How to get hired at Terac

Como funciona a contratação

Terac is an expert marketplace run by Terac Inc. in San Francisco. You make one profile, then apply to separate opportunities: one-time studies, paid trials, and ongoing projects paid by the hour or by the task. Many are AI-training work, such as evaluating AI answers, building reinforcement-learning environments, writing prompts and annotation. Others are market-research interviews and surveys. Each opportunity has its own requirements, screening and review.

1. Sign in at terac.com/login with LinkedIn, Google, Microsoft, GitHub or Facebook; there is no Terac password.
2. Verify your phone. This is the only required onboarding step.
3. Build your profile from LinkedIn or your CV, and take the optional onboarding interview.
4. Apply to opportunities: an automatic requirement check, then screening by form, short AI interview or file upload.
5. Do the tasks, assessment or paid trial, or join a project.
6. Verify your ID and cash out your US-dollar balance.

Creating an account is free. Projects run for weeks or months and can be extended, shortened or ended early.

Sources: Expert docs · Opportunities · Create an account · Set up your profile · Help

Before you start

• Your age and location. 18 or over, not in a country under a US embargo, and not on a US list of restricted people. Each opportunity also sets its own location rules.
• A mobile number from a supported country. Virtual numbers such as Google Voice, and landlines, don’t work. If Terac says it isn’t available in your country yet, numbers from there aren’t supported for now. Terac publishes no list.
• A camera and microphone on a computer or phone. Interviews need both, with the camera on. Some opportunities and recorded assessments need a computer, with any extra monitor unplugged. Chrome or Edge work best.
• Your LinkedIn profile or a CV as a PDF of up to 10 MB. Both are optional; LinkedIn is recommended.
• A government photo ID (passport, driving licence or national ID) from the country where you live, needed before your first cash-out.
• For hourly projects, a computer that runs Insightful: Windows 10 or later, macOS 11 or later, or Linux (in beta). Chromebooks, tablets and phones aren’t supported.
• Visa status. Many current listings say Terac can’t take people on H-1B or STEM OPT visas.

Terac publishes no VPN rule. Its terms don’t allow giving a false identity, qualifications or personal details to get into studies or round eligibility rules. It blocks use from regions where it isn’t available, and collects location data from your IP address and GPS.

Sources: Terms of Service · Set up your profile · Troubleshooting · Interviews · Tasks · Time tracking · An AI-training listing · Account standing · Privacy Policy

Creating your account

1. Go to terac.com/login and sign in with LinkedIn (recommended, because it fills in your background), Google, Microsoft, GitHub or Facebook.
2. Phone: on a computer, scan the QR code and send the ready-made text; on a phone, tap Open Messages. If that doesn’t work, choose Verify with a code instead for a six-digit code. You can ask for a new code every 60 seconds, up to five a day, to at most two numbers.
3. Sources (optional): connect LinkedIn or upload your CV. Terac uses it to fill in your experience, education and certifications. I’ll do that later skips this step.
4. Profile: Terac builds your profile in about 15 to 30 seconds. Without LinkedIn or a CV, choose I’ll fill it in manually.
5. Interview (optional): the onboarding interview, about ten minutes. Skip for now leaves it for later, from Home.

Once your phone is verified, onboarding counts as complete and you can apply. Home then lists what is left: CV, profile, interview and identity verification.

Avoiding a second account

• Always sign in with the same provider. If its email differs from your Terac email, Terac treats you as a new account.
• You can’t merge accounts yourself; contact support. An email from a deleted account can’t be used to sign up again.
• Forwarding addresses ending in @expert.terac.com can’t be used to sign in.
• To add another way to sign in, go to Profile → Identity & Security → Linked Accounts and use an account with the same email. A LinkedIn or GitHub account already linked to another Terac account can’t be connected again.

Sources: Create an account · Set up your profile · Troubleshooting · Verification

Your profile

Terac says completed profiles are much more likely to be approved for opportunities. Researchers look for relevant experience, a verified identity, connected accounts, and a profile that is accurate and complete. Connecting LinkedIn helps them trust your background and can get you considered for more work.

The four sections

• About You: full name, headline and a short summary.
• Experience: role, company, company website, start and end dates, city, country and an optional description.
• Education: school, degree, dates, and an optional major and GPA.
• Rate: the hourly rate you’d like, which you can change at any time.

Save with All set. Terac also suggests a photo, your skills, a verified phone and identity, LinkedIn and your CV. Under Profile → Availability you can connect Google Calendar and save a booking link, such as Calendly, for booked sessions; Terac also lists Microsoft Bookings.

Keep your job, skills, certifications, rate, main email and phone up to date. Some answers used for matching can only be changed from time to time.

Most work needs at least undergraduate-level knowledge, and many projects ask for years of experience or an advanced degree. No previous AI experience is needed.

