Upwork profile settings you should change right now!

Most people set up their profiles once and forget about them, then wonder why they are not getting clients. On Upwork, minor changes can decide whether you get discovered or stay invisible.

If you want clients to find you, fix these today:

Skills & Category: Remove extra skills that confuse clients. The clearer your niche, the faster you get hired.

Job Preference: Set your ideal project type and budget range. If you leave this empty, Upwork shows you random jobs that are not a good fit.

Availability: Clients reach out more when they see you are active and available. Make it easy for clients to discover you, trust you, and reach out to you. (it's paid)

Your profile brings clients to you if you set it right. Set it up the right way and let Upwork work for you.

𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒂🔥

𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 + 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 + 𝑸𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 + 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 = 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈-𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝑼𝒑𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔.

Upwork’s Research Institute surveyed nearly 500 small and mid-sized business leaders during 2025.
The study focused on how they managed changing market conditions, economic uncertainty, and the rise of AI in daily business operations.

The data showed several clear trends:

-Freelancer hiring:
• In Q1 2025, 59% of business leaders were hiring or planning to hire freelancers.
• By Q3 2025, this increased to 68%.

-Full-time employee hiring:
• In Q1 2025, 69% planned to expand full-time hiring.
• By Q3 2025, this increased to about 75%.

-AI adoption:
• In Q1 2025, 34% of leaders planned to expand their use of AI agents.
• In Q2 2025, this dropped to 28%.
• In Q3 2025, it rose again to 40%.

-Talent scarcity:
• In Q1 2025, one in three business leaders said skilled talent was hard to find.
• In Q2 2025, this increased to 36%.
• In Q3 2025, it dropped to 21%.

The study found that companies with higher confidence levels shared several behaviors:
they used AI across operations, encouraged experimentation, and filled specialized roles through freelancers.

These companies were described as “anti-fragile,” meaning they became stronger through uncertainty instead of weaker.

Examples shared during the session included a company that doubled productivity after switching its developers to an AI-powered coding tool, and another that used AI for email management to save time for higher-value work.

Both companies continued to use freelancers for advanced technical and design tasks that required specific expertise.

Want clients to see your proposal first? Boosted Proposals help you rise to the top — literally.

Learn how to boost step-by-step and discover why this small move can make a big difference in getting noticed and getting hired.

Your Upwork account can be restricted for several common reasons, including:
Violations of Upwork’s Terms of Service: This includes things like operating multiple accounts, trying to get paid outside Upwork, or providing false information.
Suspicious or Unusual Activity: Examples include using payment methods that aren't accepted (like local debit cards with currency controls), account location mismatches, or sudden changes in behavior.
Verification or Documentation Issues: Not completing identity verification, or issues with your profile information or documents.
Payment or Financial Problems: Attempting certain payments (like buying connects) with restricted local cards or having issues with billing methods.
Complaints or Disputes: Client or freelancer disputes, platform abuse, or repeated complaints can flag your account.
Failure to Respond: If Upwork requests information and you do not respond in time, your account may become restricted.
What to do:
Check your email: Upwork usually sends an email explaining why the restriction happened and what steps you need to resolve it. Also, look for notifications in your Upwork dashboard.
Appeal if needed: If you didn't receive info, use Upwork’s support and appeal channels to resolve or contest the restriction.
Avoid opening a new account since that’s a violation and can make things worse.

The first 2 sentences in the Upwork proposal are crucial to get the client's attention.

Here are 7 hooks that can bring more eyes your way:

1. Previous experience

"Hi John! Your job post caught my eye because I’ve worked on projects like this for 5+ years, and I can start immediately."

2. Intro Rate

"Hi Mary! I’m new to Upwork and looking to build reviews. I’ll do this project at a 20% discount. Portfolio here: [link]."

3. Friendly Assist

"Hi Adam! I see you need help with [website draft]. I’ve got spare time and can create the wireframe of the site in 24h."

4. Recent Success

"Hi Thomas! I just did a similar project last week. Kere’s the link: [link].

Let’s chat anytime."

5. Client-Centered

"Hi Cindy! Congrats on launching your online business. I’ve helped solopreneurs like you 10x revenue with successful email strategies.

Case study here: [link]."

6. Strong testimonials

"Hi Mark! I've done similar work for 5 other clients.

Check what they say: [testimonial link].

I can help you too.
Free for a chat today?


7. Discovery Questions

"Hi Tina! I’ve got two quick questions about your project:

[Question]
[Question]"


What's your go-to hook?

