What are the Best Work at Home Job Opportunities?
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Everyone dreams of the 1 minute commute – moving from the kitchen table or easy chair to your home office. No getting into your car, no filling your gas tank for $100 and no stressful drive home after a long day in the office. For retirees looking for part time income the attractions of a home based job are obvious. Knowing this, promoters are busy selling “work at home” businesses and promising “big money”. Many of these business opportunities are Internet based businesses (see our article Can You Really Make “Big Money” on the Internet?). Unfortunately, most of these so-called opportunities promise more than they deliver and the vast majority are scams. In this article we will focus on other types of work at home opportunities and help you differentiate between the legitimate and the scams.
Earn Big Money Working From Home!
If only this were true! Knowing the attraction of earning money from home, promoters are busy selling at home work opportunities to the unwary. If you are looking for opportunities to work and make money from home, follow our golden rules.
Our golden rule #1 is:
If you have to pay for the privilege of working from home, chances are, the opportunity is a scam!
Legitimate companies with legitimate opportunities will not require you to pay a fee to learn a system to make money working from home. One well known scam asked for $50 from prospects in exchange for learning the “secrets” of making money at home. Thousands of people sent money in only to learn that they would have to invest another $3,000 to begin making money! The promoter has made millions.
Our golden rule #2 is:
Home based jobs will not magically transfer a low hourly wage job into a “big money” position.
When investigating opportunities always be skeptical and apply a little common sense. Will a company pay you $100 per hour to stuff envelopes in your home when it could easily hire and pay clerical staff $8 to $10 per hour to do the same job in an office? If the job was really worth $100 per hour, the company would pay the $8 to $10 per hour and pocket the difference!
Golden rule #3 is:
Don’t believe anything you read in the ad – whether it is in the newspaper or on the Internet.
Promoters will frequently establish independent looking Internet sites. The sites contain wonderful endorsements of the opportunity – all manufactured by the promoter.
Golden rule #4 is:
Do not provide personal information until you are comfortable that the organization is legitimate.
This is especially true for financial information. A legitimate organization will never ask you for bank account and other personal financial information.
The Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov) warns consumers lists the following as classic work at home scams:
- Medical billing
- Envelope stuffing
- Assembly or craft work
- Sales lead generation and follow-up
- Cash transfer processing
- Participation in marketing surveys
- Telemarketing
Some opportunities –such as customer service- are legitimate but not if you need to buy into the opportunity by investing your own money.
There is a growing number of work at home jobs in the customer service industry. Customer service means helping customers who call you. This is different from telemarketing jobs in which you make out bound calls to find the customers!
For retirees interested in pursuing these types of jobs, some basic computer skills are needed. This may be an issue for you depending on the type of job you held before retirement. Your local community college offers basic computer skills classes for adults you can take advantage of – the cost is usually relatively low.
You will also need your own computer (with a recent computer operating system and recent releases of Internet and email applications, such as Microsoft Explorer and Microsoft Outlook) and a high speed connection to the Internet. In some cases, the hiring company may provide you with the needed equipment if they hire you as an employee. If you are hired as an independent contractor, you may need to have all your own equipment and high speed Internet connection. The company may also require a dedicated phone line to your computer.
Depending on the nature of the job, a high school diploma or some college level training may be required. As with any job, you will have to submit to a background check and/or a drug test.
You will also be expected to have good people and phone skills. Interviews are usually conducted over the phone as a way to judge your ability to converse and “connect” while on the phone.
Experience is usually not required. A legitimate company will also provide on the job training.
For retirees who have been out of the job market you will have to update your resume. Do not take the job search casually! Even though the number of jobs in the field is growing there will always be competition for the jobs at the best companies.
Do some research to find companies that offer work at home jobs. Recent articles listed companies such as Dell, JetBlue Airways, Office Depot, American Automobile Association and Staples as good candidates. Their job ads don’t always explicitly state that the listed jobs are at home opportunities – you may have to call and ask.
Here are some frequently asked questions and answers that appear on a legitimate employer’s website:
| Q: What can you tell me about pay? | A: ABC At Home offers schedules based on either per minute rate, per call OR guaranteed hourly rate. If total earnings (whether via per minute, per call or guaranteed hourly rate) are less than minimum wage, employee compensation will be trued up to meet their local minimum wage requirements (our employees will always earn the greater of the two pay scales). ABC At Home employees are paid on a biweekly basis and Direct Deposit and/or Pay Card options are available immediately! |
|---|---|
| Q: Will I be paid for training? | A: Yes, you will be paid an hourly wage for training! Training is conducted online from the comfort of your own home! |
| Q: What type of PC equipment is required in order for me to pursue the ABC At Home program? | A: Computer Hardware:
|
NOTE: DSL or Cable internet connection is required.
Note that while you are required to provide your own computer, you receive training and are paid while being trained by the company.
Staffing firms and job banks such as Yahoo!HotJobs; National Telecommuting Institute; CareerBuilder include home jobs listings.
Be careful, be skeptical and do some research. Legitimate opportunities are out there to earn good part time income from home.