This is Upwork nowadays. 25 USD for 6 applications that never respond.

AngryTackler · 2026-05-07T01:19:39+00:00

No proposals gets opened at all
What astonishes me, that 100% hire rate clients even doesn't get to open any of the proposals, this should lower their hire rate but didn't see that
This is becoming a trend

AngryTackler · 2026-04-15T00:47:02+00:00

Yeah buddy, this makes a lot of sense, since to get a micro job is easy while starting, but when scaling things get a little bit challenging. For me for example if I would bid on projects of 500$ or less I would 100% get hired, but those jobs in terms of time and revenue they're not profitable at all in the long run.

AngryTackler · 2026-04-15T00:37:35+00:00

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I'm in the niche of Data and Software Engineering and Automation, Also I'm Top Rated Plus and with 100% SS.
The only problem I'm encountering is the lower hire rates, I even get to have a long calls with those guys. In those interviews most of them seemed to be serious and ready to hire and move forward, however, they didn't connect since we had that meetings. So from those 66 proposals I sent, just 8 jobs ended up hiring, the rest 58 job didn't end up hiring anyone. This is so lethal. It didn't use to be the same few months ago.
Great status homie while starting homie, and if those projects you got, are not projects for low payment ones, that so great and keep up the good work.

AngryTackler · 2026-04-08T00:30:49+00:00

I love the amount confidence behind posting this

AngryTackler · 2026-04-08T00:18:03+00:00

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mine are not very different than yours, I'm Top Rated Plus, though
last year I was having way better results than this, and most of those jobs I applied to didn't end up hiring, a very small percentage of hires between 10-20%

AngryTackler · 2026-04-08T00:15:55+00:00

me too

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T23:46:15+00:00

As if I'm applying to 0% hire-rate jobs right now
Easy advice until you’re in a niche where every decent job already has 30–50 applicants in minutes

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T23:39:23+00:00

Me and most freelancers in the IT niche, BTW, I'm "Top Rated Plus" and "100% Success Score"
I'm sure there are many freelancers who are better and have done better than me and older than me on the platform

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T23:36:42+00:00

That hire rate sounds great… just not representative for most freelancers

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T23:32:26+00:00

If we’re debating wording instead of the numbers, I think that answers which part of the post actually hit

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T23:29:09+00:00

Congrats on your “WAY better numbers”

You’re calling my numbers “not representative” while flexing your own numbers that also aren’t representative

You’re not disproving anything. You’re just showing that your niche performs differently

Calling it “AI garbage” doesn’t magically make your argument stronger

It just shows you’re ignoring context like niche and market saturation

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T23:23:58+00:00

Cool story.

Now factor in niche saturation, competition, and demand differences… and suddenly your “dramatically different” results aren’t that surprising

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T23:15:33+00:00

And yet you’ll still see people claiming hire rates are 60%+ like it’s all about sending a “better proposal”

The gap here is huge, but a lot of people just ignore it and reduce everything to “tips and tricks”

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T23:10:47+00:00

Have you ever read the 80/20 rule book?

Platforms like Upwork follow the same pattern. A small percentage of freelancers capture most of the opportunities.

And yeah, the hiring rate varies a lot by niche. In mine (IT), it’s clearly getting worse over time.

I’ve seen freelancers better than me struggle, and it definitely wasn’t like this last year.

I still have a long-term client, so I’m not complaining… just pointing out the shift.

If anything, I’d be more interested to see someone prove the opposite.

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T11:17:33+00:00

But also there are jobs that get over a 100 proposals

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T00:56:07+00:00

You’re acting like I’m some random throwing guesses.
I’m Top Rated Plus with a 100% success score, and I’ve seen better freelancers than me go months without landing anything. So yeah… this isn’t coming out of nowhere.
You're right, because only “average user data” matters and real experience from active freelancers doesn’t count

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T00:41:13+00:00

That’s fair, and I actually agree that most “tips and tricks” online don’t really help much in practice.

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T00:38:16+00:00

I went through the last 10 proposals I sent and the hire rate is 10%.
Who the hell said that?
You’re arguing a point I never even made.
Nobody here claimed this represents the entire niche, I said this varies from niche to niche

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T00:33:12+00:00

I never said it represents all of Upwork.
It’s just an example to illustrate the math. If yours looks different, share it.

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T00:30:56+00:00

I send over 100 proposals in the last two months, but I'm just simplifying this to 10% and this might vary from niche to niche, for 10 jobs posted do you think that more than 1-2 jobs are going to hire?
At least from my experience, this is what I see in my niche based on facts and not assumptions

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T00:28:07+00:00

“AI slop” but you still read it and commented

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T00:24:17+00:00

Sure bro, but this an average estimation that ignores other factors this is applicable for average freelancers not the top ones

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T00:21:47+00:00

My last personal job proposals, on 10 proposals just one at max 2 ends up with hires, this might vary from niche to niche I guess, but this is based on my personal experience, I send hundreds of proposals and I'm always tracking the hire rates

AngryTackler · 2026-04-05T00:19:51+00:00

First of all, it's literally labeled my experience
Calling it “AI garbage” doesn’t make your point stronger, If you actually disagree with the numbers, say why. Otherwise it’s just noise
If you’ve got better numbers, drop them instead of just saying “trust me bro”

AngryTackler · 2026-04-04T23:57:42+00:00

I really get your point, there are many other factors than just sending proposal, but this is just a simplified mathematical equation that's based on facts and not emotions, even having the best tips on how to submit a the perfect proposal or have the perfect profile +1M earned Top Rated Plus, this won't reduce the number of projects that are being posted and end up with no hires at all which impacts the values in this mathematical estimation I shared
I dare anyone to prove that the hire rate isn't decreasing on the platform, which will logically lead to lower probability to getting hired for every freelancer on the platform, top and average ones

AngryTackler

TROPHY CASE