First Upwork Job showcases the honest experiences of students of Workupvarsity who got their first Upwork Job. Today, we speak with Mr. Ken Emmanuel a social media manager. Now, he talks to us about how he got his first Upwork Job. 

Good day, Mr. Ken it is nice to have you here. Can you introduce yourself briefly?

My name is Ken Emmanuel, a social media manager, blockchain content writer, and Web3 Marketer, overall, a Freelancer.

That is a great introduction, I can’t wait to hear more!

Tell us, why did you choose Freelancing as a career path?

Freelancing is not just a career path for me, it’s a hobby and activity I enjoy doing because It propels me to think of possible ways to solve problems of organizations or companies I come in contact with.

However, I chose Freelancing as a career path because it helps me evolve each day, and its facilitates my learning ability and my quest for more knowledge. As a Freelancer, the method that worked yesterday might not work today, so if you must thrive in the freelancing industry then you must be willing to daily adapt to learning something new in your niche and to be versatile as well. 

I earlier mentioned my interest in freelancing was in the quest for more knowledge to solve problems, through this means, I know I’ll be making a lot of income from this. So I go for the knowledge, skill, and ability to solve problems which will result in me solving problems of clients and organizations, and through that, I’m very sure I’ll be financially stable.

So I’m not just going to have the knowledge alone, I will become more skillful and also gain financial freedom.

When did you start your Freelancing Journey?

I started my Freelancing Journey with Workupvarsity in January 2022

When you started, was the journey smooth?

It wasn’t a smooth one I must say, I came in as a novice, with no skills, and no expertise, so I was just after how I could learn fast, the learning processes weren’t easy as well, but I learned to some extent then proceed in applying jobs and contracts but all were to no avail. So overall, it wasn’t a smooth start. 

What were your challenges?

My challenges were:

• No experience
• Not skilled enough in my niche
• Not capable of writing good proposals
• Not knowing how to respond to clients during interviews

Quite a challenge most beginners in the freelancing space face.

Did these challenges stop you at any point?

The above-listed challenges led me to frustration but I didn’t stop moving, I kept on pressing and pushing, kept on building, it wasn’t getting any better but I didn’t stop, I didn’t want to give up

What steps did you take to overcome these challenges? 

This was what worked for me as I’ll be listing them below

• I always look at people who have made it and draw my strength from there, I was discouraged after writing several proposals and nothing was working, so I tried attaching myself with people I feel can help, or people who are skilled enough because this is one of the ways I operate and get results. So when I joined Workupvarsity I discovered 4 skilled people I drew my strength who are good friends, I see what they do, how young they are, and the impact they made, and I was encouraged that I could do this as well.
• The Advice from CEO JohnMiracle: He always emphasizes this key point “Build your portfolio, Build your portfolio” I was in WorkupVarsity and I kept on hearing him say these words, so the consistency in his making the statements in most seasons made me uphold it and work with it. So I kept on building my portfolio, and in doing that I was also learning some other things which helped me along the Journey. So the job challenges and others I had to curb, I had to keep building my portfolio and expanding my knowledge. CEO Johnmiracle is not someone that just tells you what to do, He shows you from his own life how you can go about it, that’s the perfect example of a coach and leader.
• I literally may not have had deep consistent conversations with all of them but with the little and knowing they are friends in the digital space and seeing how they relate and how they’ve grown was so much motivation to me not to give up, seeing that they were young also lightened something in me that yes I can. Permit me to mention their names, first of all, I know CEO Johnmiracle Ejikeme, then the rest 3 persons are his friends and colleagues; Omeke Gift, Bio Francis, and Samson Olatinwo (Samgold). These guys alone are so much encouragement to me in their fields. 
• One of the most significant things that helped me overcome these challenges was the workup Varsity sessions. It’s not enough to register for a course, but your ability to learn and implement all that has been taught. Workup Varsity really taught me all that I needed to handle my challenges, I implemented them and saw results. As they taught, I worked with all that was taught and I saw improvements.
• Another amazing step I took that helped me was the fact that I was a novice but I was always on WorkupVarsity VR inbox  That’s “Omeke Gift”, a lot of times I apply for jobs and I know I’m not a skilled writer but I just do it to get a job, so a day came I applied and got an interview from a client, it’s a writing interview though, so the requirements for the writing job was confusing to me because I was a novice, so I went to VR Gift.O. and with the way she was busy, took out time to explain in details what some of these things mean.

