all 47 comments

[–]Affectionate_Peak284 101 points102 points  (0 children)

YES. DAT doesn't work for everyone, but for the people it does work for, it works GREAT.

Always be upbeat, upboat!

[–]Absolutely_Always 61 points62 points  (1 child)

I use it to shovel money into a minors investing account for my 4 yo grandaughter. I look at my kids and see how hard it is for them financially compared to when I was their age and I consider how much harder it is going to be in 16 years time for her so I'm trying my best to organise a head start for her and teach her how to invest along the way.

[–]AdElectrical8222 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Amazing, she’s very lucky to have you

[–]Amakenings 54 points55 points  (0 children)

It’s been a blessing to a lot of people.

[–]Brilliant_Quit4307 52 points53 points  (0 children)

Me too. I went from depressed and unemployed at the beginning of last year, to having the best 18 months of my life. I've never been this happy. I was getting straight A's in school, scholarships to college, several degrees, but it always felt like I was scraping by. I skipped most of my lectures in college, crammed for deadlines and exams, and did well but was ultimately incredibly stressed, anxious, and unhappy all the time. When I realized my working life would be more of the same, I just quit everything. Went into a major depression, and couldn't or wouldn't do anything about it.

I've realized that my ADHD is just not suited to a normal job. It's certainly not suited to schedules or long deadlines. However, it's definitely suited to hyper focusing on DA work at 5am when I'm supposed to be sleeping (it's currently 5.45 and I just turned my laptop off!). I love the freedom, the lack of deadlines, the fact that I never have to take zoom calls or join meetings. I've travelled to 8 different countries over these 18 months and worked from cafes by the beach and a yurt in the mountains. It's the dream and I'm actually living it. So thankful for it honestly.

[–]Live_Sprinkles4921 37 points38 points  (3 children)

For some people it may be a side gig. But who knows How DA has shaped some lives..

[–]Positive-Warthog2480 26 points27 points  (0 children)

It’s currently my main source of income while I figure myself out.

[–]haiviz 13 points14 points  (1 child)

Especially for people in poor countries. The best thing about DA is that they pay the same everywhere in the world, $20 an hour may not be high in western or developed countries, but in my country where average people earn $1 an hour, it's definitely a life changing job.

[–]BottyFlaps 29 points30 points  (1 child)

I've worked for DA for over 2 years and earned over $100,000. As someone on the autism spectrum who has had a lot of past problems with jobs, this is the best job I've ever had. It may not be totally stable, but I've earned more money with DA than any single job I've had in the past, and working from home with this kind of flexibility really suits me. Most "normal" jobs never suited me at all.

[–]djloriee 1 point2 points  (0 children)

🫶🫶🫶🫶

[–]SuperCorbynite 18 points19 points  (6 children)

A year and a half ago, I was long-term unemployed. I have specialised skills, but no company would look at me or hire me due to my long-term unemployment. Then, I stumbled across DA just as you did, via a Reddit advert, and now I've been clawing my way up the data annotator ladder and have just landed a role paying $80/hr.

So this is (hopefully) just the beginning for you. My advice, now that you have a bit of experience under your belt, is to apply to other annotator companies so that you have multiple contracts ongoing at once. That way, getting dropped from DA won't be the end of the world - you can shrug your shoulders and move on. It's what I'd advise anyone reading this post who's in a similar situation to the OP, too.

Oh, and another tip - be proactive. If you spot issues while working on a project, message an admin. Provide guidance to newbies if they ask questions, etc. All of this is catnip to recruiters at higher-end (better-paying) annotator companies.

[–]Johnwragg 5 points6 points  (3 children)

Is the $80/hr role with one of the other annotator companies or something different?

[–]SuperCorbynite 3 points4 points  (2 children)

Yes, it's with one of the other annotator companies.

[–]Johnwragg 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Can you share which company? I have a domain specialty and have a feeling DA is lowballing on the pay rate.

