Remember back in school when we always had to write the essay "How I Spent My Summer" in September? Well, it looks like we’ve kept that tradition alive! Last week, we gathered with the team to wrap up the season at our All Hands Meeting Summer 2024. Here's a quick summary of what we talked about:
What’s New on Upwork
Reputation System Update: Upwork made some changes to how reviews are managed. Starting September 3rd, all freelancer reviews, both positive and negative, are visible on the platform.
Also, we now have a clearer understanding of how Upwork weighs factors that affect the Job Success Score. It’s not just about review ratings – things like contract length, project value, and more play a role.
Here’s how the weight system works for jobs:
- If a project is between $1 and $250, it counts as one job.
- From $250 to $1,000, it counts as 1.25 jobs.
- Anything over $1,000 counts as 1.5 jobs.
Contracts longer than 90 days also count as an additional job. So, if a contract runs for 24 months and every 90 days it’s billed at $1,001 or more, that’s counted as 12 jobs!
It’s not a game-changer for most projects, but it’s worth noting. It’s good practice to reopen long-term contracts periodically, especially when adjusting rates.
Another big update is that interview responses now come with a fee – so accepting every invite is getting expensive. On the client side, they’re testing paid job postings:
- A standard post is $10.
- Featured job posts remain $30, as before.
From October, clients will also pay an 8% fee on all transactions. But compared to other marketplaces, these fees are still relatively low.
What’s New at Etcetera
Summer was full of celebrations! We had 9 birthdays in the team.
The main highlight? Etcetera turned 10 years old! We held two meetups – one in Kyiv and another in Lviv, both very heartwarming events.
No new team members joined us over the summer, but stay tuned because we’re about to grow a little more soon!
Right now, Etcetera has 33 members.
Summer wasn’t super busy, but the good news is we started seeing more open contracts in August. More clients are coming in, and our direct messages channel is almost as active as our invites. Overall, we’re getting back to our normal work rhythm.
Check out the Sales Funnel results in the photo.
Our Plans for Fall
We’re planning to grow our sales team, bring in more managers, and expand the development team. We’re expecting this fall to be quite active!
We’re planning to grow our sales team, bring in more managers, and expand the development team. We’re expecting this fall to be quite active!
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