After logging in with the credentials provided, you’ll be prompted to set up and personalize your account in a few quick steps:

First, you’ll update your email address and create a new password. Next, you’ll complete your basic profile, including your name, location, and mobile phone number, and set up two-factor authentication (2FA) for added security.

You’ll then connect your LinkedIn profile and upload your resume so Outlier can understand your skills and match you to relevant projects. After that, you’ll complete identity and skills verification steps.

Finally, you’ll set up your payment method so you’re ready to get started on paid project work.

If you have any questions, please visit Outlier’s Help Center. 

Outlier first evaluates your baseline technical abilities to determine whether you qualify for work on their project platform. From there, they assess how your skills, experience, and technical background align with the specific AI training projects they currently have available.

Because Outlier operates on a project-based model, work availability can vary over time based on customer demand and the types of expertise needed. Some projects may require very specific technical backgrounds, programming languages, or domain knowledge.

If you meet Outlier’s qualification standards but there is not an immediate project match, you may remain in their contributor pool and be contacted as new projects become available that align with your experience.

Outlier projects vary based on client needs, but they generally focus on helping improve and train AI systems. There is no single “typical” project—tasks are matched to your background and evolve over time.

Common work may include creating and refining prompts for AI systems, evaluating and ranking AI-generated responses, and editing outputs to improve accuracy, clarity, tone, or correctness.

Projects are continuously updated based on demand, so the exact mix of tasks will vary.

Outlier uses a combination of your LinkedIn profile, resume, and short skills verifications to understand your experience and match you with projects that fit your background.

Once your skills are confirmed, they’re added to your “Verified Skill Card,” which helps ensure you’re considered for relevant, well-aligned opportunities.

f you take on a project with Outlier, you will be classified as an independent contractor (not an employee), similar to a freelancer or gig worker.

This means there are no minimum or maximum hour requirements—you can choose when and how much you work, including evenings, weekends, or any schedule that fits your availability. You set your own hours and work flexibly based on the projects you choose to take on.

As with any independent contracting arrangement, you are responsible for understanding your own tax obligations, and we recommend consulting a tax professional if you have questions about your specific situation.

You do not need to complete onboarding in a single session. You’re welcome to save your progress and return later as needed. Note that the skills verification section (Step 4) needs to completed in one sitting, and takes about 20 minutes to complete, so plan to pause before you verify your skills if you won’t have time to finish that section.

Note that because project-based work can fill quickly, completing onboarding promptly may improve your chances of being matched to available projects sooner.

f you can’t find an answer on Outlier’s Help Center, use the Follow-Up Form to request help from Outlier’s Enablement team. 

Outlier verifies your identity through a third-party provider called Persona to help maintain platform security and prevent fraudulent activity.

Because Outlier supports AI training projects for leading AI companies and research labs, strong security standards are essential. Identity verification helps ensure that projects are completed by legitimate, qualified contributors while protecting against issues like duplicate accounts, impersonation, and unauthorized access.

Your identity verification is handled directly through Persona, not manually reviewed by Terminal or Terminal. Neither Outlier nor Terminal store your ID documents, and Outlier uses Persona as a secure verification provider commonly used by online platforms and financial technology companies for identity verification and compliance workflows.

To learn more about Persona’s best-in-class privacy and security practices, please visit Persona.

Outlier uses your LinkedIn profile to help verify your professional background, technical experience, and identity.

Because many AI training projects require specialized technical expertise, LinkedIn helps Outlier better understand your experience, skills, and areas of domain knowledge, to match you to their projects. It also serves as an additional layer of identity verification to help maintain trust and security across the platform.

Outlier reviews your resume to better understand your technical skills, experience, and familiarity with programming languages, frameworks, and technologies relevant to their projects.

Your resume also helps Outlier match you to projects that align with your background and expertise, which can improve the quality and relevance of the work opportunities available to you on the platform.

As part of this process, you’ll be asked to identify your high-proficiency skills—areas where you have strong, hands-on expertise. These should reflect technologies and domains you are truly experienced in, not hobbies, surface-level exposure, or tools you’ve only used briefly. Occasionally, system-generated skill suggestions may not fully reflect your expertise, so it’s important to review and adjust them to represent your strongest areas accurately.

Note that for consistency, Outlier requires that resumes be submitted in English.

The onboarding process may include a small number of technical questions about your previous experience, past projects, or real-world coding scenarios designed to assess your technical background.

The process is generally lightweight and intended to confirm your familiarity with the technologies and problem-solving skills relevant to Outlier’s projects. Depending on your background, you may also complete a short coding exercise or answer questions related to your area of expertise.

Skills verifications are short, focused sessions designed to better understand your experience in a practical, low-friction way.

They may include:

• Questions about your background and past work

• Light technical or domain-specific prompts

• Short written and/or spoken responses

They are designed to be straightforward and typically take about 20 minutes to complete. You should plan to finish your skills verification in one sitting.

Expect:

• A quick camera and microphone setup step to confirm everything is working

• Simple, conversational verbal responses (no need for notes or scripts)

• Clear written responses focused on accuracy and clarity

• A timed format to keep the process consistent and efficient across candidates

Yes. Outlier’s onboarding process qualifies you for project-based work through Outlier specifically.

Terminal’s screening process is separate and is designed to evaluate candidates for our broader technical talent marketplace, including full-time and long-term contract opportunities with a variety of companies.

Initial project matching takes up to two weeks. Project matching depends on verified skills (LI, resume, skill card) and project availability.

Yes, Outlier host live Welcome Sessions where you can learn more about the projects, onboarding process, the Outlier dashboard and Community platform, plus tips for getting started successfully.

These sessions are primarily informational, but there will also be an opportunity to ask general questions live. A form will also be shared during the session where you can submit specific questions or issues for follow-up via email afterward.

Since the same information is covered in every session, we don’t recommend attending multiple Welcome Sessions if you’ve already joined one before.

Register here: Welcome Session Registration

Please visit Outlier’s Online Help Center for more information.