JOBS ONLINE
HOW TO FIND AND GET HIRED TO A WORK-AT-HOME JOB
LESLIE TRUEX
Copyright 2011 by Leslie Truex
Smashwords Edition, License
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This publication is designed to provide information with regard to the subject matter; however, publisher/author is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, seek the services of a competent professional. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom.
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About the author
Leslie Truex has been telecommuting and working from home for two decades. Since 1998 she has helped people find or create work-at-home jobs and home businesses through her website WorkAtHomeSuccess.com.
She is the author of The Work-At-Home Success Bible: A Complete Guide for Moms (Adams Media) and teaches work-at-home job courses online and through Piedmont Virginia Community College.
Leslie keeps abreast of the work-at-home job market by searching for and posting work-at-home jobs every weekday on her website and in her weekly newsletter.
She works from home in Central Virginia where she lives with her husband, two children and two cats.
Readers can connect with Leslie through her website, WorkAtHomeSuccess.com, at Twitter @ltruex or Facebook at Facebook.com/leslietruex.
Dedication
To my children for being the inspiration to pursue work at home and to my husband for always supporting my efforts even when they seemed to fail more than they succeeded.
To my mother for always encouraging my endeavors no matter how silly and for being my proofreader. And to my father and step-parents for their love and support.
Finally, this book is for everyone looking to create balance their lives and create a career that they love!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FINDING A WORK-AT-HOME JOB ONLINE
APPENDIX: SITES FOR JOB SEARCH
When I was pregnant with my first child, I thought I would be one of those highly touted supermoms who could work a full day in a job, keep up with housework and still have time and energy to be a wife and mother. But as time went on the image lost its appeal. It was tough enough to get myself ready for work much less get my son ready for daycare. In the evening, housework and bills took what was left of my time and energy. When I had my second child, managing day-to-day tasks became even harder. I began to worry my children were going to grow up without me. So I decided to make money at home.
Like many other people, I researched various work-at-home schemes including envelope stuffing and typing, only to become discouraged at the scams and overpriced information books that didn’t provide the information the ads suggested they would. At the time, it didn’t occur to me that I already had work-at-home experience. In college, I sold kitchen knives. Although I hated selling, I was successful for the two months I was in the knife business. I even earned a free kitchen tool set (which I never received).
After earning my degree, I joined the work force as a social worker and one of my first jobs was a contract position as an early intervention program coordinator for a rural elementary school. While I was required to be on site for several hours each week, I did most of the paper work and grant writing at home.
Later, I left a full-time on-site position as an adoption social worker to work for the same organization on a contract basis preparing documents and conducting post placement home visits. All this was conducted from my home with visits to the office only to pick up or drop off work.
For some reason, when I thought about finding a working at home job, I didn't think about these experiences. Instead, I did what many work-at-home wannabes do; I answered ads about stuffing envelopes and joined a host of questionable work-at-home schemes and lost money in the process.
My quest to work at home led me to research everything I could about telecommuting on and offline. My goal was to find that one resource that revealed the “secret” to working at home so that I could quit my job. I read just about everything published on the subject of working at home, but no matter how much I read I was disappointed that more details weren’t given. Success stories about working at home always started with the person being in debt, coming up with a great work-at-home idea and then they weren’t in debt. But what exactly did they do to get from debt to no debt? What actions did they take? What did they say and to whom? The details on how to work at home seemed to be one of life’s great mysteries.
Fortunately through trial and error I discovered some of the “secrets” and was able to find home-based work in social work, Internet research, writing, and more.
In 1998 I started to share what I'd learned and what I continued to discover about working at home through a website, WorkAtHomeSuccess.com. My goal was to help others avoid the pitfalls and instead, take a more direct path to work-at-home success. While good information about working at home existed, I wanted to provide people with one step more: details to show the way.
Much has changed since 1998. Today it's easier than ever to find work-at-home jobs online. In 1998 I was lucky to find one job a month to post on the website. Today I post 50 jobs each week on the website and email another 20 in the weekly newsletter.
What hasn't changed is that you still can't sign up to type, do data entry or lick envelopes. While work-at-home jobs are prevalent, so are the scams and misinformation that prevent many people from finding legitimate work. This guide will explain what work-at-home jobs are and aren't, as well as how to find them and get hired.
But like all books, the information is just that...information. It doesn't do you any good unless you use it. Throughout the book you'll find worksheets, checklists and resources to help in your job search. Use them. That's what they're there for.
I'm convinced that the reason people get into trouble when it comes to finding work-at-home jobs is that they don't understand what work-at-home jobs are. They're too easily led into believing that they can sign up to type or do surveys. So before I tell you what work-at-home jobs are, let me tell you what they aren't.
Work-at-home jobs are NOT:
- Typing (although you may find a job in
transcription)
- Envelope stuffing
- Assembly work
- Data
entry (there are a few -- very few-- legitimate data entry jobs)
-
Email processing
- Rebate processing
- Transaction processing
(or anything that asks you to use your personal bank account or
credit card to do business)
- Refund tracer
- Ad placer
-
Web surfer
- Survey taker (You can win prizes and sometimes earn a
little cash, but it's not a job.)
- Sign-up-do-nothing schemes.
This may seem obvious, but I find work-at-home offers all the time
that suggest you can make millions just by signing up.
Work-At-Home Jobs
Work-at-home jobs are like any other job; they require skills and experience. You'll need a quality resume that outlines how you're the best one for the job. Finally you'll need to go through a hiring process that may include an interview and/or a test.
It may sound daunting, but it's not. If you've ever gotten a job before, you already have the experience needed to get a work-at-home job.
Before you get the job… important legal issues you need to know!
