How to review proposals, shortlist and interview freelancers.

To review proposals, open My projects and choose View proposals on your project. Sort and filter the list, open each proposal, Shortlist the best, Message them to ask questions or hold an interview, and Decline the ones that don't fit. When you've chosen, choose Hire.

Before you start

• Your project is live and has proposals. Not many yet? See invite freelancers.
• Know what matters most to you: experience, price, speed or communication.

Steps

1Open your proposals

Go to My projects and choose View proposals. The tabs are All proposals, Shortlisted, Messaged, Invited and Archived. The side panel shows project stats, including Credits per proposal and when the project Closes.

2Sort the list

Choose Sort: Best match, Newest, Lowest bid or Highest bid. Agency proposals show "Agency · delivered by" the member who'll do the work.

3Open a proposal

Choose View proposal to read the Cover letter, Answers to your questions and Milestones, plus About the freelancer (jobs completed, rating). Opening a proposal tells the freelancer it was Viewed.

4Shortlist

Choose Shortlist to keep strong candidates together in the Shortlisted tab. Choose it again to remove.

5Message or interview

Choose Message to ask questions in a chat. For a face-to-face talk, start a video call from the chat. Interviews happen inside Belancer and cost nothing.

6Decline the rest

Choose Decline. The freelancer sees "Not selected". Declined and withdrawn proposals move to Archived; choose Restore to bring one back.

7Hire

On your favourite, choose Hire. You'll review the terms before anything is paid. See hire a freelancer.

What happens next

When you hire someone or close the project, everyone else sees Not selected. You also get a daily digest email when new proposals arrive.

Troubleshooting

• No proposals yet. Choose Invite matched freelancers or Invite more.
• A proposal's milestones look odd. The total always equals the bid; you can edit milestones when you hire.
• I can't message yet. If you see "Messages open here once Messages is ready", use Hire or check back soon.
• Too many proposals. Sort by best match, shortlist five, then compare only those.

Good to know

• Sealed bids: if a freelancer sealed their proposal, you still see their price; only other freelancers can't.
• Recruiter add-on: with Belancer Recruiter, our talent team sends you a shortlist of vetted freelancers, when that add-on is available.
• Check the person, not only the price: look at portfolio work similar to yours, reviews, and how well they answered your questions.

Tip: Ask each shortlisted freelancer the same two questions in chat. Comparing answers side by side makes the choice much easier.

Important: Contact details are hidden in chats. Anyone asking to move to WhatsApp or email before hiring is breaking the rules; report them.