On Upwork, most freelancers want to deliver their absolute best work to clients on the platform. They want to know how their professional skills compare to their rivals. Additionally, these freelancers desire data that will help them improve their customer service and communication with customers.
Six years ago, Upwork developed a set of metrics called the Job Success Score. These analytics help freelancers measure their job performance against others on their platform. It also provides crucial information to identify the best freelancers and help others get better. In this article, you’ll learn about Upwork’s JSS and basic strategies you can use to improve your score on the site.
What is the Job Success Score?
Upwork initially introduced its Job Success Score in March 2015. This feature offers freelancers a comprehensive overview of their work history on the platform. According to Upwork’s staff, the JSS measures the clients’ satisfaction with freelancers’ performance.
JSS serves another purpose for Upwork. It allows the platform to identify outstanding freelancers who standout on Upwork. Additionally, they send more clients to top JSS holders.
The JSS isn’t the sole factor that determines how successful a professional be in their Upwork career. You don’t need to be in the top tier of freelancers to earn money on the site. Most freelancers who have a JSS within the 60-70 percent range do fine, although they may undergo a Terms of Service review by Upwork.
When clients review freelancers, they consider more than their JSS score. The platform doesn’t delineate between individuals who have top JSS of 90 to 100 percent, as long as clients are satisfied with your work.
How is the Job Success Score Calculated?
Upwork says it calculates Job Success Score for freelancers in the following manner:
Job Success Score Formula = (successful contract outcomes – negative contract outcomes / total outcomes)
The platform uses snapshots from the freelancer’s six, 12, and 24-month history in the marketplace for these calculations. They display the best score out of these time windows for freelancers’ profiles. Upwork updates the JSS every two weeks.
The JSS summarizes your overall history with clients based on several factors. It demonstrates your client’s satisfaction through your relationships, feedback, and job success.
For instance, the company may analyze how well you build long-term relationships with clients. If you don’t prefer shorter projects, Upwork uses other factors, like customer feedback and activity, to assess your abilities. The platform also takes into consideration the size of jobs in the JSS.
Additional factors that Upwork uses to determine the JSS include:
- If a freelancer or owner belongs to an agency, the JSS is shown in the profile, rather than providing them with an individual rating.
- Long-term relationships are a plus and can boost the JSS, but not having long-term relationships won’t count against a freelancer.
- According to Upwork, higher-wage jobs will weigh more and have a higher impact on the JSS.
- Upwork excludes the project scores of difficult clients. The site flags clients with a history of poor collaborations. If Upwork suspends a customer because of Terms of Service violations, it will not count against the freelancer’s JSS.
Freelancers can view their scores on their My Stats page. They can earn rewards for earning an outstanding reputation. The platform considers any score over 90 percent as excellent. It also puts you on track to receive a Top Rates status. When a freelancer’s JSS falls below 75 percent, clients may not hire them for jobs.
Why Does the Job Success Score Change?
A JSS can change for several reasons, even if a freelancer doesn’t have any recent activity on their site. Sometimes the site will base the JSS on the rolling windows when it is calculated. If the platform adds new contracts, these scores may change. Additionally, they may age out the freelancer’s older activities on the site.
For instance, they don’t count contracts that are older than six months in your JSS window. Additional reasons the JSS may change include:
- Poor private or public feedback from one or more clients
- Positive public or private feedback from clients
- Higher value jobs are added to your score and outweigh the lower value ones
- Jobs that freelancers have completed in the past are no longer considered because they fall outside the score’s time range.
Additional Information about Upwork’s JSS
There are several other things that Upwork professionals should keep in mind when looking at their JSS.
JSS and starred customer reviews are not identical. The platform intentionally made the JSS from the public feedback score to help outstanding freelancers stand out. It contains other factors like private feedback, long-term contracts, and repeat customers. This data enables freelancers to differentiate themselves from their peers on the platform.
Upwork doesn’t include the JSS score of clients that violate Upwork’s Term of Service – As mentioned earlier, when a client shows a pattern of bad behavior, it doesn’t count against the freelancer’s JSS score. They exclude these contracts and consider other factors.
Inactive contracts can impact the JSS. There may be some clients that start, but because of the client or freelancer, inactivity occurs. These incomplete contracts can lower your score, so end these contracts quickly or ask the client to close them as soon as possible to prevent this situation.
Incomplete feedback on contracts can affect your JSS. Always ask clients to provide feedback for contracts after they review them. Contracts that end because of poor client behavior won’t count against you.
Five Tips for Freelancers to Improve their JSS
There are five steps that freelancers can do to improve their JSS on Upwork’s platform.
1. Ask for client feedback – Freelancers can send a polite, personalized letter asking for feedback and reviews from clients. It should be a one-time friendly reminder before they begin their next job.
2. Get repeat work from clients – The platform believes repeat contracts is a sign that clients like freelancers when they get repeat contracts. It shows they are talented professional that delivers excellent work. Professionals should build relationships with their clients and manage these projects well. Additionally, freelancers should suggest new project ideas that can help their clients’ businesses.
3. Provide outstanding customer service. Upwork uses the Net Promoter Score in its JSS. It measures client’s satisfaction with every freelancer’s work. Professionals should deliver customer service that goes above and beyond their peers will ensure this score remains high. Over-deliver at every stage of projects that you handle.
4. Close out inactive jobs – If a client has not responded to queries, freelancers should consider closing inactive contracts. Although it may hurt their JSS somewhat, it will be better than leaving it open for months on end with no activity.
5. Get hired for new jobs to reduce the impact of bad contracts. Freelancers should sign up for new projects to raise their JSS quickly. These successes will ensure that bad ratings will have a lower impact upon their overall score.
Are you a freelancer who needs to improve your Upwork profile to attract more clients? Freelance Mojo can help. We have many articles that can help transform your freelancing career. For more information, contact us today.