In the work at home world, not all jobs come with the status of "employee". That doesn't mean that work isn't regular or ongoing. It just means that companies prefer to take on workers in a contract or freelance status. It saves them money and it could save you a bundle in taxes as well. (Note: I'm not a tax expert, so please consult with a tax professional about contract and freelance work tax benefits.)
The distinction between an employee and a contract worker is an important one. Not only does it affect the relationship between the company and worker, it can have tax implications as well. An employee is a worker who is hired full or part-time, is paid a salary or hourly wage, often receives benefits, and whose employer deducts tax and social security. A contract worker differs in that an organization makes a contract with the worker to complete specific tasks or projects. While contract workers can be “hired” for full or part-time work, they are usually paid when certain tasks or projects are completed. Further, the contracting organization pays the worker a straight fee or commission without tax or social security deductions.
There are exceptions and gray areas in the definitions of employee and contract worker. Because of this, it is important to know before you accept a job how you are going to be categorized by the company and whether or not it will be issuing a W-2 (employee earnings) or 1099 (contract work payments) for tax purposes.
Which is better? Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Employee status offers the security of a stable (maybe) job, a regular paycheck and sometimes benefits. On the other hand, workdays and hours are usually not as flexible. Further, employees may be required to work on site a set number of days per week or month. And frequently, employees need to live within a certain mile or time radius of the company site to attend meetings or other company-related events.
Contract work usually offers the flexibility of setting one’s own schedule. Because work is project-based, contract workers can work at a tempo that earns them the income they desire. If they want to earn specific amount of money and can meet the requirements needed to earn it, they can. They aren’t limited by a set salary or wage. On the other hand, they only earn when they produce.
Another factor in contract work is paying one’s own taxes. While you can deduct expenses such as mileage, supplies, your internet connection and maybe even a portion of your housing costs, coming up with money at tax time can be difficult and frustrating if money isn’t set aside in advance.
Those wanting to work at home will find many more contract jobs than salary jobs. The companies paying salary and benefits to telecommuters are generally in areas requiring highly skilled or experienced workers. But don't let that scare you away from finding a work-at-home job. Work is abundant and with a little planning, you may end up earning more money and having more tax advantages, while working less hours.
Most Common Work-At-Home Jobs
Finding a legitimate work-at-home job is easy as long as you're looking for the right kinds of jobs in the right places. Work-at-home jobs can be found in a variety of fields and organizations. Still, there are some jobs that are more prevalent than others. If you have the skills to do one of the jobs below, you're chances of finding work and getting hired are very good. If not, don't get discouraged. This list is not exhaustive.
Customer service
This is one of the fastest growing areas in work-at-home jobs. Big companies such as JetBlue and U-Haul are using home-based workers to help with scheduling and answering customer questions. Other companies use customer service support to for order taking.
While some companies require customer service experience, others simply ask that you have a pleasant speaking voice. Many also require that you have high speed internet access and a head-set for your phone.
Transcription (If you want to type, this is the job for you.)
The most common transcription jobs are in medical transcription. While these jobs are abundant, you need training in medical terminology and two or more years of experience. Legal transcription is another area in which you'd need specialized knowledge of legal terms and experience.
General transcription is used by solo-preneurs, speakers, coaches and other small businesses that outsource special projects when needed. Or, if you're fast and accurate, captioning is a growing job area in which transcribers type the spoken words from television shows for the hearing impaired.
Aside from the specialized training or knowledge you need for medial or legal transcription, you may also need specific equipment or software. Some companies will supply it while others will require that you purchase it on your own. Watch out for any company that tries to sell its own equipment or software. While legitimate companies will give you a list of resources to find the equipment you need, you want to be wary of a company selling its wares so you can do your job, because more often than not, it will be a scam.
To get the job, you may need to pass a typing test, that assess you on speed and accuracy.
Virtual Assistant (If you want to do clerical work, this is your job.)
Many small and solo-preneurs are now outsourcing their clerical work such as transcribing, correspondence, scheduling and more. Common virtual assistant tasks include checking and responding to email and phone calls, scheduling appointments, updating websites or blogs, writing and submitting advertising, and customer service. Some businesses are looking for virtual assistants with specialized skills such as web page building or bookkeeping, or experience in a specific industry such as real estate.
Most employers will train you on the systems they use, but you'll need to have basic writing skills, knowledge and ownership of software such as word processing, high speed internet access, and the ability to keep up with the boss.
Graphic or web design and web programming
In the past, all the work-at-home jobs outside of sales were related to computers and programming. While there are many jobs in other fields, the opportunities in graphic and web design and programming is plentiful. These jobs require knowledge and experience usually in specific software or programming languages. However, your knowledge doesn't necessarily need to come from a degree or certificate. If you're self taught and have a portfolio, you can find work in this area.
Work can be found in just about every size and type of business and non-profits. You'll need to have a computer that can meet the demands of the job and often specific software such as Photoshop or Quark.
Copywriting, PR and Marketing
It doesn’t matter how good a product or service is, if someone doesn't buy it, the company won't make money. So companies rely on words (copywriting) and marketing to get the word out about its products and services. That makes marketing one of the most important jobs there is. The best thing about copywriting and marketing work is that it's extremely lucrative and doesn't necessarily require a degree in advertising.
Copywriting, PR and marketing jobs involve writing ads, brochures, web copy, press releases, and creating and disseminating information for the purpose of marketing a product or service. You can specialize in a specific area such as online marketing, social media marketing or public relations.
Copywriters are usually just create the written text whether it’s a short ad, a long sales letter or a catalog description. If you know desktop or website design, that be an added bonus to finding work, but it's not required.