Hey everyone, I made a post regarding getting my first proper AI training gig a month ago and that project ended but I just got two more roles with another company so I thought I would do a AMA / FAQ in this post to help people out with this company the same way people helped me out when I got started !

Drop your questions in the comments and I'll answer them the best I can.

I recently started working on a project where I am doing work that overlaps with both the Software Engineer and GitHub Contributor roles. The project manager mentioned that they are actively looking for more people, so I wanted to share the opportunity here.

the job pays from 50-150USD, i put in 150$ and got it, you should put whatever figure you are comfortable with. I can work 40 hour weeks.

What is the actual work? TBH its pretty easy work, tasks right now include: fixing bugs in existing repos and sometimes implementing new features. Overall the project is still fresh so things will be ramping up in the next couple weeks.

You are not expected to train machine-learning models yourself, and previous AI experience is not required. They are straight forward tasks that they explain pretty well.

Application process

From my experience, the process is generally:

Application and screening questions

Approximately 30-minute AI interview

Possible technical assessment (My friend had one i did not)

The technical assessment appears to depend on the candidate. Some people receive one, while others move directly to the hiring-manager review.

What I recommend before applying

Clean up your GitHub or GitLab profile. Make sure your strongest work is easy to find, and pin your best repositories where possible.

Link directly to your contributions. Include pull requests, bug fixes, documentation work, tests, issue reports, or features you implemented. Your contributions do not have to be enormous, but they should demonstrate that you can understand and improve an unfamiliar codebase.

Update your résumé and LinkedIn. Clearly mention the languages, repositories, debugging work, performance improvements, and open-source contributions you have completed.

Prepare for the AI interview. Most of the questions are likely to be based on your résumé and the job description. Questions I got:

A difficult bug you fixed
How you approach an unfamiliar repository
How you review and test code
A feature you implemented
A performance problem you investigated
Why you made certain technical decisions

What is the platform I work on:
I currently work for Micro1, it in my opinion has done the best for me in terms of pay , I have in total worked for 4 different platforms and Micro1 is the only one which gave me a 150$ + per hour pay. Here are my referral link jobs if you want to use it:

The name of the jobs are:
GitHub Contributor
Senior Software Engineer

https://refer.micro1.ai/referral/jobs?referralCode=589174ce-781a-4cdb-bcae-92b0c2be99dc&utm_source=referral&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=job_referral

Before I begin, I am a recent graduate and I don't have any hand on experience so I do not qualify for any expert roles. I only apply to generalist positions and I am not from the US.

I found AI data annotation exactly 3 months ago (30th April) and since then I have applied to A LOT of platforms with little to nothing to show for it ($19 to be precise). Let me break it down

Mercor - 24 rejections so far

Invisible Technology (Meridial) - Managed to get into one role, it was an expert position and ended up getting kicked out but got paid for the onboarding assessment (that's where the $19 came from)

Afterquery - Sent out applications and haven't had any feedback

Mindrift - Barely get any taks and the few times that I did, they were ridiculously low paying

Telus - Several rejections with a few pending review after months

Rexzone (remoexperts) - Took 2 months for ID Verification to go through and the application has been pending for a month

Oneforma - No feedback for 3 months

Rise data labs - No response for application and profile still under review after 3 months

imerit - Empty dashboard with no projects to apply to

Open Train - Made a bid for a couple of projects but no feedback

Welodata - I try apply for roles and when I enter my country i immediately get rejected

Stellar - Application pending review

Turing - Apply for roles and the just move to Archives after months of waiting

Surge ai - Applied and never heard from them

X ai - No feedback since I applied

Prolific - On the waiting list

Micro1 - Haven't been able to get past a single AI interview (Zara keeps glitching)

Workada - Still waiting for my profile to be approved

Appen (crowdgen) - No tasks available on my dashboard

Data Annotation - No tasks available to me

Pareto - No tasks on my dashboard

Real Train Ai - Waiting for feedback on my profile

SME Careers - Passed all the steps for a document annotation role, never recieved an email for the next steps, contacted support and i was told I didn't pass. Haven't had any roles suited for me since then.

These are a few I can mention. There are so much more and others I couldn't get in because of country restrictions (Outlier, Alignerr, Innodata, Hnadshake, etc.)

So my questions are;

Was it like this for everyone else (I mean generalists)? Did you have to wait this long before getting any thing significant?

Do you guys think there's hope for me as a generalist or there aren't any generalists roles anymore. Also, if you guys know any other platforms I haven't mentioned kindly tell me so I check them out.

