If you’re a freelance UI and UX designer on Upwork, you might want to master the art of writing a strong and convincing profile for people to see. Just so you know: your Upwork profile overview is the first thing a potential client sees about you, and it could determine their decision to either engage you or move on.

But how can you effectively begin? You’d have to pay attention to the fundamentals, like structure, grammar and tone. You don’t have to worry much about it, as I’m here to show you how to write a crisp and effective profile overview for your UI/UX design account. Let’s get into it: The

Getting Started with the Basics

I understand that many freelancers have the tendency to start off with all they can do with their skills and experience. However, you must remember that you’re writing for clients with a different perspective. Which is why you need to nail the basics before anything else. Below are some helpful tips to note:

#1: Write a Catchy First Sentence

It’s a known secret on Upwork that clients often have to go through hundreds of profile summaries when trying to hire a talent on the platform. As such, they neither have the time nor the attention span to read what you’ve drafted word-for-word.

What’s worse, there are at least a thousand other freelancers offering UI/UX design services as you do. It’s going to be a fierce competition for the client’s attention each time. How do you get the chance to edge out? You hit hard with your first sentence.

In other words, you make the first sentence in your profile overview as catchy and attractive as possible. That way, the client is encouraged to continue reading. Be creative with it, and use an active tone. For instance, “I’m a three-time AltSchool Design Certified UI/UX designer” is a much better way to go than “I’m a professional UI/UX designer”. You can also any variations of that as well.

#2: Be Professional and General

Another mistake I often see designer freelancers make is putting specific addresses in their profile overview. Different people from various sources will get to read the document, so it’s unnecessary to address them directly.

It’s better to keep a general direction while maintaining a professional tone. For instance, leave out greetings like “good day sir/ma” and limit the use of second-person pronouns, “you/he/she”.

#3: Beam in on your Strong Skills

Like I said, Clients don’t have the time to read most profile summaries, so you really don’t want to regale them with the skills and experiences you’ve had since your teens. To improve your chances of getting more reading time from the readers, you’d have to prioritize: what are your most relevant skills to UI/UX design? Outline them and explain how you’d use them to solve any potential client’s UI/UX design needs.

#4: Summarize as Much as Possible

Typically, Upwork profile overview is just that: an overview. It should only be a summary of the services you can offer to clients or anyone looking to hire you. As such, you’d want to keep your sentences short and always around the main points you have.

#5: Sell Yourself Right

Of the many options available to the client on Upwork, why should they pick you for their job? Your profile overview needs to try to convince the reader that you’re the best fit for UI/UX design positions they might have.

One technique I recommend is mentioning how your skills and experience can help solve common adnd specific design problems a potential client might be facing.

#6: Iron Out the Errors

Once you’re done with the first draft of the overview, you’d want to proofread it to take out grammatical errors you might have left behind. Not only does that make you sound professional, clients are quick to discard error-riddled overviews.

A technique that works for me is leaving the overview for a day or two. By the time you come back to it, you’d be more sensitive to the grammatical you’ve made in any of the paragraphs. As an alternative, you could run the overview through a grammar checker application. That will assist you in detecting any irregularities.

Sample of a Profile Overview for UI/UX Designer Account

Below is an example of what your overview should read like. Pay attention to the tone, paragraphing and conclusion:

I’m an expert professional on UI & UX Designing, with five years of hands-on experience. I’ve got my educational background on Computer Science and Engineering. Over the course of practice, I’ve had the liberty to work for various companies like the HuffPost, The Verge and iMore. On my own, I manage a website catering to entry-level UI design fundamentals and related programming applications.

What’s more, I believe I have an immense passion for art and design. Often teased by friends to be the right-brained guy, I’ve always love to create new designs that are functional and helpful to people. Indeed, I’ve kept the drive with skill, enthusiasm, and self-motivation. I intend to offer my services on Upwork and help clients to achieve their design project goals.

As you might have noticed, the sample overview above is devoid of fluff. The freelancer also goes straight to the point, explaining how they’ve acquired relevant design skills and experience over a certain period. Later down in the body of the summary, they close off by mentioning how they’d use the skill to work on future projects.

Furthermore, the freelancer liberally used transitional words to link sentences and paragraphs. In the end, you’ve got a tight, crisp and effective profile overview anyone would like to read.

Conclusion

Writing a profile overview is an important part of setting up an effective presence on Upwork. It’s often the first point of contact for clients, and will determine if they’d go ahead to hire you. Drafting an excellent overview isn’t rocket science, and I’ve highlighted some of the easy basics you can follow for the best results.

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Shalom is an experienced freelancer and author who writes about her experiences and offers practical advice on the Busy Earner blog.

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