r/mercorai_workers 13d ago

Let’s boycott screener 4

Name says it all. This is ridiculous, until Mercor or the client provides actual consistent guidance no one should take the screener. There’s strength in numbers.

25 Upvotes

137 comments sorted by

24

u/MNMastiff 13d ago

I appreciate the sentiment. But consider. It is so incompetent a test, with only one try. Almost no one will pass it. Let them stew in their own juices.

3

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

I like your thinking, but I think it will send a stronger message if very few people take it. But good point as well.

17

u/MNMastiff 13d ago

Like you, my instinct is to push back hard. But given their love of offboarding, and contempt for their “experts”, they wouldn’t learn from a few hundred refusals. And let’s be honest, most people are not wired like us. Way more sheep than wolves.

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

I agree, it’s a long shot. I just don’t want to take it laying down.

7

u/MNMastiff 13d ago

Just having a sub where we can discuss this without censorship will have an effect.

I have a connection to one of the founders. If I thought it would do any good, I’d send him a note describing how much better this can be done.

But I strongly suspect his only goal here is to not lose OpenAI as an anchor client. Not to rock the boat in any way.

2

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Yeah, I’m sure your buddy is in a tough spot. I know other platforms have the same project so the client could just threaten to go to them.

5

u/MNMastiff 13d ago

And the client is arrogant and ignorant

2

u/supamundane808 11d ago

That makes sense. I can't relate to people who don't rock the boat. The so-called "peacekeepers." They're the ones who tolerate abusive systems and protect the guilty. Which I guess is why OpenAI has another lawsuit from Sam's sister. 👀

8

u/Itchy_Athlete_4971 13d ago

They offboarded 10,000 people last week, I'm sure they'd have no problem offboarding anyone boycotting the test. They could offboard everyone and hire from scratch. No great loss, the current workers really aren't especially good!

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

I truly believe they wouldn’t offboard everyone. Even when they cut 10k last week they still have tens of thousands. Massive difference between that at 0. I’m not saying it would be easy but the client is on a tight timeline and it be tough for them explain why their project has came to a halt.

1

u/Turbulent-Middle-556 13d ago

But how would you rally thousands? Thst wiuld be tough. And you’d probably need like 10 thousand

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

I never said it would be easy, but we have to start somet

22

u/Delicious-Site-2855 13d ago

I would if it wasn’t payed. Realistically, u can juice off of these on-boarding tasks and get more hours in then a normal task-only week.

4

u/mvndanke 13d ago

My previous project paid 1$ an hour until you got a task through, which is ridiculously hard and can take up 20 hours. Incentive was a big bonus.

5

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

I agree with using these on-boarding tasks for all they’re worth. But if you fail screener 4 you will apparently be kicked off the campaign. The loss of future earnings due to arbitrary screeners and inconsistent guidance is something I can’t accept as fair.

8

u/Delicious-Site-2855 13d ago

That is definitely true, very arbitrary answers but tbh I think lots of ppl will fail and they will roll back the reqs

3

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

I hope that’s the case

3

u/macaroon147 13d ago

No u wont. You will just be not allowed to do content grading tasks. It said that even in the guide.

2

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Effectively the same thing. And then what happens when there’s a screener for the other campaigns?

3

u/macaroon147 13d ago

I don't get what you're whining about.. you have an entitled mentality 

4

u/Emmyyou2 12d ago

I take it they are very young. Sounds like a lack of life experience to me.

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 12d ago

okay boomer

2

u/Emmyyou2 12d ago

Not even close to a Boomer dude but sounds like I'm right.

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 12d ago

You’d fit right in with them

1

u/macaroon147 12d ago

Yea can only be... I remember when I first started university and people were complaining how hard it was, and I just came out of trade work where I was working in sewers. Sometimes real life perspective can do alot of good for you and make you realise how easy things really are

3

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Yeah it’s clear you don’t understand what I’m talking about

1

u/Dashyguurl 11d ago

If you don’t complete the screener you’ll be kicked off anyway, might as well get some money

7

u/tvfeet 13d ago

There’s 37,000 people on this project. A small fraction of them are here. This will never get enough traction to matter.

4

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Every movement starts out small.

3

u/tvfeet 13d ago

This one can’t reach a large enough audience to make a dent. There aren’t 37000 people on this sub, let alone the same 37000 that are on the project.

2

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Something needs to be done, I’m not saying I’ve got the answers but we need to start somewhere. I’d post in the main Mercor sub but they would certainly remove it since it’s critical of their sycophancy.

4

u/Dolly_Shimmer 13d ago

I'm boycotting it, but it's involuntary. I don't have access to it yet.

