Tell Us About Us
http://www.tellusaboutus.com
Type of Shops: restaurant evaluations, fast food, and customer service.
How many jobs (average) per month: 2 - more if we were willing to travel further.
Compensation: You are paid for your purchases, such as food, as well as a commission.
Payment: PayPal is used for all payments, and is processed the month following your shop(s).
How to Report Shops: Reports are filled out online through their website via an interactive questionnaire.
Requirements to sign up: Email address, PayPal account, and the standard personal information.
Do We Recommend?: Yes. There are often many good opportunities and scheduling is fast and easy. You often get free food for a quick and easy shop. We stumbled on this site from another site and have been very happy with them.
Do you have experience with Tell Us About Us? Please share your experiences and opinions in the comments below. The more reviews of a company there are, the more valuable this resource will become.
Tell Us About Us - Mystery Shopping
on Thursday
Customer Perspectives - Mystery Shopping
on Wednesday
Customer Perspectives http://www.customerperspectives.com/
Type of Shops: customer service and retail evaluations
How many jobs (average) per month: 1 (we've been given more than one opportunity but have declined due to distance, there are actually many shops available each month)
Compensation: You are paid a straight commission. So far none of the shops we've seen require purchases and our compensation has ranged from $10 to $25.
Payment: PayPal is used for all payments, and is processed the month following your shop(s).
How to Report Shops: Reports are filled out online through their website via an interactive questionnaire.
Requirements to sign up: Email address, PayPal account, and the standard personal information.
Do We Recommend?: Yes. There are often many good opportunities and scheduling is fast and easy - we haven't done as many as we have been offered because they are a little farther away than we would normally like, but there are always plenty of opportunities.
Do you have experience with Customer Perspectives? Please share your experiences and opinions in the comments below. The more reviews of a company there are, the more valuable this resource will become.
Trendsource
http://www.trendsource.com/
Type of Shops: customer service retail evaluation, stocked items checking, restaurant evaluations. There are revealed and non-revealed shops with Trendsource.
How many jobs (average) per month: 5
Compensation: You are reimbursed for any items you purchase up to a certain amount (different for each shop), you will also receive a commission for the shop, and if requested (and approved) you may even receive reimbursement for long distances traveled.
Payment: Payments are processed on the 5th and 20th of each month and sent via PayPal or personal check
Scheduling: You self assign through the website, either by "city/town" or by distance from a certain zip code.
How to Report Shops: Reports are filled out online through their website, and require you to upload any receipts you may have acquired. Reports are generally short and easy to fill out.
Requirements to sign up: Email address to get introductory information. Right now they are really looking for Canadian shoppers.
Do We Recommend?: Yes. There are often many good opportunities and scheduling is fast and easy.
Do you have experience with Trendsource? Please share your experiences and opinions in the comments below. The more reviews of a company there are, the more valuable this resource will become.
JC and Associates: Mystery Shopping
on Sunday
JC and Associates
http://www.jcandassociates.com/
Type of Shops: restaurant evaluations
How many jobs (average) per month: 1 - there are usually a few more opportunities in our area but we don't have time to do them. Opportunities come up randomly, so you need to check the site frequently to see if new things in your area have been posted.
Compensation: You are reimbursed for food and for the shop with a flat rate. This means you are given an amount to spend, and whatever you don't spend on food you keep as "commission." If you order one entree you keep more money than if you order an entree, appetizer, drinks, and dessert. If you go over the flat rate you will not be reimbursed for the overage.
Payment: Payments are processed about 2 months after the shop is completed, for example: January evaluations are Paid Between March 15th - April 10th. Right now checks and PayPal payments are used, but they are switching to only PayPal, so you need to have an account.
Scheduling: When new shops are posted at the beginning of the month you are sent an email alert, but only at the beginning of the month. Then you self assign the specific shops you are interested in. After selecting a shop it will show up as "Pending" in your"My Reports" section, this indicates that you are assigned the shop - no other notification will be sent.
How to Report Shops: Reports are due 24 hours from the time you complete your shop. You login to your workroom and select the specific shop from your reports, then you edit the information and submit. It is a little more complicated to figure out how to edit the reports, but submission is a simple online form. After your shop has been submitted correctly the status will go from "Pending" to "Final Review" indicating that it is being examined, and finally when your shop is approved the status is "Mailed", meaning the report has been sent to their client, the restaurant management.
