Microtask Jobs Online: Beginner’s Ultimate Guide to Clickworker, UHRS and Toloka

If you can operate a functioning computer, understand English, and follow directions, you’ve likely already thought about whether small online tasks might pay you for your spare time. These microtask jobs online are usually quick and uncomplicated, but the catch is that the rewards for completing them can also be modest.

This guide aims to be a complete newcomer’s walkthrough covering what these services do, how to set up an account, what the available tasks are, how training and testing work, what to expect when you submit, and how and when you’ll get paid. The purpose is not to suggest that you’ll earn an extravagant income, but that you understand the basics before you dive in.

Let’s cover everything you need to know to get started!

Microtask Jobs Online: What Are They?

Microtask jobs online are small bits of work completed through an online application or website. The idea is that a company requires thousands of tiny decisions to be made and delegates these decisions to crowdsourcing platforms.

An example would be a company that wants to train an artificial intelligence. They might show images to workers and ask:

“Is there a bicycle in this picture?”

You can select Yes or No and submit your answers.

Another project might involve comparing two AI responses and selecting which one is better according to specific instructions. Some tasks involve filling out questionnaires, classifying text, collecting data, labeling images, evaluating search results, transcribing, proofreading, or conducting basic research.

These microtask jobs online are different from traditional freelancing or consulting in that you don’t typically have control over what’s available to you at the moment.

How Everything Works

Let’s briefly outline the entire process:

Platform → Project → Instructions → Task → Submission → Quality Check → Payment

The platforms serve as the middlemen for companies that need workers. The company defines a project, and the platforms give instructions and tasks to workers. In turn, you complete the tasks and submit your answers.

Depending on a project, your submission may go through automatic checks, human moderation, and other quality control measures before you receive payment.

It helps to keep in mind that microtask jobs online differ from traditional online services in that they typically do not involve negotiating with a client for a retainer or hourly rate.

Are These Microtask Jobs Online Right for Beginners?

They can be!

If you can understand and follow written instructions in English, you should be able to handle most tasks. You don’t need any special technical skills since most assignments simply require you to:

• Read a sentence
• Compare two pieces of text
• Identify an object in a picture
• Determine whether a search result is relevant
• Check spelling or grammar
• Classify something according to given criteria
• Answer a question
• Follow specific written instructions

Your English skills will prove to be an asset with microtask jobs online, but don’t assume that you’ll have access to writing or editing jobs.

Some tasks — including country, language, qualification, accuracy, or experience requirements — may limit your access to certain projects.

How to Prepare Before You Join a Platform

There are a few things you should do before creating an account.

First and foremost, make sure that you have a valid email address, a reliable Internet connection, and a computer or mobile device that can access the websites or applications.

You’ll also need a payment method compatible with the platform’s requirements and enough personal information to build a profile.

Note that most platforms discourage the creation of multiple accounts to inflate earnings. They may also detect attempts to circumvent regional restrictions by using proxies or virtual private networks (VPNs).

The accuracy of your personal information is essential since you’ll only be able to accept tasks or take tests that are relevant to your profile.

You should also keep in mind that the availability of tasks can fluctuate. This means you may encounter days with an abundance of work and months with none.

For beginners, this is important to understand before starting microtask jobs online.

How to Create a Clickworker Account

Clickworker is one of the platforms that a beginner can explore. According to the current instructions, you can create an account either through the application or the website, but the former is necessary for logging in.

You will be asked to specify your country of residence, mother tongue, gender, date of birth, and a username during registration.

The company asks that you enter truthful information during the registration process.

After creating an account, you’ll receive an email with a link to an activation page for completing your registration. Once your account is activated, you can proceed to the workplace to view available tasks.

Take a moment to finish setting up your profile before proceeding to the job search.

The current introductory guide mentions that you’ll be asked to enter your address, payment and tax information, and profile data. The data you provide will influence the types of work and tests you encounter.

