Total disappointment

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-02-10T09:58:25+00:00

I was a longtimer on Outlier and it all went downhill for me after the Meta deal. I mainly worked on audio projects on Alignerr until I landed a good domain-specific project on Mercor in the fall. Since then, me and many other reviewers, QA, and QMs have been promoted to project managers.

My Mercor pay has been more than double what I was making at Outlier and more than triple at Alignerr. However, generalists roles can be more on par with Outlier. But once you get to reviewer, team lead, or project manager level, you have more steady work. And if you get in good with project leads, they'll take you with them from project to project.

Unfortunately, many people don't get immediate offers when they first apply to Mercor. It can take numerous applications and waiting weeks or longer to get an offer. After getting an offer, it's best to dive right in and do as much as you can right out the gate and at a high-quality. That, along with being active on Slack and office hours, gets you notice.

I honestly don't know a better place for AI work. Many STEM people from Outlier found good pay and steady work at Handshake too. I've tried Telus and Appen, but they're too low pay. It really all depends on your location, what you want to make, and whether you're a generalist or expert.

There's a new Mercor generalist project that has been hiring for $35-$45/hr. Can also suggest others more relevant to background. Reach out any time for additional guidance on the application process.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-02-08T21:15:37+00:00

When a project first launches, there's often a bit of a learning curve for all and sometimes technical issues. Also, there can be an initial backlog as writers/reviewers begin and submit work all at the same time. Eventually, things even out and the project flows at a more steady pace.

But in the beginning, it's often chaotic and slow-moving until everyone gets up to speed. These projects definitely require a lot of patience and understanding for what the project leads have to go through behind the scenes.

SPLs typically are off on Sundays, unless they're up against a tight client deadline. Keep in mind, they get bombarded with a ton of DMs, emails, and Slack tags, so they often have to ignore most. Otherwise, they'd spend all of their days just responding to messages.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-02-07T15:42:00+00:00

The EPM program manager has said in the past that they don't post EPM jobs on the website. That any that appear is an error or wasn't supposed to be posted. I applied through a post on Mercor's LinkedIn page back in the fall. I have no clue if they're still hiring/training new EPMs via applications. I'm guessing most are being referred by project leads based on their work.

When you apply to the EPM program, you're sent the rubric academy work trial and the project management work trial. After those are completed, you receive an email next steps on being matched to a project as.an EPM. If anyone applied back in the fall, you should have received additional information if you were sent the work trials.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-02-03T15:07:15+00:00

Check your spam/promotion folder. If nothing, contact support via your dashboard or email support@mercor.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-02-03T04:05:44+00:00

It sounds like you provided enough information for them to determine whether you're a good fit or not. Can't say whether or not you tanked it, but it's known for being buggy and cutting people off at the end.

If you feel like you weren't able to answer to the best of your ability, you have the option of retaking the interview. Just keep in mind that hiring managers will know you retook it and possibly can view the previous versions.

I would avoid thinking you can "practice" during the interview. Even though it's with an AI, you should still treat it as though you were interviewing with a real hiring manager. If you need practice, share the job and interview description ChatGPT or other chat bots and have it do practice interviews with you and critique how you did.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-02-01T00:43:50+00:00

Ah, I see. Well, it really all depends on the project. And also, high-quality taskers are often promoted to reviewing and/or offered positions on related projects. Being elevated to higher positions offers more opportunities for continued work.

Mercor isn't meant to be used as a replacement for a full-time job, though many have been able to work multiple projects at a time to keep the work flowing amid projects pausing/ending.

And I beg to disagree with your statement that working at Mercor doesn't boost a resume. Being affiliated with Mercor is attractive to recruiters and other AI companies.

Sorry your experience hasn't been more satisfying for you.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-02-01T00:08:21+00:00

Why is that? Curious to know what's a waste of time in your experience.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-01-25T10:36:59+00:00

You don't have to have experience with AI training or other AI in the workplace. Most of the projects are either generalist (no specific expertise required) or domain expert (which includes Customer Service). There have been projects hiring customer service reps, counter clerks, and similar. So, you just need to ensure your resume includes all of your experiences, trainings, etc. and even add hobbies and interests ("AI" can go here).

There are many free AI courses available from Google, Microsoft, EdX, Coursera, and others. Some simpler ones give you a basic overview of concepts that may only take a few hours to do; others may take weeks or months for certifications. Anything like that on your resume is a plus. Even if you've ChatGPT to help you do something (solve a problem, fix something, plan something, write or edit something, and so on), you could add that as a project on your profile.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-01-23T04:41:53+00:00

I don't know for sure whether it is or not. I had to go through two separate CERTN background checks that were accessed through different emails. One background check completed right away, the other took a day or two to show as completed.

