MTurk Work

Well it seems working on MTurk is really going well lately. There seems to be tons of good stuff to work on! I'm having trouble working a lot of the Retail Data HITs, it seems there's some kind of glitch in their qualifications, maybe? It's really aggrivating to see all that work posted and no way to do it!

Otherwise, ClariTrans has been posting a lot of work, and as I've said before, I really like their stuff. I can crank it out fairly quickly and haven't had a rejection from them yet. The pay is fairly decent, and they seem to post work quite frequently.

I tried a requester I hadn't seen post work before, Jason Davis. It was to figure out why tags were used for descriptions on a craft website. I did more than I was comfortable with, and a few of them have approved. I was leery to do more until I could see how they were going to approve. I have had six of them approve from the past three days, but many more are just sitting. Kind of makes me nervous, but they were quick and paid well, so we shall see.

I'm still doing some CastingWords transcription work, but not as often as ClariTrans. I like CTs shorter transcription snippets, I never know when the kiddo is going to wake up from a nap or when the phone is going to ring, so I like to zip through and be done with it. Both have posted a lot of transcription work lately, though, so it's easy to switch back and forth between the two.

There's been other odds and ends, but nothing all that notable. I'm hoping Retail Data qualifications get straightened out soon, I'm so picky when doing the HITs I'm fairly confident that I'm doing them correctly. So to then get an email of a qualification revoked is a little irritating.

I'm still not getting rich overnight, haha. But for the ease and comfort of working at home MTurk is working out well for me. 

ClariTrans Transcription on MTurk

So I've stumbled on what seems like a newer requester on MTurk, but so far so good with ClariTrans. Their transcription work is broken down into smaller segments to transcribe, which is nice with a toddler running around. I haven't been able to accurately judge how much money per hour I've been able to make on these, but I'm not unhappy with the results I've seen at all.

Their style guide is a lot different than CastingWords, so that's taking some getting used to. But I do like it, it's simpler, and often just one speaker, so it seems to go quicker.

I aced the first qualification test, and have worked several of their HITs now. All were approved and paid within hours. I did take the qualification testing for the reviewer, and no matter how many times I take it I can't get a 100! Frustrating! On the bright side, I haven't seen a whole lot of the review work come up for grabs. Maybe after doing a little more of their work it will become easier to reach that perfect score.

I had been on a $10 per day streak on MTurk, and was starting to inch above until the snow storms and power loss broke my stride. It's been hard to get back into that grove and hit ten bucks every day. I'm getting there, but I think ClariTrans might very well be able to double my goals in no time at all. Yay!

All in all, I'm happy so far with ClariTrans. There seems to be quite a bit of work posted in various segments of time, batches with as short as 5 second work on up to 35 second work. My only complaint is trying to work transcription at home with a very noisy two year old! But for nap and bed times, it's perfect for making a few dollars each day. I'm definitely happy to find this requester, and I hope they stay around for the long haul.   

Starting with Castingwords on MTurk

After much debate and research, I finally accepted and completed my first HIT with Castingwords on MTurk. Whew! 

I had downloaded the Express Scribe software, but was having tons of trouble figuring out how to actually download the MP3 file to work on it. I finally figured out to right click the link, click "Save As," saved it to My Documents, and then I could easily load it into the Express Scribe software to transcribe it. Originally, when I clicked the link, it would open in a separate page in QuickTime, and it would not have been easy to transcribe it that way!

It was relatively painless once I figured that part out! I did a transcription that was a little over two and a half minutes, and it did take me a while to do it. Most of the transcription work on Castingwords is in small snippets like that, so I purposely found a short one to get my feet wet. 

The transcription software has hot keys to make it easier to transcribe, and once I get a real feel for it I feel I can zip through this work MUCH faster than I did today. I do like the whole idea of Castingwords, and I already love MTurk! I think once I learn the ropes a little more I'll be ready to dig into the bigger, and much better paying, jobs Castingwords has to offer. Who knows? It might even lead to bigger and better stay at home mom work!

All in all, I'd say my first experience with Castingwords was a good one. It took about 45 minutes, but again, I was checking and rechecking the style guide to ensure my first submission was excellent quality. 

I'm definitely a fan of the Express Scribe software. You can slow down the speed of playback, which made it incredibly easy to understand when the speaker was talking too fast, or to decipher hard to understand words. I only marked one place with a question mark, I could figure out the rest.

I will keep updating my experiences with Castingwords. This is a great opportunity for stay at home moms to earn a little extra money. Anybody can sign up and give it a shot!

MTurk General Transcription

I've been looking for ways to increase work at home opportunities with MTurk and stumbled upon their transcription work. It's general transcription, which is great for a newbie like myself. I did take some Medical Transcription classes a few years back, but never stuck with the program. I actually have the hardware and software necessary, but it's packed away somewhere at the moment. So, needing work in the general area of this field is important.

Castingwords has loads of general transcription work on MTurk at any given time. They have a nice style guide available, which can train anybody on how to do this work. Some of the jobs are longer, some shorter, and they offer nice bonuses for excellent work. I've read through many WAHM forums that give rave reviews of the company, they're legit, give bonus pay fairly, and pay quickly.

It seems this would be a great company to learn the ropes with. They do have a qualification testing process, which would make me feel more at ease, or at least more confident in getting started. I plan to download the Express Scribe software this afternoon, which is the easiest way to do transcription from what I've read. Once qualified, they also offer jobs grading transcription work that has already been turned in with them.

I always keep my eyes open for companies on MTurk I would like to do work often with. The ones who pay well and quickly, and post content often, are at the top of the list. I think Castingwords is looking like a great bet for working on becoming a stay at home mom. It seems steady enough to rely on, unlike some of my other favorites that post jobs sporadically. One that I work for often pays well, but it seems like it takes 2 weeks to get jobs approved and paid. I guess that's okay if there's nothing else available, but I like having that money in my account rather quickly in case I need it.

I'm really excited about this opportunity. This feels right, like it will help make the transition to stay at home mom quicker. Getting into a routine before quitting my job will be an important first step. I'm not positive I have enough self control to be a full on work at home mom, but by golly I'll give it my best shot!