Submitting your CV

Maybe you’ve ended up on our homepage and gone through our current opportunities, or a friend tagged you in a post on our LinkedIn — whichever way you found us, the first step is submitting your CV. 

From the very beginning, accuracy and honesty is key. We’re looking for professionals and experts with specific skills, backgrounds, experience, and knowledge. That’s why we ask all applicants to ensure their CVs are up-to-date and honestly reflect their expertise. 

The Mindrift community is enormous (20,000+ AI trainers!) and very diverse, coming from every corner of the world. With such a large number of contributors, we also take fraud very seriously. At the end of the day, we want to make sure our AI Trainers are safe, happy, and fairly compensated for their contributions. 

“Although we trust our community, we still encounter attempts at fraud or manipulation. It’s important for us to know that a user is a real person, even if we never meet in person. That’s why any suspicious behavior patterns are treated as risks not only for the platform, but for every expert involved,” said our Acquisition Specialist, Anna. 

This is where things get a little sticky. The screening process is designed to keep applicants, Mindrift, and our clients safe, so sometimes things take a little while. 

“Some candidates expect to be onboarded instantly, but that does not occur all the time. There can be a significant gap between submitting an application o“I applied last week and haven’t heard back yet.”

“I completed my assessments but don’t see any tasks on my dashboard.”

“I was asked to verify my identity — why would I need to do that?”

Questions and comments like these pop up all the time. We see them in our support tickets, your emails, and as comments on social media posts. 

Our How It Works page provides a brief overview of the entire process, but we wanted to dive in a little deeper and explain what actually happens the moment you hit that submit button. From submitting your CV to joining a project, we’ve got you covered — with insights from one of our Acquisition Specialists. 

n the platform and contributing to the first project,” explained Anna. 

We also open opportunities only when there is a real need. If an opportunity is listed on the website, it means we’re preparing for a new project or already supporting an active one — but timelines still depend on client schedules, project readiness, and the specific expertise required.

To sum it up, when you submit your CV, we assess whether your skills, background, education, and experience are a good fit for current or upcoming projects. At the same time, we apply anti-fraud principles to keep our platform and contributors safe. 

With all these steps, you might not hear from us right away but that doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be invited to join Mindrift. 

Completing assessments or interviews

If we think you’re a good match for potential projects, we reach out with next steps. This is usually a language assessment, skills test, interview, or a combination of these. Let’s tackle these one by one. 

Language assessments

AI Trainers spend most of their time communicating with models. They also need to score outputs using rubrics, read and understand project guidelines, and complete onboarding tasks — all of which require a strong command of the working language.

We also understand that many people aren’t native-level speakers but are self-taught (which is amazing!). We just need you to show us that you understand nuance, context, and key expressions in the chosen language — that’s why language assessments are a typical part of the application process. 

Skills tests

Skills tests focus on your professional expertise. Our project descriptions are sometimes broad, and these tests help us understand where your strengths lie. For example, if you apply as a mathematics expert, we need to know you’re comfortable with everything from basic fractions to more advanced theories.

It’s also important that applicants complete these assessments using their own knowledge. We rely on your real expertise to match you with opportunities where you can bring value — not replicate what current AI models already generate. Even the strongest professionals don’t know absolutely everything, which is why each project has a reasonable minimum cut-off score to ensure fairness.

Short AI interviews

To evaluate applicants, we use two qualification formats: tests and AI-led interviews. Depending on the opportunity, you might complete one of them — or a combination of both — for evaluating language and domain knowledge.

AI interviews are short, flexible, and fully automated, allowing applicants to complete them whenever their schedule permits.

For a global, remote-first platform like Mindrift — where applicants and the acquisition team are often in different time zones — this approach keeps the process smooth and accessible.

There’s no need to be worried about an AI interview. It’s simply another format to share your real experience and, in many ways, an opportunity to see how modern AI evaluation tools work from the inside. Similar to tests, we kindly ask applicants not to use AI tools during the interview. This helps us understand your actual skills and ensures you’re matched with opportunities where your expertise truly matters.

“Certain opportunities, especially those requiring sensitive expertise (medicine, high-precision sciences, coding), undergo more thorough review. We’re responsible for the quality we deliver to clients, so applications for these projects are processed with extra care,” explained Anna.

Verifying your identity

Chances are, if you’re an AI Trainer on Mindrift, we’ll probably never meet face-to-face. That’s just the nature of this type of freelance, remote, global opportunity — and that’s also why identity verification is a critical step. 

If you’ve passed the assessments and received an invitation to join Mindrift, you’ll have to complete identity verification through our partner, Persona. This is usually a very quick process, and as long as you use accurate information, you’ll be on your way to the next step in a few days. 

Curious about the entire process? Check out our in-depth identity verification article where we cover what it is, why we require it, and how to get it right. 

Joining a project and onboarding

The project lifecycle is such a misunderstood concept that we have an entire blog post dedicated to it (which we really recommend you read). 

Applicants often expect to apply, complete assessments, receive an invitation, and immediately jump into a project. While that does happen sometimes, the more typical process is a bit slower. Here’s how it usually works:

• Active, high-priority projects: Experts who have the skills and background required for active, high-priority projects — as in projects that are physically underway — usually move into the onboarding step very quickly. Why? We have tasks available and we need more experts to complete them!

• Talent pools: Experts who have the skills and background perfect for upcoming projects move into talent pools. The projects might be confirmed but not yet launched, in the negotiation stage, or something else — but they’re definitely not live, which means there aren’t any tasks available yet. 

AI Trainers who find themselves in a talent pool are the ones who might face some delays. As Anna explains, “Sometimes the client’s project is delayed or cancelled for reasons outside our control. In such cases, experts we originally planned to invite may temporarily be left without tasks. We understand how frustrating this is especially after completing tests and other preparation steps.” 

Once a project in your domain launches, you’re moved into the onboarding phase. This is the pre-project period and it’s essential to read through the guidelines, ensure you understand the objectives and what’s required of you, and keep up with communications. Speaking of communication …

“Please don’t ignore your Discord invitation. Without it, working on tasks becomes more difficult. Joining the server is the last step before starting, so you need to create a Discord account in advance. Besides, Discord is also a place to chat about non-work topics and even organize meetups with other experts,” said Anna. 

Want to ace onboarding? We put together some onboarding tips and tricks to make the process smooth sailing. 

What’s next? Complete tasks, get paid

Once the project officially launches, you move from onboarding to live tasks — and that’s the entire timeline, in depth. 

We understand that getting from CV submission to the first task might seem like a lengthy process. But it’s designed to keep applicants safe, make sure we match experts and projects perfectly, and get high-quality results for our clients. 

Ready for your next deep dive inside Mindrift? Learn how the payment process works so that you’re prepared once payday rolls around.