I'm a top rated Python programmer on UpWork, with nearly a 100% job success score. I've been on there for ~6 months.
Some other points that are worth noting:
- I'm honestly not that good of a programmer. I'm not out to hustle anyone, I don't misrepresent myself, and I always give it my best. My sincere aim is for my programming ability to catch up with my marketing. Every job gives me an opportunity to hone my skills a little, and to learn something new. - Or a way to do something better.
- My strategy has been a simple one. Until I'd done enough work to get a job success score, I got less than a 10% response rate to my applications (Probably quite a bit less). - And forget about anyone sending you a legitimate invitation
- I applied to any and every job I could do successfully AND ONLY THE JOBS I COULD COMPLETE SUCCESSFULLY, especially the ridiculously low paying ones. You can forget about making any money until you've got some feed back. There were a few times I worked for days to make $20 - because that's what was available to me.
- With every positive feedback, the chance of getting a response to my application improves slightly.
- Right about here I chose to bump my rate up from 10 dollars an hour, to a bit more.
- A few projects from a few different clients (which took me a month or two) , and I finally get a job success score. That put me on the map and instantly got me a reasonably high rate of people at least replying to my applications, and I started to receieve some job offers.
- 13 weeks of keeping that up, and I was "top rated"
- By then I'd bumped my rate up again, and had a few repeat clients.
That's about where I'm at today. I get a reasonable amount of job offers, even though there are better qualified people who work cheaper. Again, no gimmicks. My profile doesn't make any claims that aren't True.
I'm fortunate enough to be an American through no fault or credit of my own, and it no doubt helps me out with this, and with other opportunities I'm sure, but most of my jobs have not been "U.S only", and most of the top rated programmers seem to be from elsewhere in the world. Not everyone is looking for "cheap" or for the "cheapest", or even the "best programmer" (or other freelancer) There's a value in other things, like being easy to deal with and having a high likelihood of a smooth and successful transaction.
I currently charge twice as much as some top rated actual computer scientists I found, and I charge a fraction of what some others charge. It's enough to keep going and keep growing, but it is by no means enough to be a successful adult in the U.S. and times are tight.
I continue to represent myself honestly, learn, grow, deliver my best, and try to improve a little every day. Wherever you're at in the world, and whatever you're trying to do. I think that's the secret to getting there.
