In today's digital world, algorithms are everywhere and Malt is no exception. Want to find out more? We’ve answered your burning questions below 👇
How does Malt’s algorithm work?
Our algorithm matches freelancers with the most relevant clients and projects
It enables freelancers to receive the most relevant projects as quickly as possible thanks to powerful machine learning.
It continuously learns from freelancers' responses to the thousands of opportunities and projects carried out on our platform in order to match relevant future opportunities.
The algorithm can also associate profiles which are close matches to the client opportunities (e.g. for a “Java developer” request, we might push Kotlin developers as well). The idea is to reach a diverse range of freelance profiles that a client might not have spotted
Freelancers have levers to increase their chances of receiving opportunities and improve their relevancy to projects.
Freelancers can’t control all factors
How can I appear in the top results?
Several factors used by our algorithm have a larger impact than others and can influence how likely a freelancer is to receive new opportunities:
Here are some examples of the data used to match freelancers with a client’s project:
Quality
You should save at least 7 of your key skills to make sure you are eligible to receive all opportunities that match your skill set. You should think about what best reflects your experience. Don't forget to also fill in all parts of your profile as profile completion is key to getting the opportunities that suit you the most.
Activity
Client and opportunity criteria
Regarding “Availability”, it's important to remember that it's possible to receive new opportunities as long as freelancers:
Although they are not taken into consideration regarding Malt’s algorithm, having a good quality profile picture and verified legal documents have been found to also increase a potential client’s trust.
How many freelancers are contacted for a project opportunity?
In order to answer that question, it's important to be aware that clients have two ways of finding freelancers for their projects: by using Malt’s search engine or by posting a project.
Search engine
Thanks to Malt's search engine, the project owner can consult the available freelance profiles by entering keywords and then using the filters provided, including job role, daily rate, spoken language, industry expertise…
Clients can then contact freelancers directly and start the conversation via Malt’s messaging system. Clients are limited to contacting 10 freelancers for each project.
Post a project
In order to save time, the project owner can also work with our team to manage their search. This works quite differently than the search engine method: the client will fill in the skills required for the project, the desired date and duration, the location of the mission (or remote work), the budget and the brief.
Our algorithm will then find freelancers and send the opportunity to the ones who are most relevant to the client's needs. For some clients, our team of Recruiting Consultants and Freelance Success Managers can also help to maximise the chances of finding the perfect match. Overall, we try to contact as few freelancers as possible while trying to secure at least one positive response to each opportunity.
Do I get more opportunities if I’m a Super Malter?
Being a Super Malter means that you have carried a certain amount of business in the last few months and the number of projects shows your experience on Malt. If your projects are recent, you've recently been active and clients are hiring for the types of projects you are looking for, then you're in for a good chance.
Do I get more opportunities if I’ve done a lot of projects on Malt?
The number of projects that you’ve actually done on Malt is important but that only does not necessarily influence whether you are likely to get new projects or not. Receiving new opportunities also depends on your skillset and having a profile that's updated regularly, learning new skills that are in demand, responding to requests quickly, etc.
You will be more likely to get a new opportunity if you are available with an updated profile than a Super Malter that has not connected with Malt in 4 months.
I have stopped replying to matching opportunities as I feel the competition is high and they rarely convert. What can I do to receive more direct proposals from clients?
Our main goal at Malt is to find you the most suitable projects according to your skills and desires, taking into account your availability and your expertise. Clients have two options to find freelancers that match their needs: by manually doing a search or by entrusting it to Malt which then takes care of finding the relevant freelancers. Because the second option helps clients save more time, more and more are using it. Some of them combine both of them to increase the chances of finding the best freelancers for their projects.
At the moment, there is no way for a freelancer to only receive direct proposals from clients. Whether you want to apply or not, it is important to respond to all the opportunities you receive and decline them if necessary: classifying all of them will be beneficial for your Malt visibility and help our machine-learning algorithm to direct more proposals to you.
