What Freelancers Must Know Before Accepting Project On Upwork

There are certain things every freelancer should know about the Upwork platform before accepting to work on a project for a client.

Every client will not have their requirements clear. So if you don’t take the time to understand the needs and craft a custom proposal from a template, you will have a hard time when clients accept bids for vague projects.

The client wants to clone a few site’s major functionalities in 30 calendar days. There’s very little you can do about it but avoid or if you have an invite, decline.

So here are some key points that every freelancer must consider before accepting to work on a client’s project on Upwork.

1. Verified Payment

New clients must verify their payment method, and freelancers should avoid clients who are yet to verify it. It is an important aspect that I look for a client when applying for projects.

There is no harm in applying to projects even if you don’t see the client has verified payment and project requirements looks fine. It may be that client is doing the process of verification, which can take some time. Ideally, you should accept the offer only when the payment is verified.

2. Client Past History

I like to see the client’s profile of how long he has been a member and what kind of other projects the client has posted before, which may or may not have resulted in someone being hired.

If a client has posted way too many projects without hiring anyone, it creates doubt in my mind if he is looking to hire at all? The client may not always find the right freelancer each time, but too many projects with lots of proposals, and without anyone being hired can be a bad sign.

3. Trying to Bypass Upwork

Payment through Upwork builds confidence for clients and freelancers. Clients know they will pay only when the deliverables are of satisfactory quality, and freelancers know their payment is protected.

I always prefer Upwork for payment because their fees for long term clients are as low as 5%, which is very close to PayPal fees and adds payment protection.

4. Requirements and Deadlines

The most crucial aspect that I look at in a project is the requirements. I bypass all the above criteria if I see clear and concise requirements and If I will be able to deliver them within the needed deadline.

Even if all the requirements are not precise but if major requirements are clear, I am okay with it.

5. Timeline

I understand requirements but still need to see how busy I am to get the amount of time necessary to deliver the deliverables within the timeline.

If I am not able to manage deadlines, I either decline the offer or ask how much time I will need.