The best advice I can give to new ChaCha guides

So, you got accepted as a new ChaCha guide. Congrats! Now you want to know how to be the best you can be. Since I have not worked as a generalist, specialist, or a transcriber all of my advice is geared towards expeditors. However, if you have specific questions for generalists, specialists, or transcribers I am sure I can research the answer for you.

The first thing I can tell you is to only search within your tools. If you don't know something and there is not a PAQ for it, do not search google or anything like that. If you cannot find the answer within your tools, send it on. The only reason for you to ever search outside of your tools is if your QA% is below 58%. However, the chances of that happening are really slim.

Another tip I can offer is to utilize some of the amazing firefox addons. I will be making another post for addons after I start on dinner. There are some really good ones out there that are not only helpful, but will also shave some time off.

Use your money tracker. Don't know what I'm talking about? Stay tuned for a post about good programs to have. Make sure you stay on top of things with your money tracker. Set your goal for the number of questions you want to do and begin. I usually set mine at 200 because that won't take me very long, but this number is completely up to you. Every time you answer a question, click answer. Every time you send it on, click succinct. The most important thing you pay attention to is your QA%. As I said before, you don't want that to get below 58%. This will also track how much you've made in your session as well as track your hourly pay. This really is a great little tool.

Another piece of advice I can offer is know when to search PAQ's and when to send it on. Questions about cars, video games, celebrities, etc. you can send on without a second thought. The only exception to this is if you actually know the answer. Because these questions are more specific is why you would usually send it on. Knowing this can bring answering/succincting these to a time of 3-4 seconds. This will do wonders for your hourly rate.

One thing that will really come in handy is learning what's in the QUACK box. QUACK box? The QUACK box is the box for quick answers. You want to learn what's available in there because once you learn them your times will improve immensely. I will make a post dedicated to the QUACK box soon. I recommend printing it out for quick reference when you are guiding.

Check out the tip sheets that are available. I will start compiling a list of my favorite tip sheets. They really are helpful. Also, check out Search U and the Guide Blog. You can learn some new things and keep up to date on ChaCha.


I recommend getting to know the various ThmbSvrs. For example, CNJ is for Chuck Norris Jokes. I will get a post going for those as well. You will get a lot of questions like this.

This is about all I can think of right now. I hope this helps new ChaCha guides. All of this information has helped me along the way.