Since January of this year, I’ve been regularly using Upwork as a side hustle. Upwork is polarizing for sure, but it’s been helpful in teaching me the ropes of freelancing. At least, the lower rungs of it.
Then, last month, I was laid off and, in lieu of better options, had to rely upon Upwork as I grew my freelance business. Along the way, I learned some valuable lessons.
I’m not here to choose a side in Medium’s debate over whether Upwork is horrible or awesome. For desperate freelancers like me who needed something to pay the bills, Upwork sufficed. It did help me grow my portfolio. It kept money flowing in.
But it’s also cost me a lot of hours, and it’s not somewhere I want to be long-term.
Your Profile
Your Upwork profile needs more care than it deserves — it needs a lot of finesse, and then you have to return to it every time Upwork changes the platform. I initially drafted something akin to a cover letter and put up a couple of projects I’d done through my 9-to-5 job. I took dozens of proficiency tests and put my scores on my profile (and then Upwork removed the tests within a few months, claiming that people could game the system). Then, I had to add featured projects and specialized profiles when Upwork rolled those out. And then I applied for pretty much everything I thought I could do.