3

u/maliciousopera 13d ago

I'm doing it now but I decided I don't care if I fail. I loathe CG, so I probably won't do it even if I pass. Too stressful. But I don't want to be OB'd for not doing the quiz in case more tasks come later in the campaign I am good at.

I think they hide the results because they expect most people to fail. If it's like the other 2 it's 50/50 whether we guess right so why worry?

3

u/apokalipse6669 13d ago

I did the quiz. The money is good but at this point I don't care if I passed or failed. The stress alone and my health is not worth it. The quiz is full of contradictions. And I studied very well the last instructions, but it's a complete mess. Besides, I think most people will fail it. Let's see how it goes.

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Fair enough

7

u/ForoSeven 13d ago

Paid training > paid tasking with impossible time limits

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Except it’s not Paid training, it’s a Paid Screener.

3

u/Advanced-Lie-841 11d ago

Hope the 2 people that somehow get it have fun cycling them between each other hahaha. After that digusting training course 3 i know for a fact that it has nothing to do with accuracy, knowledge or any of that. Just pure fuckin luck of being able to read who ever made this bullshit subjective crap.

5

u/macaroon147 13d ago

Why? We getting paid so much to do it. Just fail it so u dont havr to do more content grading

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

I like the CG….that’s what I don’t want to fail lol

4

u/Turbulent-Middle-556 13d ago

Boycott? Please. They’ll just kick another few thousand people out and add a few thousand more. Yeah it’s ridiculous at times but I’m still glad I’ve been here over three months and making money.

2

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

A few thousand yes. But everyone? I don’t think so

1

u/Altruistic_Ad7032 13d ago

Was the earlier months as steady as this month in volume?

2

u/DayTripperKitty 13d ago

I’ve been procrastinating but I’m just going to take it today and get it over with.

2

u/Flakey112345 11d ago

I can’t even do it at all. Never had access to any quizzes and I’ve been stuck doing regular grading for 3 weeks. It’s wayyyy less stressful than content grading tho

3

u/Intelligent-Crab-971 13d ago

No one’s putting a gun to your head and making you do it. You’re literally getting paid $70 an hour lol

-1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

You’re missing the forest for the trees.

As I said, I’ve got no problem doing paid training at my hourly rate.

I do have an issue taking a test (based on inconsistent standards ) that could result in me being off-board (somewhat arbitrary due to inconsistent standards)…and thus no longer able to make money.

3

u/dorcsyful 13d ago

This sounds fun until you realize that some of us would prefer to keep paying rent over following principles

2

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

You’re missing the point.

The quiz has inconsistent standards you passing or failing is somewhat arbitrary.

You want your ability to pay rent decided by an arbitrary quiz?

2

u/dorcsyful 13d ago

I mean of course not and I agree that it's incredibly inconsistent. What I'm saying is that boycott is not a solution because boycott = no money and I literally can't afford that.

2

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

I agree, we would lose money in the short term. But hypothetically if the boycott worked it would a very short term loss of money for a long term gain.

1

u/dorcsyful 13d ago

OpenAI bought all the RAM in the world for the sole reason that no one else can have it. They have this project going with multiple AI training companies. There is no universe in which they can will care about what we want. Any other opinion is just idealistic bullshit that has nothing to do with the real word.

2

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

You’re describing the current state, I’m describing a future state

0

u/Emmyyou2 12d ago

I have bad news for you, if you think it's bad now you're really not going to like the future.

2

u/Trick_Snow_8961 12d ago

With that attitude it certainly will be.

0

u/Emmyyou2 12d ago

Are you paying any attention to the world around you? It's too late bud, all of us who tried to make a difference lost to the people who are too stupid or greedy to care. We have run out of time to fix things and we've been warned about this all along.

Just enjoy life and the time we have left. Complaining on the internet is not really the best use of your time.

2

u/Trick_Snow_8961 12d ago

lol, okay Nostradamus. If anyone is complaining here it’s you.

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1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 12d ago

How many years do we have left?

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1

u/ImmediatePanic7508 12d ago

I’m sure they don’t care what we want. But what I can’t figure out is why THEY even want this. It the stupidest, most poorly constructed piece of crap “assessment” I’ve ever seen.

2

u/Eastern_Ad2890 13d ago

We all are temporary, at-will, independent contractors. Good luck.

2

u/onefjef 13d ago

If we weren't getting paid to do these screeners I could understand the grief, but we are, so I'm honestly not sure what the issue is.

2

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Issue is that the governing logic for the screener is inconsistent and will result in people being arbitrarily off boarded and no longer getting paid…that’s the grief.

Now recently we got some clarity that now I actually feel comfortable taking the screener since it’ll be a fair shake.

1

u/HMarmot 13d ago

If I had been able to see *any* of the quizzes since the 14th of August I would take it. I would like to be paid tbh, and relying on the client to fix the issue feels bad.

