Keeping with my Amazon MTurk theme as of late, I wanted to create a simple guide, showing you how to find the “HITs” worth Turking for.
Just the other day, I wrote about the many strategies you could use to make $50 a day on MTurk, but I wanted to dive in deep and talk about how you can find these so-called HITs worth “Turking” for. I talked about it for a minute in that post, but I didn’t go into much detail.
If you’re unfamiliar with the platform, Amazon MTurk is a simple job board, where you can complete very quick jobs, referred to as HITs in the MTurk community. Jobs range from taking surveys to data entry to transcription. There are a lot of jobs, many of which pay anywhere from $0.01 to $5+. Signing up is 100% free and you get to work whenever you please.
Today, I want to show you what HITs you should be looking out for as well as how you can find them to maximize your hourly rate. I would hate to see you dive in and start working blindly as this is a very bad way to earn a very poor hourly rate. In following this advice, you can not only increase your hourly rate, but it will help you find the HITs that are worth your time and sanity.
If you’re a fan of MTurk and/or want to make some cash right now, then you may want to tune in as I’m about to share some great details as to how you can make the most of your time while browsing for HITs!
Let’s begin.
How to Find HITs Worth Turking For
In this section, I want to talk about the many resources online that can help you find the best HITs. There are a few, but in using them, I can assure you that it can increase your MTurk earnings by more than 40%. While you can venture out on your own and start clicking on random HITs, it’s important to know which HITs are worth your time.
MTurk Crowd
The MTurk Crowd forum is one of my favorites, simply due to the “Daily Work Threads.”
In these threads, members will open up a thread for the day and will constantly add HITs throughout the day. Depending on the day, these threads can get as big as 20 pages. It’s a lot.
Whenever you browse the thread, it will look something like this when someone posts a good HIT…
You will be able to see the reward, qualifications required, time required, the requester and many other details. It will include everything you need to know about the particular HIT. So, in that example, that survey would pay $2 for about five minutes of your time. Not too bad!
Generally, they only post the good ones, so 99% of the time, you can be safe in clicking through as it will be worth your time.
This is one of the best options on this list as this website seems to be the most active and continues to add throughout the day. In refreshing, you should be able to find many HITs, which can make it pretty easy to earn $10 in a day.
The MTurk Forum is just as popular as the MTurkCrowd.com forum, giving you even more opportunity to find great HITs at the moment.
On this site, you will want to look for the “Great HITs” subforum, the most popular subforum on the site. As I write this, it has more than 1.6 million posts with more than 30 to 50+ HITs posted daily. In combining this forum with the few I mention here, it’s not hard to find more than 100+ great-paying HITs
In each thread, like MTurkCrowd, just look for today’s date and start scrolling through. As you do, the HITs members post will look something like this…
Each HIT posted offers a ton of information, such as the title, requester, reviews, reward as well as a simple description. It’s enough to determine if it’s right for you. Just click through on that link and it will take you directly to it on the official MTurk website.
Most of the HITs posted are usually worth your time, but I can’t stress it enough; you will have to be fast as the good ones go quick.
Aside from the “Great HITs” subforum, they also have a decent “General” and “Requesters” subforum, wherein you can discuss MTurk and talk about the many requesters on the platform.
Yet another popular forum to find HITs worth Turking for, TurkerView also had a dedicated daily mTurk HITs thread.
Much like the other ones, it works in the same way. Click on the “Daily mTurk HITs Threads,” as pictured above. Then, look for today’s date and browse the current postings to see what’s available for the day.
Inside these threads, the HITs will similar to that of the previous forums like this…
Again, you will be able to see the qualifications, the pay, the requester, etc. All of the information you need to know is here.
The thing I like about TurkerView is that they seem to have the most action in terms of replies and the number of HITs they post throughout the day.
Join/Browse the Reddit MTurk and HITsWorthTurkingFor SubReddit
The MTurk subreddit doesn’t always talk about the HITs worth doing, but it’s one to bookmark simply for the tips.
Whether you’re an avid Reddit poster or just a lurker, I always find a ton of information on how to maximize my earnings as well as see what other people are doing as well. In taking these tips, I can often apply the same strategies and increase my earnings.
As for the HITsWorthTurkingFor subreddit, it does focus on HITs, but the only problem is that it’s only updated maybe once or twice a day. I will glance at it daily, but it’s definitely not one of my favorites that I list here.