I didn’t get the job, because I was just learning something new about writing, so when I wrote the test article, I wasn’t hired, but that encouraged me because I learned something new, and that was how my experience started as a freelancer just In Case of the future interview, so the attention I got from the VR and the things I learned helped curb my challenges gradually.

All these above helped me overcome those challenges. 

I love how you are specific in answering the question and there is a lot to learn here.

When you experienced a breakthrough, Tell us about your first Job on Upwork

My first job was holistic indeed, it required me to know about writing, social media management, basic graphics design, and marketing. So when I was building my portfolio, I didn’t know I was learning so much until I saw that job post and applied, was invited for an interview and I wasn’t communicating with the client effectively because of their ascent and cause the client wasn’t a Nigerian, so what I did was, I expected this may happen. 

So before the interview, I explained clearly, breaking down points on how I can do the job and what more can be added to make the job a success, I added some more points the client isn’t familiar with because that’s a method they’ll get to think you’re more skilled, telling them what to do, and that you can do it.

I listed ways the job can be done and how to, then I added that these are a few ways your job can be carried out, and I’ll give out the rest of the effective tips to him (the client) when he hires me.

(You must give the best of your tips here, and claim you have more to offer when hired, don’t hide any, because when you’re hired that’s the win of it).

Would you recommend WorkupVarsity to the public who wants to become successful Freelancers?

Workup Varsity is a system that works, so if you want to become a successful freelancer, a lot of coaches are in the Varsity to help you, you’re not just buying a course that you can read and be left by yourself. No. You’re subscribing to a freelance system that has worked and that helps her students at every point in time. If you check my story you’ll see where one of the staff(s) helped me when I was even applying for a job I wasn’t able to do. This is because they saw possibilities in me, and that yes I can, so they’re ready to give in full support.

I was almost missing a job because I knew nothing about it, but CEO Johnmiracle knew about the role, so he said I should accept it and he’ll tell me what to do. I accepted and he sent me an article on what the job is about (SDR) that was how I applied for the job and used what he taught me and what I read from the workup Varsity article (SDR Role) to win the job, then he told me how to do the job, and I was able to master a skill in another niche within a short period, so now I can say I’m an SDR.

So Joining WorkUp Varsity will expose you to so many opportunities, is as though CEO Johnmiracle knows everything and how you can go about it, he has a lot of staff working with him that has the help you need. Signup and win big with workup Varsity. 

It’s delightful to see that WorkupVarsity had and still has a great impact on you.

Any final words?

Finally,  Success is not a product of hit-and-run, it’s a product of consistency and hard, smart work. It took me 9 months and writing 71 proposals to get my first job on Upwork. So imagine I gave up during the time I was writing my 70th proposal? That means I would have lost so big, but I continued to work hard. So as you trust God for a big win now He has empowered you with all you need to get your first job. 

Don’t join the varsity and be expecting success immediately, if it comes fine, but don’t be so much in a rush to start making money, you won’t. Grow gradually, and speed up your possibilities of getting jobs. Mine took 9 months, yours may be a month, 3 months, 3 weeks, 5 months, or a week as the case may be. Just make sure you’re consistent, hard-working, and doing the right thing, make sure you try new ways of doing a thing.  What will be taught to you in the varsity will help you if you can abide by them.

I didn’t regret waiting so long to get my first job, I knew all I learned and the opportunities it opened for me. Glory to God. So before you get tired ask yourself, have you really worked hard, have you tried a different method? Have you finished your course and tried all you can? So keep at it. I can assure you that your big win is just around the corner.

–Thank you Mr. Ken for granting us the opportunity to interview you. I appreciate your sincerity and I must say your journey is inspiring.

Our dear reader, I hope this interview motivates you!