Before you start applying for work at home task jobs and micro jobs, it helps to learn about what they are exactly and what they entail.
Let’s look at what a task job is, kinds of task jobs you can do online, skill requirements and companies that hire task workers.
What Are Work At Home Task Jobs?
A task job (also called micro jobs, micro tasks or gigs) are jobs that pay per completed task.
Workers are independent contractors meaning they are responsible for keeping track of their taxable income and there are no benefits.
Either upon hiring or reaching the earning threshold, workers must file a W9 with their employer. They receive a 1099 tax form annually to report their earnings to the IRS.
There are also task jobs sites, like Fiverr, that allow workers to create an account and offer to complete tasks, like a freelancer.
What kinds of tasks are done?
Tasks include research, listening to short audio, answering a question about an image, data processing, surveys or transcription.
My experience working for Amazon Mturk included categorizing product photos, transferring information from business cards, verifying transcriptions for voice mails, filling out surveys and classifying photos into topics.
This is just a shortlist of possible tasks available. Some tasks require you to get special qualifications by testing or from your work history.
There are also micro tasks sites like Task Rabbit where you can perform in-person jobs in your local area.
What skills are needed to be a micro task worker?
Skills needed range from very little, to expert. If you have good English, observation, and listing skills then you can find many general tasks like those mentioned earlier.
More specific skills, translation, typing, graphic design and so on, opens a door to more tasks not available to everyone.
For example, on Mturk you can gain qualifications to increase the “HIT’s”, or human intelligence task, available to complete.
On sites such Fiverr, specialized skills can get you gigs others would know how to do like designing a website avatar or writing web content.
How To Find Micro Work At Home Task Jobs
What companies hire for work at home task jobs?
Fiverr
Fiverr – Freelance your talents for $5 per gig. You can charge more with gig upgrades, also known as ‘extras’. Earnings are paid through Paypal.
Doing jobs on Fiverr is great for having a very flexible schedule to fit around family needs. No need for special equipment besides a computer and the internet usually.
Here are some ideas for things you can sell on Fiverr.
Task Rabbit
Task Rabbit is a place to find service-based gigs in your local area. Such as mounting a TV on someone’s wall, putting together Ikea furniture, cleaning, and other types of in-person one-time tasks.
Amazon Mechanical Turk
Amazon Mechanical Turk – some tools to help include: Turk Option which tells which requesters are good. Pay is through direct deposit or Amazon credit. I have done some work for them and found it really easy.
Some tasks require you to be approved others open up after you’ve performed a certain number of tasks correctly. Side Hustle Nation has a nice article about this gig!
Here are some helpful books
Clickworker
Clickworker is similar to mTurk with task varying based on qualifications.
CrownFlower
CrownFlower is another company looking for people who can complete tasks like Internet research, collecting data, and creating content.
Their clients have included Ebay, Google, Facebook and Twitter to name a few listed from the website.
Fancy Hands
Fancy Hands – You get paid to do tasks averaging $2 to 5 each. Some tasks require you to be on the phone.
Micro Work At Home Task Jobs Pros And Cons
Con’s of being a freelance micro task worker:
Availability of work changes constantly. Pay is often low, but it can add up to be a nice part-time job. The best way to do that is to pick a couple and focus of them.
Be consistent with a work schedule. Set goals of how many tasks you want to complete, how many hours you want to work, or how much you want to earn. Try to work when your home is quiet so you don’t get interrupted often.
One of the biggest struggles starting out at flexible work at home task jobs is commitment and following through to actually doing the work.
You won’t have a set time you have to show up, nor a boss checking in on your progress.
That gives you control, but also, gives you responsibility.
It’s one of the biggest reasons why some people are never successful working at home, they don’t follow through with consistent work effort.
Pro’s of being a freelance micro task worker:
Flexibility is the number one pro of being a freelance micro task worker.
You can choose what hours you want to work. And many of the tasks don’t require to be on the phone so background noise is okay.
They are good for getting your feet wet in the work at home jobs world.
Plus, they don’t have a lot of job experience requirements. They can fit in between other jobs to fill in gaps or help you financially while looking for other work.
Staying dedicated to your new job and setting goals are key to making the money you want from a work at home job.
Here’s a video that gives you more info about getting started with Amazon Mechanical Turk:
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