While you can use these forums to find the HITs worth Turking for, there are a few other tips I wanted you to keep in mind to maximize your earnings. Whether you’re new to the platform or you’re experienced, in applying these tips, I can promise you that you can increase your earning potential.
Get to 1000+ HITs
The first thing you will want to focus on is your stats. Since requesters often put a large emphasis on how many HITs you have completed as well as your acceptance rate, it’s important to get these stats up ASAP.
Unfortunately, your first 1,000 HITs may be low paying, but consider it almost like starting out at the bottom of the ladder in the corporate world.
When completing your HITs at first, be careful in who you deal with as you want to make sure you’re dealing with an honest requester. Since your approval rate is important, your goal is to stay above 95%. Once you get to that magical 1,000 number, you will be able to qualify for many more jobs.
Always Look at Qualifications
A lot of HITs will require that you have a certain number of HITs and/or a certain acceptance rate. However, this isn’t always the case as some requesters will ask that you pass a qualification test in order to start working.
Simply, what this means is that you just have to take a practice test to see if you have what it takes to start working on the tasks.
Regardless, if a good tasks says you’re not qualified, click on it to see why you’re not qualified. Oftentimes, all you need to do is pass a test to gain access.
Check Requester Ratings
Before you even start a HIT, always make sure that you know the requester’s rating. You can do this by highlighting the company’s name to see both the activity level and approval rate.
Generally, as long as the rate is higher than 98% and the activity rate is high, you shouldn’t have much to worry about as long as you complete the task as noted. If it’s anything less, be very careful in accepting the job as you risk rejection.
Remember that the requesters can approve and deny as they please, with no rhyme or reason. It stinks, but it’s just how the platform works.
Use Keywords to Your Advantage
At any given time, there are thousands of HITs available. While that number may seem high, there’s a lot of junk to weed through.
In my personal experience, I have found using keywords such as “short,” “bonus” and minute” will narrow it down to jobs that only take a minute to complete, etc. Bonuses are also good as this can add even more in your pockets if you complete a certain number of HITs.
Aside from using those terms, also use keywords for jobs you like to do and/or a requester you found that you like.
Sort by “Created”
A lot of Turkers make the mistake of sorting HITs by the money you will make. While this fine, a high-paying HIT doesn’t mean it’s worth your time. What if that $1 HIT takes 30 minutes to complete?
Instead of sorting by the value, consider sorting by the creation time so that you can see the newest HITs first. Then, browse through the value and the job description to see if it’s worth your time. This can take some time to learn what HITs are worth your time, but as you use the platform, I can promise you will get good at it over time.
What I usually do is sort by the creation date and then skim the values quickly to see what may be worth my time. Just remember that the good ones will go quick.
Research Scripts
Scripts come and go in the MTurk world, but if you’re able to find one, they can help you in maximizing your earnings. Right now, I recommend Greasy Fork to find the recent scripts.
One script that I used in the past, for example, would calculate my time spent on a HIT and then compute an hourly rate. I could then decide with this number if it was still worth pursuing.
Know Your Value
And, lastly, know what your time is worth.
As a fair pay standard, try to shoot for $0.10 a minute. If you make anything less than that, then it’s best to move on.
Yes, it can be tempting to accept those higher-paying HITs, but oftentimes, it may take a lot longer than expected to complete.
Final Thoughts
All of the forums and subreddits as well as the tips I mentioned above will easily help you find the HITs worth Turking for.
It’s your job to make it a habit to check in to all of them and pick out the ones of interest. In combining all of those forums as well as strategies, there’s no reason you can’t find at least 100+ HITs worth doing every single day. Plus, as you get good at using the platform, you will also find providers that you like doing.
For now, if I’m missing any resources and/or you want to add to my tips to maximize your MTurk earnings, then you’re more than welcome to do so in the comments below.
In the meantime, start getting to work. The best way to find those HITs worth Turking for is through using the resources above and your experience. Don’t expect to get rich, but I don’t see why you won’t be able to make $10 to $40+ a day in doing so.
Hi! My name is Tom Nathaniel, and I created LushDollar to help share my honest thoughts on everything money. It's the Internet's most honest money site after all. I have worked in the finance industry since 2006, consulting with multiple Fortune 5000 companies.
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