ContractWorld, known as ContractWorld.jobs, is said to be a unique website that links you to the world of at-home customer service jobs.  However, before you get to see these jobs, you have to fork over some cash in order to do so.  It’s an older site by the looks of it, but I wanted to review it since someone asked me about it via e-mail.  Seeing I’m always honest about what I review, I felt this was a great opportunity to see if it’s worth the investment.

Now, while there are legitimate companies that charge you to see job postings, such as FlexJobs, I have found them to be quite rare.  Most of your resources, such as mine, don’t charge a penny; rather, they rely on the ads to fund the servers, etc.

Is this the case with ContractWorld?  Is it worth the investment to find an at-home customer service job?

Well, we’re about to find out.

As in all of my reviews, I’m 100% honest.  I only promote/recommend what I feel is worth your time and you will never find me recommending garbage products.  I just don’t work that way.  I created this site to inform, not line my pockets.

With that out of the way, let’s jump in and see if ContractWorld is worth your time.

What is ContractWorld?

Contract World is a website that is said to link you to the “world of work-at-home customer service jobs.”  All you need to do is select your country of residence from the sidebar and you can start browsing jobs.  Mainly, they appear to connect you with the Pizza Hut call center from what I read.

Some of the companies that they boast about include Pizza Hut, the CDC, Alorica and many more.  However, these are just a select few of the many companies that appear to work with and can change at any time.  This can be said about any job search engine/portal.

Simply put, it’s a job portal of sorts, helping connect you with call centers that allow you to work from home.  You can do everything in the portal, from creating a resume to training and applying to a job.

How Does It Work?

At first, the company wants you to first click on your country.  You can find this directly on the main website within the left sidebar.

At the time of this review, you could choose between Canada or the United States.

After doing so, the company will want you to watch a video (it’s optional), showing you how to become a member as well as a small list of the companies hiring now. This included the likes of Pizza Hut, Biron and a company called Recipe.  You can see who’s hiring in that left sidebar noted above in the graphic.  I’m not sure how active these job listings were, but if you clicked on it, you could view the job description along with the pay.  For instance, Pizza Hut paid up to $10 per hour and you would be responsible for taking inbound orders.  Without a membership, this was very basic information.

To view all of this information, however, the company wanted you to create a “free” membership, which you could do by following that free membership blue button.  In doing so, you had to provide a lot of personal information, such as your name, address, phone number and email.  This took about five minutes.

Once you create a membership, you can then browse the active jobs and create your resume.

The Jobs

After signing up for an account, you will then be given a checklist, which will look something like this:

You are required to follow these prompts in order to qualify and apply for the jobs mentioned on the site.  And while you can view the jobs available, you can’t apply to them 100% until you finish the checklist.  This will include filling out a resume as well as submitting a voice sample over the phone.

When I played around with the website, I did find some jobs posted, and if I were to apply to them, I needed to, first, update my resume, and then upload a voice file, in which I would do via the phone.  After doing this, I would have to wait up to 48 hours for a confirmation that they received my information.  If approved, it was then I could move onto training.

From what I read, the jobs are legit, however, you do have to jump through a lot of hoops to get your resume submitted.  Plus, there are many more negatives, which I will get into next.

Keep in mind that you’re considered as an independent contractor by some of these companies, but from the looks of it, many require you meet a minimum weekly hour requirement.  Some feel they don’t have the freedoms, so it’s hard to say you will work as a true independent contractor.

Training Does Cost Money + Other Fees

Now, the thing that’s a bummer to most is that the company requires that you become “remote certified.”  And, what this means is that you will have to take an eight-hour class to learn how to operate independently from your home office.  The company does charge $75 for the course and it’s required in order to apply to the jobs.  This is a one-time fee.   Most companies PAY YOU to train, but this isn’t the case here.  This is a huge bummer, as the site did seem to have some potential.

Also, before you’re hired, a background check is required, which is estimated to be about $45.

Aside from this, the company also states that you must be connected to a “full service, data/voice network.”  This private network provides a “high level security, scheduling and multimedia communication tools necessary for you to connect and work remotely with your virtual call center clients,” according to the company.  And, to connect to this, you will have to pay $29 per month for one client.  This is a recurring fee, and again, is required to work.

And, lastly, when you want to get paid, they use a third-party billing service that charges $4.95+ per paycheck.

In comparison to many at-home work opportunities, I rarely see fees this high.  It’s also rare to see monthly recurring fees.  While background checks are seen here and there, a lot of the times, the company will pay the fee.

