If you've been positioning yourself as a beginner to "get your foot in the door," the data suggests you may be competing for the smallest slice of the market. Out of 536,973 Upwork jobs, 65.3% target intermediate-level freelancers. Entry level is just 7%. Upwork is a platform built for mid-career professionals — and the sooner you present yourself that way, the better.

The Contractor Tier Breakdown

Tier	Jobs	Percentage
Intermediate	350,414	65.3%
Expert	145,414	27.1%
Entry Level	37,323	7.0%
Unset	3,822	0.7%

The gap is striking. Intermediate jobs outnumber entry-level jobs nearly 10 to 1. Expert jobs are a significant segment at 27%, but even they are less than half the intermediate pool.

For a new freelancer trying to decide how to position themselves: there are 350,000+ jobs looking for someone who can do the work competently and has some track record. That is the marketplace you want to be in.

What "Intermediate" Actually Means

Upwork's tier labels are somewhat fluid. Clients use them as general signals, not strict credentials. "Intermediate" on Upwork typically means:

You have some demonstrable experience in the skill
You can work with reasonable independence
You don't need hand-holding on every step
Your rate is competitive but not rock-bottom

Importantly, "intermediate" does not require years of experience. A freelancer with 6–12 months of focused practice in a skill — with a portfolio that demonstrates results — is legitimately intermediate. The tier is about competence, not time served.

New Clients Post Intermediate Jobs Too

One of the most counterintuitive findings from the data: clients who have never hired before post intermediate-level jobs at roughly the same proportion as the overall platform.

Tier	Jobs from 0-review clients
Intermediate	150,121
Expert	43,332
Entry Level	11,224

Brand-new clients aren't looking for bargain-bin freelancers. They want someone who can actually get the job done. They're just new to the platform — not new to having budget and expectations.

This is an opportunity. Many experienced freelancers skip clients with zero reviews. That leaves 150,000+ intermediate jobs from first-time hirers with less competition than established client jobs.

Expert Clients List Fewer Skills

Here's a detail that reveals how intermediate vs. expert clients think differently:

Tier	Avg Skills Per Job
Intermediate	5.71
Expert	5.19
Entry Level	4.20

Expert clients know exactly what they want and list fewer, more specific skills. Intermediate clients cast a slightly wider net. Entry-level job posts are the most generic — and often the most template-driven.

If you see a job posting with 8–10 skills, it's often from a less experienced client who copied a template. Focused, specific postings with 4–5 skills tend to come from more experienced buyers. Knowing the difference helps you prioritize your proposal energy.

How to Position Yourself at Intermediate

Even if you're relatively new to freelancing, these steps help you credibly claim an intermediate position:

Build a targeted portfolio. Three strong samples in your niche beat ten generic ones. Expert clients look for relevance; intermediate clients look for competence.

Price above the floor. Pricing at the very bottom signals entry-level thinking. Intermediate freelancers charge rates that reflect they've done this before. A rate slightly above rock-bottom actually makes you more attractive to intermediate-seeking clients.

Write proposals that assume competence. Don't apologize for what you're learning. Write as someone who has solved this type of problem before — even if the "problem" was a personal project.

Target intermediate in your profile settings. Upwork lets you filter searches. If your profile positions you as entry-level but you're applying to intermediate jobs, there's a mismatch that clients can sense.

The Expert Tier: Worth Understanding, Not Chasing Immediately

Expert-level jobs (27% of the market, 145,414 jobs) are not out of reach — they're simply a narrower target. The skills that skew most heavily toward expert include Software Architecture (59.4% expert), Database Architecture (58.6%), Kubernetes (49.3%), and Blockchain (48.9%).

These are highly technical, senior-focused roles. For the majority of creative, marketing, writing, and general development skills, intermediate is where the bulk of realistic opportunities live.

Start at intermediate, deliver expert-quality results, and use the reviews you build to eventually command expert-tier pricing. The data says 350,000 doors are open at the intermediate level. Walk through one.

GigSentry monitors intermediate and expert-level job openings in your skills in real time — so you can apply the moment they appear.

Intermediate Level Is the Upwork Sweet Spot: 65% of All Jobs Target Mid-Tier Freelancers