How To Get Your Upwork Profile Approved

 How To Get Your Upwork Profile Approved

According to CEO Stephane Kasriel, Upwork gets 10,000 new signups EVERY DAY. As the platform has grown, Upwork has started screening their applicants more closely and many first time freelancers have trouble getting their profile approved.

In some ways, this screening practice is a good thing because it helps keep out unqualified freelancers from competing with you and driving away potential clients with poor quality work. But on the other hand, it can be incredibly frustrating for trustworthy professionals who can’t seem to access people they know they can help.

It’s important to remember that when Upwork rejects a profile, they usually have a reason. If you take the time to figure out what Upwork is looking for and why, you can boost your chances of getting approved.

Upwork is the biggest freelancing platform out there and it can be invaluable to your freelance business so don’t give up after one rejection. Try making some changes and re-submitting your profile.

Here are some things to try:

Use a business email address.

By using a business email address, Upwork is more likely to view you as a serious professional. A business email is one that ends in a custom domain name, like  instead of a Gmail or similar address. You can get a business email through google or your domain host. https://gsuite.google.com/products/gmail/ 

Diversify.

In general, I advise freelancers to pick a small niche once their on the platform, but if you’re having trouble getting approved try diversifying your profile with a wider range of skills.

Upwork tries to control the supply and demand by limiting the number of freelancers across different categories, so you can increase your chances of getting approved by adding extra skills that might have lower competition or more demand. You can always niche down your profile after you get through the approval process. Think about how your skills can overlap genuinely and if you need ideas, check the profiles of other freelancers in your field by creating a client account.

Choose the right Experience Level.

Upwork will ask if your experience level is beginner, intermediate or advanced. Most freelancers underestimate themselves and choose an experience level below their actual skill level. Think about how your experience could qualify you as an intermediate or advanced freelancer. Don’t forget about education and volunteer work. You don’t need experience freelancing, specifically.

Write A Good Title.

Try not to be too vague or too specific with your title. You want something descriptive, without pigeon-holing yourself too much. Create a client account to view other freelancer’s titles for ideas.

Complete your profile.

Your Upwork profile includes many sections such as a profile photo, work history, and a portfolio. Upwork doesn’t want people who take shortcuts so be sure to include work, volunteer, non-formal education, social media accounts and anything else that can give your profile a boost.

Make sure you include as much detail as possible in each section so that Upwork sees you as a serious professional. Also make sure you have a good profile photo that is easy to see without hiding any of your faces.

Get Invited To A Job.

If all else fails, you can try having a friend, neighbor or co-worker set up a private job on Upwork and email you an invitation to apply. I don’t recommend doing this unless you genuinely intend to provide some kind of service and treating it like any other job.

Get Invited To An Agency.

Besides independent freelancers, Upwork also has agencies where groups of freelancers can work together under one umbrella. Agency owners can invite other freelancers to join them by sending an email invitation. Again, make sure you are operating authentically because you don’t want to risk Upwork shutting down your account. Once you’re a member of an agency, you can work under their umbrella or as an independent agent, or both.

Add Freelancer Profile to Client Account.

I’m not sure if this still works, but it’s how I was able to create my freelancer account. It’s actually against Upwork’s policies to have multiple accounts with different logins, so technically, if you already have a client account, you should be doing things this way anyway. You would start by first signing up as a client. Once you have that account set up, you can add a freelancer account to it and then switch between the two within the platform. Here’s the link to the instructions: https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211067558-Be-a-Client-and-a-Freelancer?flash_digest=923e7297be921a112020d9e6854f4d7647a55222