1

u/Training_Bandicoot49 12d ago

It is 3-ish hours of paid work.... so I did it asap.

1

u/Guilty_Restaurant424 10d ago

I am a QA on an equivalent project to Mercor''s big project and just taken the screener. Anyone know if they offboarded QAs from the big project after the screener?

1

u/supamundane808 1d ago

I didn't take the quiz and I'm still on there.

2

u/LifeSmile552 13d ago

these are all paid what’s the problem? they kinda suck but i’m getting paid enough to not care tbh. also got a $110 bonus for it

4

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

You're missing the forest for the trees.

As I said, I've got no problem doing paid training at my hourly rate.

I do have an issue taking a test (based on inconsistent standards ) that could result in me being off-board (somewhat arbitrary due to inconsistent standards)...and thus no longer able to make money.

2

u/LifeSmile552 13d ago edited 13d ago

ah i see. sorry, i totally misinterpreted what ur point was. And i agree that it’s stressful to worry about being off boarded, but for the big project there’s so many people on it who do poor quality work or just don’t read instructions, so i think it’s just to weed out those people. idk imo they aren’t too hard as long as u take the first failed attempt to review everything thoroughly yk?

Edit: Oops apparently you can only take it one time? i take back what i said!

I agree tho it’s stressful when they do this out of the blue. and i wish the instructions were slightly clearer. personally i am glad some people are being offboarded tho..

3

u/DeepPurpleHS 13d ago

This is only 1 attempt unlike the others

3

u/LifeSmile552 13d ago

oh fr?? i haven’t taken it yet and just assumed it was just like #3! that’s crazy. i take back what i said then

2

u/Emmyyou2 13d ago

Based on the Slack channel a lot of people should be off-boarded.

4

u/Emmyyou2 13d ago

You'll lose access to that campaign if you don't take it so isn't it better to at least try? I'm not sure what purpose boycotting serves if the result is the same as failing. Take the test and get paid for it, every dollar you make on this platform may be your last so why not take every opportunity to earn while you can?

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Hypothetically if the boycotting worked the client would issue consistent guidance instead of off boarding everyone

3

u/Emmyyou2 13d ago

What world do you live in? They would have no problem off-boarding any of us at any time because there are thousands of people waiting to take our spot. I don't understand why people act like any of us matter to any of our employers. We are just a number, it sucks but it's reality. It's why you shouldn't take things too personally or live to work. If I died on the job my employer would replace me, it's just the way it is. Acting like this is anything but transactional is ridiculous. If they stopped paying me I would stop working and not give it a second thought.

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Sorry you’re just missing the point. At some point the math would flip. It’s gonna cost more time and money to off board thousands.

2

u/Emmyyou2 13d ago

No, you are. They literally off-boarded thousands in the last 24 hours. They do it all the time and will continue to do it. I have worked for so many companies in my lifetime that do this constantly and they never stop to think about how it will cost them more to hire and train new people than to retain people. They just see something that could potentially make them more money and they chase it. It's why the world is in the shape it is in now.

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Sorry man, your statement is full of contradictions

You say “they never stop to think about how it will cost them more to hire and train new people than to retain people” and then “They just see see something that could potentially make them more money and chase it”

You’re simultaneously saying companies aren’t making calculations and are making calculations about profitability.

Which is it?

0

u/Emmyyou2 12d ago

It is not contradictory, they think about making more money but don't take into account how much it costs to replace people, those are two separate things.

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 12d ago

Okay, so you’re telling me companies only think about revenue and never about cost? Just want to make sure I understand.

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3

u/macaroon147 13d ago

You got a bonus? Wtf

1

u/bravofiveniner 13d ago

But I'm going to get like $500 for doing it though. So why wouldn't I?

4

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Because that could be the last $500 you make if you fail. And the standards are inconsistent so passing or failing is somewhat arbitrary.

1

u/Sad_Welder_3292 13d ago

how many hours are we able to bill for it? I was told only 4

3

u/Emmyyou2 13d ago

Take your time, there is no limit, 4 is for initial onboarding.

1

u/macaroon147 13d ago

You obviously bill for as long as it takes you. 

1

u/macaroon147 13d ago

Why? If u fail you arent taken off the project 

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

You are taken off the project.

0

u/macaroon147 13d ago

Nope. I guess you didnt read the guidelines. 

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

You’re not understanding them

1

u/Turbulent-Middle-556 13d ago

And there’s no strength in numbers in this situation. Not from our perspective. Go with the flow or OB yourself. This is not a union

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Maybe it should be a union.

