Learn how to get approved on Upwork with your profile in 2021!
Recently, I was helping a friend get started on Upwork and it took us four attempts to get her account approved!
My friend is a marketing professional with experience in sales and business development.
She should have been approved straight away.
Why wasn’t her account getting approved for Upwork?
Eventually, after the fourth attempt, we finally managed to get her Upwork account approved.
Since then, she has won three jobs and is well on her way to making an extra $1000/month.
Upwork has become insanely popular over the last few years and they receive tens of thousands of submissions each week.
As such, it has also become harder and harder to be accepted onto the platform.
By showing an Upwork profile example and sharing my top tips, I hope to help people who are struggling to get their Upwork account approved in 2019.
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HOW TO GET YOUR PROFILE APPROVED ON UPWORK
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
Your regular CV
Employment history
Links to your Linkedin account (if you have one) and any other business accounts you may have.
A professional photo (the kind of photos you see on Linkedin)
Examples of your work to upload (I included screenshots of writing samples that had been published online.)
1 TAKE YOUR TIME
The most important thing to remember when you are creating your Upwork profile is to take your time.
This isn’t the same as creating a Facebook account. No click, click, bam here. No sireeeee.
If you want your account is be accepted then expect to spend at least a few hours on your profile.
Have a look at Upwork profile examples for what kind of things you should be writing and highlighting.
2 PROFESSIONAL EMAIL
There is an algorithm that decides which Upwork profiles get accepted or not.
Personal email accounts such as a Gmail or Hotmail account are not favoured.
If possible, try and use a business email. Perhaps from your personal website.
However, don’t worry if you do not have a business email.
My profile was accepted using my personal Gmail account.
3 UNIQUE WORK CATEGORIES ARE BETTER
Upwork receives tens of thousands of applicants for virtual assistants every month.
While, on the other hand, the submissions for Python Developer are A LOT LOWER.
Don’t panic if you are not a web developer or a qualified lawyer.
You can still be a virtual assistant on Upwork, you just need to enter through a side door!
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The key is to look carefully through the list of work niches.
Then, find one that you have some proficiency in and that seems to be a lesser-known category.
Choose a few different subcategories that all related as well, try and be broad without being too vague.
Again, try and choose the less common options to make your profile stand out.
Why does this work?
Because ONCE your profile is accepted, you are free to change your work niche as many times as you want!
I was accepted to Upwork as a market researcher but these days I offer my services in SEO.
BE CAREFUL.
Please don’t lie about your skills. That will only lead to trouble.
Try and search for something that is unique to you!
4 COMPLETE YOUR PROFILE TO 100%
This seems like such an obvious point but one that many people don’t bother doing.
There are various factors to tick off when creating your Upwork account.
1 You need to write a killer overview
2 Professional photo
3 Include all your employment history
4 Take the Upwork Skills tests (as many as possible and that are relevant to you).
5 Upload any examples of previous work to create a portfolio. If you don’t have any, then write some sample pieces, design a logo, upload it.
This will all take time but it will be worth it in the end when your profile gets accepted onto Upwork!
Have a look below at my Upwork profile example of my portfolio.
5 I DID ALL THE ABOVE BUT STILL GOT REJECTED?
What do you do when you spent hours perfecting your profile only to receive the dreaded email of rejection?
DON’T GIVE UP!
Have another look at your chosen niche and see if you could perhaps change it to a different one.
Remember – you can always change the niche once you have been accepted.
Go back over your profile overview and rejig it. See what you can change to make yourself sound more professional, more knowledgeable.
Upwork want the most competent freelancers.
Make yourself sound like one!
Above all – please do not give up if your profile does not get accepted the first time.
RELATED: Why you’re not winning jobs on Upwork
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THERE ARE OTHER FREELANCING PLATFORMS OUT THERE!
If you are really having trouble getting your account accepted to Upwork. Don’t despair!
Another option to consider is to have a look at the other platforms out there.
These include –
