How I earned $400 in one week From freelancing
So after resigning from my first job I took a break and did some freelancing in my free time of one month. I am a software developer by profession so there is a lot of scope in freelancing projects. So I decided to take it one step further and created an account on Upwork. To my wonder, I was not getting my first job for long. But once I got my first job it was just a matter of time to get some more and I made $400 from that.
Steps I followed
- First of all, create an account on Upwork
- Completed profile by 100%.
- Write some catchy header lines on your profile.
- Added a few live projects in profile to attract clients.
- While applying for Jobs always send a cover letter and more on see below.
Setting up profile
Now let's walk step by step. So the very first thing you can do is go and create a profile on Upwork and complete it 100%. Do add some working projects to your profile to showcase your skills. Below is the attached screenshot of mine.
The Next Step is to add skills under your skills section in your profile. After doing that add some catchy header lines and professional profile images and descriptions mentioning your strong areas. Once you do all this you are good to go and search for your first job.
How to get your first job.
So before searching for your first job, let me tell you it is always difficult to get your first job. To do, so I tried to find my first job in my expert areas, but I never succeed. So to get the first job I tried something else. I started searching for a job in data entry, resume writing, reviewing word docs, and etc. and to my wonder, it kind of worked out and I got my first job as a document writer for $10. After completing it I asked the client to give me positive feedback as it is my first job and it will help me out in my career.
Now it may happen that in given connects (coins) you won't be able to crack your first job. So to solve this I used one trick which I mentioned at end of this article. But to avoid this you can try a few tips and tricks to get your first job smoothly.
Tips to get your first job smoothly
- Never apply for a job that has already more than 5 proposals.
So how do a user will come to know that how many proposals are there on the job. Well, Upwork shows the number of proposals on the job. So you can click on the job and check the number of proposals on the job already being in the queue.
2. Never apply for a job that is 10–12 hours old.
This can be an exception for you. If you are a software developer or content writer you should blindly follow rule 2. Even in the worst case, I prefer not to apply for jobs that are 3 hours older.
3. Never apply for a job if a client is already interviewing.
Now again the question comes up how you can be sure whether a client is interviewing anyone. The same screenshot you can refer to in rule no 1.
4. Apply on a job where the payment method is verified
I will always suggest only apply to a job that says the payment method is verified and the client has spent some money. Once the client verifies the payment method it means he added his credit card to Upwork and you can avoid fake jobs and clients. An example of one is shown below.
5. Before applying for a job check the client profile
Hereby checking client profile I don't mean to check client profile. But here you can check a few client statistics what is the hire rate of clients. How many open jobs are there from clients? So to check this you can click on the job and on the right-hand side.
6. Avoid jobs with more than 4 connects.
So if you don't know that to apply for a job you need to use your connects. These connects are getting credited to you in the below cases.
- Every month 10 connects free
- When you register for the first time you get 15 connects free
- When you apply for a job and you get a response from the client you get 10 connects.
- You don't get more than 20 connects in 7 days even if you get replies from 10 clients.
- You can buy connects by paying Upwork.
Now as you are a beginner so always try to avoid jobs with 4 or more than 4 connects.
7. Before applying to a job always check criteria.
Now criteria can be anything weather the budget, the time needed per week, preferred location, some certification. Few of the things can be found on Upwork itself.
So in the above screenshot, you can clearly see the red mark on location as my location is India. But the client needs the candidate from the Ukraine location only. Also, he mentioned some skills set which should be there in my proposal which is least important.
8. Make sure profile completion is 100%
Before applying to any job very important thing is to check your profile is 100% completed. You have some catchy header and you have beautifully described your work delivery. Below is an example of mine.
9. Always Include links to your work while applying.
When you apply for a job you need to submit a proposal. So always start writing in such a way that you cover your experience, your expertise in technologies, link to URLs like GitHub, your portfolio. This increases the chances of your interview with a job.
10. Create filters for better search results of jobs.
Instead of applying for random jobs, you can search the jobs create the filters with options like show jobs with less than 5 proposals, jobs with payment method verified, etc.
Alternatively, you can add a relevant skillset to your profile so that it will only show you the job to that specific field area.
Bonus Tip:
Do you feel so tedious to follow bove? you can head to linked in and search for freelancing projects and sort by date. Over there you can directly ping the person. But it will only be useful if you are a developer or if you are in some technical feild.
Conclusion:
If you will follow the above I am sure you can definitely crack the jobs smoothly. Once you are getting jobs it's easy to get the other jobs as it will be reflected in your profile about the success rate of your completed job. How much you have earned so far. Ping me for freelancing work or more if you need any help.
