Periodically we hire freelancers through a platform like upwork. There are problems with such platforms but we use them in good faith.
We’ve used it in a few ways and we’ve started to include a disclaimer at the bottom saying: “If you are interested, please message though Upwork’s system. We do not respond or hire based on Linkedin, phone calls, or emails.”
Even with this disclaimer I have, right now:
- People adding me on Skype to message me about the job
- People finding my personal email address and spaming it (emailing me on a Thursday and then on a Friday to check I got your message is spam)
- Linkedin contact requests all over the place.
I get that Upwork takes a big slice out of your hourly rate. We’re using it because we have a specific task that suits Upwork. Sometimes we contact freelancers directly through linkedin, sometimes we put up code bounties, sometimes we hire people directly – but most of all – we expect the people we hire to have read the job description.
Other tips:
- It would help for you to have written your email so that it in any way referred to any detail about the work, the charity, or me personally
- The fact that you are clearly trying to get around paying Upwork’s fees speaks badly to how much I should trust you. Literally the only fact I know about you is that you are trying to get something for free that you should pay for.
I sent the link out to this page to various people in my inbox. If you think you’ve been sent this link in error, feel free to contact me again we’ll work out the confusion.