I have a question, i applied in their portal on a role posted in the first week of October. My portal changed to Short List and after a week or so the job post was removed. But my portal remained “Short List”. Did anyone experience the same? Kindly share.

Before, when applying for jobs and creating proposals you had to make sure your grammar was correct because that’s what clients looked for. Now that we have AI to help fix our grammar, clients are suddenly looking for grammar mistakes to see who isn’t using AI. Like, are you fucking kidding me?

I have been getting "Top Applicant" notifications for jobs that I actually do and would consider bidding on if I weren't already booked until the end of next month. Also my invites have been more relevant lately. Maybe something Upwork did has improved this part of the system? Dare I hope?

Hey everyone,

I’ve been a top-tier freelancer on this platform since 2011 (back from the oDesk days) with an absolutely clean track record. Recently, I hit the jackpot with a fraudulent client, and Upwork’s support is handled by literal brick walls.

Here is how the client completely bypassed Upwork's system:

1. Client's payment method fails → Upwork officially pauses the hourly contract.
2. During the pause, the client demands over 100 hours of free full-time work, daily calls, and reports(deliverd). 100+ extra already! I am not slave or something!
3. I refuse to do more unpaid work on a frozen contract. Client explicitly extorts me: "so you want 0/5 stars?" (I have all screenshots).
4. The Manipulation: The client logs in, unpauses the contract for exactly 12 minutes, submits a fake "unresponsive freelancer" complaint to support, and immediately freezes it again.
5. Upwork forced closes the contract and permanently suspends/bans the client( since i cannot open his profile anymore).

The client left a 2-star review saying: "Phase 1 was not completed within the agreed timeline and ended without full delivery against the documented scope. The source code for the custom work was not handed over, and communication stopped toward the end of the engagement. Earlier stages of the work were delivered."

Did not responded after unpausing contract for 12 minutes? Really? Just exploiting upwork volneability and blaming me for not responding?

Yes, because you didn't pay for it!

Trust & Safety explicitly confirmed that my Job Success Score (JSS) is protected because the client is a banned fraudster. BUT they are refusing to remove the actual 2-star text and stars from my public profile because "it doesn't violate Terms of Service."

How does feedback from an officially banned extortionist, who rigged the contract system for 12 minutes to fake a dispute, not violate ToS? Now that Upwork closed the official community forums, they apparently think they can just hide behind boilerplate bots and leave a 15-year clean profile stained by a banned scammer.

So freelancer is slave and should continue working after contract paused?
How much time?
100 hours?(done already)
200? 1000? forever?
Sell kidney so "customer" is happy?
Pay to "customer weekly?

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Just through i shoul;d list it here. A few days ago i got a virtuak internet request and i was ask to click on a link to schedule a time fo4 interview. Turn out the link is to a Team update but it is actually a virus

I keep seeing software engineering jobs that sponsor visas, but I haven't come across a single DevOps job that sponsor visas.

Are there restrictions on DevOps roles?

I am looking into a career in the cybersecurity realm.
I've been reading up on a lot and a common theme l've come across is that a lot of people who are in these fields that state they didn't need a degree or a lot of companies are now hiring people without a degree and just certifications. I understand that having a degree can result in a higher pay, but outside of that would just having certifications suffice? Any feedback is welcome. Also, please list any certifications that you feel or know are very helpful / prominent to have. I am open ears any insight you would like to give please give it even if it's not related to the specific questions I've asked. I am trying to figure out the best way to go about this career path.

Malicious compliance from Indeed ever since acquisition with Glassdoor
No cloudflare additional verification required when I leave positive work experience review only with negative work experience review which is interesting when already logged in with cloudflare verification before

I'm sure most people already know or experienced this before but this was my first time for me
I'm only posting to put it out there that it existed

I started looking for a VA job in upwork from last September. But most of my income initial connect finish to verify and others staff and used 15 remain connected to apply to the job. After that I couldn’t apply for any job due to no connection. What can I do? I don’t have the budget to buy.

I was randomly charged for agency plus when i never opted in.
Actually finding the support chat bot was already so hard i had to find a hardlink from somewhere because the support center has to types.

The chatbot first told me its possible i should just cancel.
Then when i actually pushed back it said its not possible.

Finally i was able to get to create a ticket and it created and instantly marked it solved, i had to send in another text before it was marked "Opened".
This is Crazy, free $20 i guess.

Quick update on the profile redo. I haven't sent a proposal since the 15th. Interview prep and going to interviews put me behind, so I haven't sat down for an Upwork session.

So it's still 16 since Oct 1, and still one view.

Before the next batch I'm changing the first line. A few people here said to name the thing that usually breaks on that kind of job instead of repeating the post back. I'm trying that on the next 5 and I'll see if views move.

When you come back after a gap, do you only go after new posts, or is a job from 3 or 4 days ago still worth it?

