How nice it would be to live in a Jetsons world where robots perform all the labor and humans wile the days away in green pastures and lush meadows. Unfortunately the world isn’t like that, and earning a living is still as much of a necessity as it was since the dawn of man.
For decades, companies have promised to enact policies that allow employees to work from home. It makes sense – happier, more productive employees and valuable office space (thus money toward leasing) saved. While some have already done so, many managers would rather have the employees stay onsite for collaboration and supervision. Can a worker cut the corporate cord and work from home solo? Perhaps, but it’s not so easy to find legitimate work at home jobs.
Virtual Jobs
Alpine Access and LiveOps offer work from home customer service jobs to those who have their own home office with a computer and broadband internet. The websites pair remote agents with companies seeking to run virtual call centers spread throughout the world. High-speed internet and a high school diploma or equivalent is required. Training, testing, credit check, and drug testing follows every accepted application.
Virtual office assistants perform administrative tasks such as setting appointments, scheduling meetings, responding to e-mails, maintaining customer relationships, and answering phone calls. Similarly, the virtual concierge acts as a remote personal assistant, reserving hotel rooms, booking travel arrangements, and scheduling events.
Freelancing Websites
Professionals seeking to work from home can bid on a variety of projects spanning multiple occupations using freelancing sites such as GetAFreelancer, Guru, and Elance. Don’t like bidding or project fees? Try Sologig for consulting and contract to hire opportunities. Make sure the freelancing site has a system in place to guarantee payment, and watch out for scam listings that fail to provide a detailed up-front job description.
Revenue Sharing Content Websites
Freelance writers can work at home and earn a cut of advertising revenue for every article submitted. That’s the idea behind revenue sharing sites including Suite101, Associated Content, Helium, and a 2009 CNET WebWare 100 winner, eHow. However, it takes several years and several hundred articles for each site in order to sustain a substantial stream of residual income. Other challenges include learning and implementing effective SEO, site requirements, and effective online article writing.
Legitimate, full-time work from home jobs are difficult to find. However, thousands of workers earn their living at home every day in virtual jobs, through freelancing websites, and on revenue sharing content sites. It's just a matter of where to look.
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