Leapforce is one of a small handful of companies that hire at home search engine evaluators. However, they have extremely mixed reviews online – some are claiming it’s a scam, yet others say it’s great. So what’s the truth?

So what’s the deal? Is Leapforce a scam?

No, they’re a legitimate independent company contracted by the big search engine companies (Google) to help them assess their algorithm. They say Google is always striving to be the best and give quality results, and they hire real people to help them in the process. When you’re hired as a search engine evaluator, you’re an independent contractor – not an employee. This means that you’re paycheck is not taxed and you’re responsible for withholding your own taxes.

In order to get hired you need to fill out an online application and submit a resume. If you’re selected, you have to take a series of 2 exams. They send you the training material and give you 1 week to take it. It’s a very difficult exam and a lot of people do not pass (but many do).

So why is there so much trash talk about Leapforce?

• Their pay rate is misleading – You’re told that you’ll be making a certain amount hourly, however that is not 100% accurate. You are paid for the time it should have taken you to do the work rather than how long it actually took you to do the work. In other words, they calculate how long they think each task will take you, and pay you for each task no matter how long it took. If they think a task will take you 5 minutes but it takes you 10, you’ll only be allowed to get paid for 5 minutes. Alternatively if it took you 3 minutes to do that 5 minute task, you don’t get paid more for working faster – you just have to sit there for that 2 extra minutes and wait for the next task. Those who work slower will end up getting paid a lot less and potentially fired if they are too slow. Those who work too fast won’t get any added benefit and could end up being punished too if they think they’re going too fast. Ultimately, you need to work at their pace.
• You’re not paid for training (which takes up a lot of time) -Once you get past the initial examinations (which are difficult and time consuming) there is a huge learning curve and you are not paid for any time spent training, studying, taking tests or watching webinars. This will have a negative impact on your pay rate, especially when first starting out.
• Not consistent work – Unfortunately work won’t always be available 24/7, and depending when you are able to work you may not be able to reach as many hours per week as you wanted. Some of these companies have a weekly/monthly cap on how many hours you can work, but I don’t think Leapforce does. However it may be very hard to actually reach 40 hours a week – expect around 20 and don’t count on it for a full time income.
• They can easily fire you – They’re known for letting people go at any time. They have certain work quality standards you have to adhere to and if you fall below you’ll get threatened with termination. However their “quality” is subjective and doesn’t mean the person isn’t working hard, just that they’re not agreeing to their standards.

What makes it hard is that they’re trying to standardize tasks that are inherently subjective!

Trying to standardize something that is inherently subjective is extremely difficult. Testing to monitor quality and relevancy of search engine result queries is something that isn’t an exact science. Of course there will be discrepancies, and however much they try to “standardize” it with their rules and guidelines, it’s still going to be difficult for a lot of people to perform in the exact way they want. Hence, why so many people complain about their sub-par performance levels.

I know first hand from scoring standardized tests, this was a huge problem. You have to be able to take their guidelines and apply them to each unique situation. There are people that will be really good at doing this, and those that can’t. It’s just the nature of the work.

The main thing to realize here is this job just isn’t for everyone.

It may not be the greatest job and you may be treated like a disposable object, but that doesn’t really make it a scam. The fact is they DO pay you and many people do this work with no problems. I think a lot of people who complain about Leapforce have too many expectations for the job. It isn’t a full time reliable job. You don’t get benefits, vacation time, nor are you guaranteed to remain working for them for any set amount of time. It’s a contracted project and you are not their employee.

Unfortunately it may require a large initial time commitment that may not pan out in the end. However for many it is a great source of extra income. I’d say if you are a college student, stay at home parent, or just in need of a second income source for yourself then go for it. If you’re trying to make it a full time profession, you’ll be majorly disappointed.

What other companies hire for this type of work?

• Lionsgate
• Butler Hill
• Workforce Logic

You can easily find these companies from a quick Google search.