Sources: Set up your profile · Best practices · FAQ · Help · Interviews on your own calendar

The onboarding interview

An optional voice conversation with Sophia, Terac’s AI interviewer, of about ten minutes in English, about your background and the work you want. Terac uses it to match you to work.

• You can take it only once.
• You can pause it with Leave and finish later. If it drops, it continues where it stopped.
• Before it starts, share your entire screen (on a computer), allow the camera and microphone, and centre yourself in the frame.

Sources: Interviews · Set up your profile

Applying to an opportunity

Explore (terac.com/me/opportunities) lists open work under All, Project-based and One-time, and you can sort it by pay or by places left. Read “Who Should Apply” on each listing. Until your phone is verified, the button reads “Finish your profile to apply”. Terac advises verifying your ID early, since you need it to cash out.

Each opportunity shows its steps in a sidebar. They can include, in this order: Connect Accounts, Connect Calendar, Basic Info, Screening, Forwarding email, Tasks, Payout and Refer & earn. Project-based opportunities end at “You’re in” rather than a payout.

• The requirement check. Each opportunity sets requirements such as location, age, languages, job function or seniority, and earlier related studies. They’re checked when you open it and again after Basic Info. A mismatch ends the application before screening, without saying which requirement failed, and doesn’t affect your other applications.
• One attempt each. One application per person, and one attempt, for each opportunity.
• Several at once. You can apply to several opportunities. If a place fills while you apply, your progress is saved.
• Check back often. Explore hides work you’ve started, been invited to or finished, and work that is full. Opportunities you don’t fit appear under “Refer & earn” and can’t be applied to.

Sources: How to apply · FAQ · Screeners

Screening questions

Screening is a form with questions one at a time and no going back, a short AI voice interview, or a file upload. On some opportunities Sophia asks the same questions by text or chat, marked the same way. Questions cover who you are, your experience with topics or products, and your opinions and habits. Most screeners take a few minutes.

• Tell the truth. Terac calls this the most important rule. Misrepresenting yourself can get a submission rejected or the account banned.
• Stay consistent with your profile, your other answers in the same screener and anything you’ve said before.
• Read each question closely: time frames (“past 30 days” or “ever”), exact numbers (“more than 5” or “5 or more”) and “none of the above”.
• Type your answers. Pasting is blocked in most text boxes and question text can’t be copied. Some questions, such as one asking for a link, allow pasting.

A screen saying “Thanks for your responses!” with Continue onboarding means your profile isn’t finished.

Sources: Screeners · Troubleshooting

The AI screening interview

Usually about three minutes, sometimes longer, with no hard time limit, in the opportunity’s language (you can choose if several are offered). Questions come one at a time, with follow-ups based on your answers. Terac publishes no list of questions and no practice interview.

What you need

• A computer or phone with a camera and microphone. The camera stays on throughout. Some opportunities need a computer.
• Chrome or Edge.
• A quiet, well-lit room, your face in view and a steady connection.
• On a computer, external monitors unplugged. A TV or tablet connected through AirPlay or Sidecar counts as one.

Before it starts

Share your entire screen, not a window or tab; allow the camera and microphone; centre yourself; then choose I’m ready.

During the interview

• Switching tabs or windows, leaving full screen, muting, turning off the camera and stopping screen sharing are all recorded for the reviewer.
• Listen to the whole question and answer in your own words, with specific, real examples from your experience.
• Keep pauses short: a long silence may be taken as the end of your answer. Say “let me think” if you need a moment.
• Stay in the interview window and don’t reload the page.
• To finish, tell the interviewer you’re done so it wraps up. End interview ends it at once, without asking, and nothing is saved.

Review and retakes

The camera video, shared screen, audio, transcript and proctoring events are recorded. The AI interviewer doesn’t decide: a person on Terac’s team reviews the recording and transcript, though on some opportunities automated review can approve or decline you.

A finished interview can’t be retaken. One that dropped or was ended early starts again from the beginning. Before you try again, check whether it saved: a status such as “Under review” or “Client reviewing” means it did.

Sources: Interviews · Troubleshooting

Assessments, tasks and paid trials

Assessments open in a new tab with instructions and a time estimate. Answers can be written, uploaded as files, or both, and drafts save as you go. They’re listed under Assessments (Exams on narrow screens).

• Each assessment is taken once. Your response counts for every opportunity that asks for it, including later ones.
• Some are recorded, with screen sharing, camera and microphone, on a computer with any extra monitor unplugged. Responses are reviewed and can be declined.
• Some tasks start with a camera check: face visible, enough light, sitting upright, alone.
• Tasks have no timer but show an estimated time. Some open only after the one before is approved, and a submission can’t be changed once sent.

