u/boarded_earnest

Hey everyone, I just wanted to share a bit of what happened with me. At first, I tried almost every AI platform I saw people talking about, like DataAnnotation, Appen, Remotasks, Outlier, and others. Either I got rejected, or most of them never replied to me at all. I also applied to around 30 jobs on Merrcor, and nothing worked out at first.

Then, after about 6 months, I suddenly got an email from Merrcor saying I had been accepted as a generalist expert. The pay is 65 USD per hour, which honestly still feels weird/too good to me. I've been working with them for about 6 weeks, and the tasks so far have been fairly steady.

To save some people time and maybe stress, honestly, I'd recommend them much more than the others. I'm not trying to promote anything here, I'm just sharing because I know how annoying it gets when you apply everywhere and feel like nothing is working. It can take time and be stressful lol, but it does happen eventually.

Good luck to everyone!

I work in the pharmacy department at one of the biggest supermarket chains that's supposed to be "respectable" and employee-owned. Real lunch breaks basically don't exist for us, because we're always understaffed, and any random rush can bury us in a second, so food gets swallowed quickly the moment there's half a second of quiet, while we're still on shift.

Earlier this week, I finally found a tiny chance to quickly go to the drinks aisle and grab a can of Peace Tea so I could pay and get right back behind the counter. That's what I usually do. This time, of course, there were several customers ahead of me and the line was moving painfully slowly. While I was standing there holding it, I opened it and took one sip. Then I paid for it normally and went straight back to my department.

About 50 minutes later, the store manager came over with two assistant managers and started questioning me about the tea. I showed them the receipt and told them they could check the cameras because I paid. They told me they had already checked the cameras, and what they saw was that I violated company policy by drinking something before buying it. I was so shocked that at first I didn't know how to answer. I literally went silent from shock.

Then the store manager told me, "Choose your next words very carefully," like I was being interrogated over some massive crime and not a cheap tea that I had literally bought. He asked me if I was under the influence of anything. Seriously??? I told him no, because obviously no, so he sent me home early and said I was temporarily banned from entering the place until he got a response from corporate.

After five days without pay, I got a call asking if I could come in to "talk about my future." I drove 45 minutes from one side of the city to the other just to sit in a room with corporate vultures while they tried to make me out to be a criminal over "stealing merchandise"... Even though the receipt was in my hand. They fired me right there on the spot. A giant multibillion-dollar company apparently can't survive the "theft" of a $1.19 can of tea.

And at the same time, I'm 20 years old and sleeping in my car and using a gym membership just so I can shower and have the basics. I already wasn't making enough to live before all this, rent around here keeps going up, I feel like a fucking failure, and I don't understand what I'm supposed to do now. My whole body hurts, I feel completely alone, I hate this life, and I just want to scream until there's nothing left in me.

I'm trying to stay in decent shape. Most days after work, I go to a trail near the office to run for a bit. When I finish my day, I quickly go into the women's bathroom, change, and head straight out. But on this particular night, about a month ago, someone named "Megan" from another team was struggling badly with a messy Excel macro. I didn't know all the details of the file, but from what I understood, it was the last thing standing between them and an important submission for a big client.

So I had changed clothes and was literally on my way out when Megan called out to me and asked if I could take a quick look before I left. She's still new at the company and honestly a nice girl, so I stopped and started explaining what was broken. That's when her team lead, "Grant," jumped into the conversation and told me it wasn't appropriate for me to do office work dressed like that. I wasn't wearing anything revealing, just running clothes: a sports bra and shorts. I'm not trying to humblebrag, but I'm fit and I have... Let's just say noticeable curves. Grant is the kind of middle manager who doesn't have enough authority to be important, but has just enough to make your afternoon irritating. He also has strong uptight-prude energy.

I told him I hadn't been planning to work; I was leaving, and had only stopped because Megan asked for help. Grant didn't want to hear it. He told me either I had to go back and change into office clothes again, or leave the building immediately. I wasn't going to let Grant control me just because I was helping someone after work hours, so I apologized to Megan and left.

I found out afterward that the client materials had to be sent that same night, and Grant's team missed the deadline. The company lost the account because of it, and it was a seriously painful account. Think upper five figures a year. Grant eventually got fired, partly for losing the account, and partly because he had dumped a large chunk of the work on Megan even though she hadn't been trained on it. And he was the one responsible for it in the first place.

Megan is still with the company, and now we've been matched through an internal mentorship thing. I wish I could tell you I see Grant every night standing miserable and sad next to the running trail, but unfortunately real life doesn't always wrap stories up that perfectly.

I'm 17, I have autism and OCD, and I used to mess around with drugs. My dad is locked up, and my mom works two shifts just to barely keep us above the poverty line. We live in a rough inner-city area, and I feel like everyone around me is throwing their life away. Honestly, I was heading down the same path until some good people from the church helped me get my head straight and wake up.

My dream is to become a doctor. I'm starting senior year in a few weeks, and my grades so far are very average. Have I ruined my chances at a scholarship? Should I go into the military and use the GI Bill so I can go to community college first, then transfer to a university? I really don't know which step to take.

I'm a 32-year-old woman, and I've spent most of my life trying to please people and constantly undervaluing myself. That made me pretty much the "best employee" in almost every role I've worked, while somehow keeping me stuck at a below-average salary. For the first time, I gave a salary range in an interview that was appropriate for what I bring to the table. They rejected me because of it, and I still feel amazing!!

I did a ton of research beforehand, and I'm confident that the number I asked for was fair for the responsibilities, the market, and my background. This rejection isn't proof that I asked for too much. It's proof that the company wanted someone to take on senior-level work while paying them entry-level money.

I spent years lowballing myself on salary, staying quiet, or accepting whatever offer came my way because I was afraid of losing the opportunity. Not this time!

Know your worth. Don't settle for crumbs. Tell imposter syndrome to shut up. You've got this!

I had a really good interview at the start of this week, and by the time we were wrapping up, I was almost sure they were going to make me an offer. So when they asked me about my current total compensation, I inflated the number and told them I was earning more than I am.

They came back with a 38% increase over the salary I had "adjusted," which in the end turned out to be about a 72% increase compared to my real package.

Was that the most honest thing to do? Definitely not.

Do I feel guilty? Honestly, no.

I'm not saying everyone should do this, but in my case it turned out better than I expected. I hope it works out for you too if you're in the same situation.