How to Finish Setting Up Your Profile

It’s easy to overlook the importance of information that appears to be irrelevant — for example, a question about languages you know.

Suppose someone is bilingual in English and Urdu. If a project utilizes both languages in its instructions, the response would be more accurate if the profile indicated a proficiency in both.

Enter your information fully and accurately.

Pay particular attention to:

• Languages
• Education or area of knowledge, if applicable
• Any work-related skills
• Payment data
• Tax information
• Phone number, if verification is required

Clickworker reserves the right to use the information, prior achievements, and work experience to determine which projects and tests you’ll receive.

A complete profile can therefore help the platform understand which microtask jobs online may be relevant to you.

Microtask Jobs Online: The Types of Tasks Available

When you begin looking for work, you’ll notice that the titles can be confusing. This is because most platforms are geared toward data and artificial intelligence projects.

Below are some of the common categories.

Image Classification

In these microtask jobs online, you’ll be presented with an image and a question about its contents.

For example:

“Is there a bicycle in this picture?”

You’ll select Yes or No and submit your answer.

Text Classification

You’ll be given a piece of text and asked to classify it according to specific guidelines.

For instance:

“The delivery was three days late.”

The options may include positive, negative, or neutral, but the exact instructions will define the categories.

Select the response that best fits the instructions.

Search Evaluation

A search query and a web page or search result will be given. You’ll have to indicate whether the result is relevant to the query or not.

For example, the query “cheap running shoes” can be compared to a webpage that sells running shoes.

You’ll have to specify whether the result is relevant to the query based on particular criteria.

AI Response Evaluation

You’ll be presented with two responses generated by an AI. You’ll select which one is more relevant or fits specific instructions better.

For example:

“What should I do if my internet stops working?”

One response may provide troubleshooting tips while the other may give a brief history of computers.

Select the response that addresses the query.

Data Collection

You may be asked to collect data according to specific guidelines.

Surveys

These microtask jobs online simply involve answering questions.

Proofreading or Writing

Some projects specifically look for people who can write or edit, but these jobs can be hard to find unless you meet specific criteria.

How to Interpret Instructions

This is the most crucial tip for a beginner.

It’s easy to miss a detail and complete a task incorrectly. For instance, the instruction may specify:

Select Yes if the object is clearly visible and meets the size requirements.

A small portion of an object may still be considered visible depending on the context, and you should select Yes for this example.

Most applications have quality control systems in place to ensure that responses meet the standards.

Speed is an important consideration, but accuracy should always come first.

When you find a new project, you should read:

1.     The general instructions

2.     Examples

3.     Definitions

4.     Exceptions

5.     Payment guidelines

6.     Qualification requirements

If the project offers practice questions, treat them as official tasks.

This is especially important when starting microtask jobs online, because one small misunderstanding can affect your accuracy.

The Importance of Starting Small

As a beginner, it’s easy to get frustrated and try to “earn real money.”

However, it’s far better to complete a few tasks and build up your experience before proceeding.

Ask yourself the following questions after completing a small batch of work:

• Did I understand the instructions?
• How much time did I spend on each task?
• Was the reward worth my time?
• Did I make any mistakes?
• Did the project indicate whether my answers were correct?

This approach will give you a realistic idea of whether microtask jobs online are right for you.

What to Do After You Submit

This is a common question among newcomers.

For instance, you complete Task 1 and select Submit. Do you have to wait until the client approves Task 1 before you can proceed to Task 2?

It usually works the other way around. Most platforms will offer you the next task if there is one.

The submission you made will still undergo moderation or approval by a human moderator.

Clickworker indicates that most standard jobs are credited to your account balance when completed, but some projects can initially show a zero payment and only be approved for payment after the client approves the work.

A rejected job can result in a charge, depending on the instructions.

Keep in mind that Submit does not always mean Accepted.

How Long Does It Take to Approve a Submission?

There isn’t a standard time frame for every task, but a few platforms give examples of the expected duration.

