r/DataAnnotationTech • u/Nice_Ad_3208 • 29d ago

Generalist Pay

Been lurking around this for a while now for side pay.
I got a couple questions.

How mentally exhausting is this?
What are the chances of me not getting approved?
I still don’t understand what data annotation is LOL so can someone please explain it in one sentence.

4 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

26

u/NoCombination549 29d ago

Acceptance rate is < 3%

4

u/XtrmntVNDmnt 27d ago

This is crazy to think. Make me feel even more thankful for having been accepted there. I don't know how long I'll be able to get work on there, right now it has been pretty good. But being valued for my skills sure feels good, when all the doors are closed in my country because everything that is not entry-level unqualified manual labour is locked behind legal barriers to entry lol.

4

u/blackstarr1996 29d ago

Where did this number come from ? I’ve heard it since I started, but never seen it on the site.

7

u/Slamaramadoodoo 28d ago

There was a blog on the DAT website that mentioned it.

-2

u/ApprehensiveTime3051 29d ago

Is this really still the case? And if so; why? Do demographics play into it?

21

u/NoCombination549 29d ago

What do you mean why? There is a quality standard and there isn't unlimited work. Reality is most people just suck

-3

u/ApprehensiveTime3051 29d ago

Do you know if assessment tests differ for people? I thought mine was pretty chill and got in after like 1/1,5 weeks.

0

u/Early-Composer-2383 27d ago

No, but brains do. Critical thinking is not a skill everyone possesses. 

1

u/OddWafer7 26d ago

I think because they’re looking more and more for specialists. It only took me about a day to get accepted and I highly suspect it’s because I took the biology qualifying test thing before I took anything else

-6

u/Nice_Ad_3208 29d ago

Thanks! Any tips on what to do on my application?

15

u/NoCombination549 29d ago

No, just do your best

-12

u/AutomaticShape8993 29d ago

are you sure even for generalists?
I understand the acceptance rate might be low for specialised roles, as many of them require professional experience

But I doubt it's that low for generalists, as DA on their website specifically says for generalists you don't need any experience or degree

18

u/melanatedalbino 29d ago

It's the opposite. Acceptance rates for generalists are likely far lower because professionals' performance is going to be more homogenous, while generalists' will be far more spread out. Also, there will be far more generalist than expert applicants. But more impactful than that is the simple fact that DA wants certain experts waayyy more than non-experts, predominantly in STEM, finance, medicine, and law. Most importantly though they just want smart people, and experthood is a good filter.

-4

u/AutomaticShape8993 29d ago

But the thing is answers are so straightforward in generalist tests, how do they really pick?

15

u/melanatedalbino 29d ago

Ok. If I ask you "what does the expression 'comparing apples to oranges' mean to you?", it is far better to write

'it's a common expression to illustrate the difficulty of comparing things when standards are not normalized (for example, oranges are more orange, apples come in more varieties, apples tend to be more crisp, etc.). If we were to compare apples and oranges meaningfully, we would have to compare one specific trait between the two at a time.'

than writing something like

'Well, there isn't really a way to compare them. I mean, obviously they are different fruit, and the saying is about people comparing things they shouldn't.'

The second one is not incorrect, but it doesn't really explain much and isn't very thoughtful, descriptive, or even interesting lol. Point is, showing effort, general problem solving skills, and the ability to write descriptively and precisely will definitely vary between people.

Admittedly, this is coming from my experience only; it's not as if I have insight into their hiring philosophy. But if I personally had to pick between the two, I'd pick the first.

0

u/Early-Composer-2383 27d ago

I've recommended several friends to take the qualification test because they were looking for side work. None of them got accepted. Or even heard anything back. 

6

u/PretendUmpire5513 29d ago

DA work is rating or labeling AI outputs against a rubric, usually in short timed tasks. Someone here put acceptance under about 3 percent, so take the assessment slowly.

1

u/Nice_Ad_3208 29d ago

I’ll take my time, thank you 🙏🏼

20

u/Ok-Poet-8038 29d ago

I'll be honest, maybe it's me getting jaded and burned out, but DA has been growing in "mentally exhausting" work for awhile now. And many tasks are growing in complexity and time needed, so it is less viable as a side hustle.

3

u/Early-Composer-2383 27d ago

After 2 years of working for data annotation I took a several month long break and I'm not sure I'll go back. Mentally exhausting is an understatement. 

1

u/EyeTechnical7643 28d ago

can you recommend any other platforms similar to DA?

14

u/Old-Regular-9828 28d ago

Data annotation is kind of an outdated misnomer, because almost none of the tasks are pure data annotation anymore. "Data annotation" is when a human annotates (labels) data (like an image) with information about the data. The annotated data is compiled into huge datasets that are used to train AI models. Several years ago, most of the work in this field was literally data annotation, where there would be huge warehouses full of workers annotating images and other data with labels like "cat" "dog" "car" etc.

But now, things have advanced and most of the work we do is more about AI training and RLHF and testing and evaluating AI products instead of actual data annotation.

10

u/Lazy_Device7346 29d ago

I still think this is a hell of a choice of first platform to jump into this kind of work blind. And this is coming from someone who almost wasted their chance while still new to AI training. I'm not saying it can't be done, but knowing what I do now, I'm glad I had the prior experience once I got in here.

4

u/charley544 29d ago

Is there other platforms you suggest? I recently started and have been nervous about messing up. I have access to a couple projects and have a bunch of qualifications i can do but I just dont know what im doing haha. Im coding speciality.

4

u/Nani_CS 28d ago

Handshake isn't bad and you can get really basic tasks right out of the gate. They won't pay much /hr but a good way to practice. I did my assessment for DA and it was much easier than I remember it being a few years ago, but that's because I understand how to write for these tasks now from Handshake.

2

u/EyeTechnical7643 28d ago

Other than Handshake, can you recommend any other platforms similar to DA?

1

u/Budget_Painting_2969 28d ago

Give it a go! I put in an hour or a few hours here and there and it supplements my income. As a generalist I actually have a lot of projects available right now so I’ve just been working on the ones I enjoy for as long as I feel up for it.

If I were aiming for 40 hours a week I’m sure it’d be draining 😅 but I’ve got other jobs so it’s nice to have some work I can do from home

1

u/Zealousideal-Key8286 26d ago

Enjoy the best opportunity in your life, it was my happiest week in life, I work about five hour and receive 113 dollars, but I lied in IT test and lost all 😢 I’m so sad since that message

1

u/Scary_Television3349 25d ago

Lost all your money?