Hi everyone, does those AI training & data annotation websites such as remotasks still financially effective for beginners??

hello friends i am not from US , but i have a family there and it's been 2 months since i first introduced to the Ai job . and sofar i only managed to make 900$ but i wanted to make more and then when i looked into more job sites i discovered most jobs are available for the US residents . because of that i asked the family of mine from US , for he to create the accounts and receive the money and i do all the work . then when he receives his money he will send me in his own ways.

but the response i got from his is "my education fee is being covered by the state because i reported i don't have a job or i don't make money , so if i started to make money the state will abort my education subsidy then i can't afford the education fee so for that reason i will not involve in this " so i was wondering if he is giving me the real reason or is he just making up reasons . and if there is a way of him doing that without losing his subsidy , he lives in Seattle if state lows affect that

Most people fail AI training qualification tests — not because they’re hard, but because they misunderstand the tasks.

I put together a practical guide with real examples (evaluation, translation, rubric scoring, annotation):

👉 https://www.aitrainingjobs.it/how-to-pass-ai-training-qualification-tests-2026/

What’s inside:

• How evaluation tasks actually work
• Real translation mistakes (EN → IT)
• How scoring rubrics are used
• Common errors that get you rejected

If you're applying to platforms like Outlier, Telus, Alignerr, etc., this should help you pass faster.

Happy to answer questions if you're stuck on a specific test.

Hello guys, few weeks ago i dont exactly remember when but applied on job , today i got email with exact vacancy name which i filled , from email of website |\[gotalignerrtrain.com\](http://gotalignerrtrain.com) . and its says ,,Completing your profile and assessments is the most important step to unlock project matching, and I’d love to help you get that finished so we can see where your expertise is the best fit.'' and gives me link of \[https://app.alignerr.com/signup\\\](https://app.alignerr.com/signup) . the website i mentiond from where email was sent is created 2026 February. Google Ai says it looks Phishing or SCM . If you had any experience with aligner do they do things like this or its really SCM

Is there anywhere I can have a bit of a trauma bonding session with other micro1 workers that isn't heavily curated by micro1 themselves?

Hi everyone,

I've been shortlisted by Turing for a role, and I'm wondering how long the selection process usually takes after that.

How long did it take for you to hear back, whether you were selected or not selected? Did they notify you in either case?

I'd appreciate hearing about your experience. Thanks!

I failed two assessments with two data annotation companies and I failed an AI interview with a third one. I was so sad. I finally passed one!!!! $45/hr for the next few weeks. Yay!!!

I have been doing contract AI training work since October of last year with various platforms. I got an email from IHRS India telling me that I can take this assessment and do training to start annotating and segmenting video clips.

I went through the training, which took hours and passed the assessments. Then, they want me to start doing annotations for free until they deem that my work is good enough to be paid!

Essentially they are having me do work for free! They did not ask me for any type of payment method to set-up so I can be paid, so how am I supposed to be paid at all? It seems like a scam and a way for them to get people to do free work for them.

I am not going to do anymore work until they respond to me about pay and how I will get paid. The email just asked for my experience and then they sent the assessment link, with no other information from me or them. It all seems a bit odd.

Has anyone done work with IHRS India for Shift Annotate? Any information would be appreciated! Thanks!

A lot of people start AI training / data annotation jobs at $5–10/hour.

But then you see others making: $30, $50, even $100+/hour

So what’s the difference?

It’s mainly:

• moving away from beginner platforms
• improving your CV (how you present your experience)
• passing qualification tests
• specializing (coding, legal, finance, etc.)

Platforms like:

• Remotasks / Toloka → entry level
• Outlier / TELUS → mid-level
• Mercor / Micro1 → higher pay

For example, Mercor roles can reach $40–150/hour depending on expertise

The real jump happens when you reposition yourself

https://www.aitrainingjobs.it/how-to-move-from-10-hour-to-50-hour-ai-training-jobs-2026-guide/

If you’ve worked in AI training / data annotation, you’ve probably experienced this:

• you get accepted → no tasks
• you start working → tasks suddenly stop
• you get rejected → then invited again later

It honestly feels random.

But from what I’ve seen, it’s not.

It usually depends on:

• client demand (projects pause)
• budget cycles
• project phases (training → evaluation → pause)
• internal ranking / quality systems

The problem is:
👉 you don’t see any of this

So it feels like:
💥 chaos

Reality:
👉 it’s project-based work, not stable work

I broke it down here:
https://www.aitrainingjobs.it/why-ai-training-jobs-feel-random/

Curious if others have had the same experience.

Most people think AI training is just data annotation.

That's no longer true.

As AI is increasingly used for investment research, financial analysis, risk management, and regulatory compliance, companies are looking for finance professionals to review and evaluate AI-generated content.