Requirements to sign up: Name, address, email, phone, etc. Also, PayPal account, and a writing sample about a good and bad shopping experience.
Do We Recommend?: Yes. There aren't as many shops here as some other companies, but going out to eat and not having to spend any money is a lot of fun. We have really enjoyed working with them so far. Favorite aspects are getting free meals with shops that are relatively easy to do, while our least favorite aspect is the slightly longer pay period.
Do you have experience with JC and Associates? Please share your experiences and opinions in the comments below. The more reviews of a company there are, the more valuable this resource will become.
Census Bureau Jobs - Part time, temporary
on Wednesday
US Census
http://www.census.gov/2010censusjobs/index.php
Sometimes getting a part time job is hard because the hours won't work with your other full time job or your schedule. There is a unique opportunity that comes up every 10 years - a part time job, with hours that match your time off, and is very close to home: Census Bureau jobs.
Working for the census is only part time ("when people are likely to be home"), temporary ("until all the data is collected", about 10 weeks), and actually in your neighborhood; and it just so happens that this year (2010) is a census year, so there are many part time jobs available to help the government with data collection.
What is it? Every ten years the US government is obligated to take a census count of all the people living in the nation. This takes a lot of work, and many part time workers, to gather millions of pieces of information. You will work locally (in your county and neighborhood) to collect statistics on the residents.
How does it work? First you need to register to take an applicant test. You can do that by going to the census.gov website: http://www.census.gov/2010censusjobs/howtoapply.php and calling the toll free number. The toll free number will give you the number of your local agency who will find a testing location in your area and sign you up. We found that there were many times available, and were able to take the test two days after calling.
The application test is a 28 question multiple choice exam that looks at many things including: math skills, analyzing maps, logic, and clerical skills. There is a practice test here. Before taking the exam you will need to fill out an official application and I9 form which requires you to have a few forms of identification. To find out what types qualify see the "list of approved identication."
After passing the test you will be given a background check. If you pass that then you will be asked to participate in a phone interview. Finally you will go through paid training for a week, and then begin working. According to one reader of Spilling Buckets, Adam, applicants are hired by the order of their scores - so people who get 100% on the exam are hired before people who get 80%, ect.
How much am I paid? Payment depends on your location, and ranges from $8 - $20 per hour. Our location (Rochester, NY) is offering $13.50/hr plus mileage reimbursements.
What are the duties? There are two main types of jobs: updating addresses and conducting interviews, but there are other jobs as well. From the census website:
The main address list updating operation is called Address Canvassing, which will take place in spring 2009. During the Address Canvassing operation, census takers visit all the places where people live or could live. The census taker must knock on each resident's door and if someone answers explain that he or she is verifying the correct address for a short census questionnaire that will be mailed in 2010.
Interviewing operations will take place in the spring and summer of 2010. These operations involve knocking on doors and conducting interviews with residents. The largest interviewing operation is called Non-Response Follow-up. Non-Response Follow-up is performed to get responses from people who have not returned the mail-delivered Census form.
Besides census takers, some people will work as Crew Leaders or Crew Leader Assistants. These positions each coordinate the schedules and work of a team of census takers and meet with each census taker on a daily basis. Others will perform office work at Local Census Offices.
What are the hours? From the website: Work schedules for census takers typically include from 20 to 40 hours of work per week. Some census operations (such as Address Canvassing) require you to work during daylight hours. For interviewing operations such as Non-Response Follow-up, you must be available to work when people are usually at home, such as in the evening and on weekends. Hours for office jobs are less variable but can involve shift work.
Any special qualifications? You need to meet the following criteria:
- Able to read, write, and speak English
- US Citizen or legal permanent resident, or non-citizen with an appropriate work visa, and you possess a bilingual skill for which there are no available qualified citizens.
- Are at least 18 years old
- Have a valid Social Security Number (SSN)
- Pass the test
- Pass a background check
- Have a drivers license (for field work jobs)
- and are able to make 40 hours of training, available 4 weekdays or 7 nights and weekends (paid)
Do you have experience working on a census? Please share your experiences and opinions in the comments below.
