I pretended to be a beginner UI/UX designer on Upwork

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[AmodeusR]

Interesting video, but realistically speaking, it's not a good argument. You had crazy things in your favor here: You made a presentation video with studio level of quality, which *most* of the people wouldn't have. Having a high quality presentation video brings a lot of credibility and trust to your brand, which not everyone has the possibility to even afford renting such equipments or a space to record a video. Plus, you had crazy good looking projects that no way a truly beginner in UX/UI Design with just some months of studying/experience would be able to make. If you had beginner looking projects instead of essentially cheating using your knowledge of a senior designer, you surely wouldn't get answers even if weeks had passed.

Yet, although having these massive things at your favor, you still suffered to get even 3 responses from potential clients, and still, *it wasn't* guaranteed to be a job. Although you said it was, you went ahead of yourself and judged the current times with the logics of your past experience. Back then receiving and going in a call could mean a job acquired, but it may not be and likely isn't the same today.

So realistically speaking, it's not at all viable to get jobs at Upwork. The lesson I take from this video is "Become a senior UX/UI Designer, and then *maybe* you'll have a chance to get a low paying freelance job".

[angelova.nikoleta.design]

Having a strategy of applying and making sure your profile fits the job posting with attached portfolio examples are the winning criteria in my opinion.

[TJarrellsRnD]

Something you've missed in this is that on many of these calls, clients are now asking for freelancers to perform design challenges first. Assuming that because you are getting a meeting you are going to get an offer is a huge assumption to make in this job environment. Clients on Upwork have started utilizing some of the same strategies bigger companies are now using, namely interviewing way more and making candidates jump through hoops that weren't there in the past.

[NotGilmore]

Thank you for uploading this vid. I've been a professional Graphic Designer for the past 4 years but mostly focusing on Social Media and Ad Creatives. I'm expanding my skillset to UI Designer. And the pay is way better as well.

[PeopleWatchingMarcus]

Having people who you can call is vital in staying positive through the hard times

[NickZoran]

Cool, man. I appreciate you putting yourself through that for us.
Really useful info and feedback.

[RinkeshBist]

Thnaks Kyle for doing this! I'm just starting out & didn't knew how to crack the freelance design gigs. This video has created a possiblity in my head that it's still possible in 2024. Cheers!

[lastchild]

Thanks a lot for this! I had been using Upwork for years freelancing in illustration/ motion, but I took some time off to do the Google UX certificate. I planned on getting back on Upwork with some new UX tools under my belt to build experience. Looks like it may be a solid plan.

[gdj]

What clients want is what actully helped you. Be good (portofolio) meet deadlines(be consistent) communication(selling urself) i also think niching down a bit would help eliminate much competition.

[bryano]

Thanks for the clarity and in depth strategy Torres. Really appreciate it. Off to tweak and send more proposals now🏃‍♂

[Scott_Stern]

Awesome video 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉. Great to see how the market is doing right now

[kbprojekty]

Thanks for making the effort. A very good idea for a video and well executed too! It's good to know that it's not all doom and gloom, which is a very popular opinion recently.

[JohnSavin-pzqv]

I'm a newbie but it seems to me you based your success on the fact you basically gave your service away for nothing. You're making poverty level income at 15$ hour

[mequable]

Crazy how with this level of preparation (and the professional video!), you still had to lower your rate to get just a few proposals. As you say - to the level that you used to use in UpWork. But the thing is, inflation has gone up tremendously in the past few years, so it's crazy to think how less paid people are.

[veryslowtravel]

Thanks Kyle! If you're up to it, I would love a full tutorial/follow-along of how to design one of those dashboards

[thinkjon]

It seems to be, someone just starting out as UI Designer needs to under set their hourly rate. Companies are more willing to take a chance with less money at risk.

Once the designer has one or two projects completed and listed on their profile with feedback ratings, the hourly rate can be increased.

Again. I believe this is possible because the designer is now more trust worthy and companies will have additionsl confident spending more and feel there is less risk of losing/spending money if things do not work out. Thoughts? 🤔

[emmanuelmwangi]

So helpful am going to try out some of the key points I have seen on the video👌👌

[sadafzahirshah]

This video is so well made, it deserves a million views wtf

[maria.skm]

Thank you very much for this video! I going to start my upwork journey

[nekjpfp]

Very informative and helpful for the new designers.