A talent badge on your Upwork profile is a great way to show potential clients you’re a skilled professional. You’ve been getting a lot of praise for the excellent results you’ve been producing. Top Rated is a badge that may be earned by freelancers and agencies who are in the top 10% of Upwork’s talent pool.
Earning the Top Rated badge increases your chances of being hired, being invited to participate in more bids, and receiving additional benefits. To sustain your top-rated position on Upwork, you must be consistently productive and complete all the standards.
Read on to find out what it takes to keep your Top-Rated badge after receiving it on Upwork.
In What Ways Does One Achieve the Highest Possible Ranking?
Rising Talent, Top Rated, Top Rated Plus, and Expert-Vetted are the four tiers of talent badges you can achieve as a freelancer on Upwork. When you submit a proposal to a client or have your profile examined before receiving a job invite, the client can see these badges on your profile. If you list your offerings in Project CatalogTM, potential customers will find you by name.
Freelancers new to Upwork but already winning proposals and receiving favorable client feedback are eligible for the Rising Talent badge. This badge will disappear once you have earned a Job Success Score, at which point you can aim for excellence. After completing their first five tasks, most freelancers develop a JSS.
Is There a Secret To Staying At The Top?
Badges on Upwork are earned based on your performance, so you’ll need to maintain your top-rated status. We will permanently award you the badge if you continue fulfilling all top-rated standards. You risk losing your quality if, for instance, your Joint Service Score (JSS) falls below 90% or if you are inactive for more than 90 days.
Freelancing on Upwork while consistently providing high-quality work is the most excellent method to maintain a top-rated status. Accept just the tasks you are confident you can finish. Connect with your customers, and continue receiving praise after each completed project.
Tips on Keeping Your Top-Rated Status
- 90% or higher on the job success scale.
Freelancers can raise demand for their services by cultivating a positive reputation. The Job Success Score contributes to your overall Upwork reputation. Upwork uses public and private client feedback and indicators of customer satisfaction, such as contract renewals and completed work, to determine your JSS.
Keeping your JSS at 90% or better will keep you in the Top Rated category. Having long-term client relationships and taking on more complex, high-paying projects can help improve your rating. However, your JSS will only suffer if you have long-term obligations. It’s OK for some freelancers to specialize in services that clients only require sometimes.
- Full and final Upwork profile.
Clients, proposals, and projects can all be won thanks to your profile. Freelancers who consistently rate highly on Upwork are expected to keep their profiles filled out completely. You can customize your profile to 100% by choosing which sections to fill out. - The most recent accessibility.
Clients and Talent Specialists can better plan their resources when they can access your most recent availability. Depending on the situation, you could work more than 30 hours per week, fewer than 30, or as needed.
Under “Hours per week,” select >> None if you’re on a break or can’t take on any additional projects. You’ll be asked to pick a date after that. Determine if and when you will be able to take on other responsibilities. - Recent evidence suggestions.
You agree to Upwork’s Terms of Service (ToS) when you create an account to use the service. This agreement is for everyone’s safety — you, your clients, and Upwork. Before you do anything that could violate the Terms of Service, read them over carefully.
A hold and possible suspension of your account can occur if you engage in Feedback Building (where you and a friend “hire” each other to give positive feedback) or accept an Any Hire contract with a customer you initiated on the platform.
You will be notified via email if Trust & Safety detects suspicious behavior on your account or believes you have violated one of our policies. You’ll receive an email explaining why Trust & Safety has frozen your budget and what you must do to get it unfrozen.
A temporary hold will prevent you from submitting bids, beginning new jobs, or withdrawing payments, but you can still check in and handle any ongoing projects. Mistakes happen, and if you don’t think you broke any Terms of Service, you can request a review of your suspension.
You may see if your account has been frozen in the last 90 days by going to My Stats > Recent version holds.
Get Most Highly Recommended
Talent badges give you an edge over other freelancers on Upwork. Top-rated status can be attained by consistently high-quality work for clients, receiving good feedback, and meeting specific financial requirements, such as making over $1,000 on Upwork in a rolling 12-month period.
By displaying this emblem on your profile, you can let potential clients know you are among the top 10% of Upwork’s freelancers. Keeping your JSS in good standing and ensuring you continue to complete the other conditions will keep your Top Rated Talent Badge active.
A high ranking is only sometimes the end goal. Staying at the top is easy, and progressing up the ranks to Top Rated Plus and Expert-Vetted. Clients place even more value on these badges because they demonstrate that you are among Upwork’s elite.