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Why are people still using Upwork? How many of these horror stories do we need to come across before people learn to ditch Upwork for good? Here was another hor

by foo101 8y ago

Why are people still using Upwork? How many of these horror stories do we need to come across before people learn to ditch Upwork for good? Here was another horror story that I read sometime back: https://hackernoon.com/why-you-should-never-use-upwork-ever-5c62848bdf46 https://hackernoon.com/why-you-should-never-use-upwork-ever-... It has been two years since then! Heck, everyone ditched Digg in a matter of weeks due to a UI redesign. How on the same earth are people still using Upwork despite issues that are for more serious where people's livelihoods are affected?

mrhappyunhappy 8y ago
Some people don’t have any alternatives to upwork. Even though the platform is shit it still puts food on the table. I still have an upwork profile but most of my business is word of mouth. The reason I keep it is because due to how I phrased my profile, once in a blue moon I get a good lead.
- tnolet 8y ago
  Freelancer here. I understand what you're trying to say. But this is simply not true. Freelancing existed before Upwork and will exist after.
  - alrehn 8y ago
    If you've got a lot of experience and connections, finding freelance work on your own is easy. The thing that feeds sites like upwork is people with less of that, people that will work for pennies, often from third world countries. For me, a few years ago I was in school and wanted some income from programming. I managed to get some work on a site that has since been bought by upwork, worked for $10-15 an hour. If not for that site I'd have never gotten that work, and be much worse off now.
  - mrhappyunhappy 8y ago
    Most people I talk to who ask me about Upwork are the types who are just starting out and don’t have any connections. I too started on upwork and while certainly not a large sum, my first year offering design services I made 50k. I know this is a laughable sum by most salary standards for people who typically browse HN, but it’s nothing to be a shamed of for someone who went from unemployment to some sort of income on his own accord. I know of many freelancers who typically do between 40-50k on upwork plus other projects outside the platform. Personally, I have moved into consulting and do not rely on upwork. While still not a lot of money by standards here, I’m on track to 100k this year. I think the huge benefit is that I don’t have to deal with a lot of stress that comes with employment or nonsense the kind that the author talks about with upwork. Consider that platform your path to a sustainable freelance or consulting career. Gotta put in the grunt hours to move up. Of course there are many exemptions if you are in the right circumstances.
dpau 8y ago
I started looking for remote software development work in March of this year. Due to being in school part-time I couldn't take a full-time gig. And I interviewed with three consulting firms that all wanted me to commit to over 30 hours a week. Upwork turned out to be a good solution for me. It took about three weeks of searching through Upwork job posts until I found a good fit. There were a lot uninteresting job postings to wade through. And being new to the platform (without any history or earnings) probably made landing a job more difficult. But I finally found a great client who allows for flexible hours at a pretty good hourly rate. Most of our team was found via Upwork and with only one exception everyone has worked out well. The Upwork screenshot/work monitor software is definitely intrusive but I feel that's the cost of earning trust in an environment where clients and providers don't necessarily know one another. Now that I've earned over $10k working for this client, Upwork is "only" taking 5% of my rate. However I feel this is quite fair given the platform they provide. Anyway a body shop would be taking a much bigger cut. I'm also building up a history within Upwork and future gigs should be easier to land. Just as with other trust-based systems like Airbnb, the longer I'm on Upwork and the higher my reputation & earnings become, the more I'm incentivized to keep using it.
- stevew20 8y ago
  He works for Upwork.
egypturnash 8y ago
Well in this case: "A marketing company that wanted to work with me only hires freelance writers through @Upwork. So I signed up. I wasn't thrilled about it, but that's who they contract with and it's their marketing company." - the second tweet in the linked series of tweet
ivm 8y ago
Because there are not many options for people living outside of the richest countries.
rospaya 8y ago
What are other ways to find gigs? I'm a sysadmin (on the devops side) and don't know of any other ways to get your foot in through the door to get a few side jobs. Toptal is too much for scoring some beer money, Upwork may be too cheap and unreliable but I'm not sure sysadmins have a better way of finding clients.
- foo101 8y ago
  Network with people directly via physical world and web meetings. It requires some time and monetary investment (building relationships and traveling to conferences), but once you have build a network of even 4 or 5 people who value your skills out of which at least one is offering you a gig, you are all set. You can now use this network to vouch for your skills, ethics, and expertise to get more gigs. Sure, Upwork is much easier than this but with this ease comes this huge risk of your livelihood disappearing into thin air at the whims and fancies of Upwork.