According to Clickworker, completed jobs may take anywhere from 7 to 30 days to appear as fully payable amounts in your account for quality assurance reasons.

UHRS work, on the other hand, has a 39-day process.

This means that you should not use the assumption that the date you finish a task is the date you can withdraw the proceeds.

Your account may only show the completed amount as ready for withdrawal on a specific date.

Other projects may have specific approval timelines depending on the instructions.

Therefore, payment timing is an important part of understanding microtask jobs online.

How to Analyze Your Earnings From Microtask Jobs Online

Since you’re just starting out, it can be difficult to determine whether your efforts are worth your time.

The amount you’ll earn from microtask jobs online can vary depending on a number of factors, including the type of work and the platform.

Clickworker indicates that fees can vary from fractions of a cent to two-digit euro amounts, but this is dependent on the complexity and duration of the task, the length of the text involved, research, or special knowledge required.

Keep in mind that these are examples to give you an idea of the general guidelines.

The income depends on how many tasks you complete and how much time you spend on each.

For instance:

Task A: $0.05 for 1 minute

Task B: $0.20 for 2 minutes

Task C: $0.50 for twenty minutes

The hourly rate for Task C would be significantly lower than the other tasks if the time required is accurate.

What Does “Service” Mean?

When you’re browsing the services that a platform offers, you may wonder what exactly you’ll be doing.

A service typically refers to the type of work that the business side of the platform requires.

For instance, a company may have 50,000 images that they want to be labeled. The platform will split the work into smaller tasks so that multiple workers can contribute to the same project.

Each task may include 100 pictures, and the workers will label the images according to specific instructions.

This means that you don’t necessarily have to provide a service to a particular company. You’re simply completing a series of tasks that contribute to a greater goal.

Understanding these services can make it easier to choose suitable microtask jobs online.

How to Learn About UHRS

UHRS stands for Universal Human Relevance System.

This is a separate application that supposedly hosts higher-paying work. There aren’t instructions on how to use it or browse it independently — you have to complete a test to access the tasks.

You can’t simply open UHRS and create a new account, but you can access the Clickworker application and take the UHRS assessment.

The instructions state that you have to score at least 80% on the exam, and you won’t be able to repeat it if you fail.

It’s best to take the test when you’re not rushed and you understand all the questions.

The test will have an English section as well as general information about UHRS and account setup.

How to Prepare for the UHRS Assessment

You don’t want to simply rush through the assessment.

Before you begin, make sure that you have a stable Internet connection and nothing is distracting you.

Study the examples carefully and understand the questions.

Avoid guessing. If you’re not sure about a question, use the eraser tool to indicate that you want to revisit it later.

According to Clickworker, certain profile data may need to be completed before you can take the UHRS assessment.

This includes language skills, payment data, tax information, or phone verification, depending on your account.

If the assessment screen does not appear, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have failed.

The UHRS assessment may only become available at certain times.

How to Sign In to UHRS

After you’ve successfully passed the UHRS assessment, Clickworker’s current instructions indicate that you can either find the task in the general task list for Clickworker or use the UHRS banner.

You’ll use the Microsoft ID that you created during the UHRS assessment.

Your access to UHRS will be available for eight hours at a time, according to Clickworker. You’ll have to sign in through Clickworker again to refresh your login.

Since you may already have access to UHRS through another vendor, avoid creating another access point for UHRS.

Clickworker warns that using multiple vendors to access UHRS will result in your account being suspended.

UHRS Tasks: What Are They Like?

UHRS typically involves projects that use the term HitApps.

The available tasks change depending on what the company needs at the moment.

A given project may involve:

• Search relevance
• Comparisons
• Classification
• Image evaluation
• Relevance of a given result to a search query
• Quality of the content

Each HitApp will have its own conditions, so make sure that you understand the instructions for a task before you begin.

Never assume that your knowledge of a previous HitApp applies to the current one.

Always treat a new project as if you’ve never seen it before.