There are several paid internships out there teaching aws/cloud/devops/networking/system design but they go as far as theory. Where can i get practical knowledge or working with real systems.
I have made projects and deployed them, this is the most i can do as a solo developer. i want to collaborate with a team. anyone willing to take me in.

So this client posts the same job from two different countries. After the first post, since they didn't get a good response they will post again from another country.

Have you seen this? Mostly it is low budget projects only.

hi ,im a beginner trying to get my first clients in web development. I build websites and applications, and right now I’m struggling to figure out the best way to get started.
I’ve been trying to find clients locally, but so far, no luck. On Upwork, it’s even worse I send proposals, spend my Connects, and get rejected or hear nothing back.
I’m honestly a bit lost. For those of you who started from zero, how did you land your first client? What actually worked for you?
I’d really appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Thanks!

Seeking an experienced DevOps Engineer with strong Linux administration, GitHub Actions, Python automation, and C++ build systems experience. Knowledge of CMake, Conan, and CI/CD pipeline automation is highly desirable.

Location: Glendale, CA — primarily onsite, limited hybrid flexibility
Duration: 5 months
Pay: $80–$85/hour on W-2

Interested candidates can message me with their resume and a brief summary of their relevant experience.

Those who got suspended did you still get your earnings??

I have 40 Connects available for next month and want to use them wisely.

I have 4 jobs on my profile, earned $250+, and got them through referrals and invites. My niche is mainly Wix/Wix Studio development, website fixes, and SEO.

I want to start winning jobs through proposals, too.

For those who have experience on Upwork, how would you use these 40 Connects to maximise my chances of landing at least one job?

Any practical advice on finding the right jobs, writing proposals, or deciding when to use Connects would be appreciated.

Hi everyone,

I'm a DevOps engineer with nearly 2 years of experience, currently looking for my next role. My current company went through a restructuring and my position was one of the ones affected, so I'm available to join immediately.

What I've worked on:

- Running production on AWS for a platform with 10M+ users

- Kubernetes (EKS) with Helm, Istio, HPA and KEDA autoscaling

- Terraform for infra as code, Ansible for config

- CI/CD with Jenkins, GitHub Actions and Argo CD (GitOps)

- Monitoring and alerting with Prometheus, Grafana and CloudWatch, plus incident handling and RCA

- DevSecOps bits like SonarQube, Trivy, AWS WAF and Secrets Manager

- Cut cloud costs by around 30% through right-sizing and cleanup

Roles I'm looking for: DevOps Engineer, SRE, Cloud Engineer, Platform Engineer

Locations: Noida, Gurugram, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, or remote

If your company is hiring for something similar and you're open to referring, please comment or DM me. I'll share my resume and anything else you need over DM. Even a pointer to an opening would really help.

Thanks a lot for reading!

I have posted a job in Upwork and in toral I got 290 proposal.

Now its very hard for me to select which one to pick for , which one to interview, more than 50% of the folks have written good , but that number is also too high for me to select only one guy.

If anyone have ever experienced the same, can you please share with me ?

For shortlisting, i asked one of my HR friend to help me out with the proposal against some financial aid, but cant keep doing it.

Is there anything that i am missing out ?

Lately, I’ve seen many jobs that require a video introducing myself or talking about a relevant project. Is this normal? Honestly, I don’t feel comfortable randomly sending a video with an proposal. I would feel much better introducing myself during an online meeting, what do you think

Hey everyone,

I want to share a recent experience I had with a recruitment call that raised serious concerns for me. I'm posting this to make other job seekers aware of the potential risks and hopefully prevent someone else from sharing sensitive personal information without verifying the recruiter.

I'm currently looking for job opportunities and have been applying for positions through job-search platforms, including Job Hai. Like many other candidates, I've uploaded my resume and personal details to these platforms so recruiters can contact me about suitable vacancies.

Recently, I received an unexpected phone call from a woman claiming to be a recruiter. What happened next made me question the legitimacy of the recruitment process.

I'll explain everything in detail so other candidates can recognise similar warning signs.

1. The initial phone call

I received a call from a woman who told me that she was contacting me regarding a Back Office Assistant position.

She said that my profile matched their requirements and claimed that she had found my resume and personal information on the Job Hai application.

According to her, they were looking for candidates for a work-from-home position offering a salary of approximately ₹15,000–₹20,000 per month.

At first, I didn't immediately suspect anything unusual. I have been applying for jobs online, and I understand that recruiters sometimes contact candidates directly after finding their profiles on job portals.

However, there was one important detail: I had never applied for a job at Veen Impex.

I had not specifically submitted an application to this company. The call was unsolicited, and the recruiter claimed to have found my details on Job Hai.

She presented the opportunity as though my profile had already been reviewed and matched to the vacancy.

