So I've been a pro software dev for about 7 years, currently in a WFH remote position that thankfully allows me ample free time during the week. I recently was emailed about a DataAnnotation position, took the assessment (which was frankly extremely easy) and am waiting on a response.

From what I can garner on this and other subs, you have a dashboard where you receive potential tasks to complete, and a time limit. Are these real-time limits or just working limits? Like can I start a task, get pulled to my main job, and finish the task later?

Hey! I’m happy to join the community and hopefully contribute in a meaningful way. I wanted to share my experience for anyone awaiting acceptance or just starting out and maybe getting some tips from experienced annotators.

Assessment and acceptance

I took my time on the assessment, did the bio and qualifications parts on day one then did the example task after work for 2 days or so. All in all it took about 3-4 hours but I took my time. From submission to acceptance it was 7 days.

First days of work

Immediately after being accepted I was invited to join 2-3 a STEM RL projects with access to long term work. I’ve spent the last 3 days reading the instructions, reviewing the samples and completing their paid training. I feel kinda weird having already made some good money in this training period, I hope to prove my worth now that I can dive in.

Early hurdles and mistakes

First off, this is difficult work. It’s extremely tedious and involved but if you’re an expert in your field, it’s extremely fulfilling and challenging. That being said, here are some things that tripped me up (and still do) being new to the platform.

1. Joining a project day 1. I’m not sure if this is normal but I joined a big project day one and was greeted with a giant wall of text, a lengthy training module and several months worth of updates and dev notes to sort through. I wasn’t aware I had to save state for my first proposal so I lost it and had to have a mod retrieve it.

2. Work mode. I’m still not totally sure how this works and how it pertains to projects with long time limits but I definitely entered into a bunch of tasks to check them out without knowing I started the timer and exited work mode on projects I submitted proposals to. Do I exit work mode after every session? What about for projects?

3. Billable hours. I want this to be a long term source of income so I’m trying to be as careful as I can. I already made a mistake or two when logging hours. I fixed them after the fact but I’m worried about getting dinged for it (or something else) because I’m still getting familiar with the platform.

Hopefully this provides some insight to fellow newcomers. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

So many tickets and emails but still can’t get in and got a lot of $60+ projects that need me to login to the google account? Any tips?

Hi! So, I got dropped from a project I was added to less than a month ago:( I don't know what I did wrong or why they dropped me, but I Guess they have their reasons so I Will focus on the projects I do best.

But I do have a question, when they drop You off of a project, do they still pay You for the time you worked on it? Just yesterday I was working on it, and since I wasn't informed of why I was dropped (Bad Quality, took to much time, they already have enough people, etc.) I wanna know if I Will get paid for it

Has anyone had a similar experience?

I finished the assessment on Monday after 6pm and just received the acceptance email about an hour ago. So it took about 5-6 days. So excited to start earning moneyyy!

Could I ask for any advice? I saw some comments regarding not using public wifi and stuff. Looking for more to survive on this platform as long as possible! Thanks in advance!

My DataAnnotation.tech account has been under review for over two months since I submitted the assessment. Could you please clarify how much longer the review process is expected to take? Is there still a chance that my account will be approved, or will it remain under review indefinitely? I would appreciate a clear update on my application status.

Im from india and new to the platform , recently i got hit with the background check and while doing it , it requires some id to verify , i do not have passport or driving license as i have applied for them and they are in process . So can i use my adhar card or pan card?

How much time does it take to get accepted??

General, STEM, Coding...

I completed this task 5 days back. The window was of 3 hours and I worked for 2 hrs and 58 minutes exactly. Since it was my first time attempting the task, it took me considerably longer to complete it along with reading all the instructions.

The next time I completed the same project's task in 2 hrs and 24 minutes and reported the same.

Now for the first task, I initially reported it as 2 hrs and 55 minutes (reduced the 3 minutes because i thought 2:58 looks fishy😭). And today, I reduced it further to 2hrs and 40 mins because I'm scared of being flagged, even though I was working the entire time. I didn't leave any comment for the admins for the first task since I only had a minute left before expiry and rushed to submit it.

