Preferred Freelancer Program Service Level Agreement (SLA) Examination

1. Is it allowed to share contact details?

It is okay if the employer asks first provided that the project is awarded and that you have informed your recruiter about the exchange of contact details.

2. Is sending or stating your contact details or mentioning other sites where your information or portfolio are displayed allowed?

You are allowed to share after the recruiter project has been awarded. Should the project not be awarded, you need to request permission from the recruiter on the project first.

3. True or false: Are you allowed to provide contact details on your profile and/or bids?

False

4. What should I do when an employer asks for contact details?

Write ‘Unfortunately,’ it is against T&C and not advised to take communication offsite. In order to do so, I need to first ask the recruiter for permission.

5. What should I do when an employer asks to pay directly using PayPal or another payment gateway?

Tell the employer that payments should remain on the site and notify the recruiter on the project.

6. What should I do if an employer wants to have a Skype call about the project before it is awarded?

Contact a recruiter and ask for permission to share offsite communication details with the employer.

7. Would it be considered offsite communication if the employer shares their contact details after the project is awarded?

Yes, should you need to engage with them off-site, you need to gain permission from a recruiter first.

8. Would it be considered offsite if an employer shared login credentials of their website with you or asked you to use TeamViewer to discuss a project?

No

9. When should you turn off your preferred freelancer badge?

When you are unavailable, going on vacation, or too busy to take on new projects.

10. Where can you turn off your preferred freelancer badge?

Under settings and then account.

11. Do you pay preferred freelancer project fees on recruiter projects if your badge is turned off?

YES

12. Would you be penalized for not communicating with an employer regarding delays or unavailability?

Yes, you would be penalized as it is important to communicate with an employer and update them on the status of a project, especially if you are unable to meet the agreed time-delivery.

13. What should you do when chat is opened for you by a recruiter, but the employer is unavailable?

Send a short message introducing yourself, and inform the employer about your working hours and when you will be available to discuss the project with them.

14. What is an upfront payment?

An upfront payment refers to requesting the first milestone payment before delivering any work, typically after discussing the project requirements with the employer.

15. What happens when you request an upfront payment?

Withdrawals will be frozen until work is delivered.

16. If you do research to establish if you can take on a project, would you be allowed to request a milestone release for that without delivering any work yet?

No

17. If you need to buy something for the project, such as a license, template, or program, what should you do?

Include it in the first milestone, but ensure that it is accompanied by the agreed-upon deliverables. No milestones should be released without completed work.

18. Are you allowed to charge 50% at the beginning of a recruiter project?

No, that would be considered an upfront payment.

19. Are you allowed to discuss project fees with employers?

No, discussing fees is not allowed. You should always include the fee in the total price you provide to the employer.

20. What should you do if your employer wants you to create a secondary project from a recruiter project, through 'Hire-me' or a normal project?

Notify a recruiter about this, as you were invited to the project through the Preferred Freelancer Program, and let them know the project ID.

21. What will happen if you circumvent fees?

You will be required to pay 30% of the awarded value of the project or be removed from the Preferred Freelancer Program.

22. Are you allowed to request reviews or ratings before the project is completed?

You can ask for reviews and ratings once the project is completed.

23. Would it be considered fee avoidance if a recruiter hourly project was closed to create a non-recruiter fixed-price project?

YES

24. How should you respond to an invitation to a project?

Tell the recruiter about your experience and send relevant examples of your work.

25. What would happen if you engaged in blackmailing, threatening, or unprofessional communication with an employer?

You will be immediately removed from the Preferred Freelancer Program.

26. How should you FIRST address the employer?

Hi there

27. Under what circumstances should you spam the employer with messages?

Never

28. What percentage of disputes can you have in a six-month period and still meet the minimum requirements to stay in the Preferred Freelancer Program?

10%

29. What percentage of the projects do you need to accept to stay in the program?

85%

30. What percentage of the completed projects do you need to maintain?

85%

31. What is a 'Timeout'?

A 'timeout' is issued when you have violated the rules of the service agreement and will result in no invitations for three days.

32. As a preferred freelancer, are you allowed to consistently be awarded projects that you then break down into smaller parts for other freelancers to complete?

No

33. Are you allowed to have a duplicate preferred freelancer account in the program?

No, and if you do, you will have to close one or both accounts will be closed.

34. If you are a company and not an individual, what kind of photo should you have on your profile?

A professional company logo

35. What kind of photo should you have on your profile if you are an individual freelancer?

A professional individual photo

36. What if you want to add another skill to the Preferred Freelancer Program?

You will need to email preferred@freelancer.com or create a support ticket to be removed from the program and then apply again with all the additional skills you wish to add.

37. When is it okay to ask the employer to release the milestone?

Once you have delivered the work corresponding to it and the employer has already provided you with positive feedback.

38. When should I accept the award and start working on the project?

After you have clarified every single detail of the project with the employer, updated your bid if necessary, agreed on a milestone structure, and the employer has created at least one milestone.

39. What happens if you have too many incoming milestones?

You will not receive recruiter invitations until those projects are completed.

40. What will happen when you circumvent fees?

You need to pay 30% of the awarded value of the project or be removed from the program.