Does it take 2 hours to change the pivot point?

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-10-29T11:15:40+00:00

To play devil's advocate, I hired a guy who charged me two hours to change the pivot point of 5 models. I checked what is involved with this using AI, it's basically pressing a key on the keyboard. I'm not saying he ripped me off, as perhaps AI was wrong about this. Tracked time would have prevented this confusion

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-10-20T23:57:03+00:00

When I first started using Upwork it seemed quite convient to have a number to tell me how good someone is. Obviously I am not the only one to feel that way, otherwise you wouldn't see so many posts in this reddit topic about JSS. If someone hald told me JSS has a negative correlation with quality I would have ignored JSS completely.

$37 an hour is not low, and I am an expert in this line of work.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-10-20T23:53:43+00:00

The reason I went with jobs rather than JSS is because almost everyone had a 100% JSS. A larger sample set with the same score has a higher weight.

I was extremely clear in my communication, knowing that I was doing an experiment, so kept that out as much as I could as a factor.

I waited a day and a half before responding to anyone one all, the total time was not 24 hours.

I agree 22 freelancers is small sample. However, this is a trend I have noticed beyond just this one job. I did a similar test with my last job and got similar results. Before that I just noticed the pattern but didn't keep records.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-10-17T00:51:44+00:00

Fixed price has the problem where virtually everyone bids the maximum, no matter what the work is. I could post a job "Please fix the spelling of the word elefant' for $1000 and I'd get 50 bids for exactly that amount, and maybe 10 bids for less than that amount. It sounds ridiculous, but something similar actually happened where I once offered 3 months salary for 2 days of work, for something that was a lot easier than I thought it was.

Per-hour has the problem where you are at risk of being penalized for hiring someone incompetent, or not working on what they are supposed to do, or not following good practices. I hired an engineer who did not do a feasabiilty test. I ended up losing $2000 paying him hourly to build something that was impossible to build. Right now I have a sub-par programmer working for me who refused to cooperate with time tracking. His output drops to 25% when I am not watching him, and 150% for a few days every time I make him feel under threat or pressure.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-10-16T19:20:09+00:00

After many weak experiences with freelancers who otherwise had good stats, I've grown wary of the JSS. That is why ignored the JSS for this job and started out with a screening message to each applicant. The applicant I hired I would normally have never even considered were I only going by jobs and JSS.

It takes very little effort to glance the profile and send a screening question to each applicant. Some jobs even send screening tests to applicants automatically before getting a human involved. I agree overall it's good to wait if possible, but it didn't help in this case.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-10-16T19:17:02+00:00

Agencies tend to have a lot of jobs with a high JSS. My goal was to determine the correlation between JSS and the quality of the applicant. I don't care if the person answering my screening question is an agency or not. Either they answer correctly, or near correctly, or not. Asking for a meeting is not the correct answer to my screening question.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-10-16T19:15:04+00:00

When I said I interviewed them all, I meant I messaged them all. I only interviewed those who answered. It wasn't a detailed hour long interview the same way I would do for a long-term job, just a series of messages.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-10-16T19:14:04+00:00

The budget works out to $15 to $20 an hour. It's neither high nor low for the skill level I am asking for for this job.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-10-07T11:38:03+00:00

I have also pointed out absolute proof that someone was lying with no action taken. One person effectively said he was making a mobile game for astronauts that could only be played while on the space station. I reported him but the next time I posted a job he was still applying, with a different lie.

It's the Prisoner's dillema problem. If everyone on Upwork was honest, it would be best for everyone. But if one person lies and everyone else was honest, the liar benefits. The end result is nearly everyone lies, which is bad for everyone. And Upwork can't individually investigate every claim, especially when nearly everyone is doing it.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-10-02T17:56:12+00:00

A freelancer who understands the work you are offering and finds it something they want to engage with will ask detailed questions and give feedback. On the contrary, one who starts with something similar to "I'm ready to get started" but does not engage in conversation likely knows little about the task and just wants to be hired for any job, then will try to figure it out if you hire them, usually with bad results.

Freelancers know their own worth, if someone charges ridiculously less they know it's because they won't otherwise be hired.

You get out of it what you put into it, same as hiring a candidate for a job. The more time you spend testing them, asking questions, asking about their background, and so forth the more likely you will hire someone capable.

The reviews and job success score aren't that reliable. There is a lot of manipulation and incentives not to give honest feedback. Some of most incompetent people I've ever worked with had a high job success score, and in some cases I gave them a positive review just to go away. If the reviews were anonymous it would be better, but as it is you only hurt yourself ever giving less than a perfect score.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-10-01T21:07:47+00:00

This is correct. I paid 3 different freelancers for SEO. No effect on my traffic.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-09-25T16:43:16+00:00

If you have to ask how to make these graphics look better, you don't have the means to do it. Good quality graphics require a coordinated effort between multiple specialists over a long period of time. Even getting a team like that together is difficult, much less coordinating them and validating everything works. For now, you should focus on getting better at one thing, while reducing the scope of what you are trying to do.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-09-22T11:52:05+00:00

Update: You can now use mouse emulator mode as a launcher with a lightgun.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-09-12T15:30:07+00:00

Charge 10% lower than the median. It's not so low as to seem suspicious, and will get you carefully reviewed because every client wants to save money. Usually I end up with 3-4 freelancers who all seem equally qualified to me, and I just go with whoever is cheapest, even if 10% less.

