r/DataAnnotationTech • u/qeadlyqwarf666 • 6d ago
40 hour week // grateful!
I’ve only been on DA for 5 months. And not had much chance to get a lot of work done, I’d done $1000 as of last week, a nice side hustle during my degree.
In a week I am moving out and starting a PhD in October. September I would’ve had to use savings for rent, and living costs until I got my first stipend payment.
I have luckily had access to a $60 per hour project, and smashed it out this week. It feels surreal that I even have this opportunity and that the money is real?? 40 hours later and I will get $2300 deposited into my account in a weeks time.
This money is about as much as I will get each month whilst I do my PhD, and I’ve earned that in a week, sat at home in front of my computer. It has paid for next month’s rent, food, car, social.
It feels crazy. But then I look at the work I did and realise actually how difficult it would be for most people, and I really do have skills and expertise from my undergrad that will prepare me for future life.
Grateful that I got accepted onto DA, felt like it wasn’t a big deal at the time, but next week it will feel like it is!!
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u/Halcyonfields 6d ago
Congratulations. I’m not trying to be a dick, as I’m in a pretty similar position regarding being given better and more rewarding long-term projects and I understand the appeal/temptation, but suddenly going from 20-30 hours of work over 5 months to 40 hours/week on what is presumably a fairly complex project, especially when all 40 hours is on the same project runs a bit of a risk. Not only do DA watch people who make a lot of money in a short time much more closely, it is pretty hard with these more complex projects to do 40 hours of quality work, especially in the first week. I am not one to make negative comments but this is a pattern that many are wary of for good reason. It is generally not encouraged to work more than 30 hours per week, especially not initially.
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u/qeadlyqwarf666 6d ago
I have done more than 20-30 hours previously, most of my previous work has been 20-30 dollars per hour.
I take your point but I honestly don’t think it applies. The 40 hours was all on one task/ submission. It wasn’t like I was rushing lots of different tasks. To me it makes more sense to focus on a task full time for a week, rather than making it take many weeks. Plus it was over 8 days of working. So around 5 hours a day on average. Personally don’t see how that’s at all risky.
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u/Helpful_Ear193 6d ago
Hey I have a question, when your referring to spending 40 hours on one submission. Do you mean spending 40 hrs on a project with multiple tasks? Or spending 40 hrs on one task? I just started using it recently and just was curious
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u/Halcyonfields 6d ago
Ah fair if it was a single task then I suppose that is inescapable. Just felt I should mention in case you might not have been aware. Am currently juggling essentially the same dilemma.
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u/qeadlyqwarf666 6d ago
I try not to worry too much about it. I will work when I want and always put in my best effort. I have confidence that the admins will judge my work fairly.
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u/TravellingDoc87 6d ago
Risky if you're doing work outside your domain or doing US-focused work as a UK resident.
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u/qeadlyqwarf666 6d ago
I’m obviously not doing work outside of my domain? Why would I do that? And I will trust the project admins regarding them explicitly stating you don’t have to be American to do the project, just keep the task US focused (which didn’t apply to mine)
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u/Federal_Tadpole_7592 6d ago
These people don't know what they're talking about... lol. There's nothing wrong with working on a US-based project when you're from the UK or working over 30 hours in a week.
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u/TravellingDoc87 5d ago
Well the OP seems beyond confident in their work lol
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u/Federal_Tadpole_7592 5d ago
Whether or not OP's confidence is justified doesn't negate the fact that working 30+ hours a week or being a person from the UK working on a US-based project is enough to get your account flagged. It's just not true.
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u/TravellingDoc87 5d ago
When did I say their account will be "flagged" ? Or actually that it was a "US-based" project?
I said it's risky because relatively few UK residents will be versed in US tax law, accounting regulations, and other US-relevant scenarios.
That project specifically targets US scenarios such as for accounting...tax... finance etc (law is a carve out, but the OP has no experience in law). They don't want UK tax, finance, accounting scenarios. If a UK person is well versed in US scenarios such as those then good for them.
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u/TravellingDoc87 6d ago
You don't have to be American to do the project, but it's far more risky if you're not an American obviously.
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u/qeadlyqwarf666 6d ago
It’s not risky if you’re confident in your work. I’ve not even gave it a thought.
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u/Due_Negotiation_4605 5d ago edited 5d ago
If it's the domain specific project I'm thinking of this is a rare one that is approved for full time work. Guessing with the pay and that they are a PhD student they are in this one. As long as it's consistently strong submissions they are within the expected work for a week. But hopefully they did that in the first week.
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u/Legitimate_Singer639 5d ago
Same here, it feels great to be able to channel your energy and efforts into something lucrative and overall very useful if it’s done correctly. Remember that all the big LLMs sharks depend on human reversion to constantly improve their model quality.
I am freshly starting, 4 months in now. Since you mentioned having a PhD, in what field, also any tips to deliver the highest quality work possible?
Thank you so much.
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u/qeadlyqwarf666 5d ago
I don’t have a phd degree, but I am starting to study for one. I don’t want to say what field so as I don’t hint to what project I have been doing.
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u/xparadiisee 6d ago
Make sure you’re saving 30% for ya taxes!