Side Gig Finder

What to Do When a Gig Has a Waitlist

Sep 30, 2026 — Side Gig Finder team

You want a gig, but its page says it is not taking new people. What does that mean, and what can you do?

Short answer: each company runs its wait in its own way. At Rev, the FAQ said it was reviewing a high volume of applications. So read each company’s rules first.

This post tells you what each page said. We first read these pages on September 30, 2026. We read them again on October 27, 2026. The one exception is the Federal Trade Commission page, which we last read on September 30. Pages change. For the latest checked-on line, open the gig page linked in each section.

What is a waitlist?

A waitlist is a list of people who want in but have to wait. Each company decides when to let people in.

Companies use different words. Grubhub and Prolific say “waitlist”. Rev’s FAQ talked about a “high volume of applications”. GoTranscript’s English page says it is “not accepting new English transcribers”. Cambly said it is “limiting” new tutors.

Is the wait first come, first served?

It depends on the company. This is the main thing to check.

First come, first served means the earliest person gets in first. Grubhub says its waitlist works that way, within each market. A market is the city or area where you would work.

Rev says it processes applications in the order they arrive. It emails you when it decides.

Prolific’s help page said the opposite. It said the waitlist is not first come, first served. It also said the list is not a queue. A queue is a line where the first person in is the first person served. So your place does not change over time.

An invite is a message that lets you make an account. Prolific said invites go out based on what kinds of people researchers need.

So applying early may help at one company and mean nothing at another.

How long is the wait?

Most pages we read did not say.

Prolific’s help page did give a range. It said some people get invited within hours, while others wait months or longer. Its pricing page said over a million people were on the waitlist.

If a page gives no time, we cannot guess one for you.

What did each company say?

Here is what each page said on the day we checked it.

Rev. On October 27, 2026, the FAQ on Rev’s application page said, “We’re currently reviewing a high volume of applications”. It said a high volume may extend response times. The visible text on the page did not use the word waitlist. See Type Audio for Rev.

GoTranscript. On October 27, 2026, the jobs page sent mixed signals. A banner at the top said “hiring is fully open”. But the banner named start dates of April 30, May 15, and July 1, 2026, and those dates had passed. The English page says, “We are currently not accepting new English transcribers”. It also says GoTranscript is recruiting data annotators at goagi.ai. We did not read goagi.ai, so we know nothing about its pay or terms. The FAQ on which languages it is hiring for right now listed many languages and did not name English. So English looks closed. See Type Audio for GoTranscript.

Grubhub. On October 27, 2026, the FAQ said the company sometimes pauses new drivers in certain markets. It said that if your market is on the waitlist, you can switch to a nearby open market. See Deliver Food With Grubhub.

Cambly. On October 27, 2026, the page said it is temporarily limiting how many new tutors it welcomes. The reason it gave was to protect current tutors’ schedules. It said profile review may take longer than usual. See Teach English Online With Cambly.

Prolific. On October 27, 2026, Prolific’s help page said that if you are on the waitlist, you have no account yet. You must wait for your invitation. See Take Paid Studies on Prolific.

Papa. On October 27, 2026, Papa’s page said it takes 1 to 2 weeks to get approved. The page did not say when that count starts. That is a review time. See Visit Older Adults With Papa.

Should you apply more than once?

Read the rule for that company. The rules differ.

The two GoTranscript pages we read did not say how reapplying works. So we do not know.

Can you pay to skip the line?

We have no company page to cite on paying for a spot. What we can cite is the Federal Trade Commission, a US government agency. It says an honest employer will never ask you to pay to get a job. It also says anyone who does is a scammer.

Those lines are about jobs in general. Still, they are a fair test for any offer to sell you a spot. Also read scams that look like side gigs.

Prolific’s help page said it cannot fast track invitations for anyone on its waitlist.

What can you do while you wait?

  1. Read the company’s own rules for waiting and follow them.
  2. Use one email address you check often. Grubhub removes people who do not answer its check-in. Rev’s page said it will email you when it decides.
  3. If the gig is driving for Grubhub, check whether a nearby market is open.
  4. Check back on the gig page for the newest status.

What if you want to start now?

Some work has no company waitlist. You set it up yourself and find your own customers. Check your local rules before you start.

These are pages on this site for work you set up yourself:

Each page lists its own costs, rules, and downsides. Read those first.

The downsides

Waiting has a cost. You may spend time on an application and hear nothing. Rev and Cambly both say response times may run long. Cambly says you may get no reply at all.

You may also lose your spot. Grubhub removes your application if you miss its check-in. And on Prolific, you cannot speed things up. Its help page said it cannot fast track invitations for anyone.

A waitlist may not end in a yes. Cambly says you may hear nothing. Prolific says some people wait months or longer. Do not count on money from a gig you have not started.

Sources and dates

Each line below gives the dates we checked that source.

All posts or all gigs.