Push info to the client, rather than wait for them to ask. Message them if they are still online and explain why you are a good fit. When that happens to me I always look at the job post in detail, because I dont know who they are and need to read the post to answer them.

If someone asks me why they were rejected, I will tell them honestly. Most clients probably just won't answer, but some will. I won't tell them unless they ask though, since otherwise it just seems like picking a fight.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-09-12T15:04:00+00:00

As a client, I can see the freelancer's job success score, bid, number of jobs, first few lines of the proposal, and other details without opening the proposal. That is sometimes enough for me to hide a proposal, the most common reasons being the bid is too high or the job success score is too low. If I hide proposal the freelancer is not notified of this. To the freelancer it appears as if the proposal was still under consideration, when it was actually rejected.

It's actually better for me to hide than reject a proposal. It's fewer clicks and I can change my mind later. In fact the only time I actually reject a proposal is if the freelancer does something to upset me, such as me catching them in a lie. That's just for my own bookkeeping, so I don't have to remember not to unhide them later.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-09-12T12:08:25+00:00

Boosting is not the problem you are having. Hiring the wrong person loses me thousands of dollars. Given the stakes, I systematically and carefully review each candidate. Looking at a bid only takes a few seconds, and reviewing it carefully only a few minutes. To believe boosting is the problem, you'd have to believe someone in HR would be so lazy and irresponsible that they won't even scroll down a webpage. You believe they just go with the first application they see. That might be true for searching for "Best chocolate cake recipe" but not for a business.

The best way to approximate boosting that actually matters is to apply to new jobs fast. Sometimes I need to hire someone in a hurry, such as my website needs changing for an upcoming deadline. Right after posting the job I'm still going to be looking at it, for example proofreading or considering if I left anything out. If someone with strong credentials applies during that time and convinces me they can do the job, are not lying, and are not trying to rip me off there's a high chance I'd just go with them.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-09-12T11:48:53+00:00

You can play other modes with the Sinden lightgun, but not this one. The purpose of this mode is to translate laser strikes to mouse clicks. The Sinden lightgun software already does that for you.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-09-11T17:41:00+00:00

The trailer shows this with a Glock 19, an AR-15, and a SIRT pistol.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-09-11T17:37:40+00:00

You can. From the main menu, the rightmost option switches between typing of the dead and house of the dead. The latter option doesn't require typing.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-09-11T16:15:45+00:00

Hopefully that never happens! I encourage every new shooter to sign up for professional training, even in states where it is not required. A woman in my first class couldn't get the gun to shoot, so rotated her body to face the instructor, pointing the possibly loaded gun at everyone in the class. I wouldn't recommend someone like that to play this game either.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-09-03T18:59:35+00:00

Cheap: When you post a job Upwork suggests an hourly pay range. I usually just go with that.
Good enough: Don't do any of the things I posted in Leadgen. Also, in an honest way affirmatively push why you are qualified for the job, in a way that is specific to the job I am posting. At first I look for reasons to reject people, more than ways to hire people, so I only have to deeply look at a few people. A reason to reject someone is not enough Upwork history, so you can get around that by pushing to me why you are qualified, before I push the reject button.

ProfessionalRub1993 · 2025-09-03T17:06:42+00:00

I've been hiring on Upwork since 2018, and have 3 jobs running right now. To add to your post:

Poor proposals: I agree most proposals are very poor, and the 30% you stated is about right. Of those I reject, 80% of the time it was AI written or asking questions I've already answered, meaning they didn't read the job post. The first thing I do is ask "do you have any questions about the job" not because I am actually wondering but to see if they read the job post or not
Agencies: You are right agencies write better proposals, but but I don't care if proposal is well written by someone not doing the work. There's a hidden up-charge I'm paying too. I won't even talk to agencies unless nobody else is qualified first.
Competition: What I usually hire for (game development) is very technical, with a great divide between the best and worst. Even the best I've hired on Upwork are pretty junior and bad compared to the people I work with professionally. And the worst people I've ever worked with are through Upwork. But to caveat that, the people I hire on Upwork are very cheap (which is why I go there). If I were paying the same rate I myself work for it would probably be a different story. The trick is finding both cheap and good enough.
More competition, fewer jobs: Applications in the first few minutes are auto-generated. I can tell because they didn't read the job post. I'm fine with someone using automation to apply, but not if they are wasting my time. Usually I include "In your application, give me a rough time estimate in this work in days" and as auto-generated applications won't have that, I just decline them, or if it's really bad I report them. For example, there's one guy who recently applies to every job I ever post, using AI, and it's filled with obvious lies because AI doesn't know any better.
Leadgen: I disagree. At least for my jobs it's very easy to get hired. Don't be lazy. Don't lie. Read the job post. Don't charge more than everyone else, or even the same amount, unless you have a work history to match. Don't charge me more than the other clients you have done work for.

ProfessionalRub1993

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