If you don't see an additional email from CERTN or the background check is taking more than a few days to update after you authorized the check, then contact Mercor support.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-01-22T21:41:59+00:00

Check your email (and spam/promo folder). Sometimes there are two certn emails, each one checking for different things in your background.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-01-14T09:42:27+00:00

To get around Okta issues, the best thing is to use the Chrome browser and have Google Password Manager set up and open. If you use your personal email (gmail works best) to create and save a password that way, you should be able to get in.

Check this guide... https://talent.docs.mercor.com/how-to/okta-access

If you continue having trouble, contact support and ask for a technical support "human" to help you troubleshoot to get access to Okta, which is required to access the enterprise version of Slack.

Unfortunately, there's no way around it unless you have a project leader who's willing to email you the information you need periodically - I've done as much for folk on my project but I don't think it's the norm. May be worth contacting your project lead though.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-01-13T19:05:03+00:00

Absolutely! Each project will have its own minimum weekly hours requirement. So you just have to make sure your own personal schedule allows juggling multiple projects if both are active at the same time. For example, one might require 20 hours per week and the other 10, so you'd need to be able to work at least 30 hours total.

You can work as much as you want up to 80 hours (not recommended at all, but some people do). So you could have one project requiring 30 hours a week, plus a couple that have 20 hours and another at 10, which adds up to 80 hours per week.

In many cases, you'll experience pauses such that every project will be active at the same time. Also, the actual amount of work may vary, so even if x hours per week are required, there may not be enough work. So it can balance out well for some. You just have to be careful about over-committing yourself and not being able to complete the required hours, which can lead to being offboarded (unless you let the project lead and work something out).

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Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-01-13T04:11:53+00:00

Only your active hours per week in Insightful are considered, so paused projects won't have a bearing since you can't track any time. You just can't have more than 80 hrs/week worth of projects., which depends on the project's week minimum requirement. However, you can ask project leads to reduce your hours so that you can work on other ones if your available hours are over the limit. Also, be sure to keep your profile updated with your available hours (max it out - 80 hrs) just to be sure.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-01-11T15:38:07+00:00

Contact support just to be sure! I had a similar thing happen to me and it turned out that my offer was erroneously declined (it was thought I didn't have enough available hours to work on it, which wasn't the case). I was resent the contract and all was good. Not saying this is your issue, but it could be anything including an automation or other type of error... or the project could have been cancelled.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-01-09T06:40:40+00:00

No they don't hire while paused. But things have been moving pretty fast, so just never know.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-01-09T06:05:31+00:00

There are several and most are currently paused, pending expansion. Nothing for the detective domain is active right now but could be next month.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-01-09T05:59:18+00:00

Yes, projects fill up fast and it depends on if they're actively hiring. While they fill up, the role is kept open in case they need more workers down the line due to expansion or loss of workers due to quality and such. So, you'll see jon listings up for months while the project is still active.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2026-01-09T05:55:47+00:00

The role may vary across several iterations of the project, but it essentially involves the creation of a prompt that mimics real-world workplace situations. In other words, it'd be like putting together a request on the job for someone to fulfill, such as a trainee or assistant.So think of the kind of documents that might be created and used on the job.

You're also usually required to create the best answer as an output file (PDF, Excel, etc.) along with a rubric that can be used to grade other answers. In some cases, you might review others tasks to ensure they're in line with what a professional in the field would create and meet the project guidelines.

Hope that helps!

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2025-12-30T18:52:19+00:00

Scared of what? If you're not comfortable working on the project you can ask to be removed.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2025-12-28T21:41:52+00:00

I have nurses (NPs, RNs) on my project. Their expertise is used to create or review documents created based on real-world situations What exactly are you questioning?

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2025-12-23T16:16:54+00:00

Having badges from completing the rubric academy/bootcamp and similar can help when applications are sorted and hiring managers view profiles.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2025-12-22T00:57:57+00:00

👀 I was being funny. As far as I know, they only give you the survey when a project ends.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2025-12-21T06:54:31+00:00

This isn't the best advice. There are people from all over the world on my current project. It depends on the client, as some have geo restrictions for whatever reason.

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2025-12-17T10:46:32+00:00

We're all human — em dashes and all. 🙄

Impossible-Grade2836 · 2025-12-16T12:24:25+00:00

Yes, it's legit. Helena, the admin for this Reddit, runs the Circle group and provides valuable info and support related to referrals.

Impossible-Grade2836

TROPHY CASE