AI trainer resources are a set of worksheets, practice tasks and calculators for preparing to apply and staying organised once you start, and this page gives you six free ones to copy today.
Every example on this page is original and fictional, so you can practise without breaking any platform’s confidentiality rules.
This page suits you if you are preparing to apply to AI training platforms or want a simple way to track applications. It is not for you if you want real assessment answers, because sharing them breaks platform rules.
Checked: 16 Oct 2026. AI Trainers FAQ is independent. Platform rules change often, so check the platform’s own pages before you rely on any of them.
TL;DR
- Six resources cover most of the preparation a new AI trainer needs.
- Each one follows the same five-part structure.
- The practice exercise and its scoring guide train the skill most platforms test, which is a clear judgment with a specific reason.
- The real-rate calculator shows what an hour is worth after unpaid time and fees.
- Never paste real task, assessment or client content into any of these sheets, because platforms treat that material as confidential.
In this guide
- What the AI trainer resources include
- Preview one useful example
- Follow the instructions
- Copy the templates
- Understand scoring and calculations
- Choose access
- Use the resources safely
- Sources
- Start practice today
What the AI trainer resources include
Six resources are on this page, each one helps you finish a single job, and the list follows the order most beginners need them.
- Rating practice exercise: you compare two AI answers to one prompt and choose the better one.
- Rationale template: you write a short, specific reason for your choice in a fixed shape.
- Story bank: you prepare three to five true work stories for an AI interview.
- Application tracker: you record every application, its status and the date you last checked it.
- Eligibility log: you note the country, language and payout checks for each platform before you apply.
- Real-rate calculator: you work out your real hourly rate after unpaid time and fees.
None of these resources will get you accepted on their own, but they help you practise the core skills and keep clear records. Our beginner roadmap shows where each one fits, and our best AI training platforms for beginners without coding shows where to apply.
Preview one useful example
The rating practice exercise is the best place to start, because rating and explaining is the core skill in most AI training work, so try it on paper before you read the answer below.
Example (fictional): The prompt asks you to explain a budget to a 12-year-old in three sentences or fewer. Response A gives an accurate definition in four sentences and uses the word “allocation”, while Response B gives one in three sentences, uses plain words and adds a pocket money example.
Generated illustration: compare two answers, then write one specific reason.
Pick the better response, write one or two sentences that explain why, and then compare your work with the three steps below.
How we worked through it
The answer below follows three steps, and each one builds on the step before it.
Finding the problems
Response A breaks the three-sentence limit, and “allocation” is a hard word for a 12-year-old, while Response B has no rule problems that we can find, and its example suits the audience.
Deciding which problem matters more
The length limit is an explicit instruction in the prompt, so breaking it counts as a clear failure, and the hard word matters too, because the prompt names a young audience.
Writing a specific reason
A model rationale reads: “B is better because it stays within the three-sentence limit and uses words a 12-year-old knows. A runs to four sentences and uses ‘allocation’, which the audience may not understand.”
Notice the pattern of a decision, its evidence and a link back to the instruction, which makes a rationale easy for a reviewer to check.
Follow the instructions
Every resource on this page follows the same five parts, so read them once before you start.
Inputs
Bring your resume, a list of platforms you are considering and approximately an hour of quiet time.
Steps
Work through each sheet from top to bottom, because the later columns depend on the earlier ones.
Original example
Each template comes with a fictional example, so read it first to see the level of detail expected.
Output
Each resource ends with something you can use straight away, such as a rationale, a story or a tracker row, which you should save in one folder.
Review
Look over your work once a week and correct anything that a platform’s own page now says differently.
Copy the templates
Copy each of the four templates below into a document or a spreadsheet, and keep the column names as they are.
Rationale template
Each of the three lines answers one question that a reviewer will ask about your choice.
- Decision: write which response is better, or write that they are equal.
- Evidence: name the exact part of each response that led to your decision.
- Rule link: name the instruction, rule or audience need that the evidence connects to.
Example (fictional): “Decision: B. Evidence: A gives a wrong boiling point for water at sea level, and B gives the correct one. Rule link: the guidelines say factual errors outweigh style.”
