Generalist (Must own MacBook)

What you'll do

You create research questions, write the answers to them, and build the evaluation material used to benchmark and improve a leading AI lab's language models. The job is closer to careful research writing than to rating chatbot replies: you find information across varied sources, summarise it accurately, and turn it into questions a model should be able to answer and answers it can be graded against.

The tasks run on your own Mac. That is the unusual part of this ad: every expert on the project must do the work on an Apple Silicon MacBook, so the hardware is a condition of entry.

Who fits

• Someone currently in, or recently through, a master's programme, or someone with 2 to 3 years of relevant experience plus a bachelor's degree from what the ad calls a prestigious institution
• STEM and non-STEM backgrounds are both welcome; an interdisciplinary degree is listed as a plus
• Strong online research skills and the ability to summarise information from diverse sources clearly
• Excellent written English

The hardware requirement, in the ad's terms: an Apple Silicon (ARM) Mac, meaning an M-series MacBook Pro, or a MacBook Air running macOS 15 or later. An Intel Mac or a Windows laptop will not qualify.

The ad names no country restriction, but it does say Mercor cannot support H-1B or STEM OPT candidates.

How you get in

The ad lays out three steps: submit a resume, have a 15-minute conversation with Mercor's AI interviewer about research and reasoning, then complete a short paid assessment. Mercor says you hear back within a few days.

What it pays

$50–60 per hour, as printed in the ad. The commitment is part-time, about 10 to 20 hours a week, so at the stated band that is roughly $500 to $1,200 a week if the hours materialise. That is our arithmetic from the ad's own figures, not a promise of hours.

The ad states payment is weekly through Stripe or Wise, and you are engaged as an independent contractor: no benefits, no paid leave, and your own tax to set aside.

Worth knowing

Good:

• A published rate, and one that is solid for work open to current postgrad students
• The assessment step is paid
• Your own schedule, fully remote, with an immediate start preferred
• The listing shows 869 people hired this month, so this is an actively staffed project rather than a speculative posting

Less good:

• No MacBook, no job: the Apple Silicon requirement shuts out many otherwise qualified applicants
• "Prestigious institution" is undefined, so the bachelor's route is a judgement call on Mercor's side
• The ad says projects can be extended, shortened or ended early depending on needs and performance
• H-1B and STEM OPT holders are excluded
• It pays a little below Mercor's Generalist Expert (US/Canada) at $50–70/hour, though that role requires US or Canadian residence and this one names no location limit

About this listing

Posted by Mercor on its own board at work.mercor.com and read on 29 September 2026. The $50–60 rate, the hours and the payment terms are the ad's own. No closing date is stated. See Mercor.