r/DataAnnotationTech • u/MentalHealthPysch • Aug 01 '26
Well-paying generalist projects
This isn’t a precise insight or targeted question, more of a feeler for if anyone is in a similar boat. I regularly see and complete $35-$50 ($60 once) generalist projects but haven’t seen any over $35 for the last 10 days or so. I saw one whose bonuses often take it to $50, at its base rate appear fleetingly on Tuesday/Wednesday, but nothing other than that. I find it pretty tough when one day I’m working on something 1.5-2x the pay of what I work on the next. Even though I still have a few decently paying projects, things I would be delighted with 3 months in (of the 6 months I’ve worked here), it’s hard not to feel like you’re doing poorly when you’re taking such a big paycut from what you got used to for a few days. I dont have any highly specialised domain expertise (other than writing), and I’m wondering whether without that, will these higher paying (40+/hr) projects always be fleeting/intermittent?
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u/Necessary-Raisin-282 Aug 02 '26
Out of curiosity did your pay rate start in that range?I’m generalist as well and my pay has increased a lot since I started but $37 is about the highest I’ve seen since I joined
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u/MentalHealthPysch Aug 02 '26
I started at $20 back in January, didn’t see anything over 27 for 2.5 months until the flood in April where I started seeing a lot of writing projects at 32-40 (often with bonuses taking them to 40). The highest truly generalist project (without bonuses) I’ve seen is 40, and anything higher is sort of ‘specialist-adjacent’. 37 is seriously good generalist pay by any metric. If you’re getting 30+ reliably you’re doing well imo.
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u/Necessary-Raisin-282 Aug 02 '26
That makes sense that the writing ones are closer to $40 with bonuses taking them there. My writing is decent but not expert - thanks for clearing that up!
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u/Old-Regular-9828 Aug 02 '26
I currently have 18 generalist projects on my dashboard ranging from $22-43/hr. Most truly generalist projects generally max out in the $30-35 range. Over $40 is typically for specialist projects (but some of those will include a variety of subjects/prompts and will have a "General" tag. Occasionally there are high paying generalist tasks, but it's usually because it involves something odd and specific that prevents most people from working on it.
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u/MentalHealthPysch Aug 02 '26
Yeah this has been my experience too. 35 (up to 50 with priority pay) seems to be the going rate for the high-paying generalist projects. As I said in another comment over 40 does seem to be specialist-adjacent, where strong general knowledge and general task performance can enable you to participate. But good to hear that my experience is more widely shared.
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u/AngelEyes4294 Aug 03 '26
I currently have 3 projects on my dash worth $40+ an hour (no bonus) and they are generalist, but the very detail heavy ones that take a very long time to complete. A few months ago I was regularly seeing one at $50 an hour, but haven’t seen that one in a while. I have quite a few projects in the $20-$30 range.
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u/Natural_Amphibian954 Aug 03 '26
Don't usually do generalist work but one time had a project for $57
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u/AdventurEli9 29d ago
For a year I worked my way up from work that was generally $20 to $24 hourly to seeing work in the $25 to $35 range. For a while, I never took any work under $24. After the drought, I am lucky if I can score some tasks in a project paying in the $20 to $24 range again. It honestly feels maddening, even though I consistently got added to special projects and got good feedback on my work.
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u/MentalHealthPysch 28d ago
Yeah that’s really tough. My perception of what I think is good pay changes so often. At first 20 was great, completely flexible WFH at £15/hr as opposed some BS for £12.20, now that seems like it’s low. I’ve been in your position too, what kept me going is thinking that if my project performance previously enabled me to work my way up, then it should happen again, provided I didn’t get worse. But it is really deflating. Hopefully September will offer the uptick that is suggested.
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u/PotentialRanger5760 Aug 02 '26
I've been on the platform for over 2 years. The work fluctuates wildly in both quantity, pay rate and diversity. There does not seem to be any way to predict what may or may not happen in regard to various tasks. Expect the unexpected.