የ Upwork Search Engine (Algorithm) ጠቃሚ ምክሮች እነሆ።
እነዚህ ምክሮች በ Upwork ላይ ፕሮፋይላችሁ በቀላሉ እንዲገኝ እና ብዙ የስራ ግብዣ (Invites) እንድታገኙ ይረዳሉ።
Upwork ልክ እንደ Google የራሱ የሆነ የመፈለጊያ "Algorithm" ይጠቀማል። ክላየንቶች (Clients) ፍሪላንሰሮችን ሲፈልጉ የእናንተ ፕሮፋይል ከላይ እንዲወጣ የሚከተሉትን ዋና ዋና ነጥቦች ተግብሩ።
1. የፕሮፋይል ርዕስ (Title) ቁልፍ ቃላትን ይጠቀሙ
የፕሮፋይላችሁ "Title" ለ Upwork መፈለጊያ በጣም ወሳኝ ነው።
* ግልጽ እና አጭር ይሁን: ለምሳሌ "Expert Graphic Designer" ከሚል "Logo & Brand Identity Designer | Adobe Illustrator Expert" የሚለው የተሻለ ነው።
* Keywords (ቁልፍ ቃላት): ክላየንቶች በፍለጋ ጊዜ የሚጠቀሙባቸውን ቃላት አካቱ። ለምሳሌ በ Data Entry ስራ ከሆነ "Excel", "Lead Generation", "Web Research" የሚሉ ቃላትን በታይትሉ ላይ ያስገቡ።
2. ፕሮፋይል ማብራሪያ (Overview) - የመጀመሪያዎቹ ሁለት መስመሮች
ክላየንቶች በስልክም ሆነ በኮምፒውተር ሲያዩ መጀመሪያ የሚመለከቱት የፕሮፋይላችሁን የመጀመሪያዎቹን ሁለት መስመሮች ብቻ ነው።
* በመፍትሄ ይጀምሩ: "I am..." እያሉ ስለራስዎ ከማውራት ይልቅ "I help businesses..." በማለት ለክላየንቱ የሚሰጡትን ጥቅም በመግለጽ ይጀምሩ።
* Keywords በመሀል ያስገቡ: በOverview ጽሁፍዎ ውስጥ የስራዎትን ቁልፍ ቃላት (Skills) በተፈጥሮአዊ መንገድ ጣል ጣል ያድርጉባቸው። ይህ በፍለጋ ጊዜ በቀላሉ እንድትገኙ ይረዳል።
3. ክህሎቶች (Skills Tags)
Upwork እስከ 15 የሚደርሱ ክህሎቶችን (Skills) እንድትመርጡ ይፈቅዳል።
* ሁሉንም ተጠቀሙበት: 15ቱንም ሳጥኖች ሙላ።
* ቅደም ተከተል: ዋና ዋና ችሎታችሁን ወደ ፊት አምጡ። እነዚህ ታጎች (Tags) በ Upwork አልጎሪዝም ፕሮፋይላችሁን ከስራ ጋር ለማገናኘት (Match ለማድረግ) ይጠቅማሉ።
4. ፖርትፎሊዮ (Portfolio) በደንብ ያሰሩ
ፖርትፎሊዮ ለሰው ዓይን ብቻ ሳይሆን ለ Upwork አልጎሪዝምም ይጠቅማል።
* ዝርዝር መረጃ: ለእያንዳንዱ የፖርትፎሊዮ ስራ በቂ መግለጫ (Description) እና የክህሎት ታጎችን (Skill tags) አስገቡ።
* ርዕስ: ለፖርትፎሊዮው የምትሰጡት ርዕስ ስራውን በደንብ የሚገልፅ ይሁን።
5. በንቃት መሳተፍ (Activity)
Upwork ንቁ የሆኑ ፍሪላንሰሮችን ይወዳል።
* ቶሎ መመለስ: ለሚላክልዎ መልዕክት ወይም የስራ ግብዣ (Invite) በ24 ሰዓት ውስጥ (ቢቻል በፍጥነት) ምላሽ ይስጡ። የምላሽ ፍጥነትዎ (Response time) በፕሮፋይሉ ላይ ይታያል።
* በቋሚነት ማመልከት: ስራ ባይኖርዎትም እንኳን አልፎ አልፎ ለስራዎች ፕሮፖዛል ማስገባት አልጎሪዝሙ ንቁ መሆናችሁን እንዲያውቅ ያደርጋል።
6. Job Success Score (JSS)
ይህ ከባድ ሊሆን ይችላል፣ ግን ወሳኝ ነው።
* የግል ግብረ-መልስ (Private Feedback): ክላየንቶች ለህዝብ ከሚሰጡት አስተያየት (Review) ይልቅ ለ Upwork በድብቅ የሚሰጡት የግል አስተያየት (Private Feedback) JSS ላይ ትልቅ ተፅእኖ አለው። ስለዚህ ከክላየንት ጋር ጥሩ ግንኙነት መፍጠር እና ስራን በጥራት መጨረስ ግዴታ ነው።
ተጨማሪ ፈጣን ምክር (Pro Tip):
Availability Badge: Connects በማውጣት "Available Now" የሚለውን ባጅ ማብራት አዲስ ለሆኑ ወይም ስራ ለሚያስፈልጋቸው ፍሪላንሰሮች በፍለጋ ውጤት ላይ ጎልቶ ለመውጣት ይረዳል። ነገር ግን Connects ስለሚበላ በጥንቃቄ ተጠቀሙበት።
ቀጣይ እርምጃ:
የፕሮፋይልዎን Title እና Overview ውጤታማ እንዲሆን አብረን እንድናስተካክል ይፈልጋሉ? አሁን ያሉበትን ጽሁፍ ይላኩልኝና አስተካክዬ እሰጥዎታለሁ።