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If you want to learn more about Leapforce Appen Crowdsourcing jobs, then you’ll like this review.
I have reviewed this platform from A to Z and now I want to share my unbiased opinion.
And I will also share the pros and cons of Appen, so you can decide for yourself if it’s a good fit.
Let’s get started.
What is Leapforce Appen?
Leapforce was founded in 2008 by Daren Jackson, and was based in Silicon Valley, California. Appen was Founded in 1996 Dr. Julie Vonwiller, who was joined by her husband Chris Vonwiller in 2000.
The company is an Australian company and based in Chatswood, New South Wales.
For many years Leapforce was the major “work at home” business based in Silicone Valley.
In early 2017, problems began to emerge that resulted in many of its members being locked out of the system for extended periods of time.
Even when able to access the system there were problems. And then the situation came to a head when Daren Jackson announced that all future work would be capped at 26 hours per week.
Many of the homeworkers had been working a 40 hour week, so this was a severe blow. Staff who complained were fired and many of the homeworking staff left.
In the office it wasn’t much better. With staff being paid well below the market rate.
Things went from bad to worse with many legal actions being brought against the company. The situation was resolved when Appen stepped in and made an offer to purchase the company.
Appen Today
Leapforce is now Appen. If you join Appen as an Independent Agent you are going to be receiving extremely competitive fees, and the ability to set your own hours.
This is your business and you are simply contracting with Appen.
There is no pressure to commit to a set amount of work with Appen. You choose the amount of work you do.
The ideal candidate is going to be someone with proven self-reliance, who can motivate themselves without needing someone looking over their shoulder. They must enjoy doing research and have a wide range of interests.
How Does Appen Work?
Appen, like Leapforce, offers work to independent contractors looking to work from home, called Agents.
These agents contract with Appen to carry out work for Appen’s clients, usually in Search Engine Evaluation. The agents will then invoice Appen for the hours they work.
These invoices are submitted to the company once a month. The invoices are paid by Appen within 30 days of receiving a valid invoice. The company pays the agents through direct deposit into their bank account.
The Agent Role
Agents operate as independent contractors and are responsible for their operating costs, equipment, and receive no expense reimbursements.
Agents are responsible for meeting taxation and legal requirements for working in whatever country they are based. You will need to produce a valid Tax Identification Number.
As soon as you have applied successfully and completed the qualifying examination, you will be ready to start working. It takes, on average, about two weeks to complete the process.
At the end of the month, you would then submit your first invoice and this would be paid thirty days later.
Appen Jobs
When you start with the company you will be able to choose from the jobs of your choice. Here are some of the jobs available:
- Search Media Evaluators – working with the world’s major search engine businesses.
- Social Media Evaluation – help improve social media.
- Translation Survey and Data Set Collection – short projects lasting 15 minutes to three hours.
- Linguistic Specialties – Text to Speech, Annotation, Phonetics, Computational, and Pronunciation.
- Lexicon Annotation
- Transcription
- Speech Evaluation
Appen works for eight out of the ten largest global technology companies. Appen also acquired Figure Eight Inc. in San Francisco. They are another machine learning company.
General Requirements
Applicants who wish to become an independent agent need to fit the following requirements:
- Should be 18 years and older.
- You need High-Speed Internet Access.
- Will need a PC running Google Chrome Browser (V.45).
- Current Anti-virus Application and Anti-Spyware.
You also need to have:
- Great web-research skills.
- The ability to write and understand English well.
- Some posts require fluency in another language.
You do not need to buy any special software (other than the anti-virus, and anti-spyware already mentioned). Anything else you need you can be downloaded for free online.
You also do not need a dedicated phone line to be an Appen Independent Agent.
How to Join Appen
To join, go to the Appen website and on their Careers page.
From that page you will see options to apply as a Rater, Language Agent, or Micro Tasks. This will start the application process.
As you will see from the drop down list of countries they employ people in a variety of countries globally. In fact they operate in over 130 countries.
There are no fees and it is free to join Appen.
Eligibility Exam
The eligibility exam is both a test of theory and application in search engine evaluation. It is not an easy exam, so make sure that you allow yourself plenty of time to take it.
If you fail one part of the exam they will give you an opportunity to take it again.
How Much Can you Earn With Appen?
For researchers Indeed.com states that on average, in the US, this role earns about $85 per day. Data collectors receive about $30 per hour.
Payment is made through direct deposit into your bank account.
Pros and Cons of Appen
Pros
- Flexible work to fit your schedule at any time of day.
- It’s free to join.
- Solid paying roles that you can do from the comfort of your own home remotely.
- Many different interesting jobs available to choose from.
- Relatively easy work in a positive atmosphere and with great managers.
- The company has an A+ rating with the BBB.
Cons
- An exam is required to get accepted.
- Projects and work can be inconsistent.
- There can be long wait periods for acceptance into projects.
- Some of the jobs are low paying and can be repetitive.
- Phone support is lacking and limited to email and ticket submissions.
- Monthly payments instead of a weekly or bi-weekly payment schedule.
Is Appen Legit?
Appen is solid company. They currently have a good A+ rating with the BBB with only 1 complaint in the past 12 months, which has been closed. They are not accredited with the BBB at the time of this review.
Awards and Recognition
The company has been included in the Top 100 companies with Remote Jobs pretty much every year since 2014. With one first place and one second place rating under their belt.
The company has consistently won on average 8 awards per year in Australia.
Conclusion
As you can see, Appen is a legit company. Things have changed for the better since the days of Leapforce. And this company has become a solid option for those looking to work from home.
Not only is it a remote opportunity, but there are numerous jobs to choose from to keep you busy. And the pay is higher than a lot of other similar companies.
If you’re looking to make some extra money from home, this is an opportunity you’ll want to check out.
I’ll leave you with an excellent video overview on the Appen work from home opportunity below. Check it out if you have a few minutes.