Telecommuting

Lesson 2: Becoming a Telecommuter

Finding a telecommuting job

Finding a good telecommuting job is more difficult than finding an in-office job because work-at-home jobs are not as plentiful and there are lots and lots of scams out there for folks hoping to make a living from home. So before you embark on any job-finding mission, the first thing you need to know is what to look out for. Here are some warning signs that an advertised telecommuting job is a scam:

It sounds too good to be true
As with most things, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is. Any ad that promises $5,000 a month with no experience necessary is definitely a scam. Any ad that offers a "fail-safe" home business opportunity is probably a scam. Just use common sense. Don't buy into the hype. There is no "perfect" telecommuting job, and if someone tries to tell you there is, they're trying to rip you off.

It makes you pay
Read my lips. NO legitimate job will ask you for money. NONE. PERIOD. If you are asked to pay, you are getting scammed. Now, this doesn't apply to job search resources such as Telecommuting Jobs. This site charges users a $10 per year subscription fee for the service of providing job listings. This is not a scam -- they merely need some payment for providing you this service. In fact, they screen their listings thoroughly to weed out scams.

You aren't told what the job is
Oftentimes, the advertisement will just say "Work from home. No selling. Big money," and ask you contact them. If you don't know what the job is from the beginning, that's probably because there is no real job there in the first place.

You're asked to stuff envelopes or assemble things
Nine times out of ten, anything that requires stuffing envelopes or assemby work is a scam. They will ask you to pay "start-up fees" and buy other kinds of equipment, and you will never get the pay they advertise (like $5,000 a month).

These are just a few of the red flags. Please read this great excerpt from The Real Deal on Telecommuting: How You Can Make Money (Legitimately) at Home! by Rosalind Mays for more tips.

A couple other good sites include the Telecommuting section at About.com and VirtualAssistants.com.

FINDING A JOB
Now that you know what to look out for, how do you go about finding a job? My best advice is to get on the Internet. There are a number of great sites that offer telecommuting job listings. Here are a few of my favorites:

Telecommuting Jobs: This site is the one I mentioned earlier that charges a $10 per year subscription fee. It costs nothing to look through the listings, but if you want to contact an employer it will cost you. It's well worth it if you're serious about telecommuting.

HomeCareerSearch.com: This is actually a member-supported Web site for job seekers looking to work at major companies like AT&T, Bank of America, General Electric, etc. But they also offer internal job postings without a membership. From the front page, click on "Click Here for Current Internal Job Postings." I've applied for several of these jobs in the past and haven't gotten a response, but that doesn't mean they aren't legit. I think competition is just very fierce for these positions, which oftentimes include full-time salaries and benefits (something hard to find with telecommuting).

Homeworkers Union: This member-supported site has a variety of resources, from a job database to resume submission to training. You will have to pay a membership fee, but there are many benefits that go along with that membership.

The Real Deal on Telecommuting: Click on "Free job listings" to find a monthly list of telecommuting jobs. This site is designed to sell Rosalind Mays' book, but you can probably find some valuable information as well.

WAHM.com: This site is designed for work-at-home-moms, but I'm sure anyone could benefit from the free job listings.

Workaholics4Hire: This site offers a free membership in exchange for telecommuting job listings. It's a pretty good resource for a variety of work-at-home jobs.

I hope these sites give you some insight into the world of telecommuting and finding a job. The next section will explain how to become a telecommuter when you already have a job.

  1  2  3  4  5