Paid trials

Some one-time opportunities are paid trials for a fixed sum shown on the listing. One asks domain experts to spend about an hour writing a hard prompt from a real workflow, testing it in ChatGPT while their screen, sound and camera are recorded, and noting where it fails; they then submit the prompt, the notes, a marking rubric and the file it produced. It needs a laptop or desktop and a ChatGPT account (the free plan is fine), and says high performers will be considered for ongoing paid projects. Image-evaluation listings mention a paid 30-minute calibration task before ongoing work.

Live sessions

Some studies include a live session, booked through Schedule your interview or from your connected calendar. Once you’re approved, Terac shows times when you and the researcher are both free, and sends reminders and a video link.

What reviewers look for

• Read the whole task and do exactly what it asks. Not following instructions is a common reason for rejection.
• Be thorough and avoid one-word answers.
• Give your own view rather than guessing the “right” answer, and check your writing before you submit.
• Don’t rush, don’t apply for work you can’t finish in time, and check your equipment and room first.

Sources: Tasks · Paid assessment on AI prompt design · Opportunities · Interviews on your own calendar · Best practices

AI tools and conduct

Answers in interviews and surveys must reflect your real experience and must not be scripted or written by AI. Knowingly false, scripted or AI-generated answers can lead to immediate, permanent suspension, and you lose any unpaid balance.

In project work, the terms don’t allow AI, machine-learning models or automated decision systems unless Terac or the client agrees in writing, nor bots or scripts that imitate a person. Productivity tools the client approves that don’t produce content are allowed. Some opportunities ask you to use an AI tool as part of the task, such as testing a prompt in ChatGPT: follow each listing.

What can end your account

• more than one account, or using, sharing, selling or renting someone else’s;
• fraud or gaming studies;
• false identity or personal details;
• knowingly false, scripted or AI-generated answers;
• an ID document already used on another Terac account, which fails the check and puts the account on hold.

Leaving the time tracker running while you’re not working counts as a quality issue. If you forget to stop it, tell the study team the same day.

Terac can close accounts without warning. An account closed for cause stays closed, you may not register again under any name, and pending earnings, and sometimes earlier ones, can be withheld or taken back.

Being screened out, an occasional rejected submission, or leaving a study you chose not to finish doesn’t count against you. To appeal a decision on your account, email [email protected] from your account email with details and screenshots. A person reads every appeal; no outcome is promised.

Sources: Expert terms · Terms of Service · Account standing · Time tracking · Verification · Paid assessment on AI prompt design

Invitations and projects

Invitations appear on Home under “Your turn”, marked “Invited”, with the pay and an expiry date. Declining an invitation (“Not for me”), or choosing “I’m not interested” at the agreement step, is final for that opportunity but doesn’t affect your account. Terac’s opportunities page says you can start right after applying; no typical wait is published.

One-time opportunities

Approved work is paid into your Terac balance shortly after approval, and the opportunity is then complete.

Projects

1. Finish the setup tasks, such as signing a contract online, joining the project Slack and installing the time tracker. You can download the signed contract, which appears under Documents as “My contract”.
2. When you see “You’re in”, work from the project handbook, with its Instructions, Materials, Time and Payout tabs. Instructions appear once the handbook is published.
3. Use the office hours, contacts and links on the project page for questions.

The Terms of Service (updated 15 June 2026) are under Delaware law, with arbitration by the AAA; you can opt out of arbitration by post within 30 days. Terac’s and its clients’ information stays confidential, also after you leave.

If you’re removed from a project, you get an “offboarded” email and the project shows as Rejected. Pay already made stays yours, and you can apply elsewhere.

Terac’s founder holds office hours for experts on Zoom on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10–11am and 9–10pm Eastern time, described as a conversation rather than support. There is also a Terac Slack and a Facebook group; neither is an official support channel.

Sources: How to apply · Submissions · Opportunities · Payments · Projects · Tasks · Terms of Service · Expert office hours · Contact

Identity verification

• A check of your government photo ID (passport, driving licence or national ID) that takes a few minutes, possibly with a selfie that must match the ID photo.
• Required before your first withdrawal. You can do it early at Profile → Identity & Security.
• If you live outside the country of your citizenship, use an ID from the country where you live.
• Your name, date of birth and address must match the ID exactly. Typing mistakes are the most common cause of failure.

Checks also fail for a blurred or cut-off photo, an expired ID, a selfie that doesn’t match, a document type that isn’t accepted, or an ID already used on another account. “Verification Blocked” or “Needs Review” can’t be fixed by trying again; contact Sophia. Verification can expire, and the Earnings page then asks you to verify again. A check done earlier with another provider doesn’t count for Whop.

Terac mentions no background check.

