First, if you still have a traditional job (and by this I mean one where you leave home and go to a place of employment) see if they would allow you to do your current job from home.  Obviously, working in a warehouse is not going to work, but if you work at a call center, or an office where you’re mostly left to your own devices, and the work you do really only requires a computer and a phone line, consider pitching the idea to your employer.  You can offer the idea of trying it out on a temporary basis, for a few weeks, and if you can demonstrate the same or more productivity, then you may be allowed to work from home, and come into the office once in a while for important meetings.  Some call centers may have a work from home program (Convergys is an example).  Or perhaps you work at a call center that contracts with several companies, and maybe they can recommend you for a work from home program from one of those companies.  Your current employer is a good place to start.

Start searching for companies that will be your service providers for phone and internet.  If you live in a rural area, or just moved into a new construction area, the availability of high-speed internet can be limited or non-existent.  Remember that most work from home jobs will require a reliable phone service (land-line or approved VoIP provider), so you’ll want to call ahead to see who provides these services in your area and offers the best value.  The work from home employer you hire with may or may not compensate you for these services.  You’ll also want to inquire about the time it takes to provision those service from the time you place your order.  If you land a great work from home job opportunity that starts next Monday, but you can’t get your high-speed internet installed until Thursday because a tech is required and there are no techs available until then, you could potentially lose the job opportunity.

All employers will have a specific application process that you should follow to be considered for employment.  Many have a website where you fill out an online application, and all of their guidelines and requirements for getting hired are on that website.  Have your resume and up-to-date references prepared.  Most work from home employers will ask for a resume and will be checking references, work history, and some will do extensive background checks.  Since they may not have the benefit of meeting you in person, trust is going to be a significantly more important issue.  Also, depending on the job, a virtual employer may ask for a portfolio with samples of related work that you’ve done such as photography, graphic design, web design, and writing.

You’ll want to apply to several work from home jobs at the same time, just as you would in the “off-line” world.  The hiring process for legitimate work from home jobs  is usually a lot longer than the off-line world, and in some case the employer has a project that is only temporary, or seasonal.  You may end up having to hire with two or more virtual employers to get enough work to meet your income goals since a particular employer may only have two to three hours of work a day, or the project lasts for only a month, etc.

The phone interview should be straightforward.  Work from home jobs that require phone work will often require that you call a number to do a phone audition to gauge the quality of your voice.  Most, if not all work from home sales jobs will require that you demonstrate sales and closing skills during the interview, or there will be an interview to test sales skills only.  For the interview, be sure to be alert, sitting with good posture, and answer questions with confidence and enthusiasm, just as you would in a face to face interview.  Be sure there are no noise or distractions, and have a pen and paper handy to take notes.  Basically, pretend the employer is sitting right in front of you.  Smiling will make a huge difference in projecting your best image over the phone.

Once you’ve finished the application process, continue to correspond with the virtual employer so that you stay in their radar.  A thank you note for the opportunity to apply and interview is not a bad idea, and often you can just send a quick thank-you email since you’ll be corresponding via email a lot of the time.  If you meet all the requirements and have completed the application process, you should expect to get hired provided the employer has work for you.  Landing a work from home job opportunity is not complicated and following the tips outlined above will help you go in the right direction.

Most of us are used to being supervised and told what to do.  When we were children, most of what we did was under the guidance of our parents.  They would be watching us, telling us what we could or could not do, where we could or could not go.  They showed us how to do things.  If we did something good we were praised and rewarded.  When we did something bad we were reprimanded.  This dynamic carried over into school, where our teachers became our surrogate parents and there were rules to follow just like at home.

A job is what most of us have transitioned into after finishing school (and some of us while in school) to replace the environment but still maintain the same relationship dynamics between our parents and our teachers.  Essentially, our bosses are our surrogate parents at the workplace.  A job makes sense to most people because it is familiar (like family) and is something we are comfortable with.  Our job experience resembles our family experience and, without realizing it, is one of the main reasons why most people find it difficult to be a business owner or entrepreneur and instead find it easier to gravitate towards a job working for someone else.

Work from home jobs will require that you become familiar with being independent, being comfortable with working for yourself and getting work done without supervision.  They are a middle step between a traditional job and running your own business (whether a “brick and mortar” business or marketing your own service or product online).  Real work from home jobs will require a bit of business owner thinking and discipline since, essentially, you are an independent contractor and will be “prospecting” for work as you would be prospecting for clients (though some positions can be long-term projects).  Work from home jobs will require that you are able to be productive without having someone watching over you (though there will be metrics that will be analyzed to ensure you are doing your job).  This can be challenging for a lot of people because most of us are used to the rigid structure of a workplace and can be easily distracted at home since the usual mentality is “no one is really going to know what I’m doing.”  Most people associate home with relaxing and not working, so making a mental shift to being productive at home and getting paid for working from home is challenging.  Most of us are also used to getting paid a wage per hour.  Though most work from home job opportunities offer hourly wages, the flexibility of working the hours you want, together with the associations of staying home and relaxing, are mental obstacles difficult to overcome.

Perhaps I’m making the mental aspect of working from home seem like a daunting challenge, but, although it is very important, it’s not that hard to overcome.  Work from home jobs are a relatively easy transition from a workplace.  It’s challenging to find good, long term, legitimate work from home jobs at first and this is usually the phase (the start-up phase) that requires the most perseverance, but once you start working from home, the new mentality will become habit and you will be on your way to long-term success working for yourself.

Some of the alternatives to work from home sales jobs involve traditional office jobs that can be done via telecommute.  These positions include administrative assistant services, medical transcription, data entry, bookkeeping, help desk related positions, and general customer service.  Many of these positions are advertised at a pay scale similar to one at a regular office ($8-$12 per hour).  Many companies are outsourcing their work to telecommuters because it saves on overhead costs normally associated with employing people at an office.  It makes sense:  why not have people do the same work that can be done at an office at home (since the people don’t really need to be at an office to do the work anyway) and save yourself the cost of running the office (electricity, rent, etc)?  Both sides win because the employer can still offer a competitive wage while still saving money per employee and the telecommuter can save expenses related to commuting (gas, dry cleaning, childcare) and create a work-from-home lifestyle that allows time flexibility and the ability to stay home (and be with your children if you are a parent).

The requirements for these work from home jobs will be very similar to the “brick and mortar” counterpart.  Most will require experience related to the position, some will require a certain amount of years of experience.  Most will require computer skills, particularly with Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Word and Excel, efficient data entry skills, and a minimum typing speed.  Keep in mind that many advertisements for office or clerical work-related telecommuting jobs are not real work from home jobs (see previous post) but are marketing opportunities or even scams.  In either case, all positions will require enough self-discipline to do your job well, without supervision, as if you were “at the office.”

Administrative assistants, or anyone with related experience, parlay their work into the home based arena as virtual assistants.  This line of work actually becomes more of a home based business than a job.  Medical transcription is also a more specialized work from home job opportunity in that it requires specialized training and certification, particularly to find home based positions, and usually will require a certain amount of experience in a clinic or doctor’s office before transitioning to home based employment.

Where can you find these types of work from home jobs?  They will likely require some extra research to find.  Perhaps the best place to start is to do a Google search for “work at home jobs,” “stay at home jobs,” or “work from home jobs.”  There are some websites dedicated to listing these kinds of telecommuting opportunities, some will charge a small fee to see listings (but usually worth it to find legitimate work from home job opportunities).  There are forums that discuss work from home jobs which are a great resource to finding virtual employment.  Although finding the right opportunity that fits is challenging, there are legitimate work from home jobs that you can be qualified for and be comfortable doing in the “office job arena,” and it’s just a matter of doing the extra research to find them.