Upwork is an excellent resource for finding freelance jobs. It’s also the biggest freelancer marketplace in the world, which means there’s a ton of competition for jobs. To stand out from all those other freelancers, you need to make sure that your Upwork cover letter perfect!
Here are my tips for writing an effective Upwork cover letter:
Your Cover Letter
- Introduce yourself.
- State your credentials and explain why you are a good fit for the job.
- Explain how you can help the company.
- Ask for the interview
Have a Solid Profile
Your profile is one of the first things people will see when they visit your Upwork profile. It’s important that you make it as professional and complete as possible, especially if you want to stand out from other web developers.
Let’s start with the basics: include a photo so clients can see who they are hiring. The photo should be professional and reflect well on your skills (no selfies).
You can also include links to your LinkedIn or GitHub accounts in the “Skills” section of your profile if desired this may help clients feel more comfortable with hiring someone outside of their normal network or circle of trusted colleagues.
As for skills, be honest about what you know! Don’t list too many niche technologies unless those are part of what makes up most of your job responsibilities; just focus on being proficient in core skills that apply broadly across jobs like HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript frameworks like jQuery/AngularJS/ReactJS/.
State Your Previous Experience
As a web developer, it is important to showcase your experience and skills. You want to make sure that you are able to demonstrate your expertise.
When applying for a job as a web developer, it’s recommended that you include a brief overview of your previous work experience.
This should include any past jobs, projects or internships where you’ve worked with or used the skills required for this role.
You can also talk about any awards or recognitions you have received in previous roles as well as any relevant courses and certifications that apply to the position at hand.
It’s also important when writing cover letters for web developer positions that you mention what skills you learned in previous roles which could be beneficial to this company’s project needs (e.g., CSS coding).
Establish Your Personality
Now that we have gone over the importance of being confident and friendly, let’s get into some specific traits and qualities you should highlight in your cover letter.
These are all things that can be demonstrated through examples from your past experience, so feel free to share stories here if they help illustrate a point.
Be yourself: I don’t know why this is so important, but it just is. You need to be authentic in order for people to see your personality shine through in what you write, which will make them want to work with you even more!
Be a team player: If there’s one thing hiring managers don’t want to hire is someone who isn’t going to be good at working with other people or a lone wolf type of person who prefers working alone.
Make sure that you emphasize how much value would add as part of their team by pointing out examples from previous projects where you collaborated well with others or went above and beyond what was expected by helping out another department/team on occasion (if applicable).
Be confident: It doesn’t matter how junior or senior level applicant always seem nervous about applying for jobs because there’s nothing wrong with being excited about getting started as an upwork freelancer. Just make sure not oversell yourself either – remember this company wants something specific so keep things professional at all times!
Know The Requirements Of The Job
When you know the requirements of the job, you can show that you know what they’re looking for and how you can help them achieve their goals. This makes it easier for your prospective employer to hire you.
Show that you’re a good fit by highlighting any relevant experience, or explaining how working on this specific project will help prepare you for future projects.
- What will make me stand out?
- How has my previous experience prepared me?
Introduce Yourself Properly
Your cover letter is your first impression and you don’t want to blow it by introducing yourself with a formal email address. If you’re still using your work email for personal use, it’s time to get a new one! You can easily create an email address with Gmail or Outlook 365.
Now that we’ve got the formalities out of the way, let’s talk about the content of your cover letter. There are three parts in particular that will help you stand out from other web developers: introduction, credentials and closing statement
Show How You Can Fit In
- Show how you can fit in.
As a web developer, it’s important to show that you can fit in with the team and contribute to their success.
For example, show that you are a team player by sharing what kind of communication style works best for you whether it’s an email or phone call or something more informal like Slack.
If there’s an issue where one person is not responding well to another’s communication style, then it would be helpful for them both if they knew this before hiring/being hired.
- Show that you’re good at communicating clearly and concisely using the language of your employer (e.g., “I am comfortable speaking with clients over chat apps such as Slack”).
Be Professional
When you’re writing a cover letter for Upwork, you need to be as professional as possible. Your cover letter is the first impression that you make on potential clients and it will help them decide whether they want to work with you or not. That’s why it’s important to include a cover letter even if your profile doesn’t require one.
