Learn While You Earn: Become a Researcher for Wonder and Make Extra Cash

Are you one of those people who loves to know a little bit about a lot of things?

Does your brain refuse to sleep at night until you’ve looked up the one nagging question that’s been vying for your attention all day?

Do you have an arsenal of useless information swimming around in your head, taking up precious real estate that might be better used on, ya’ know, things that matter?

If these questions were way too eerily spot on, then we might have the perfect new side gig for you: a researcher for Wonder.

(Also, if this really did describe you, hit me up and we can geek out together about exactly how many pennies are floating around the U.S. or how carpet is made or why the title “Notary Public” falls in noun-adjective order and not the other way around.)

The Perfect Side Gig for Research Geeks

Wonder provides customers with information and resources in the form of data, lists and spreadsheets sourced from an army of freelance researchers.

Right now, the company needs some extra brainpower and is looking for people who want to work from home as freelance researchers, fulfilling customer requests by diving deep into various topics and questions.

As a researcher for Wonder, you’ll be able to choose which projects you work on and can set your own schedule. How much you make is up to you: researchers are paid per completed project, and you’ll choose how many projects you want to complete.

According to Wonder, top researchers can earn as much as $15 to $25 per hour. However, writer and former Wonder researcher Jamie Cattanach told us that a more realistic pay expectation is about $13 per hour when you factor in the average length of time it takes to complete a research project.

How to Do Online Research for Wonder

The research process seems pretty straightforward, and the platform is simple to use.

If you’re ready to become a researcher for Wonder, you can go here to fill out an application. If your application checks out, you’ll be contacted and asked to perform a preliminary research project to see if you’re a good fit.

“You have to complete a research project gratis to qualify, and that’s about a two-hour time investment,” Cattanach noted.

Once you’ve been accepted as a researcher, you’re free to accept or refuse projects as they come up. You’ll go to the Research Dashboard, pick the topic you want to research and spend a couple of hours finding answers and synthesizing the information into an easy-to-read format before submitting it.

A community of peer researchers will review the research and let you know if it needs any changes, fixes or additional information. Once it’s accepted, you can move on to your next project.

For the first few projects you complete for Wonder, you’ll probably be asked to do more edits than you expected as you learn proper formatting and what the company is looking for in a finished piece of research.

Once you get the hang of it, however, you’ll start to earn more money for your time as your skills improve.

While most researchers don’t have access to enough projects to make a full-time income, this may be a great option for making a little extra cash on the side. Plus, it’s an opportunity to expand your skill-set — and your knowledge. “If you’re genuinely interested in learning, it’s awesome,” said Cattanach.

Overall, this sounds like a great side gig for anyone who thrives on having a brain full of random facts and figures (and a pocket full of cash).

Not the job for you? No worries, there are plenty of other gigs on our Facebook Jobs page. We post new opportunities there all the time.

Freelance Researcher Jobs at Wonder

Pay: $15 to $25 per hour

Responsibilities include:

• Researching questions and providing detailed answers through Wonder’s online platform.

Applicants for this position must have:

• The ability to work on assignments from beginning to completion in one sitting — although you can sit as long as you like, you cannot save your work, according to the company’s FAQ page. The company states that most assignments take two to three hours to complete.

Benefits include:

• Getting paid every two weeks via PayPal.

Apply here for the work-from-home freelance researcher job at Wonder.

Grace Schweizer is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder.