Find Work From Home Jobs

When searching online for work from home jobs, it seems most, if not all of the advertisements, particularly the Google ads, seem to offer an almost too good to be true opportunity to work from home, make a lot of good money, and be able to seemingly start right away, with little or no experience.  The truth of the matter is that a work from home job really is very much like a regular “off line” job, the only difference being that instead of working at a company building, you work from your home.  It’s important to be mindful of the misleading information on the internet regarding work from home job opportunities to be able to sift through the “garbage” and find the right work from home job for you.

Let’s clear something up regarding the term “work from home.”  It is used in business opportunity ads just as much as, if not more than, in legitimate work from home job advertisements.  Obviously, even if you run your own daycare, graphic design, or custom embroidery business from home, or hold meetings for a network marketing opportunity from home, you are “working from home,”  but as a business owner and not an employee.  Many business or marketing opportunity ads will use the term “work from home” to attract people who are looking for legitimate work from home employment but not necessarily looking to start a business.  Yes, even though there are many legitimate business and marketing opportunities out there where you could potentially make a lot more income and create a much better lifestyle than you would as an employee, many people are not ready to make that leap yet.  Remember that there is a distinct difference between being a virtual employee and being an independent contractor or working for yourself.  So, you’ll see some ads that say, for example, “make $47 an hour working from home” or “work from home, no experience necessary” but these are really business or marketing opportunities, and some are potentially scams.

Consider some of the indicators that what you’re looking at is a legitimate work from home job opportunity.  Most legitimate work from home employment will have an application process and also ask for a resumé, which will require that you list work history, applicable skillsets, and pertinent training and education (as required by the position, of course).  There will be an interview, usually conducted over the phone, and some companies – particularly the virtual call center employers – will require a thorough background check (which usually requires a non-refundable fee to complete the check).  Aside from the background check fee, a legitimate work from home company should not charge any money to apply for the job, and usually conducts the interview and completes most of the screening process to determine you’re eligible and qualified for employment with them before the background check is requested.  Most virtual employment will also have an hourly wage, salary, or, depending on the job, will have some sort of pay-per-completed-task pay structure.  Does all this sound similar to getting a traditional job?  It should.

One thing about real work from home jobs that seems unusual as compared to a regular job is that they seem somewhat like a business opportunity.  Most work from home jobs offer a greater flexibility of schedule, the convenience of working from home, and it’s possible to be doing work for several companies at the same time.  All of this is contrary to how most people are used to thinking about a job.  You could think about a work from home opportunity as being employed for yourself, and essentially the company (or companies) you’re doing work for as your client(s).  This is actually a good way to look at it (actually, a good way to look at traditional jobs in general).  Consider that medical transcription is considered a job even though you may be, as a virtual medical transcriptionist, transcribing for several doctors offices or medical institutions (these would be like your clients).  Or if you’re a virtual assistant, whether hiring directly with a single client or hiring with a company that assigns you projects and assignments from various clients, your work, or position, is considered a job rather than a business.  The point I want to make is that there are many legitimate home based jobs that have similar characteristics to some of the marketing and business opportunities out there, but it’s important to know the difference to find the correct opportunity.

Consider some of the indicators of business/marketing opportunities or scams.  One of the main indicators is an exaggerated claim of income.  Any advertisement that offers much more than what a normal job in the particular line of work you do would offer is not a real work from home job.  Yes, you can make really good money in sales, particularly business to business sales and selling high-ticket items, but if an advertisement claims you can make $47 an hour typing from home, consider that this could be an online marketing opportunity (one possibility being where…yes, you’re typing up ads that you post online via Google adwords, or typing up sales copy and landing pages for affiliate products, or blog posts and articles for your various blogs that you’re monetizing with adsense or affiliate product links, all of which require some monetary investment (which could be several hundred or several thousand dollars a month) and that you’ve been doing this for a few years…then yes, you could be making $47 an hour typing from home – and yes, there are people who do this and make this kind of money, or more), or it could be a scam.  Another indicator that tells you what you’re looking at is not a legitimate work from home job opportunity is that there is no experience necessary.  ALL opportunities, even those advertised as work from home data entry jobs, will require that you have pertinent skills for the job.  Most will offer training, but even if you’re hiring with s client who needs someone to reformat their Excel spreadsheets and do simple data entry, you’ll need to know your way around Microsoft programs, a computer in general, and know how to type – clerical and organizational skills will be required for this example job.  You can bet that all work from home jobs will require previous relevant experience and training, the exception is quite rare.

Overall, if a work from home job opportunity looks like a regular job, then it should be.  Legitimate work from home jobs have a hiring process similar to a traditional job, will have requirements similar to a traditional job, and the work should be the equivalent of that done at a regular “brick-and-mortar” establishment.  Also, you should not have to pay any money to apply, or have to purchase a “kit” to find out more about the job, or pay money for a membership to get started.  By knowing what to look for – and lookout for- you can find legitimate work from home jobs with greater ease and peace of mind.

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