This article explains how to post a job on Upwork. It covers key elements such as job titles, required skills, project scope, location preferences, budget options (hourly vs. fixed-price), and job descriptions. It also highlights Upwork’s Terms of Service and privacy considerations. - AI helped create this summary
When you have a project and need a skilled professional, start by posting a job. Share details, and we’ll show your post to freelancers and agencies who can send proposals. You’ll choose who to interview and hire.
How to post a job
Go to Hire talent > Post a job. Choose to create a job post manually, or get started faster by using the Job Post Generator powered by Uma, Upwork's Mindful AI.
Note: You’ll be asked to verify your phone number before your job is posted to keep our marketplace safe.
Important to know before posting a job
To help protect your privacy and ensure your job post complies with our Terms of Service, do not include the following in your job description:
- Personally identifying information such as your full name, company name, personal email, or phone number. Except for Business and Enterprise clients, it is against our Terms of Service to share contact information before you have a contract. After the contract starts you can share this information, learn more here.
- Company websites or external links that allow freelancers to contact you outside Upwork
- Attachments on company letterhead or documents that disclose sensitive business information
- Requests to communicate outside of Upwork (not permitted until a contract is in place)
- Requests to pay the freelancer outside of Upwork (all payments must stay on Upwork unless you pay a fee to move the contract off of Upwork)
Completing your job post
Select the drop-downs below to learn more about the sections of your job post and what type of information to include in each.
The job title is the first thing freelancers see, so make it clear and specific. We’ll use the keywords in your title to match you with the right professionals. Good examples include:
- Content writer needed for fitness blogs
- Programmer needed for children's game app
- German-English translator needed for technical documents
- Need legal assistance to file patent in EU
- AR experience needed for virtual product demos
Skills help us narrow your search results to the right type of freelancers. Select from the suggested skills or type your own. You can add up to ten skills, but aim for three to five for best results.
Choose how big or intensive your project will be. Remember, you can edit the job post later if you change your mind or the work changes before you begin a contract.
- Large: Ongoing work or a project lasting over a year
- Medium: Multi-month projects, like building a website from scratch
- Small: Short tasks, usually completed in a few weeks or less, like analyzing a date report or creating a logo
Then you’ll choose the level of expertise you want from entry-, intermediate-, and expert-level freelancers.
You may choose to work with someone in the same country as you, or you may need a freelancer from a certain area for reasons like language requirements or local market knowledge.
First, choose whether you’d like only U.S.-based freelancers to apply. If you select “U.S. only,” you can filter further by states or time zones, but any freelancer in the U.S. can submit a proposal.
If you choose a global job post, you can specify preferred countries or regions, but freelancers anywhere can still see the post and apply.
Providing a budget helps freelancers decide whether the work is a fit for them. When they submit a proposal, they can suggest their own rate, so the budget you set is not final until you create a contract.
There are two types of payments on Upwork:
Hourly: Setting an hourly rate means that you’ll be charged by the hour, with the option to set weekly hour limits. We’ll automatically invoice and charge you for hours weekly once your contract starts.
Fixed-priced: For fixed-price contracts, you’ll supply a project budget. This should be a rough estimate of the total project cost. Later, when you finalize costs with a freelancer and send an offer, you can set project milestones to divide the work and payments into steps.
Need help choosing between an hourly and project budget? See more details here.
- Project scope and deliverables
- Deadline expectations
- Required experience
- Whether they’ll work independently or with your team
- Areas where you need guidance or expertise
If you put a lot of effort into your job post, you’re more likely to get a lot of effort back from freelancers on their proposals. Don’t abandon your post if you feel it’s not “just right.” You can come back and edit it later.
With a standard post, you won’t pay anything unless you hire a freelancer. With a Featured Job, you’ll get increased visibility to attract more freelancers.
Posting a job isn’t a commitment to hiring. You’ll be able to view proposals from interested freelancers and interview candidates before moving forward with a contract.
What happens next
- You'll get a shortlist of qualified professionals and see just how easy it is to find someone who gets you and your goals
- We'll verify your billing method. We ask you to add (if you haven't already) and verify your billing information to help prevent scams. Plus, freelancers are more eager to apply to jobs that have a verified billing method.
- You can invite freelancers. In addition to having your job posted in our marketplace, you’ll be able to invite freelancers directly to submit a proposal.