Who to hire (and who to avoid)
The green flags and red flags. What I look for in the first 3 messages — and the ones I dismiss instantly.
You’ll get 30–60 applications inside 24 hours of posting. Most are rubbish. Here’s how I sort them in 15 minutes flat.
The 3-pass filter
Pass 1 — Filter word.If they didn’t use the filter word, reject. No exceptions. They didn’t read the post.
Pass 2 — First sentence. Read only the first sentence of their pitch. Is it about them (generic) or about you(personalised)? If it’s generic, reject.
Pass 3 — Profile and portfolio. Hours billed, success rate, last activity, examples. If they pass all three, they get a reply.
Green flags vs red flags
Red flags — pass
- “Dear Sir/Madam” or copy-pasted pitch
- No portfolio, no examples, no Loom
- Under $5/hr (unreliable or sub-contracted)
- Promises “marketing strategy” for a $10/hr role
- Long career switching every 2 months
- No Upwork hours logged or success rate under 90%
- Slow first reply or vague answers to direct questions
Green flags — shortlist
- Personalised first sentence that shows they read the post
- 2–3 relevant examples in the pitch itself
- Clear, conversational English (not stiff or templated)
- 1,000+ Upwork hours, 95%+ success
- Stable client history — 1+ year with prior clients
- Asks a smart clarifying question
- Sends a Loom intro without being asked
The thing nobody tells you
Pick the consistent one, not the most creative one.
Creative people are great until they go quiet for 4 days. Consistent people show up Monday with last week’s tasks done and a list of what’s next. That’s the trait that compounds.