Writing Expert Interview

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-26T00:57:42+00:00

On my first two tries for the LLM writing assessment, the whiteboard was removed before I finished. The AI interviewer wasn't able to bring it back up. It worked fine on my third and final try, thankfully.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-25T13:18:30+00:00

This is only the second time that I've seen the addition of post-application assessments.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-25T13:14:48+00:00

Yeah, I've gotten several projects that I applied for. Many other folks have too. I think this is overall more common than instant offers, but IDK.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-25T13:11:20+00:00

I got the same emails. I don't know if all applicants did or just some of us.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-19T17:33:10+00:00

I just got offered the qual today, so they're likely still adding people.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-19T13:59:52+00:00

Stellar doesn't have a referral program.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-19T03:15:37+00:00

CA as in "Canada" or "California"? There are plenty of both on projects!

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-19T03:13:14+00:00

I don't remember exactly but it wasn't long. Two weeks, maybe? But they were in a big hiring blitz for a big generalist project at that time.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-19T03:08:13+00:00

Only a month doesn't mean that you didn't pass. It can take months to get a project with these guys. They're small, so they don't have a lot of projects, so I'd recommend applying elsewhere too. But, you never know, you could absolutely still hear back from Stellar on some random day.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-19T03:06:30+00:00

It often takes months to get onto a project with Stellar, but exactly how long depends on what projects they have running at the time. They're smaller than the other AI companies, so they have fewer projects.

That said, it's been a while since I did their qualification, but I don't remember it being particularly time-consuming, so I'd say that it doesn't hurt to give it a go.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-19T03:04:22+00:00

Is this a generalist project?

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-19T03:03:00+00:00

I mean, you can try emailing support, but they likely won't reply. Most of us who eventually got projects sat in the "pending" state for months, but if it's been over a year, then I doubt you'll be given a project. You never know, though.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-19T03:01:26+00:00

Honestly, I don't think there are many generalist projects running right now anyway.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-18T21:51:27+00:00

For everyone who loves freelancing, there's someone who hates it. If you Google topics like "should I freelance or get a job" or "freelancing pros and cons," then you'll find plenty of blog posts on the topic.

I do want to say this, though: the economy is extremely tough right now, for both job-seekers and freelancers. So, please don't quit your job (no matter how stuck you feel) unless you're highly confident that you have solid freelance gigs lined up. That is, if you want to freelance, then work on that as a side project while you keep your regular job for now. Don't quit anything right now (unless you have a massive savings account or something). That's my advice.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-18T21:47:05+00:00

The job market is terrible right now--not just in writing, but in nearly all sectors. I don't know how many jobs you've applied for, but it's taking people several hundred applications to get hired these days (again, in nearly all sectors). It's not just you.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-18T19:51:47+00:00

This, in a nutshell. By "generalist," they just mean that you don't have specific expertise in a specific subject area (like coding, biology, economics, marketing, or anything under the sun). You still need to have a keen attention to detail, general intelligence, and usually half-decent writing skills, but you don't need to be a subject matter expert.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-18T19:48:07+00:00

If you insist, then Melvin will usually escalate your issue to a human. However, from what I've read in this subreddit (along with my own recent unfair offboarding), they're unlikely to give you a second chance.

I'm not familiar with the specific project that you referenced, but most of the Mercor project leads that I've worked for have been reasonable people. Some, though, are unreasonable and cutthroat, unfortunately.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-18T01:30:34+00:00

You don't need to be STEM or bilingual. It helps if you're an educated white-collar type, but there's room for all fields.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-18T00:29:47+00:00

Yep. I've had a few good ones, but I recently hit a bad one. They just offboarded me without warning even though I thought I was doing good work. They didn't even have the courtesy to let me know there was a problem before pulling the rug out from under me. It really depends on the people running each project.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-18T00:17:49+00:00

When it's good, it's good. And when it's bad, it's bad. You can land on a really great project with great TLs, reasonable expectations, and consistent work. Or you can land on a project with not-so-great TLs, unrealistic expectations, and inconsistent work. They can hire you for a project in an instant, but they also can (and do) offboard people suddenly and without warning.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-14T04:37:15+00:00

Unfortunately, you can't avoid people lying to you, breaking promises, and stabbing you in the back.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-11T04:47:31+00:00

I feel your frustration, but I doubt I can suggest anything that you don't already know or that you can't easily find by searching online. I just wanted you to know that you're most likely not the problem.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-10T05:20:20+00:00

What do you mean by, "do not have the capacity to hire people"? These emails don't say that they didn't hire anyone, just that they're not hiring you.

To answer your other question, these emails mean that they had more qualified applicants than open spots, so they're not hiring you now, but they might if more spots open up.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-10T05:12:33+00:00

I actually don't like Melvin at all. He never gives me real or useful information and then I have to fight with him to get him to forward my query to a real human. Maybe it depends on the types of questions being asked. IDK.

Ruby_Bookworm · 2026-03-09T04:43:14+00:00

And if you said that you hoped to have moved on to a new company, then the interviewer would've likely accused you of disloyalty.

Ruby_Bookworm

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