get you approved in your next try. What you’ll learn here can also be applied to other freelancing websites when you are signing up as a new freelancer. Let’s get started on Upwork.

Step 1: Fill in the legal name use on all your documents

Do not fill in fancy names as your first and last name because you are expected to link your account to your payment methods. If the names do not match, you stand the chance to be rejected.

It is important for you to know that freelancing should be taken as seriously as your other 9 to 5 jobs. The only difference is that it is location independent. Why? Because your work will cost your clients their hard earned money, so you have to ensure they get the value they are paying for.

Step 2: Select The Services You Have The Right Skills To Do

Once you’ve passed the email verification stage, you then move on to the stage of completing your application profile.
When selecting the services you want to render, make sure you select the skills you have the evidence to show that you can deliver high-quality work to your clients.
Ensure you max out the number of skills in the “What skills do you offer clients?” field.
In the example below, I entered up to 10 skills which I am sure I have the skills to do a good job.
Then, select your experience level based on your level of confidence and work experience in the field or skill.

Step 3: Complete Your Profile Professionally

• Treat this stage as if you are in a face to face interview for your dream job. Yes, freelancing has been many people’s dream job. Here, you are being interviewed by Upwork remotely.
• Upload a clear photo of your face.
• When adding your professional title, remember to write a title that matches closely to the main skills you entered in Step 2 of this article
• Write at least 5 bullet points explaining your skills and experiences and how they can add value to a potential client. If you are not sure of how to complete a resume, do a little more research on the best way to write a resume especially on the skills summary part. Add a link to your blog or portfolio or GitHub account in this section. No one will sell your skills better than you do, prove to your clients here that you are equal to the task.

There’s a space for videos. You can record and upload a short video of your portfolio or of yourself confidently explaining a summary of your skills.

• Add all your education. High school, college/university, postgraduate degrees, online courses and training you have ever taken which are related to your listed skills.
• This page is your resume to get your desired work so complete all sections properly. Your employment history is also important. As a client, if you have two freelancers bidding for your job, one has his employment history or previous jobs listed on profile while the other doesn’t have any work history to prove they have been doing the work. Which one would you select to do your work? Now you get what I mean here. Write a detailed description of the work you did under each work experience.
• Your English proficiency has to be Native or Bilingual if you are applying as a Writer or Proofreader in the English language. It would really not matter if you are a web developer but fluency level is a good one.

Step 4: Hourly Rate and Location

Your rate will depend on your skills and the average rate for the specific work category you are registering. Do some research to get an idea of what other freelancers earn for your skill of interest. You may need to charge lower than average at this beginning stage. When you’ve got more clients, good reviews, and more hours of freelance work then you can charge more. However, you can allow Upwork to set your rate to the default value for that skill.

Make sure you fill in your address and phone number correctly. Masking your IP address or claiming to be in Canada when you are in Guinea-Bissau by using any means is one sure way to getting kicked out of the platform.
Upwork will only provide your city name and country to your clients and your phone number will only be used for verification. If you enter an incorrect phone number, you risk being rejected because Upwork cannot verify you.
Complete the remaining steps and review your application.

Then submit.

If you are able to complete your profile, you should be approved. If you still get rejections, contact Upwork support with your concerns.

Do These If You Want To Get Your First Freelance Jobs Faster

1. Take tests on the platform:

There are many skill tests on Upwork platform you can take to improve your profile. English punctuation and mechanics test, spelling test, typing speed, and so on are some of those tests. The tests available for you may be related to the skills you have on your profile so it will be helpful to take some of them. If you score low in any of the tests, you have the option to hide the score from public visibility and only display the ones you passed. Below is a screenshot of some of the tests I took when I joined Elance / oDesk: the two companies that merged to become today’s Upwork.

2. Read the new freelancer’s guide to understand the best practices

We all need guidance when we are starting anything new. Most freelance platforms have resources to help new people succeed in their freelance gigs. Don’t neglect these resources. Reading them will help you reduce the number of times you make mistakes in finding great work as a freelancer. READ THE FREELANCERS GUIDE!

3. Link Your Social Media Profiles To Your Freelance Account

If you are applying for a web developer, graphic designer, data scientist, writer, etc on freelancing platforms, connecting your LinkedIn profile or personal website to your profile is a stronger social and professional proof.
For web and software developers, link your GitHub account or portfolio to your profile if you have one.
For writer, adding a link to your blog is the best way to show your writing skills to potential clients.

Read related articles:

• How To Start A Blog
• Online Side Hustle Series: Make Money As A Writer (Part 1)

4. Treat Your Freelance Jobs as Actual Work

Discipline and good work ethics will make you deliver excellent services that will make your clients leave 5-star reviews for the work done.
Client reviews are the life-blood of your freelance profile. It will attract more clients to you if you have good reviews or chase them away when your reviews are below 4.0.

Better reviews are gained when you:

• Communicate often and professionally with your client during the work timeline.
• Deliver your result before the deadline
• Work according to your client’s specifications and give a little extra.
• Are flexible with your clients

5. Replicate this steps on other platforms.

Upwork is not the only freelance platform. PeoplePerHour, Fiverr, Guru, Freelancer, etc have slightly different ways new people are expected to complete their profile but they are somewhat similar. Complete your profile on whatever platform you are registering on.

Are there other challenges you are facing on your freelancing work? Use the comment section below to let me know your concerns. Happy freelancing.

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