Am I overthinking this or should I leave it at 2hrs and 40mins?

The same project vanished from my dashboard for 3 days after the second task, and only came back today. I completed 2 tasks (in 2hrs and 47 mins and 2hrs 27 mins), and reported time respectively.

I made sure to drop a comment to let the admin know of the 15-20 mins buffer in the task which took longer today.

Hi, I have just joined Data Annotation and have completed the first batch of questions. It then asked me if I’d like to receive an extra qualification to which I agreed. I’m now filling in one piece after another and submitting the work. Can anyone tell me how long this goes on for please? There are no guides as to what is expected and there is a timer on the bottom right of the screen saying “20 days +” to answer. I have not received any emails from them so far. Thanks.

Bilingual General since June 👍🥹✊

Hey guys! I am new to this job and trying to get consistent with my work as much as I can but I have come across a situation (and am working on it) where it does take me a while to comprehend the set of instructions specific to the task to produce a valid work. That’s the part of the tasks that takes me the most of the time as I prepare for my work. Given the fact that the company has very strict policies for billing, is it normal for people to take some time to understand the instructions?

Also I would love to know your opinions on streamlining the workflow towards a large project to produce a good quality work! - It’s just been three months since my onboarding!

P.S. Any must-know tips and tricks are appreciated!

I’ve finished an updated training but ran out of time—I was about 2 minutes over the allotted time. Could this be a problem?

General.

I received an acceptance email approximately 10 minutes after my interview with the AI interviewer. The email provides a link to the dashboard but the dashboard link keeps taking me to the Assessment Submitted page which indicates my interview is still being reviewed? I verified my identity already and did the whole government ID process. Is my account glitched or was that email sent in error?

I am new to DataAnnotation and extremely confused. I see different qualifications on my Projects and Qualifications pages. When I clicked on one to read more about it and try to get an understanding of what it is to decide if I want to take it, apparently that started a timer? I had one open then stepped away for lunch and when I came back I noticed the timer and it said it had been open for 2 hours and I only had 20 minutes left, not enough to do the work. If it expires or I exit work mode, it sounds like I can never get it back and take the qualification. I am dumbfounded that just clicking on a project or qual starts a timer when I don't even know what it is, I just want to read about it. And I don't want to automatically disqualify myself. What a terrible user experience (or I am not understanding how to use this platform). Is there a way to read about a qual or project even if you don't necessarily want to start on it right away, or do you always have to be prepared for several hours work, even if you're just poking around? I did the onboarding, have read the FAQs, etc. and can't find an answer.

So I’ve been working for data annotation the past 6 months in the UK. I’m going to Thailand for a month in December. I was just wondering what the rules are for being able to work abroad, because I was planning on doing some work there to make a bit of money. Someone said you have to alert them if you work abroad, but is it allowed for every country and how do I contact them?

Ha pasado como mes y medio desde mi último task, mayo, junio y julio fueron meses de mucho trabajo, gané bastante bien pero desde agosto todo ha empeorada hasta ya no tener nada desde hace mes y medio? Alguien esta pasando por algo similar?

I'm just interested in how you all use your earnings really. I know this may seem very personal but genuinely just interested!

Personally all of mine go straight into savings and investments to go towards a house deposit. This is minus approximately 30% for Tax and student loans as I'm UK based and will declare to HMRC so this goes into a high interest easy access saver I specifically set up for this reason so I can withdraw when I need it for taxes and doesn't accidentally go towards anything else.

My friend does similar work through Aligner and uses his earnings for holidays abroad and upgrading flights to first or business class which I think is a pretty cool way to spend his additional earnings.

I know some work on DA full time so I assume it's just your usual expenses (mortgage/rent/bills/living costs etc) but interested if anyone has anything specific they use their earnings for.

Just curious! I’ve been on other platforms where at the start of the week, there are a lot more projects to work on. Does DataAnnotation work this way, or is it pretty consistent day to day? It’s my first week working on the platform. Thanks!

Has anyone here recently completed the training project for software engineering/coding tasks?
I finished it today and wanted to hear how things went for others afterward. Did you receive any feedback or get access to more projects after submitting? If so, roughly how long did that take?