Sources: Verification · Payments · FAQ · Data usage

Pay, tax and hours

• Balance: earnings are held in US dollars in your Terac balance. One-time work is added after approval. Project pay follows each project’s schedule, for example weekly on a set day or monthly, shown on its Payout tab. Opportunities you joined through another research panel are paid by that panel.
• Cash-out: through Whop, to a bank account or other Whop methods depending on where you live. Where Whop can’t pay, cash-outs go through Virtual Incentives ($5 to $2,000 each), with an email link to choose a method. Terac’s opportunities page also mentions PayPal and gift cards; its help pages name only Whop and Virtual Incentives.
• Limits and fees: at least $12.50 and at most $10,000 a day (resetting at midnight UTC). Moving money from Terac to Whop is free and usually instant; Whop may charge a fee to pay your bank, shown before you confirm. Bank transfers usually take one to three business days. Withdrawals work in most countries; the Earnings page shows if yours isn’t supported.
• Email: Whop may reject an email address with a “+” alias; change your main email if it does.
• Pay taken back: one-time pay can be reversed if a submission is rejected on a later review. Pay can also be withheld for work that breaks the terms, and final pay adjusted for quality. Pay offered is final, and you may discuss it only through the platform or a Terac Slack channel.
• Holds: “Account on hold” (an ID used elsewhere) and “Cash out on hold while we review your account” need Sophia; trying again won’t help.
• Tax: you’re an independent contractor and handle your own tax. Terac doesn’t take off tax. Whop collects your tax details during verification (a Social Security number for US users); Terac says it doesn’t store tax forms.

Hours and time tracking

Hourly projects use Insightful (the desktop app “Workpuls”). The invitation comes from [email protected], and its link expires in 48 hours. It takes screenshots only while the timer runs, none while you’re idle, and no video; work laptops may block screen capture.

Only tracked hours are paid, and they’re checked against the work you produce; planned hours aren’t paid. Each project decides whether it pays all tracked time, productive time only, or productive and neutral time. Minimum hours are set per listing, for example at least 10 hours a week on one project; others let you work at your own pace. No platform-wide minimum or maximum is published.

Sources: Payments · Payout policy · Opportunities · Submissions · Projects · Terms of Service · Data usage · Time tracking · RL environment listing

Why applications stall

Terac publishes no review times and no typical wait. You’re emailed when a decision is made. Review can be automatic (often under a minute), by Terac’s team, or by the client (“Your application is with the client”). Sophia can’t give a timeline, but can confirm your work arrived and how long it has been in review. The reasons Terac gives:

• a profile not finished or a phone not verified (“Finish your profile to apply”, “Continue onboarding”);
• failing the requirement check at Basic Info;
• a full quota for your group, or the study filling before you finished;
• answers that don’t match your profile or earlier answers;
• rushed or incomplete work, instructions not followed, failed audio or broken files;
• pressing End interview, or reloading, during an interview;
• signing in with a different provider or email and ending up in a second, empty account;
• a payout stuck on ID: details that don’t match exactly, or a “+” email alias.

Terac calls being screened out normal, and the screen never says which reason applied. Rejections show no reason; you can appeal by contacting Sophia with the opportunity name, with no set timeline. If a study reopens, a “You’re back in” email returns your application to In Progress with your answers kept.

What applicants report

Terac’s Trustpilot reviews are nearly all from experts and mostly short. About ten (August to October 2026) say payouts were fast once work was approved, and two say assessments and paid trials felt fair. Two others (October 2026) were screened out after a long screening, one after about two hours, or judged “unqualified” after sharing their LinkedIn and date of birth. Single reviews say pay was held for weeks over ID verification until they chased it, and that project work went unpaid for weeks with emails unanswered. One said the spoken interview was quick and led to fast approval. These are a handful of reports, not a measure of how often things happen.

Sources: Submissions · Screeners · Contact · FAQ · How to apply · Interviews · Create an account · Troubleshooting · Trustpilot reviews

Official addresses and scams

• Terac’s email comes from terac.com or its subdomains, such as notifications.terac.com. Support is [email protected], and the status page is status.terac.com.
• Partners write from their own domains: Whop, and Insightful from [email protected].
• Genuine contact comes through the opportunity page, texts or chat from Sophia, the project Slack or the link on the opportunity page, Insightful and Whop. If you’re unsure, ask Sophia at terac.com/help; she can see the texts she sent you.
• Verify your ID only from your Terac settings or the Earnings page.

Terac never asks for:

• a password (there isn’t one), or a code by email, chat or phone;
• payment to take part, a deposit or gift cards;
• bank details outside the Whop payout flow, document numbers or login codes;
• ID documents by message.

Other warning signs: unexpected downloads, or being moved to a personal email, a messaging app or an outside payment service.

Sources: Staying safe · Time tracking · FAQ · Contact · Our official-sites checker