Winning Upwork Job Interviews with ease
There are four stages to getting getting money out of Upwork as a freelancer. They are:
- The proposals stage
- Proposal viewed stage
- The pre-contract interview or meeting stage
- Hired — offer, acceptance and deliver stage
Today, I will focus on the last two stages since I had made enough videos about the first two on my channel.
Upwork interviews are meetings, which yields lots of money for freelancers if treated right. So, let’s dive into some practical tips for acing Upwork interviews, managing meetings effectively, and ensuring client inquiries lead to actual freelance jobs. Before we start, let’s quickly consider the types of Upwork interviews:
Type 1: The Call
- Clients may request a call to discuss further. Be prepared to communicate confidently and professionally.
- Use Upwork’s built-in calling feature, this is a recorded Zoom call — I usually use Google meet and other platforms before but sense it may trigger Upwork TOS update against circumvention.
- Listen more and premise your response client’s direction.
Type 2: The Sample
- This involves showcasing your skills through a sample task. Although you should have shared your portfolio, client may request for a specific type of work sample or test project. This may be okay for beginners but for me, I don’t offer free test project on Upwork.
- While I won’t delve into samples and portfolio here, they are essential for demonstrating your abilities.
Tips for Successful Upwork Interviews:
- Understand the Purpose:
Recognize that Upwork interviews are not typical job interviews. They serve as a chance to discuss details with clients and sell your services.
The interview process begins when a client responds to your proposal, it could be for various reasons, such as providing more information, asking general questions, or negotiating terms.
2. Classify the Lead:
If the client you’re meeting with is a cold leads — one that require convincing. Explain your value and address their project’s urgency. If the client is a warm leads — one that’s already expressing strong interest in working with you. Demonstrate value and build rapport. Proceed to define the scope and requirement you need to start the project.
3. Be Prepared:
Re-read and understand the job description thoroughly before the meeting. Simple as this is, many freelancers don’t read job descriptions.
Have your workstation setup for the meeting, get earpiece handy, use external mic and camera, if affordable for you. I once lost a job because I didn’t have an earpiece
4. Demonstrate Value:
Explain what you can offer and why the client should hire you. Highlight your unique selling points.
5. Be Genuine:
Avoid sounding overly professional. Clients appreciate authenticity. I remember wearing a suit for an online interview. That’s unnecessary for Upwork interviews but ensure you look okay. Reasonable casual wear or better put, business casual is fine.
Show them why working with you is seamless. I have had a case where my prospective client was skeptical about working with me because I am in Nigeria, saying he had worked with a Nigerian guy who gives the epileptic power supply and poor internet connection as excuses not to deliver his job on the agreed time. I hinted him of my solar and generator backup and told him I have backup of backup for my internet.
6. Be Punctual:
I remember speaking with a prospective client; she reached out to me about a $400 job. Everything was showing strong positive indications until we scheduled a meeting and I was 4 minutes late to join the meeting. She exited already. And rightly so. I got a farewell message from her in my Upwork. That taught me a good lesson to always join meetings before the agreed time.
7. Take notes:
A faintest pen is better than the sharpest brain. You can use an actual pen and paper, for me I use sticky notes. The advent of ai makes it easier to use tools like Otter to take note automatically and meeting platforms like Google Meet have it incorporated as a feature. You can use AI to summarize the meeting
8. Ask Questions:
Don’t just suck in everything the client says hook, line and sinker. Push back professionally when necessary. Make suggestions, recommendations and help the client define the scope of work. Hint prospective clients of how you can come in and give clear line of action.
9. Agree on communication mode(s):
During the interview, find out the client’s most preferred mode of communication. Some prefer text while others prefer voice or video call conversations.
10. Call to Action:
From my experience, clients understand what they need and often do their best to communicate it to you. One thing however is that you are Upwork ‘expert’ who should help client navigate the Upwork platform. After all discussions with the client, you may need to tell the client to send you an offer to start the contract on Upwork. Some clients readily know this but some don’t.
Remember, every Upwork interview is an opportunity to build connection and development long-lasting work relationships with clients.
