What is Upwork, how does it work, and what are its features and fields of work?

 The world has changed a lot in the past few months... Perhaps you have been laid off from your job or your monthly salary has been reduced due to the economic crisis that the world is going through as a result of the Corona virus.

In general, many people are looking for another source of income or an additional source of income, and among the trends to raise income or to create new job opportunities is freelancing or remote work.

And it is a term that has spread widely in the last five years, as it does not require you to have a specific time or place to start, and there are many freelance sites that are a link between the freelancer and the client, including the Upwork site that we will talk about today.

In this article, you will learn about Upwork as one of the first freelance platforms that comes to mind when talking about freelancing sites.

In today's article, I explain to you how Upwork works, what are the jobs spread on it and the advantages of registering on it, in order to help you start your journey in freelancing on the Internet through the Upwork site.

What is Upwork?

Upwork is a popular website (platform), the largest freelance marketplace in the world, connecting a database of millions of job seekers to jobs from all over the world.

Upwork brings together millions of business owners and customers registered on it, with the number of business owners reaching 5 million, and there are 12 million freelance workers.

This global platform is a great way for you to start your freelance business, and also for companies or individuals to find talented freelancers to perform tasks for them… Let’s get to know how the site works and what it contains.

Read also: What are Freelance Platforms and Top 7 Trusted Platforms 2022

How does Upwork work

The Upwork site acts as an intermediary between the Freelancer and the employer's client, each of which has a role to appear on the site and display the details of the work.

On the Upwork website, there are two ways in which the business owner can access the Freelancer and request the service, and here is an explanation of each of them:

1. The employer searches the list of freelancers who specialize in a specific field, the site shows a short list of potential candidates, and the employer communicates with whom it deems to have the skills required to perform the job.

2. The employer posts the job and specifies the details of his project and the specific skills required. Upwork analyzes the needs and shows the best matching suggestions.

Next comes the turn of the independent candidates; They make a unique offer for the job or to perform the task, and employers communicate with the candidates to decide what is best.

Therefore, you must take into account that your offer should be professional, and it will benefit the employer to ensure that you are selected from among hundreds of candidates.

After you have clarified the role of both the business owner and the professional freelancer on Upwork, you should know the quality of completing work on the site…

There are two types of work offered on Upwork that you can work with or both:

1. Working a fixed number of hours

Where the number of hours is determined and paid according to the number of hours in which you performed the task, in this case you download the Upwork Team Tracker program, which is provided by Upwork.

And when you start the actual work on the task, you press Start, and you can stop or take a break by pressing Stop, and when you finish the task, you press Finish, and thus the actual time you took to perform the task is calculated and the wages are calculated in the number of hours.

An important note, the more honest you are with the client in the time it takes to perform the task, and the more committed and professional you are in your field of work, the greater your chance of the client's desire to complete other tasks with you.

2. Fixed work (project)

This is without specifying a number of hours, but with an agreed upon wage, and a specific date for delivering the task, here you must complete the task and deliver it to the client before the specified date.

You may come across a client who wants to carry out his work in one of two ways, in both cases you must abide by the terms of completion of the task and perform it in the best possible way, so that you can get a good feedback from the client.

This evaluation appears to anyone who visits your account on the site, and thus demonstrates the professionalism of your work, increases customer confidence in you and increases demand for you.

The last important point in the way Upwork works is that a fee is paid by the freelancer to the platform for each service he completes, and it is estimated as follows:

20% discount if the wage is less than $500.

10% discount if it is between 500-1000$.

5% discount for over $1,000.

And it considers Upwork's service fees for keeping the process running smoothly, and as a mediator and arbitrator in the event of any kind of disputes.

Read also: What is a Portfolio and How to Have a Professional Portfolio

Now you want to know what jobs or fields you can work in on Upwork, I will explain these areas in detail, read on to find what suits you best.

