What the work involves

You are not shipping a product backlog. You are producing and judging backend engineering artefacts that teach models what competent C#/.NET work looks like: writing reference implementations of services and REST APIs, constructing realistic tasks around schema design and query optimisation in MySQL, comparing two model-generated solutions and arguing which is better, and annotating where generated code fails on concurrency, error handling, security or maintainability. A typical item might be a controller and repository layer with a subtle N+1 query, an async method that blocks the thread pool, or an integration pattern that works in staging and collapses under load. Your job is to catch it and write down precisely why.

micro1 runs an AI-led screening interview before any work is assigned. It probes depth rather than vocabulary: expect follow-ups on async/await semantics, Entity Framework behaviour, indexing decisions in MySQL, dependency injection lifetimes, and how you would diagnose a production issue with only logs and metrics. Claiming expert-level C# and then describing `Task.Result` as harmless is the usual failure mode. The screen also tests written explanation, because the deliverable is often prose about code rather than the code itself.

Pay and logistics

Pay band: $60–110/hr, as observed for this listing. Contract, fully remote, and largely asynchronous: tasks arrive through a queue with deadlines rather than fixed shifts. Most contributors treat it as part-time alongside other engineering work, but availability questions in the screen are real, and inconsistent throughput is the most common reason engagements quietly end.

Who tends to do well

  • Backend engineers with several years of production C#/.NET behind them, not framework tourists
  • People who have owned a MySQL schema through growth and have scars from a missing index
  • Reviewers who can write a two-paragraph critique that a stranger could act on
  • Contractors comfortable with ambiguous rubrics and willing to ask clarifying questions in writing