A good way to make sure your cover letter is professional is by following these guidelines:
- Be polite and respectful
- Use proper grammar and spelling
Avoid slang words or abbreviations like “lol” (laugh out loud), etc. These may seem fine in other contexts, but they’re too informal for an Upwork profile!
Use a professional email address (e.g., abraham@example.com) instead of something like “abraham” or “abram.” It shows that you’re serious about your career—and that’s exactly what recruiters want!
The same goes for anything else related to communicating with clients through Upwork: make sure everything looks polished before sending it off into cyberspace!
Be Concise and Succinct
As a web developer, you should strive to keep your cover letter concise and succinct. This will help you stand out from the competition by making it easy for clients to read and digest your message and if they have time to read through all of your qualifications and experience? Well, that’s even better!
Here are some tips for being brief:
Don’t use filler words like “I am sure that” or “I am pleased to say.”
Don’t repeat yourself; there is no need to list all of your accomplishments twice in different ways (for example, don’t say “I have been developing websites since 2015” when you already said it above).
Avoid complex sentences with lots of clauses and phrases (such as “It was important for me…”), which can make it difficult for readers to follow along with what you’re saying. Instead, use simple sentence structures such as subject + verb + object (like “I built a website”). Or try breaking out into bullet points instead! They’re easier on eyes than long blocks of text are 🙂
It’s also important not only what we say but how we say it: Active voice is much stronger than passive voice because active verbs tell us exactly who did something (“I made my website”).
Passive verbs leave room open for interpretation (“My website was made by someone else”). Simple words mean simpler sentences; complex ones confuse readers more easily than simple ones do!
Be Engaging and Compelling
To stand out, you’ll need to be engaging and compelling. This means the reader should be engaged in your cover letter; they should want to read more.
To accomplish this, you’ll have to use a conversational tone, personal tone or professional tone depending on the context of your cover letter.
For example:
In a professional context where you’re applying for an entry-level position at an established company that’s known for creating high quality work (e.g., Apple Computer), then it’s important that you demonstrate that you can express yourself clearly and effectively in writing by using formal language (no slang). You also want to give examples of how well written documents demonstrate your ability as a writer without coming across as arrogant or cocky.
By contrast if someone wants something done quickly then there is no point wasting time explaining everything step by step when all they really care about is getting results fast! In this case using informal language makes sense because it conveys confidence without sounding too stiff or formal like when talking about business situations
Make Sure To Proofread It Before Sending it Out!
The last thing you want is to send out a cover letter that contains typos, grammatical errors and other mistakes. Proofreading your cover letter is very important because it’s the first impression that your potential clients will get of you.
You can put in extra effort by having someone else proofread it for you or using a tool like Grammarly or Hemingway App to make sure that everything is perfect.
If you don’t have someone who can help with proofreading, then use Grammarly or any other grammar checker tool available online!
Customize For Every Job You Apply For!
It’s important that you customize your cover letter for every job you apply for. Use the job description to find out what the employer is looking for, and make sure you have enough experience in that area.
Show them that you can do the job and show them how great of a fit you are for their company. Include information about your skills and strengths, as well as why working with this specific company would benefit everyone involved.
Being able to stand out from other applicants will take some time but it will pay off in the end!
Write A Brand New Cover Letter For Every Upwork Application You Have!
Your cover letter is your opportunity to showcase your personality, professionalism and work ethic. To do so effectively, you need to make sure that it is unique to each job posting you apply for.
Once you have applied for a job on Upwork, the client will review your application and decide whether or not they want to hire you based on what they see in your profile information (your resume) and cover letter.
If they do not feel like these materials accurately reflect who you are as a person or what skillsets you possess as a professional web developer, then it’s likely that they will move on from reading any further into whether or not these qualities can be found elsewhere within their own organization before making an offer of employment…
Conclusion
Now, you know what to do when creating your Upwork cover letter, as well as how it should look.
With this guide in hand, you’ll be able to create your own professional and compelling letter that will ensure you get more job opportunities on Upwork and other sites like it!
