So the tricky part is getting your profile approved: at first, I submitted a basic profile that said "Hey, I can type fast and talk to people without sounding like a total jackass." Apparently, there's tons of people on Upwork with that skill!! Who knew? They denied me, saying that there aren't enough jobs for new people with my skill set.
After hearing the bad news, I decided to take it more seriously and beefed my profile up to my real skill level and experiences. Alas, still too many people with my skill set and not enough jobs. Gosh, really? I just want to take on some easy clerical work to see if this website is legit!!
So, determined more than ever now after getting slapped in the face twice by a freaking website; I decided to juice it up and add some totally random skills that you wouldn't find on a normal person's profile that was just looking for a little clerical work. I added arts and crafts, some kind of management, event coordinating, and that I was a little more fluent with Japanese than I actually am.
BOOM! It worked! I was finally accepted and I could start applying to jobs.
There's a free version and a paying version of this website. The free version gives you 60 "connects" per month. You use about 2 "connects" every time you apply for an available job. The paying version gives you more "connects" but who cares until you start making money from it, right?
You set your profile with the minimum you want to be paid per hour. Upwork takes a percentage so set the bar a little higher than you normally would. Then you can start searching for jobs.
So being super eager and excited from being "accepted" into this virtual club of money makers, I jumped on the first easy job offer I could get. For the love of God, DO NOT DO THIS! It sounded fairly simple: I was to transcribe sounds I heard from audio clips in a foreign language. Just write down the sounds I heard in English for $100. Estimated time: 10hrs. Simple? Sounded so, but NO. There were about 1500 clips. Each ranging from 3 to 30 seconds long. After working 4 hours, I was only 250 clips in. I realized it would take over 20 hours to complete this task, ending in payment of less than $4 an hour. No thanks!!
I expressed my concerns with the person that hired me right away: that there is NO WAY (in hell) I could complete this job in his estimate of 10 hours, and it's more than likely going to take double that time. I asked to be compensated more. The jackass was so rude I could not believe it! He basically said I was a waste of life and to give them the work I had completed, but they weren't going to pay me anything because I didn't finish the work. He went on to submit a complaint saying "Employee suddenly stopped working and missed the deadline and lost them clients etc etc". Needless I was mind-blown. Reviews from people that previously hired you matter at Upwork because people that are looking to hire you can read all the reviews. I'm currently in a dispute that is being resolved by the customer care team. LOL
After a few days of having an active profile, I had a few people reach out and offer interviews to jobs that were good, honest work, that actually paid well. (the lowest amount I was offered was $25 an hour) So basically, be patient! You will find jobs that are at your pay grade!
So for those of you looking to make some money remotely, Upwork is a great place to go. Be creative on your profile and make sure you know what you are getting into.
If you need any help or have any questions, comment or shoot me an email! I'll gladly help you out!
<3
The Honest Toth
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