SAT Grader

As an SAT Grader, you grade the essay portion of the SATs — the rest of the sections are scanned by computers. A SAT Grader is highly proficient in writing, reading, and speaking English, and you may have some experience teaching as well. You may have worked as a High School Teacher, and you’re definitely no stranger to the standard five-paragraph essay.

You’re trained extensively to grade within the College Board guidelines, and your training consists of a sample grading period where your work is assessed and compared to the guidelines. Once you actually start grading, you give essays a score on a scale of 1 (murky and disorganized) to 6 (clear and effective).

During the SAT grading season — which is seven times a year, lasting 10 days each time — you have the option to grade as many essays as you like, working more than a 40-hour workweek if that’s what you have time for. Essays are scanned and then sent electronically to your home office, where you can make your own schedule and read at a pace comfortable to you. Of course, a SAT Grader must be able to meet quotas, and most Graders read about one essay every 2 ½ minutes (according to the Pearson Educational Measurement, the company in charge of grading the essay section).

Reading these essays can be a lot of fun. Teenagers are unpredictable, and so is their writing, leaving you with a lot of variety in your day.