If you’re looking for a sustainable way to earn a full time income online, learn how Wealthy Affiliate can benefit you…

Did you know that those with social anxiety are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed than those with depression? A clinical psychologist at Brown University by the name of Ethan Moitra did a study comparing unemployment rates between those with depression, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and other similar types of disorders. He found that those with social anxiety were more than twice as likely to be unemployed than the others.

While it is possible for some people to overcome social anxiety, it’s easier when treatment is done early. For those who have suffered for a long time, treatment may not help significantly. Even so, not everyone will always be willing to reach out for help. I truly believe that internet marketing is a fantastic career field for people who suffer from social anxiety disorder and cannot get adequate help. As an internet marketer, you have the freedom to create your own business with very little real world interaction.

You can work from home or wherever you feel the most comfortable. Unlike a real world business, you don’t have the in person customer interaction. The ability to talk to your customers over the internet takes away most of the social stress. And if you go into affiliate sales, your actual sales and customer complaints are taken care of by the merchant, not you. It’s actually a perfect scenario for people who hate or intensely fear interacting with the real world.

My struggle with social anxiety and how it affected my career

Something I don’t like to talk about is my social anxiety. It’s something I have been quietly suffering from my entire life. Most people who know me or meet me just think I’m shy or very quiet, but the truth is, it goes so far beyond that. Unless you suffer from it yourself you really have no idea what I and many others with social anxiety disorder have to deal with on a daily basis.

Let’s Talk about Shy vs. Social Anxiety

Being shy and having social anxiety are similar, but are on entirely different levels. While there’s quite varying degrees of social anxiety, even the mildest is above the point of simply being a bit shy.

Being shy is having a few butterflies in the tummy before meeting someone new, being a bit scared to make friends or speak up, or not liking being the center of attention. However, if those feelings are so intense they causes physical symptoms and get in the way of your life, it’s a sign you might have social anxiety. SA can make you fret over little things involving any form of social interaction for literally days, weeks, or sometimes even months before. Some people suffer so severely they have a hard time going out or interacting at all with others.

While my personal situation isn’t that serious, being involved or just thinking about certain social interactions can make me hot, sweaty and sick to my stomach. And still have to fight battles in my head every single day of my life.

I basically coasted my way through high school, college and all my past jobs with as little social interaction as possible, greatly hindering my ability to make connections and form relationships with my professors and supervisors. (These days I’m sure you know how important connections are when getting hired).

My situation was so bad I realized it had been nearly three years since I graduated college and I had nothing of importance to show for it…

I had hit a wall. I was letting my struggle with social anxiety take over my life, and I realized I had to do something. The whole career world out there was really hard for me to deal with, and I couldn’t keep working a crappy job forever. The bad economy made my already terrible situation just 10 times worse. Now not only was I struggling to try and be a normal person in the employment world, the job market was officially crap and even regular people who were friendly, outgoing and knew tons of people were having trouble finding a job. How was I going to ever compete with that?

That’s when I decided to try out online business

I thought about it for a long time and considered all sorts of possibilities, but then I had it. Everything is going online these days, I figured the internet was an excellent place to start making money, and best of all I could do it on my own. I spent countless hours researching and training myself how it all worked, I was absolutely determined to make it happen. I found an online training program and support community for internet marketers like no other place out there, and it did wonders to help me succeed.

I wish I had started this years ago, because lord knows how much time I wasted and how much farther along I could be now.

I would love more than anything to be able to effortlessly interact with everyone around me, but unfortunately I’ve been struggling with it from 27 years and I know it will never be something that comes easy for me. For me, the online business world was the perfect solution.

Do you struggle from social anxiety? Have any questions or comments? I’d love to here from you, so drop a reply down below or get in touch with me personally if you want, you can send me an email at wendyjane@survivingaftercollege.com. I’m always willing to offer my help and support.

Wendy
Owner, SurvivingAfterCollege.com