by foo101 8y ago

mrhappyunhappy 8y ago

Some people don’t have any alternatives to upwork. Even though the platform is shit it still puts food on the table. I still have an upwork profile but most of my business is word of mouth. The reason I keep it is because due to how I phrased my profile, once in a blue moon I get a good lead.

tnolet 8y ago
Freelancer here. I understand what you're trying to say. But this is simply not true. Freelancing existed before Upwork and will exist after.
- alrehn 8y ago
  If you've got a lot of experience and connections, finding freelance work on your own is easy. The thing that feeds sites like upwork is people with less of that, people that will work for pennies, often from third world countries. For me, a few years ago I was in school and wanted some income from programming. I managed to get some work on a site that has since been bought by upwork, worked for $10-15 an hour. If not for that site I'd have never gotten that work, and be much worse off now.
- mrhappyunhappy 8y ago
  Most people I talk to who ask me about Upwork are the types who are just starting out and don’t have any connections. I too started on upwork and while certainly not a large sum, my first year offering design services I made 50k. I know this is a laughable sum by most salary standards for people who typically browse HN, but it’s nothing to be a shamed of for someone who went from unemployment to some sort of income on his own accord. I know of many freelancers who typically do between 40-50k on upwork plus other projects outside the platform. Personally, I have moved into consulting and do not rely on upwork. While still not a lot of money by standards here, I’m on track to 100k this year. I think the huge benefit is that I don’t have to deal with a lot of stress that comes with employment or nonsense the kind that the author talks about with upwork. Consider that platform your path to a sustainable freelance or consulting career. Gotta put in the grunt hours to move up. Of course there are many exemptions if you are in the right circumstances.

dpau 8y ago

I started looking for remote software development work in March of this year. Due to being in school part-time I couldn't take a full-time gig. And I interviewed with three consulting firms that all wanted me to commit to over 30 hours a week. Upwork turned out to be a good solution for me. It took about three weeks of searching through Upwork job posts until I found a good fit. There were a lot uninteresting job postings to wade through. And being new to the platform (without any history or earnings) probably made landing a job more difficult. But I finally found a great client who allows for flexible hours at a pretty good hourly rate. Most of our team was found via Upwork and with only one exception everyone has worked out well. The Upwork screenshot/work monitor software is definitely intrusive but I feel that's the cost of earning trust in an environment where clients and providers don't necessarily know one another. Now that I've earned over $10k working for this client, Upwork is "only" taking 5% of my rate. However I feel this is quite fair given the platform they provide. Anyway a body shop would be taking a much bigger cut. I'm also building up a history within Upwork and future gigs should be easier to land. Just as with other trust-based systems like Airbnb, the longer I'm on Upwork and the higher my reputation & earnings become, the more I'm incentivized to keep using it.

stevew20 8y ago
He works for Upwork.

egypturnash 8y ago

Well in this case: "A marketing company that wanted to work with me only hires freelance writers through @Upwork. So I signed up. I wasn't thrilled about it, but that's who they contract with and it's their marketing company." - the second tweet in the linked series of tweet

ivm 8y ago

Because there are not many options for people living outside of the richest countries.

rospaya 8y ago

What are other ways to find gigs? I'm a sysadmin (on the devops side) and don't know of any other ways to get your foot in through the door to get a few side jobs. Toptal is too much for scoring some beer money, Upwork may be too cheap and unreliable but I'm not sure sysadmins have a better way of finding clients.

foo101 8y ago
Network with people directly via physical world and web meetings. It requires some time and monetary investment (building relationships and traveling to conferences), but once you have build a network of even 4 or 5 people who value your skills out of which at least one is offering you a gig, you are all set. You can now use this network to vouch for your skills, ethics, and expertise to get more gigs. Sure, Upwork is much easier than this but with this ease comes this huge risk of your livelihood disappearing into thin air at the whims and fancies of Upwork.