Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Work from Home, How to find legit jobs

I know a lot of people are very leery when they hear about work from home jobs because, there are a lot of scams out there. There are also some legit work from home jobs that you can apply for, with regular pay and benefits. I often get asked questions about work at home opportunities so I thought I'd share a little of what I know.

These are my own opinions and suggestions and all jobs will have their own set of guidelines.

There are two different categories you will find most often when looking for a telecommuting job, an independent contractor or an employee.


Here is a video that will explain that much better than I could!



I am going to talk about job where you will be hired as an employee.


Requirements:

A quiet office space: It's important that you have a quiet area of your home set aside for working at home. Ideally this would be a private room with a locking door. Employers will not tolerate noise in the background from barking dogs, crying babies, children playing or other household noise. You may even want to hang a sign on the door asking people not to knock or ring the doorbell during working hours.


Childcare: I know it seems like a work from home job would be a great way to stay home with your children however, in most jobs this is not the case. If you are working on the phone for example, in customer service, you cannot step away from the phone to care for children. As I previously mentioned, you cannot have any noise in the background either. You will want to make arrangements for someone else to be watching your little ones while you are on the phone. Older children and teens will need to know not to bother you when you are working.

High Speed Internet: most jobs will require high speed internet. The lowest requirement I have seen is a 1mbps upload speed but many jobs require a 3mbps or 5mbps or faster. It may be necessary to upgrade your service or even to change companies all together to achieve this. For most jobs satellite internet will not be acceptable.

A Computer: Sometimes jobs will provide you with a computer once you start training but often you will still need a computer during the initial stages. The jobs where you are required to use your own computer generally want you to have a computer that is less that 4-6 years old. Some have pretty strict requirements as far as monitor size and speed so you may have to purchase a new computer. If funds are very tight you may be able to rent an acceptable computer until you have been working for a little bit and can afford to buy one. This is pricey in the long run but in a pinch it is an option to help you get into that job you desire.


Avoiding Scams:

Even is you are applying for a job as an employee, there are times when you have to pay for your own background check. Normally, this is not the case. A legit job will usually only require you to pay for a background check if you are almost certain to get the job. asking you for money while applying, or directly after submitting your resume is a sign that this may be a scam.
Here is an example: I applied for the staffing agency online. The job sounded great, they pay was great. I submitted my resume and application and within minutes I received and e-mail stating that I was being considered for a job and needed to pay $45 for a background check. There was no way in two minutes the company had time to review my resume. I left it on the back burner and started applying to other jobs. In the next few days I got several e-mails asking me to submit my payment so I decided to do some research. I Googled this company and could not find one person who had actually been hired by this company. I did find a lot of people who had paid the $45 however. I cannot say for certain that it was a scam but my scam alert definitely went off!

Do your research! Always do your research, especially before submitting any kind of payment. Search Google and YouTube. There are many websites dedicated to educating the public about scams. You can check the Better Business Bureau bbb.org or Scambusters along with a whole bunch of other websites.

Use reputable resources: When looking for a work at home job it's a good idea to check legit work at home job boards such as RatRaceRebellion. I suggest starting in the "Call Center and Customer Service" section and if you are looking to be an employee of the company and not an independent contractor look for the letters "EM" in front of the job posting. Workers On Board also posts some good work at home jobs. Both sites have YouTube pages for additional assistance and explanation.

Most of all realize, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is! If anyone could make $3,000 a week sitting at home, I am sure most of us would be doing it! Unfortunately, there people out there wanting to prey on other people.


If you would like me to cover any other topics related to working at home please let me know!


If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comment section below!




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