UPDATE TO: First "Serious" Month on Upwork in a Year - What did I learn and what changed

UPDATED THOUGHTS AND RESULTS: I know it hasn't been a month but I've got new opinions. would love to hear from others. Below this update is original post.

Jobs applied to: 37
Deals reached messaged stage: 15
Deals with active proposals out (they've said they want to work together, want to continue discussion, we align on next steps): 4

Deals already closed: 3

Cash collected since start of Dec: $9500

Expected by EOM: $12500

Speed is important. Lots of people are messing quick. You need to be sending proposals fast. Way more important than I remember.

Lots of deals just kind of sitting at messaged stage. Not sure why you would post a job, reach out, and just kind of sit. I confirmed these jobs have not hired anyone else, they're just kind of sitting.

You have to be able to showcase real world experience. If not you are out of luck. They do not care what your degree is, they care that you've built this exact thing.

There are still monster jobs out there at many different seniority levels.

Focus on front end conversion, with backend up sell. Iykyk.

People are treating boosting like a real ad platform. They are willing to spend serious money to rank higher. Its pretty insane.

### Original Post:

December was the first month in about a year I've been active on Upwork. I've mostly just kept my profile active and accepted invitations, but not actively applying.

My stats for December:

Jobs applied to: 32
Deals reached messaged stage: 11
Deals with active proposals out (they've said they want to work together, want to continue discussion, we align on next steps): 5
Deals already closed: 2

What is very different from a year ago:

Unreal how competitive it is. Any good job has over 100 applicants the first day

Clients are hiring very quick. I've noticed a lot of jobs hire within the first 2 days of posting. Speed to proposal is CRITICAL

Boosts have taken over. Any good job is boosted past 100 connects.

Clients are hiring based on budget more than I remember. It seems the perceived talent gap is much smaller than I remember. Some of the jobs I did not get I was stunned not to get based on my experience and proposal. This tells me people who are new to this and act fast are getting more roles. While its more competitive, not having a ton of experience is not a death sentence like before.

People do not seem quick to get on a call. This is very weird to me. They want to get a bunch of details from you about cost/time/interview without the call. Weird.

You can still find massive clients. One of the clients I closed will reach 15k/mo once rolling.

What I think will win on Upwork in 2026:

Speed to proposal. Get your proposal in same day or its over.
High end profiles. Getting invited to jobs is still the best way to close deals.
High end proposals. Your proposals need to standard out. With 100+ people applying to jobs you don't have a choice.

Good luck.

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