Keep moving forward! After being rewarded with the Top Rated status in June I continued my productive work on Upwork. In December I received an invitation to the Pro Designer group — a group of professional designers who have done a great job. Membership in this group gives an opportunity to take part in projects from top clients (that being said, more $$!).

To become a group member, 3 stages need to be passed: first Upwork managers request personal data; after that they investigate freelancer’s portfolio. Finally, they invite to interview via Skype. This stage is most exciting. I had to select a time frame that works for me in Upwork interview scheduler. Interview details have been sent to my email right after the time was selected. Next day I had a talk with a bearded designer Karl from St Louis, USA. Karl asked me 10-12 questions from the list Upwork managers provided him with. At the same time, we discussed some other subjects. The interview was quite informal. At the end of our talk, Karl said that he would recommend me as a Pro designer. Next morning my membership was approved!

Read more: How I became a Top Rated freelancer, and which multinational clients I work with.