UHRS can therefore be another option for people interested in microtask jobs online, although access depends on the required assessment and available projects.

How Long Does It Take to Get Paid Through UHRS?

Payment through UHRS typically takes longer than most beginners expect.

According to Clickworker’s current guidelines, a completed task generally shows up in the UHRS report within approximately 20 to 30 minutes of completing it.

The Sunday-to-Saturday earnings for the week will then be added to your Clickworker balance the following Monday or Tuesday.

After that, it will take precisely 39 days for the earnings to become payable. During this time, quality control reviews can occur.

In other words, if you choose to work exclusively through UHRS, do not expect to be able to withdraw earnings on the same day.

How to Create a Toloka Account

Toloka is another platform that you can use.

During the registration process, make sure that you specify your information accurately and follow all of the instructions.

Toloka’s agreement states that only one account can be used per person and that another person cannot complete tasks on your behalf.

After creating your account, you can browse the tasks and the training programs that are available.

Don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t have hundreds of tasks.

The availability of tasks fluctuates. What Toloka chooses to offer on one day will be different on the next.

For this reason, task availability is another important consideration when using microtask jobs online.

Toloka Tasks: What Are They Like?

You can expect Toloka tasks to involve data work in a variety of contexts, including annotation and evaluation.

A simple example of a task may look like this:

Picture: a street with various objects

Question:

“Is there a bicycle?”

You select the appropriate response.

Another task may involve comparing two pieces of text, while a different project may involve audio, images, text, or something else entirely.

What matters is not the title of the task, but the instructions that come with it.

Training and Qualification: What Do They Mean?

Some Toloka tasks may have special training or qualifications.

You may see examples before you are given the actual task.

After you have demonstrated that you know the rules, you can proceed to the actual, paid task.

This is fair since a company will want to ensure that the data they receive is accurate.

You may fail a task, but don’t give up. Look for other projects that require different qualifications.

Can You Use Toloka to Switch Tasks After Submitting One?

Generally speaking, yes. You can use the available tasks for your account and the rules of the particular project to continue working with other tasks after you submit one.

You do not have to wait for a person to manually approve your submission before proceeding.

Keep in mind that your submission can still go through moderation after you have moved on to the next task.

Toloka’s agreement states that payment occurs after the task has been completed and approved, and that “payment of the prize is made no later than 30 days after the task is completed and accepted.”

The agreement also specifies what happens when your submission is rejected.

Always remember this rule: submit first, then consider your submission to be pending until the platform indicates that it has been approved.

What Happens If a Task Is Rejected?

If you receive a rejection, don’t panic.

Just understand that you might have followed the instructions incorrectly and selected an answer that did not meet the requirements of the project.

Toloka’s current agreement states that “when a submitted task is rejected, the worker has an option to edit and resubmit a task response one time” and that “compensation may be withheld upon failure to meet the requirements of the task.”

The best thing you can do is work carefully and double-check your answers before submitting them.

Always ask yourself if you followed the specific rule the project asked you to follow or if you provided an answer based on your own interpretation of the question.

How Much Can You Earn From These Projects?

There really isn’t an accurate baseline figure since everyone’s situation is different.

You can influence your earnings by:

• Number of tasks: More tasks means more opportunities to earn money.
• Pay per task: The amount of money you receive for each task.
• Your work speed and accuracy: Finishing tasks faster and with fewer errors will increase your overall income.
• Your qualification: Some tasks offer higher rewards, but you may need to meet specific criteria before you can access them.
• Country, language, and experience: These factors can influence the tasks you receive and the rewards you can earn.
• The demand for a particular project: More popular tasks will give you more work opportunities, but they may also be more competitive.

It’s easy to overlook the fact that a beginner has less to offer in most categories.

If a task pays $0.05 and takes 30 seconds, 100 completed tasks would produce $5 before any applicable adjustments.

But you may not have 100 such tasks, and your actual tasks can also take longer.

Related Reading:

20 Legitimate Online Jobs for Beginners With No Experience