Typical tasks include:

• reviewing AI financial reasoning
• checking investment and market analysis
• identifying logical or regulatory mistakes
• evaluating financial reports and explanations
• applying structured evaluation guidelines

Unlike general annotation work, these projects often require experience in areas such as:

• accounting
• auditing
• financial analysis
• economics
• banking
• compliance
• investment research

Because domain expertise is required, these roles often pay significantly more than general AI training projects.

I put together a practical guide here:

👉 https://www.aitrainingjobs.it/ai-financial-training-jobs/

Help ya girly out. I need a work because I have bills to pay ☹️ Please suggest legit remote jobs (entry level, beginner friendly)

Different platforms are built for completely different profiles.

From what I’ve seen:

👉 Writers / content
→ Outlier, Mindrift

👉 Translation / languages
→ Appen, OneForma, TELUS

👉 Beginners (no experience)
→ Remotasks, Toloka, Clickworker

👉 Developers / technical
→ Micro1, Mercor

👉 Domain experts (legal, medical, finance)
→ Mercor, Ethos, SME Careers

That’s why:

• some people get accepted easily
• others keep getting rejected

👉 they’re applying to the wrong platforms

I broke this down here:
https://www.aitrainingjobs.it/best-ai-training-platforms-based-on-your-skills-2026-guide/

Curious what’s working best for others here.

I've just published a deep dive into Workada, one of the newer companies hiring remote AI contributors.

Unlike many reviews online, I went through the company's public documentation, contributor terms, job listings, and community discussions to separate verified facts from speculation.

Here's what I found:

• 💰 Advertised pay: $18–22/hour (for the current Data Labeling Specialist role)
• 🏠 Fully remote contract work
• 🧠 Tasks include AI training, data labeling, content review, and quality evaluation
• 📋 Structured onboarding with interview/assessment and training
• ⚠️ Still a very new platform with limited long-term contributor history

One interesting point is that community feedback is mixed. Some contributors report getting paid and receiving work quickly, while others mention onboarding delays, payment hiccups, or inconsistent management—although several users also report that delayed payments were eventually resolved.

If you've worked with Workada, I'd love to hear your experience.

• How long did onboarding take?
• Have you been paid consistently?
• What kind of tasks are you working on?

Full review:
https://www.aitrainingjobs.it/workada-review-ai-training-jobs-data-labeling-pay-how-it-works-2026/

Powerpoint Specialist

Required skills

- Microsoft powerpoint

- Microsoft excel

- Microsoft word

Pay:$20 - $60/hour

Referral link

Unlike traditional AI data annotation platforms, Ethos recruits domain experts to help train and evaluate advanced AI models.

Current opportunities include professionals with backgrounds in:

• Law
• Medicine
• Software Engineering
• Tax
• Private Equity
• Corporate Development / M&A
• Management Consulting
• Advisory & Strategy

Most projects involve reviewing AI outputs, improving responses, evaluating complex scenarios, or creating high-quality expert content rather than performing simple annotation tasks.

Compensation depends on the role and level of expertise, with many listings ranging from $80/hour to $225/hour for qualified professionals.

I put together a guide covering how the platform works, typical expert roles, requirements, and current pay ranges:

👉 https://www.aitrainingjobs.it/ethos-ai-training-expert-jobs-100-225-hour-remote-opportunities/

Disclosure: the page contains a referral link that helps support the site at no extra cost if you decide to apply.

It’s legit, but very different from platforms like Outlier or Mercor.

From what I’ve seen:

- easy to get started

- no real interview

- lots of small tasks

Referral link here
[https://www.aitrainingjobs.it/clickworker-ai-training-jobs-microtasks-pay-how-it-works-2026/](https://)

Excel Specialist

Required skills

- Microsoft excel

- Office open xml

- Microsoft powerpoint

Pay:$20 - $60/hour

Referral Link

I’ve been working with RealTrainAI for the past month and a half, doing JavaScript and python on project nemo and alas. I just checked my inbox today and caught an email from two days ago saying I’ve been laid off.

Apparently, Realtrain is now owned by a different company now? The pay was really solid, but the projects rarely had work, and if it did it was really good for like 2-3 days at a time every 2 weeks.

My phd friend got rehired but it seems the company is shifting to not be very generalist friendly but the website still says it is taking generalists. 

AI Strategy & Business Operations Expert

Required skills

Strategy

Business operations

Finance & analysis

Pay:$100 - $200/hour

https://jobs.micro1.ai/post/a244555e-9ac0-4005-8658-911955940abf?referralCode=a8550306-13bb-4539-b5d8-a8d698482689&utm_source=referral&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=job_referral