What fields of work are available on Upwork

Upwork site contains all the work that can be done through the computer (remote work), and with the development of technology now, the performance of most of the work depends mainly on the use of the computer or laptop.

So, being proficient in the use of a computer with skills in one of the following areas opens a new door for you to work remotely with high wages:

Let's get acquainted with the fields of work available on Upwork:

1. Web, Mobile & Software Dev

This specialization is considered one of the highest paid in the Upwork platform, and it contains a number of jobs, including designing and programming websites, mobile applications, electronic games and office programs.

2. IT & Networking

Including network management, database design and information security.

Read also: The most important and best freelance tools for every successful freelancer

3. Data Science & Analytics

Data visualization Data mining / ETL, data mining and management, machine learning, artificial intelligence, quantitative analysis.

4. Engineering & Architecture

Autocad and 3D designs, architecture, chemical engineering, civil and structural engineering, manufacturing contracts, electrical engineering, interior design, mechanical engineering, product design.

 

5. Design & Creative

Animation, art and design, sound production, graphics design, logo and branding design, animation, photography, presentation design, video design, voiceover.

6. Writing

Academic writing and research, article and blog writing, authoring and creative writing, editing and proofreading, writing resumes and cover letters, writing an article for a website.

7. Translation

 General translation, legal translation, medical translation, technical translation.

8. Legal

Contract law, corporate law, criminal law, family law, intellectual property law.

9. Admin Support

Data entry, personal assistant / secretarial, project management, web research.

10. Customer Service

Customer service, technical support.

11. Sales & Marketing

The most in demand and common in this period are marketing services in all its branches, including:

Create ads

Email Marketing

Generate leads

Conducting market and customer research

Writing a marketing plan

Public relations

SEM Search Engine Marketing

SEO - Search Engine Optimization

SMM - Social Media Marketing

Telemarketing

Selling over the phone

12. Accounting & Consulting

Financial accounting, human resources, management consulting.

These are most of the details of the business or employment areas that you can get on Upwork, if you do not have a skill in these areas, you can now choose one of them and start learning and mastering it.

Browse our Seo7u website and you will find many free courses and information in most of these areas and how to become a professional.

Upwork is one of the best freelancing platforms on the Internet, what are its advantages?

Read also: Essential Skills Every Freelancer Needs (Very Essential to Your Success)

Upwork site features

Upwork is the world's largest online recruitment site for freelancers.

It allows you to communicate with your customers from abroad via skype so that the customer can explain the work more if he wants.

It does not impose a minimum or maximum wage, only you can decide what suits you.

It helps you build a good reputation among customers, so they can communicate directly with you afterwards when they need you and your income increases.

All areas that may be implemented on the Internet in general you will find on the site… Certainly your field of work is available.

Building a strong and successful personal profile on the site, contributes greatly to obtaining business without even applying for it (we will explain this in detail in our next article).

It is available to use the site over the phone and to present your business with ease.

You can subscribe to the site for free, and you can also choose a paid subscription… The difference is that the paid increases you the number of individual job submissions per month.

The site is characterized by a very great flexibility in determining the payment fees, whether the cost is a total fixed, or an hourly cost, as we mentioned in the way the site works.

You have to understand that in the beginning you will have difficulty getting your first job, but when you prove your mastery and professionalism in performing the task, you will be offered jobs and at high prices.

You may also be able to work with many popular clients like Microsoft, Airbnb, Dropbox, etc. It all depends mainly on how strong your profile is on the site and how you showcase your professional experience.

Read also: How to start freelancing (practical steps with detailed explanation)

Now, are you ready to create your Upwork account professionally, and start applying for jobs and communicating with clients?

Follow us in the next article. I will explain to you in detail how to register on Upwork, how to create an account professionally, how to get your first job, important tips for your success, and also how to receive money.

Prepare a professional profile picture, a profile of your work, and also your previous work in your field (if any), we will know in the next article how to use these details in a professional way when registering on Upwork… Follow us.