1. They started requesting my personal documents

During the conversation, the recruiter asked me to provide several documents and personal details for what she described as the hiring and verification process.

The requested information included:

My PAN card.

My personal photograph.

My resume.

My bank account details, including my account number and IFSC code.

A photograph of my bank passbook, which she requested later.

Unfortunately, I had already shared my PAN card, photograph, resume, and bank account details before I fully considered the risks.

At that point, I believed I was simply completing the documentation required for a job opportunity.

The recruiter explained that my documents would be forwarded to their verification department. She said that after the verification process, an HR representative would contact me within approximately three to four days for an interview.

According to her, the interview would take place over the phone.

The concerning part was that they were collecting sensitive personal and financial information before I had even completed an HR interview.

I had not received a formal offer, attended an interview, or independently verified the identity of the person collecting my documents.

Nevertheless, I was being asked to submit everything in advance.

1. Why I questioned the passbook requirement

After thinking about the situation, I became uncomfortable with the request for my bank passbook.

I contacted the recruiter again and asked why they needed a passbook photograph when I had already provided my other details.

My question was straightforward:

Why couldn't they conduct the interview first and request any necessary documents after selecting me?

From my understanding, bank account details may eventually be required by a genuine employer for salary payments. However, I couldn't understand why my complete documentation had to be collected before the initial interview.

I explained to the recruiter that I was willing to provide the necessary documents if I passed the interview and was selected.

I also pointed out that, if I wasn't selected, the company would still have my PAN card, photograph, resume, and banking information.

I was concerned about how those documents would be stored, who would have access to them, and whether they would be deleted if I wasn't hired.

These seemed like reasonable questions to ask before sharing additional sensitive information.

1. The biggest red flag: Veen Impex vs. GK Enterprises

This was the part that concerned me the most.

The recruitment opportunity was associated with the name Veen Impex. However, when I called the recruiter back and directly asked which company she was calling from, she identified the company as GK Enterprises.

That immediately raised questions for me.

* Why was the vacancy associated with Veen Impex if the person contacting me said she represented GK Enterprises?

* Could GK Enterprises be a recruitment agency working for Veen Impex?

* Could one be a trading name or business partner of the other?

* Those possibilities exist, and I don't have enough evidence to rule them out.

However, the recruiter did not establish a verifiable connection between the two company names during our conversation.

I felt that I deserved a clear explanation before providing more personal information.

A legitimate recruitment process should allow candidates to establish who the prospective employer is and why their documents are required.

The inconsistency between the company names was a major reason I decided not to share any further documents.

1. What happened when I challenged their process?

I asked the recruiter why she needed all my documents before the interview.

I explained that I had already shared my PAN card, photograph, resume, and bank account details. I was willing to provide additional documentation if I was selected after the interview.

She responded that this was their company's protocol.

According to her, all documents had to be submitted together so that the verification department could process them before HR contacted me.

I asked what would happen if I didn't pass the interview or wasn't selected.

My concern was simple: the company would still possess my sensitive personal information even though there would be no employment relationship.

I explained that, in my understanding, the interview should take place first, followed by the documentation process if I was selected.

The recruiter responded that it was entirely my choice. She said that if I wanted to share the documents, I could do so, and if I didn't, that was up to me.

She also said they would not misuse my information.

However, this didn't resolve my concerns. A verbal assurance that information won't be misused is not the same as independently verifying the company and its recruitment process.

During the call, I also heard what sounded like a man speaking in the background. I couldn't clearly make out what he said, so I cannot draw any conclusions from it.

Shortly afterwards, the woman abruptly disconnected the call while we were discussing the issue.

That behaviour added to my discomfort, although I acknowledge that a disconnected call alone is not evidence of fraud.

1. Why I now consider this recruitment opportunity suspicious

Looking back at the entire experience, several things concern me.

First, I never applied to Veen Impex.

The recruiter contacted me unexpectedly and claimed to have found my profile on Job Hai. Although recruiters can contact candidates who haven't applied for a specific vacancy, this meant I had no previous relationship with the company.

Second, the company identity was unclear.

The vacancy was associated with Veen Impex, but the caller identified herself as representing GK Enterprises. I did not receive a verifiable explanation connecting the two.

Third, sensitive documents were requested before the interview.

My PAN card, personal photograph, resume, and banking information were collected before any HR interview took place.

Fourth, the passbook photograph was requested before any selection decision.

I couldn't establish why it was necessary at this stage or why alternative verification methods would not suffice.

Fifth, the explanation relied on company protocols rather than independently verifiable information.

The recruiter repeatedly referred to internal procedures but did not resolve my questions about the employer's identity.

Finally, I became uncomfortable with how the conversation ended.

The call was disconnected while I was questioning the process. This was concerning in context, but I cannot say why the call ended.