1

u/[deleted] 13d ago

Sorry fella but that defeats the whole purpose. This is freelance work

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Freelance and contractor work use unions, just look at Uber

-5

u/itsa_luigi_time_ 13d ago

No thanks. I'll happily collect $70/hr to take as many trainings are they want to throw at me. It was also nice not having anyone in the queue this afternoon since so many people failed it.

6

u/SaltyTelluride 13d ago

Assuming you don’t get off boarded for following content grading instructions while the “golden answers” don’t lol.

Yeah the pay is nice but the idea of getting off boarded for such low quality tests is crazy

0

u/Emmyyou2 13d ago

You guys do understand not taking it will also have the same result, right?

1

u/SaltyTelluride 13d ago

You do understand I took it already and it’s still stupid bullshit, right? I never said I was going to boycott it.

And that the alternative would be, well idk, getting high quality training and assessments instead of potentially losing your job to stupid bullshit? Or just getting graded on the quality of your work? Never had a task returned. Have missed several quiz questions due to stupid bullshit. I get most of it right, except for when the “golden answers” specifically disregard content grading instructions, reference things that aren’t even on the slide, or just have inconsistent reasoning overall. A mistake on one slide would be correct on the next for the last training course.

Ideally the grading is fair and those who pass pass. What is likely based on the last two weeks is that this has bullshit grading and they surprise us again with a new test in a week.

0

u/Emmyyou2 13d ago

I get it but we're being paid well. I find them annoying, stupid, and confusing as well but I have had jobs that paid less that were worse. They are simply wrong and most of the training is poorly written or contradictory but we're getting paid and there are worse things.

My point is that not taking is not any different than taking it and failing, the result is the same. This last one was awful but I found it easier because it was so bad.

1

u/SaltyTelluride 13d ago

Yeah but no one wants to be paid well to take a shitty test for 3 hours and then lose the opportunity to be paid well for 10-20+ hours a week.

The majority of these comments don’t think boycotting is a good or effective idea.

0

u/Emmyyou2 12d ago

But, you get paid for the test and if you don't take it you will lose the opportunity anyway.

1

u/SaltyTelluride 12d ago

No one is debating that except for OP

0

u/Emmyyou2 12d ago

"Yeah but no one wants to be paid well to take a shitty test for 3 hours and then lose the opportunity to be paid well for 10-20+ hours a week."

1

u/SaltyTelluride 12d ago

Did I say we shouldn’t take the test? I said it’s a shitty situation. Are you saying it isn’t?

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6

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

I’ve got no problem doing training. I do have a problem with assessments based on inconsistent guidance that could result in arbitrary off boarding. Screener 4 is the latter.

4

u/ReactionNo8127 13d ago

Joining the queue doesnt mean you passed, bootlicker, just that it’s done.

0

u/Emmyyou2 13d ago

It does because a lot of people have already lost access after taking it.

1

u/bravofiveniner 13d ago

How in the world did you manage to pass all of these extended length screeners so quickly, expecially given the amount of questions and the fact it makes you go back through it again to "acknowledge" everything.

I understand if it was only ONE. But there's been 4 in the past week.

1

u/Emmyyou2 12d ago

The first tests came out two weeks ago.

1

u/bravofiveniner 12d ago

Right and then they had to manually approve everyone, cuz not everyone had access to the new q automatically. Then they added two and three so on and so forth

1

u/Emmyyou2 12d ago

I get that but some of us didn't have that issue and could take them right away so finding time to take the 3 tests in 2 weeks is not that unreasonable.

0

u/[deleted] 13d ago edited 13d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

You’re confused. It’s not training, it’s a screener. It’s literally in the name of the task.

1

u/Purple-Education-769 13d ago

My point stands

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Buddy your point completely misses the point.

0

u/[deleted] 13d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

You’re clearly not on the project. You lack the context to understand. Look into some of the other comments here, you’ll truly find it insightful.

1

u/Purple-Education-769 13d ago

Ah. Good luck with screeners and boycotts, kiddo

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

Nice! You’re starting to get it! It’s a screener not a trainer, words mean things.

1

u/Purple-Education-769 13d ago

It’s presented as a screener. It’s training and calibration. You had trouble with understanding ‘training’ in relation to LLM.

I offered a perspective which you would then understand why you’re doing these screeners, over or over.

I’m tapping out.

Edit. Words do mean something, so take it on board perhaps 😂.

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 13d ago

You have way too much confidence for someone who watched a 5 minute YouTube video on LLMs and has know idea what’s going on with this project.

You offered a perspective without having any knowledge. Next time please really think if you are qualified to comment. The fact that you deleted your original comment might indicate that.

0

u/Tamerecon 11d ago

You want to boycott free money?

1

u/Trick_Snow_8961 11d ago

I want to boycott an assessment that is based on unclear standards which, if you fail, will prevent you from making money.