The Pay

Now, of course, you’re probably wondering what you’re getting paid.  As mentioned earlier, Contract World won’t pay you directly as they are considered the middle man.  Instead, you’re working with the client.

From what I saw on most of the job listings, you were paid per transaction, which meant you would get paid for every action completed.  For instance, the Pizza Hut job had a “target” earnings of $12 to $14 per hour and you would be paid based on the transaction.  So, if you transferred a call to a non-support store, you would get $0.45, etc.  A big complaint was that if your call didn’t meet any of these expectations, you wouldn’t get paid.

Just let it be known that you won’t be paid by the hour like so many of the at-home customer support jobs.  Rather, you will be paid based on how fast you can complete the job.

In looking online, the target earning are often on the higher end and is tough to meet. Expect to make a pinch less, maybe $10 per hour at most.  This is especially true if you’re just starting.  Look at this review, for instance:

Lastly, don’t forget that you have to add in the fees mentioned above.  So, when you consider that $5 paycheck fee and the $29 per month network fee, it’s going to make your hourly rate that much less.

Is Contract World a Scam?

Most people don’t like the idea of paying to get started, and I would agree with that.  I don’t like the idea of paying $300+ just to get started and then seeing recurring fees only to make $8 an hour.  What happens if you don’t like it?  You’re then out of your money and time.  What if you stay?  You’re working a ton to maybe make $500~ a month?  Again, not worth it.

With that being said, I would say the company is a scam; rather, I would say it isn’t worth your time.  The company is just relying upon people who are desperate enough for a job that they will be happy to work from home, even if you have to pay hundreds to get started.

As long as you’re smart about your numbers and know that you can work elsewhere online without paying a fee, then I would skip on Contract World and consider it as a last resort.

To reiterate, again, it’s not a scam, but it preys on those who don’t do their homework.  If you sign up, then I would say you didn’t do your homework.  However, if you skipped out and used a reliable source, such as FlexJobs, then I would say you’re job seeking appropriately.

What the Internet Says

And, lastly, as in all of my reviews, I like to see what the internet says.  So, in this section, I talk about the few reviews I found online.

On Reddit, multiple people said the company was “pretty crappy” and “to run, not walk” from this company.  One person said they were able to get a job and they liked the training, however, they didn’t get enough calls to justify working.  The only positive I found was that if you were willing to work evenings.  In that case, you could make a higher hourly wage.  Others didn’t like the fact that they had to pay for online training.  There were a lot of threads asking about this company and most agreed with my review that it wasn’t worth their time.

About nine Indeed users gave the company a 3.6/5 rating, giving it mixed reviews.  Some said they liked the staff helpfulness and the job, but others did not like that you could receive a lot of hours.

Glassdoor users gave the company a poor 2.3/5 rating with only 41% recommending it to a friend.  These users shared the same complaints, stating no job benefits, low pay, fees as well as job security problems.

Honestly, it was a mixed bag.  I found that some people enjoyed the work, even though they had to pay the fees, whereas others were turned off by this.

Final Thoughts

5/10In the end, let me be clear.  The company is legit, however, I don’t like the investment needed as well as the jobs available.  It just doesn’t seem like they pay a lot, and it won’t be worth your time or investment for that matter. I don’t like that you get paid only if your phone call meets certain criteria.  It should be a flat hourly rate.  I would just say I don’t like their business practices just like I don’t like Walmart’s ethics.  I hope that makes sense.

If you do follow through, just remember you will have to invest at least $150+ to get started and then pay the recurring monthly fees.  This can be hard, seeing you won’t make a lot anyways.  Every dollar counts, especially when it’s hard to average $10 per hour.  Doing that math, you may have to work 20+ hours before you break even in the beginning.  That’s a lot of free labor.

If you want to work online in any industry and you don’t mind paying a few dollars, then I recommend you check out FlexJobs.  This is a very reputable job search engine that hires people to post only reputable remote jobs.  They have jobs for all experience levels and almost all of the jobs mentioned won’t require a penny from you.  The great thing is that all of the jobs allow you to work from home!  Worst case, you can get a refund from FlexJobs if you don’t like what you see.

That’s going to wrap it up.

As always, if you want to comment on what I have written or maybe you want to talk about Contract World, then you’re more than welcome to comment below.

For now, skip Contract World and look for a legitimate online job that doesn’t pay you peanuts.