This is a question I’m often asked. I’ve answered numerous emails regarding this subject and today, I thought it would make a great topic to post here on Mom Blog Society.
There are so many myths about working at home. And with good reason. Over the years, many of us have been scammed in our hunt for the ultimate work at home job. I know this, not only from my readers comments; but from my own personal experience.
It took me a long time to find legitimate work at home jobs. My first work at home job was working as a customer service representative for West At Home. At the time I applied with West At Home, I had not heard of them. Actually, my daughter knew I was searching for a position which would allow me the precious freedom of working from the comfort of my own home. She had recently heard of West At Home while watching Good Morning America. In turn, she told me about the company and I set out to do my research.
In my research I didn’t find anything negative about West At Home, but I did find some positive information on them. This prompted me to apply for a position. A week later, I got the job. Now, this was a job as an independent contractor. At the time, they didn’t hire employees to work from home. That meant, I needed to pay my own taxes. I didn’t care, I was happy to earn an income from home. Like any other job, you have to learn the ropes in order to succeed.
My first call, at home as a customer representative was difficult to say the least. I realized in the course of that call, that I was home, ALONE. No supervisor to answer my questions while I handle the call. I became nauseous and began to sweat profusely. The call lasted 30 very long minutes. After that first call, I wasn’t sure the job was right for me. However, in my desperate need for an at home income, I marched on. And, to my surprise I worked for West At Home for almost two-years. I would have stayed longer, as I loved my job. However, West At Home changed their company policy. All independent contractors were now to be hired as employees rather than IC’s. And that was only if you were lucky enough to live in the right state. I lived in Ohio at the time, and the state of Ohio didn’t make the cut. Their decision on who to keep and who to let go, rested on the state, city, and county you lived in, which was in regards to tax purposes. Anyway, I soon landed a similar position with LiveOps. They were, and to my knowledge still hire as independent contractor status.
Before I move on, I want to let you know, I had no previous experience as a customer service representative prior to my employment with West At Home. Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume, as long as you have a good speaking voice, and can read a script verbatim, you most likely can gain a call center position working from home.
I won’t go into the details of my work with LiveOps, other than to tell you they are a good company to work for. I left them, not because I wanted to, but because I moved deeper into the back hills of the country and the internet service available to me was not fast enough for me to do my job any longer.
By the time I left LiveOps, I had already dug deeper into the work at home industry and found tons of ways to make money at home. But there are so many scams out there that I felt an urgent need to let the world know about these hard to find legitimate work at home jobs. And this is what eventually led me to start the web site Occupational Highway as a means of doing just that.
Typically, I try every job I come across, if I can. There are jobs I can’t do because I’m not qualified. Such as accounting, nursing, attorney, physicians, bookkeeping, medical transcriptions, tutoring, and website design to name a few. So, how do I know these jobs are legitimate?
Research, research and more research! Without doing your due diligence, you will most likely find yourself getting scammed. Most people don’t have the time to do all the research and that’s why you are here, but I can’t possibly research all the job opportunities out there, so here are some work at home guidelines to follow in your own research.
Rules To Follow:
1. Never, and I mean NEVER EVER pay for a work at home job list.
2. Never, and again I mean NEVER EVER pay a fee to work from home. The only exception to the rule would be if the company requires you to pay your own background fee. Now, I know the LiveOps has you pay your own background fee. When I worked for them, it cost between $30-50.00.
3. If you are required to pay a background fee, Google the company. If you are finding a lot of complaints, do more research. Determine if you think the complaints are substantial enough to cause concern. If so, walk away. But, also bare in mind that there are most likely always going to be a former employee or two that set out to bad mouth a good company. This is why, you must do your own due diligence.
4. This site lists tons and tons of companies that hire people to work from home. This site is Totally free. There are many, and I mean many websites that sell work at home lists. Beware, most of them are scams. I say this because, I, purchased such work at home list in the past. My experience tells me two things. First, and more often than not, the seller is actually selling you a list that contains “ways” to make money online. Not an actual list of work at home companies. And secondly, if the list they are selling is legitimate, and contains actual companies that employ at home workers, you still don’t need to buy the list. With a little research on your own, you can find exactly what THEY are selling for FREE!
In closing, no matter what your skill set, there are legitimate ways to make money online using your computer. I go to great lengths to hunt, research and post jobs that fit the needs of a vast array of individuals. Remember, do your due diligence, never pay a fee, and most of all, update your resume so that when you do find a job of interest, you’ll be ready to apply.
DISCLAIMER:
Mom Blog Society makes no representation or guarantee about positions listed and is not responsible for safety, wages, working conditions or other aspects of employment or services provided. It is each individual’s responsibility to thoroughly research the integrity of each organization to which he or she is applying. The individual should take all care and use common sense and caution when applying for or accepting any position.
You may see advertisements for work at home jobs on this page, because that’s the topic of the page. Just because you see an ad or a site listed here, that doesn’t make a legitimate company. Carefully investigate companies that you are interested in.