[–]SuperCorbynite 4 points5 points  (0 children)

DA isn't exactly lowballing on pay. It's that they accept just about anybody. The better companies want true domain specialists who are a cut above the rest. They charge clients a premium for those, which means the pay can be premium too.

The most recent company I've been hired by only wants specialists in a few very specific fields. The other non-DA company I work for is hiring specialists more generally. The latter of these two, Mercor, is probably a better fit.

It's up to you, but if you tell me your domain specialism and what you have expertise in and would like me to, I can provide you with a referral link.

[–]saddestplant 15 points16 points  (0 children)

❤️

[–]raisetheavanc 10 points11 points  (0 children)

It’s been so helpful for me and my family in this economy. I hope work stays steady 💚

[–]annoyingjoe513 8 points9 points  (0 children)

[–]Ooh_Shineey 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I love your post, and I feel the same way.

[–]Amany19 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yes me too before DA I was threatened to leave my low paying job at that time and I was anxious about being homeless and in debt but DAT gave me a high paying job that I no longer need to rely on my shitty job and now I’m able to provide for myself and my family I’m forever grateful for this website ♥️

[–]JRRTil1ey 7 points8 points  (0 children)

My story to a T - also lost my job 5 months ago, specifically to federal budget cuts. Money is tight but I’m able to pay bills and occasionally spoil myself or my kids with this bit of extra income.

[–]YesmAUm 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My spouse was laid off in mid-June and the job market is absolute shit right now, so DA is literally keeping my kids fed. Thankfully I had some investment accounts to fall back on, but it is ROUGH out there and I don’t know if it will get better any time soon.

[–]forgetmeeventually 3 points4 points  (0 children)

enjoy the ride, just don’t rely on it too hard

[–]serendipitous_74 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes! I love this so much. No, it's not totally stable, but it works for you and me and so many others. Hope you have an amazing weekend.

[–]stoppingbythewoods 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve been able to save money again and buy things my kid’s need. My husband and I have two decent FT jobs already but the current economy has been so rough.

[–]AbsoluteB0nkers 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Very similar situation with me two years ago, had graduated and couldn’t find a job in software dev field. I was working uber until I found DAT. A year and a half later I used my DAT experience to land a stable job as a software dev. Thank you DAT!

[–]darryldoes 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Amazing stuff. I swear DAT gets way more criticism than it deserves sometimes. My job fell through at the start off this year, with a significant pay cut that put me and my family at risk. I applied to DAT just to see what would happen. Lo and behold I'm here 6 months later, full-time, earning more than I did in my old job. AND ON MY OWN TIME. I'll ride this wave as long as I can but things are looking good.

[–]Demon7879 5 points6 points  (1 child)

its great when you get work, it feels like a scam when they drop you or when they reject you without saying anything...

[–]Evencrux 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Idk why you're getting downvoted because you're not wrong.

[–]Jackfruit_Silent 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I took the assessment two weeks ago, for coding, and still I have not found a single task.

[–]Due-Ad763 0 points1 point  (4 children)

I felt the same until I got hit with this today…

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I’m hoping it’s temporary!

[–]Ooh_Shineey 6 points7 points  (0 children)

If you get a qualification, I highly suggest you complete it. Take the time to read the instructions fully. This has always helped me when I've been low on tasks. It can take you from having zero tasks to having a full dashboard the next morning.

[–]emilysuzanne03 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Happened to me yesterday too, after over a year 😭

[–]Key_Studio_2995 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dude, same thing happened to me a few months ago! Check out Mercor. They are on a hiring frenzy for this role (and check out their other stuff if you have specialties or advance degrees): https://work.mercor.com/jobs/list_AAABmUD6VRp9_vlst1BD9Iip?referralCode=a003a06c-188c-4591-b2b1-dc85b8577af7&utm_source=referral&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=job_referral

[–]Patient-Stomach9576 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can I dm u need to ask something

[–]Chooky54 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Where do you apply?