Yesterday, during a consultation, someone asked whether the end of the year affects hiring on Upwork.

It does. Momentum drops in December and often stays low until about mid January.

This slowdown is expected and repeats every year. It is not a sign that anything is broken.

As the year wraps up, many companies avoid starting new work. Team members take leave. People responsible for approvals are unavailable. Hiring decisions are pushed forward until everyone returns.

When a client opens a proposal or message during this time, they often delay replying. Most decisions are made in mid January, once teams return, budgets reset, and normal schedules resume.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬.

There is also an advantage many people miss.

Many freelancers stop sending proposals during this period. That reduces the number of applicants. If you keep submitting proposals in late December and early January, or simply boost your profiles, your chances of being noticed improve.

Even though fewer jobs are posted overall, the clients who are still active receive fewer applications. Strong communication and timely replies stand out more during this window.

If things feel slow right now, it is a timing issue, not a skill issue.

What is your Main Freelancing Goal in 2026?

እንደ አዲስ ጀማሪ በ Upwork ላይ የመጀመሪያውን ስራ ወይም ደንበኛ (Client) ለማግኘት የውድድሩን ሁኔታ መረዳት እና በትክክለኛው መንገድ መጀመር ወሳኝ ነው።
ከዚህ በታች ስኬታማ ለመሆን የሚረዱዎትን ዋና ዋና ነጥቦች ዘርዝሬያለሁ፡
1. የሚስብ ፕሮፋይል (Killer Profile) ማዘጋጀት
ደንበኞች እርስዎን ከመቅጠራቸው በፊት መጀመሪያ የሚያዩት ፕሮፋይልዎን ነው።
* ፕሮፌሽናል ፎቶ: ፊትዎ በደንብ የሚታይበት፣ ፈገግ ያለ እና ጥርት ያለ ፎቶ ይጠቀሙ።
* ግልጽ ርዕስ (Title): ምን እንደሚሰሩ በትክክል ይግለጹ። ለምሳሌ "Data Entry" ከማለት "Fast & Accurate Data Entry Specialist" ማለቱ የተሻለ ነው።
* ስለ እርስዎ (Overview): እዚህ ጋር ስለራስዎ ታሪክ ከማውራት ይልቅ ለክላይንቱ ምን መስራት እና ምን መፍታት እንደምትችሉ ላይ አተኩሩ። "I can help you with..." ብሎ መጀመር ጥሩ ነው።
* ፖርትፎሊዮ (Portfolio): ከዚህ በፊት የሰሩት ስራ ባይኖር እንኳን፣ ለናሙና የሚሆኑ ስራዎችን (Sample Projects) ሰርተው ፕሮፋይልዎ ላይ ይለጥፉ። ባዶ ፕሮፋይል ማንም ሰው አይቀጥርም።
2. ፕሮፖዛል (Cover Letter) አጻጻፍ
ይህ የብዙ ጀማሪዎች ትልቁ ስህተት ነው። ዝም ብሎ "I can do this job" ማለት በቂ አይደለም።
* Copy-Paste አታድርጉ: ለሁሉም ስራ ተመሳሳይ ጽሁፍ ከመላክ ይቆጠቡ። ክላይንቱ የለጠፈውን ስራ አንብበው እንደተረዱት የሚያሳይ ጽሁፍ ይላኩ።
* የክላይንቱን ችግር ይረዱ: በመጀመሪያው መስመር ላይ ስለ ስራው ያንብቡ። ለምሳሌ፡ "I see you are looking for an Amharic translator for your YouTube video..."
* መፍትሄ ያቅርቡ: ስራውን እንዴት እና በምን ያህል ጊዜ ሰርተው እንደሚያስረክቡ ይግለጹ።
* ጥያቄ ይጠይቁ: በፕሮፖዛሉ መጨረሻ ላይ ከስራው ጋር የተያያዘ ጥያቄ መጠየቅ ክላይንቱ መልስ እንዲሰጥዎት (Reply እንዲያደርግ) ይገፋፋዋል።
3. ትክክለኛ ስራዎችን መምረጥ
* Payment Verified: የክላይንቱ የክፍያ መንገድ (Payment Method) የተረጋገጠ መሆኑን "Verified" የሚለውን ምልክት በማየት ያረጋግጡ።
* Entry Level: እንደ ጀማሪ "Expert" ከሚሉ ስራዎች ይልቅ "Entry Level" የሚሉ ስራዎች ላይ ማመልከት እድልዎን ያሰፋዋል።
* አነስተኛ ስራዎች: መጀመሪያ አካባቢ ትልልቅ ገንዘብ ከሚያስገኙ ስራዎች ይልቅ፣ ትንንሽ ስራዎችን (Quick jobs) በመስራት ጥሩ Review እና 5 ኮከብ (5 Star Rating) ለመሰብሰብ ይሞክሩ።
4. ተስፋ አለመቁረጥ (Consistency)
Upwork ላይ የመጀመሪያ ስራ ለማግኘት ጊዜ ሊወስድ ይችላል (ሳምንታት ወይም ወራት)። በየቀኑ አዳዲስ ስራዎችን እያዩ ማመልከት እና ፕሮፋይልዎን ማሻሻል አለብዎት።
5. የክህሎት ማረጋገጫ (Skill Verification)
የእርስዎን እንግሊዝኛ እና ሌሎች ክህሎቶች ለማረጋገጥ Upwork ላይ ያሉትን ትንንሽ ፈተናዎች መውሰድ ወይም ሰርተፊኬቶችን ማያያዝ ተአማኒነትን ይጨምራል።

When you see an Upwork profile in the profile search results, what are the first three things you notice, and in what order?

For me, it is the name or title first. Then the Job Success Score. After that, the profile picture or badge.

Your order might be slightly different, but one thing is consistent. Job Success Score stands out.

Now try to look at this from a client’s point of view.

If you are scanning profiles quickly, who feels more trustworthy at a glance?
Someone with a 100 percent Job Success Score, or someone with a lower score?

That single number carries a lot of weight.

Lately, many freelancers have come to me confused and frustrated. Profile views dropped. Proposal views slowed down. Invitations stopped coming in. When we traced it back, the pattern was almost always the same. A recent contract went bad. A negative review followed. Job Success Score dropped.

Nothing else changed. Skills were the same. Rates were the same. Experience was the same.

This is why understanding Upwork from the client’s eyes matters so much. Once you do that, many things that feel random or unfair suddenly start to make sense.