In the United States alone, there were 20.5 million new unemployment claims in April. The numbers are similarly staggering in other countries as the world grapples with the coronavirus crisis.
Millions of people are looking for new avenues of income, and here at Applause, we’re continuing to offer the opportunity for people to earn money while working from home. Members of Applause’s global testing community, uTest, use their own personal devices to earn money by testing mobile and web applications for some of the world’s largest companies.
In this post, we share the stories of two testers who joined our uTest community in recent months, and learn how it has helped provide them with some extra money during this challenging time.
Federica Manzi, a 2019 graduate of the University of Bologna, lives in the Italian town of Scala. While Scala was not as hard-hit by the virus as other parts of Italy, businesses and offices there were still forced to close when the entire country went into lockdown on March 9.
With all commercial activity banned (with the exception of supermarkets and pharmacies), Manzi joined uTest on March 10 after hearing about it from a friend. That same day, she started testing on uTest from her home.
“Now I can’t work because all the companies here are closed,” Manzi said. “Probably I will start to work in June. Thanks to uTest, I can earn some money [during this time].”
Even before working for uTest, Manzi enjoyed using her digital devices, so working for uTest is a natural extension of that.
“‘I’ve liked computers and tech for many years,” Manzi said. “I work with [my computer] and also spend my free time on it. uTest gives me the opportunity to know a new world and a very nice community of testers.
“If you have free time and you like the technologies, uTest is a great opportunity to learn and help companies to launch different apps.”
Down in São Paulo, Brazil, Willian Meirinho was already testing on uTest when his life was similarly impacted by COVID-19. Meirinho works with his father as an insurance consultant out of a small office. Since March, many of the Meirinhos’ clients have been cutting back on expenses and can’t afford their services.
Meirinho — who first joined uTest in 2019 — is leveraging his testing and digital skills with uTest to replace his reduced income.
“I can say that I was fortunate enough to learn some ways of working using the internet before the lockdown, and this is what is helping me to provide the basic needs of my family,” Meirinho said.
Meirinho had tried testing for other providers before uTest, but didn’t receive many testing invitations, which he believes is due to demographics. When Meirinho first signed up on uTest, he was worried this experience would be the same. Those doubts were quickly dispelled.
“As soon as I finished the [uTest] Academy and started to receive some invitations, I realized that things would be different here,” Meirinho said. “After my third month working with uTest, I started to have a more solid income, which allowed me to pay the bills, buy new devices, and furnish my kitchen (which was something pending for months).
“The only regret I have is not joining it sooner. Nothing is given free, but with focus and hard work, you’ll succeed. I’ve worked with other crowdsourcing platforms and without any doubt, uTest is by far the most serious and honest one. In other platforms, you will do the same thing over and over again, without any opportunity of growing up. Here at uTest I work with different things every day, with stuff I love to do like sports and music.”
You can join uTest by clicking here.
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