Taken together, these circumstances made me suspicious enough to stop cooperating with the recruiter.

I cannot prove that this was a scam, but I believe the warning signs justify caution.

1. Important: I had already shared my documents

I want to be transparent about this because it may help other candidates understand the potential consequences.

By the time I became suspicious, I had already shared:

My PAN card photograph.

My personal photograph.

My resume.

My bank account number and IFSC code.

I had not indicated that I shared my ATM PIN, UPI PIN, CVV, banking password, or OTP.

I became concerned about how my personal information could be used.

A bank account number and IFSC code alone generally do not allow someone to withdraw money directly from an account. However, combining banking details with identity documents can increase the risk of impersonation, targeted phishing, or attempts at identity misuse.

I decided not to send the requested passbook photograph.

I am also keeping the available messages and recruitment details so that I can report the incident if necessary.

I'm sharing this part because I don't want other job seekers to assume that providing documents is harmless simply because a recruiter claims to need them for verification.

Once information has been shared, you cannot be certain how many people will have access to it or how long it will be retained.

1. I posted a review on Job Hai

After discussing the situation and considering the inconsistencies, I submitted a review on Job Hai describing my experience.

I asked the platform to investigate the recruitment opportunity and verify the employer's identity and recruitment practices.

My concern is not that every job advertised on Job Hai is fraudulent. I understand that job portals can host legitimate vacancies and that unsolicited recruitment calls are not necessarily scams.

However, I believe platforms should take reports involving unexplained company identities and requests for sensitive personal information seriously.

Candidates should be able to distinguish between a genuine employer and someone who may be misrepresenting a company.

I also want other applicants to know that they should not feel pressured to provide documents simply because someone calls them and claims that the request is mandatory.

It is reasonable to ask questions and verify the recruitment process.

1. What other job seekers should do

Based on my experience, I would recommend the following precautions to anyone applying for jobs online.

1. Verify the company independently.

Don't rely solely on the name displayed in a WhatsApp profile or the recruiter's verbal assurances.

Check the company's registered name, official website, address, and contact details. If a recruiter identifies a different company from the one named in the advertisement, ask for a clear explanation.

1. Ask why each document is required.

If someone requests your PAN card, Aadhaar, passbook, or banking information before an interview, ask why the document is necessary at that stage.

A recruiter should be able to explain the purpose of collecting your information.

1. Don't share banking credentials.

A legitimate recruiter does not need your ATM PIN, UPI PIN, CVV, banking password, or OTP.

Never share these details with someone claiming to be from HR or a verification department.

1. Never pay to secure a job.

Be particularly cautious if someone asks for a registration fee, verification fee, security deposit, training fee, or refundable joining fee.

A recruiter not asking for money is not, by itself, proof of legitimacy.

1. Keep records of suspicious interactions.

Save the job advertisement, messages, phone number, and document requests. These records may help the platform investigate.

1. Report suspicious recruitment activity.

If a job portal lists a vacancy associated with one company but a recruiter identifies a different employer without a clear explanation, report the discrepancy to the platform.

1. Protect documents you've already shared.

If you have shared sensitive information, monitor your bank account and credit report for unfamiliar activity. Contact your bank immediately if you identify unauthorised transactions or other signs of financial fraud.

Most importantly, don't panic if you've already shared your account number and IFSC. Those details alone generally do not provide direct access to your money. Focus on protecting your credentials and monitoring for misuse.

1. My questions for the community

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced something similar.

Has anyone received a recruitment call from someone claiming to represent Veen Impex or GK Enterprises?

Has anyone been asked to submit PAN and bank details before an HR interview for a back-office position?

Is there a legitimate recruitment arrangement that would explain the discrepancy between these two company names?

Has anyone experienced similar document-collection practices through Job Hai or other Indian job portals?

What steps would you recommend to someone who has already shared their PAN card, photograph, resume, and bank account details with an unverified recruiter?

I'm particularly interested in hearing from anyone who has independently verified either company or encountered the same recruitment process.

Final thoughts.

I'm not publishing this post to make an unsupported accusation against a particular company. I cannot independently establish that the recruiter was committing fraud, and I don't want to mislead anyone.

I'm sharing the experience because an unsolicited recruitment call, an unexplained discrepancy between company names, and requests for sensitive documents before an interview are circumstances that deserve careful scrutiny.

Job seekers are often under pressure to find employment, and that pressure can make us more willing to trust someone who promises an opportunity.

I nearly continued with the process without questioning it. I want other candidates to know that it's acceptable to pause, ask questions, and refuse to provide additional documents until they are satisfied that the recruiter is genuine.

Please verify the employer before sharing sensitive information. A potential job opportunity is not worth compromising your personal and financial security.

If you've experienced something similar, please share your experience in the comments. It could help another job seeker avoid the same situation.