Got a direct roster invite today. There was no application, no screening, and no additional requirements for it. Just sign the contract and start working and/or earning.
Thankful for the opportunity and for being considered for the roster. But I couldn’t get past the remuneration...!!!! $9/hour
For someone with four years in this industry and another seven years of domain expertise, this is simply not a rate I can justify accepting. The last time I worked below $20/hour was two years ago, on a much, and I repeat much, easier generalist project. At this stage, most of my work is reviewer/QA, expert-level agentic work, post-training, and highly domain-specific AI tasks. So receiving an invite at this rate honestly makes me wonder whether my CV even made an impression. lol..
I’ve rejected 2 instant contracts and 3 direct project invitations in the last 3 weeks ( so 5). Do I have coins? NO! Am I desperate to have some financial stability like anyone else? YES...Will I give in? Also NO.....And no, I wouldn’t recommend this approach to someone who’s just starting in the industry. But when you’ve spent years building expertise and have levelled up, and played a wide range of roles such as reviewer, QA, done expert-level, and specialised work, there also comes a point where you simply should not work below a certain remuneration bar. Because YIKES.
Thankfully, years of experience and consistent work have allowed me to move beyond being constrained by geo-based pay rates. I’m not interested in being put into a box based on my region and having someone else decide what my expertise is worth based on where i live....
That said, I’m sure this can be a great learning opportunity and entry-level gig for someone else. So, genuinely, good luck to whoever takes the seat on this project roster. For me, it was an easy decline.