Story bank
Many platforms use an AI interview, and short true stories make your answers easier to follow, so aim for three to five rows. Our guide to the skills you need helps you choose which stories to tell.
| Story title | Situation | What you did | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checked a colleague’s report | A report had numbers that did not add up | Compared each figure with the source sheet | Two errors were fixed before the report went out |
| Rewrote unclear instructions | New staff kept making the same mistake | Rewrote the steps in plain language | Fewer repeat questions in the next month |
The rows above are fictional, so write your own from real work and leave out any confidential names or figures from past employers or clients.
Application tracker
An application tracker records where you applied and what each platform asked for, so add a row on the day you apply.
| Platform | Date applied | Steps done | Status and date checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Example platform A | 2 Oct | Profile, resume, interview | Under review, checked 9 Oct |
| Example platform B | 5 Oct | Profile only | Interview not started, checked 9 Oct |
Copy the status words exactly as the platform’s dashboard shows them, because each platform uses its own terms and a support team will recognise them.
Eligibility log
Country and language rules decide whether you can be paid, so fill in one row for each platform before you apply.
| Platform | Your country listed? | Language needed | Payout method in your country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Example platform A | Yes, on its payment page | English | Bank transfer |
| Example platform B | Not listed | English and Spanish | Not available |
Note where you found each answer and when, because a row that is three months old needs a fresh check before you rely on it.
Understand scoring and calculations
Two resources produce a number: the practice score measures your rationale, and the calculator measures your time.
Score your practice
Score each practice rationale against four checks, with one point for each check you pass.
| Check | One point if your rationale… |
|---|---|
| Decision | names one clear choice, or says the responses are equal |
| Evidence | points to a specific part of each response |
| Rule link | connects the evidence to an instruction or the audience |
| Length | stays under approximately 60 words |
A score of four means your rationale is clear and checkable, and a lower score tells you which line to practise next. Warning: a high practice score does not mean a platform will accept you, because each platform runs its own tests and sets its own bar.
Calculate your real hourly rate
A posted rate is not the same as your income, because setup and reading guidelines can be unpaid, and fees can come off each payout.
Generated illustration: count unpaid time and fees before you judge a rate.
Example (fictional numbers, not typical income): A project posts a rate of 20 per hour, and in one week you log 10 billable hours and spend 4 unpaid hours on onboarding and reading guidelines. With a 2% payout fee, your pay is 196, which works out at 14 per hour before tax across 14 hours.
| Input | Your number |
|---|---|
| Posted rate per hour or per task | |
| Billable hours or approved tasks | |
| Unpaid hours (setup, reading, waiting) | |
| Fees (%) | |
| Real rate = rate × billable × (1 − fee) ÷ total hours |
Swap in your own numbers each week, and remember that tax is not included, so check your country’s official guidance or ask a qualified adviser about what you owe. For more detail on how pay works, read our guide to AI trainer pay.
Choose access
Every resource here is free with no signup, and the AI Trainer Starter Kit will bundle these sheets with a 30-day plan once signup opens. Until then, this page is the place to copy them from, and we will update it when the kit goes live.
Use the resources safely
Three rules keep your practice safe and your platform accounts in good standing.
Use only original material
Write your own practice prompts or use the fictional ones here, because real task material is confidential. Mercor’s rules forbid sharing assessment questions or screenshots, and micro1 asks experts not to reveal client or pipeline details, so keep real task content out of your sheets.
Keep AI tools out of real tests
Use AI tools only where a platform clearly allows them in writing. Mercor’s LLM usage rules forbid using a language model to assess model responses or to write your justifications, so practise your own judgment before you sit any test.
Store personal data carefully
Your tracker may hold dates, rates and personal notes about your applications, so keep it on your own device or in a private folder, and never paste passwords or ID numbers into it.
Warning: if a website charges you a fee for “real” assessment answers, do not pay it, because sharing those answers breaks platform rules, and the platforms we checked do not charge you to apply.
Sources
These are the pages we checked for this guide (checked 16 Oct 2026).
- Mercor assessments
- Mercor LLM usage policy
- Mercor social media and internet use policies
- micro1 LinkedIn guidelines
- micro1 payroll policy
Start practice today
Start with the rating exercise near the top of this page, because it trains the skill that most platforms test first. If you are new to the work, read what an AI trainer does next.
Clear, specific reasons are a skill you can practise, and these sheets give you a place to start.
