Upwork cover letters are a very crucial aspect of getting jobs on Upwork! Once you have successfully identified high-quality Upwork jobs that you are interested in, the next thing is to craft excellent cover letters that can get clients to respond.
As an experienced freelancer and client on Upwork, I have written dozens of cover letters and also received dozens of cover letters from freelancers applying for jobs in a company I work for; hence, I am in an excellent position to explain how to craft great Upwork cover letters.
To do that, I will explain from the lens of a client who wants to hire freelancers.
Templated Answers
If you want your proposal to be considered, don’t submit general templated answers! However, if you must use templates because you want to submit your proposals faster, you can create a few excellent proposal templates which can then be tweaked and customized to fit any job you want to apply to.
Reduce the length
Whenever I publish a job post for our company, I often receive multiple proposals; this means reading through long proposals may be impossible.
But because I like to read through all proposals to give everyone a fair chance, I often skim through long proposals when I come across them. You should only use a long proposal if you can’t articulate what’s necessary in a few paragraphs!
Focus on the client’s needs
When I read your proposal, I want to know that you can do exactly what I described in the job post. Make sure your proposal convinces me that you truly can do the job.
Leave a good first impression
As for me, I often attempt to read all proposals as long as they aren’t submitted after several days. For other clients, you only have the first few sentences to make them decide to read your proposal; learn to use it judiciously. At the beginning of your proposal, start with a short greeting and move to discuss my project and how you can help me. After speaking briefly about my project and what you can do to assist me, you can talk briefly about your skills and experience to further prove that you are up to the task.
Should you mention the client’s name while greeting?
I used to be skeptical about this before I started hiring freelancers; but now, I believe it is not necessary. Some clients — especially bigger companies — have multiple senior staff hiring freelancers under the same client’s account. So, there is a very good chance that you are mentioning the wrong name.
This person mentioned 3 different names and mine wasn’t even included! So unnecessary!
Mention a verifiable previous experience
This right here is something you want to take very seriously. I so much love it if I know you have executed the same task successfully for someone else. In fact, this could be the immediate next thing you say after short greetings; but, make sure your claim is true and verifiable!
Add proof
Adding a relevant portfolio won’t hurt your chances at all.
Whenever I am lost between plenty of amazing proposals to choose from, I simply shortlist freelancers with the best proposals and check out their portfolios to see which one of them has done exactly something that is most similar to what is needed in our company.
Use a call-to-action (CTA)
Well, adding a good CTA at the end of your cover letter won’t hurt your chances. You should also include a little greeting plus your name after the CTA to close off the cover letter.
Some of my CTA’s include:
“Well, if this makes any sense to you, please let us discuss your project better.”
“Let’s have a quick call on Zoom to discuss this further.”
“Reply to my proposal so that we can discuss this further.”
“Let’s do this ASAP.”
“Feel free to contact me so that we can discuss this further.”
“Can you tell me more about the project so that I can have a better understanding of what it entails?”
Check your English
Unless you are applying for a content writer or senior managerial role, your English doesn’t need to be excellent; however, you still need to be able to write fluently without obvious grammatical errors. However, this depends on the client; some take it seriously, while others don’t. But writing proper English won’t hurt your chances at all!
Note: Despite crafting a great proposal, your proposal might still not be successful! That can be due to various factors that are beyond your powers.
Conclusion
While this is not an exhaustive list of good proposal practices, following them can lead to more interviews; and ultimately, more jobs for you.
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I am a registered Pharmacist working as a Consultant in the University College Hospital Ibadan Nigeria
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