I have been mystery shopping for about nine months, and love it, but I would really love to have a more consistent schedule, work, and money. I have been considering applying for a scheduler position, or an editor position. My issue is this...Where do I find these positions without having to login to each MSC and then search and search for a link for this (and some I never find any information?) Also, some MSC sites give a great explanation of the available positions, but most do not. How do I know what the duties of each position actually are? My next question is: What is your input as far as pros and cons on each of these positions? Thanks for your help, thoughts, and input!

My only input is you may not see open positions with some MSCs because they contract out for the editing and scheduling or the positions don't allow for telecommuting. If an MSC wants their schedulers and/or editors to report to an office every day they probably just advertise locally.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2015 01:57AM by LisaSTL.

I know Market Force's website shows available positions and talks a bit about them.

Market Force requires schedulers (and likely editors) to report to the office in Georgia periodically. I don't think they have strictly telecommuting positions.

I have received emails from a couple of different MSCs, advertising their open scheduler/editor positions. I haven't typically seen information on their websites.

Last year, I worked for several months as an editor for one of my favorite MSCs. The hours were way more than what you would expect, it took too much time away from shopping, and the pay worked out to be far less than minimum wage. They did warn me that the pay would be very little in the beginning, but I never imagined I would sometimes be working for $1/hour. I hung up my editing towel and went back to just shopping for them.

As far as the actual position, it was what I expected. I'm educated and I am a good writer, so that part of it was easy. Sometimes you got reports where the shopper was clearly English ASL, used a voice recognition software (and didn't proofread), or just plain didn't follow instructions or read the questions. Those ones were horrible to edit. Especially when I'd have to contact a shopper for more information or return the shop to them for corrections because the MSC is very lenient and allows DAYS for shoppers to finalize the returned shops.

There's also a learning curve regarding how the particular MSC wants things worded or spelled. Like writing "AM" instead of "a.m." or knowing exactly what they want in the descriptions of the employees. Also, learning the guidelines on how the shopper should be graded was tedious. It doesn't seem like much, but there are a lot of rules to follow.

Maybe I would consider editing or scheduling at a different point in my life, but right now, when I often make $20/$30 hour shopping, it's not worth my time.

There are quite a few shoppers on the Forum who also schedule. Watch for their tag lines and PM them regarding their experiences. You may find some helpful information using the search feature here as well.

Some MSC have them when you log in, others have them as "Careers" on their website.

Pros are definitely the steady income, there is often flexibility depending on whatever position you get, interaction with other shoppers..

Cons are that these positions are low paying, some scheduling jobs apparently only pay per shop assigned, some shoppers make up things when they are at fault (e.g. not providing a receipt, doing the shop wrong) and if you have to edit, some shoppers provide very vague answers or ones that contain awful grammar/spelling.

It can be a fun job - my advice to you if you wish to pursue is to research beyond your shopping experience with the company. Find out if anyone else has had bad experiences that have been made public. It can save you in the long run. Be sure as well that you are okay with the job responsibilities and pay rate. Working for less than minimum wage makes no sense to me personally as I could make more money just shopping.

I have been working as proofreader from several years for companies from UK and Canada. I have a home-office setup. All these years, being a proofreader has turned out to be good for me, but I am looking for a proofreader position which can offer me work on a regular basis. Most of the companies offer very limited number of reports. Can anybody suggest some companies which can offer around 20-30 hours of proofreading a week?

If we could, we'd be working for them ourselves.

I worked as an editor for one of the larger companies for just a short time last year. The job appealed to me because it was full telecommute. However, I also ended up making less than minimum wage, even though I read and type quickly. I was paid slightly over 1.00 per shop. There was not a lot of narrative, but your hourly wage was totally blown every time you had to contact a shopper and wait for their corrections or reply. I was also expected to work weekends and holidays. This was not a problem for me, but that would be a downside for some people. I think some of the shoppers who complain about editors might have a different opinion if they "walked a mile in their shoes".

Usually I'd keep all the good stuff to myself....loose lips sink ships right? But I can't take advantage of this opportunity so I thought I'd pass it along.

This company is hiring for work at home mystery shopping editors. All the info is on the link. I hope it helps someone!

[www.amusementadvantage.com]