Telecommuting Jobs + Work from Home Ideas &
Resources
You may have landed at WorkOptions looking for
telecommuting jobs. Though that's not its focus—it's
for individuals who want telecommuting and other flexible
work at their current job—I'd
like to help just the same.Telecommuting and earning an income from home are
appealing concepts which require thoughtful preparation.
After my four bits of
counsel just below, you'll find a few links to sites
which can guide you on the work from home pathway.
Four Points to Keep in Mind About Telecommuting Jobs
1. Most employed telecommuters work for
an employer where they've held an established
position prior to restructuring their job to work from
home. They usually telecommute one to three days a week.
This approach is the most common way to be an employee
who works from home. Getting agreement from your manager to work from home
generally requires an outstanding proposal, which is why people use WorkOptions'
Telecommuting Proposal Package.
Start by proving you can do some of your job tasks
from home. You may want to do a free trial of remote access software (try GoToMyPC
or LogMeIn), which allows you to be in front of your office computer
from your home.
2. It's unusual to be hired as a new employee
who is offered or allowed to telecommute from the
start.
This is slowly changing, but still far from
mainstream. There
have been encouraging reports in The Wall Street
Journal and other sources
that the trend to allow new hires to telework is
improving.
There are websites which list telecommuting jobs,
but it's tricky sifting out the scam sites to find the few legit sites.
One that
I endorse is FlexJobs,
a no-ads, BBB-approved site of hand-screened telecommuting jobs. To get a look,
I signed up to access its jobs board and was impressed at the number and caliber
of professional-level jobs. Not long after, I had an hour-long talk with CEO
Sara Sutton Fell. She has a personal story that translates into a passion for
people looking for a saner work life. She's all about offering viable job
options with integrity.
3. WorkOptions.com and Pat Katepoo do not offer
telecommuting jobs and do not do any type of job
searches or job placement. Please use links to other
resources and the counsel provided on this page. Thanks.
4. Millions of individuals who work from home are
free-lancers or otherwise self-employed. If you go
that route, do so out of passion for your work for which
you've determined there will be paying customers on a
regular basis.
Avoid so-called work-from-home “opportunities” that have
nothing to do with your God-given talents and usually
appeal to a sense of greed.
Even with those which appear legitimate and that relate
to something you really have a desire to do, exercise
caution and due diligence when exploring them. Do not
pay someone for their “secrets”
to self-employment. Get more advice and resources from
this Wall Street Journal
article.
Women for Hire has an extensive
work-from-home resource page with lots of
job suggestions and links to more information.
Undress4Success is an exhaustive site on all things
telework. You may be familiar with free-lance projects
sites on which you can submit bids to do work being
outsourced by various companies. Well-established ones
include
Elance,
Guru and
oDesk.
Self-employment can be gratifying if done the right way.
I highly recommend the books of home business experts, Paul and Sarah Edwards, as starting points. Review their
titles at any online book store. An online business
is a viable way to reach work-at-home freedom—it's
the path I took—but don't waste your time getting caught
up in the Get Rich Quick mirage.
There are a few flexible work staffing firms around the
United States which may match your needs.
Flexible Resources is a staffing and consulting firm
founded in 1989 to champion flexible hiring strategies.
They have several offices on the east coast and focus in
the areas of finance, HR, law and marketing.
Flexperience is
a boutique firm that connects experienced marketing,
human resources, and finance professionals with
opportunities for part-time, flex-time, or project-based
work with clients in the San Francisco Bay area.
MomCorps bills
itself as a matchmaker between companies looking to
recruit and retain top talent and experienced
professionals looking for flexibility. This may or may
not include telecommuting.
Explore more listings here.
I hope this helps get you started. All the best!
Redesign Your Job to Telecommuting:
Free self-paced
planning exercises right on this site.
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