VRAPI Qualification Methodology Review

Discussion in 'Help & Guides' started by ChrisTurk, Jun 22, 2017.

  1. ChrisTurk

    ChrisTurk Administrator

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    ***This thread is for informational purposes only, I sadly don't have time to lose a full week of work going through quals again this go around but there are TONS of people here who can help so make sure you read through all the info in this thread & hit the daily if you have followup questions.***

    In an effort to help folks not freak out over the qual without running afoul of any cheating rules, I'm offering to personally review your VRAPI Qual work through direct / private message before you submit it (don't post it here / daily thread.. because.. well then you're helping 800 cheat lol).

    Things I will do:
    • Confirm the resources you used are considered "high quality"
    • Point you in the direction of good resources in the instance where the above is false
    • Double check your screenshots/etc for any minor errors such as bad cropping / etc that wouldn't fundamentally change the way you did work but might not be the intended/preferred way to do it.
    • Review your thought process / method for how to complete the HITs
    Things I will not do:
    • Confirm/deny if your found address is correct/incorrect
    • Walk you through how to do the qual, have at least some work done before you PM me, please.
    Essentially, I'm willing to act as if you were a newbie doing on-the-job training for a job you were probably already qualified for. I wont give you the answers, but I can at least be a good "you got'em, champ!" man if you need the extra reassurance to stop freaking out over what can be a very stressful process.

    I want folks to get the qual, I really do, and I also want to curb the on-thread discussion since it leads to folks getting hints they otherwise wouldn't have. So if you're sitting in your office, all alone, frustrated that you can't at least get a nod that you're not an idiot, hit me up.

    Make sure you've reviewed the actual "help" doc for VRAPI which is now outdated but still has links to decent resources/ideas.
     
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    Last edited: May 15, 2018
  2. ChrisTurk

    ChrisTurk Administrator

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    Edit: Apparently screenshots aren't required for the qual, they are for the regular HITs so my bad on including this, you can possibly skip for now - but being thorough is rarely a bad idea.
    Gonna try to throw out helpful tips as I send them to folks that don't speak directly to doing the HITs but are more of a "improve your quality" type thing.

    When you're doing your screenshots, use the tools that come w/ lightshot to make it super easy for the "reviewer" (in this case its David, but normally its some poor fella in a county tax office) to see what you see:

    [​IMG]

    So if you're looking at the roof ridge line and/or a doorway and/or whatever, circle it, point it out, etc. It'll make the reviewer less likely to sit there for 3 hours finding all the differences in the photos instead of the similarities that brought you to the conclusion that it was a match.

    Some examples may be painfully obvious that this isn't necessary, but its a good habit & will prevent false positives. In cases where features have been heavily updated/remodeled, or where images are flipped/mirrored, this can really help the reviewer pinpoint what you're seeing & orientate themselves.

    Example:
    [​IMG]

    Keep in mind your audience for proof is probably some guy sitting in a tax assessor's office getting paid minimum wage to review your work & this may be all he sees about your HIT. The listing itself could be pulled from AirBNB/wherever by the time it hits his/her desk.
     
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    Last edited: Jun 22, 2017
  3. ChrisTurk

    ChrisTurk Administrator

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    Properly selecting coordinates for a parcel:

    [​IMG]
    As long as your pin & coordinates are inside the same "box" that the tax assessor's website gives you, you're good. Just be careful when copy/pasting the coordinates into the HIT window since he wants it formatted correctly (the bottom box in the screenshot is correct, if you click on it it'll give a second version that has symbols he does not want like °45'11.6"N.
     
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  4. largeeyes

    largeeyes Active Turker

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    Wait, did I completely screw up the qual? I didn't see anything about uploading screenshots.
     
  5. jessers

    jessers Survey Slinger

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    Nah, from what I heard they didn't ask for screenshots on it. They do in the HITs, though.
     
  6. Nacho Ferret

    Nacho Ferret Active Turker

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    Is there a way to insert images into the explanation box or do I just host them and include links?
     
  7. ChrisTurk

    ChrisTurk Administrator

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    Host 'em on imgur, or you can use lightshot which is the tool he has people use on the regular HITs. https://app.prntscr.com/en/index.html
     
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  8. Crissy

    Crissy Survey Slinger

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    Is the spreadsheet of parcel records important? Because the one in my hit doesn't work.
     
  9. ChrisTurk

    ChrisTurk Administrator

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    Not terribly, you can find the same information on the county's website, though not in the same format.
     
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  10. Crissy

    Crissy Survey Slinger

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    I'm starting to think my hit is messed up or something. The spreadsheet doesn't work, the website tells me every address I enter is not found...
     
  11. Eisenpower

    Eisenpower Survey Slinger

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    So, is my qual going to be overshadowed by everyone who made screenshots now? I considered it but I thought that was going to be overkill. :emoji_sob:
     
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  12. ChrisTurk

    ChrisTurk Administrator

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    Nah you should be fine as long as you were correct.
     
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  13. Crissy

    Crissy Survey Slinger

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    I didn't do any screen shots either just a link to proof.
     
  14. Sarai

    Sarai Active Turker

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    I really enjoyed doing the qualification! I hope everything was done correctly and up to their standards though I'm very confident about my submission. I like quadruple checked everything before submitting.

    Good luck to everyone who tried/is trying the qualification!
     
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  15. largeeyes

    largeeyes Active Turker

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    Is Round 2 normally something similar or....?
     
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  16. slothbear

    slothbear Survey Slinger

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    Yep, another search. I can't remember this qual hits from last time, but I think I had an easier time with the second qual because I had more of an idea what was going on. Good luck!
     
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  17. ChrisTurk

    ChrisTurk Administrator

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    Regarding ZIP Codes & Google Autocomplete

    So what I'm guessing is that you either copy/pasted the address in or you manually added the zip code to it after typing it in. Google will let you do this with the autofil but its not what he wants.

    If you type the address manually (which you should always do to avoid this & abbreviated words!) you'll understand what he means.

    Try typing "1450 Little Raven Street" into the address input.

    You'll notice google will bring up an autofill option of "1450 Little Raven Street, Denver, CO, United States"

    See how there's no zip code? Google autofill defaults to no zip code.

    Ex:
    [​IMG]
    Now if you select that address but go in and add the zip code (80202) it'll bring up an autofill option with the zip code but 90% of people wont submit addresses with the zip code if they're simply typing in the bar and then selecting the default autofill (which has no zip) - he just wants to make sure all the addresses are standardized.
    [​IMG]
     
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  18. EssArrBee

    EssArrBee Survey Slinger

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    So they require Lightshot? I can't use Puush?

    @ChrisTurk
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2017
  19. Sarai

    Sarai Active Turker

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    Round 2. Good luck everyone!!
     
  20. ChrisTurk

    ChrisTurk Administrator

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    I'd use lightshot unless you get pre-approval from David to use something else.