Students who are unsure of their post-graduation plans or who just want to make some extra money can become a “special agent” for kgb.
The Knowledge Generation Bureau, or kgb, is a privately-owned company based in New York City that began as an “Ask Us Anything” service. It was founded in 1992 and has since offered its service through different forms of communication, including phones and the Internet.
Ohio State students and others around the U.S. are becoming “special agents,” answering questions such as: “What relieves the sting of pepper spray?” and “How do you talk to a girl you don’t know?”
Unlike its competitors — ChaCha and the yet-to-launch Siri — each question is answered by real people. Each text question sent to 542542 costs 99 cents and is answered within minutes. Special agents receive 10 cents per answer.
Last year kgb answered nearly 1 billion questions.
Special agents are accountable for delivering accurate and clear answers to the questions they receive.
Adam Grof, a third-year in sport and leisure studies, is an OSU special agent.
“I receive a question, research the answer and send back my response,” Grof said. “We answer anything from people’s math homework questions to movie trivia to sports questions.”
It is an attractive job for college students because the special agents make their own hours.
“College students love their work as kgb special agents,” said kgb spokesman Adam Miller, “kgb is a fun alternative to other part-time work because they can do it from anywhere, whenever they feel like logging on to the computer.”
Grof usually answers one question every four to six minutes.
“Typically on Saturday and Sunday we run ads during the peak hours of the football games,” Grof said. “It gets really busy during those times so during those peak hours I’m answering them even quicker.”
The process of becoming a special agent is short and painless. After completing an online test, there is a short training process.
“In the training stage you learn all about kgb. You learn the rules, the way you are supposed to answer questions and the way the company operates,” Grof said. “The original test is really not difficult at all. I think I scored a 94 percent. Basically you can go to www.kgb.com and you can ‘Take the Challenge’ either for fun or for employment.”
