Is this job worth applying to?

Pay

Paid per taskPaid per task, so it can't be set against hourly rates. How much you make depends on how fast you work.

Getting in

Some screening~30 min: resume upload + 20-min AI interview. Resume showing real experience in your field.

Steady work

Work is patchyProjects can pause or end with little notice.

Payout record

Pays on timeSchedule: weekly, every Wednesday. Paid via Stripe (Wise in a few countries).

Freshness

Older postPosted 3mo ago. Still listed on Mercor on Nov 6, 2026.

Where you live

Not statedThe listing names no country.

The job description

We're looking for engineers who have shipped production search systems (especially agentic ones now that we're in the era of LLMs and agents) and are thinking hard about the requirements and optimizations of those systems.

You've probably:

Owned relevance or retrieval on a system real users depended on
Decided how to quantify impact and improvements with these systems.
Built out systems related to agentic search.
Scaled data infrastructure to power modern search systems.

This is a 25-minute conversational interview. No coding, no take-home. We want to hear how you actually think about search quality, evaluation, and the tradeoffs you've made in real systems. Bring war stories — the messier and more specific, the better.

If your interview stands out, we'll follow up with a paid 30-minute live conversation with our team — $200 for your time, paid on completion of the call.

If that sounds like you, apply and complete the interview. We review every submission.

How do you apply to Mercor?

Apply on Mercor

The Apply button opens this post on Mercor's own site. You apply with them, not with Rubric. Budget about 30 min: resume upload + 20-min AI interview.

Get through screening

What Mercor asks for after you apply:

Take the recorded AI video interview (practice round available)
Complete any role-specific assessment and the ID check
Accept the offer and sign the contract

Start work and get paid

Pay schedule: weekly, every Wednesday. Paid via Stripe (Wise in a few countries). You're paid for the work they hand out, not a fixed salary.

Mercor also needs

Resume showing real experience in your field
Webcam with your full face visible for the AI interview
Government ID

Red flags

Red flagLong waits with no offer after passing the interview
Red flagProjects ending abruptly with little warning

What is Mercor like to work for?

Hiring marketplace that screens professionals with an AI video interview and places them on hourly contracts training and evaluating models for AI labs.

Advertised pay	$20–200/hr
Getting in	Some screening
Application takes	~30 min: resume upload + 20-min AI interview
How you get paid	Weekly, every Wednesday, via Stripe (Wise in a few countries)
Payout record	Pays on time
Countries	Hires in many countries and runs its pay week on India Standard Time; Mercor keeps a list of locations it cannot onboard, and some projects are US-only.

Most listings sit around $50–100/hr; healthcare, legal and finance roles pay the most, language and generalist roles the least.