Ask the Experts: Legitimate Home-based Computer Jobs
Question:
I am about to get married and am interested in a computer-related job that I can do from home, but I’m nervous about getting caught up in some type of scam. I am the HR Director for a company of 500+ employees and previously worked as the Executive Assistant to a mayor of a mid-sized city in the Midwest. I have experience with word processing, medical billing, transcribing and OCR document scanning.
First Answer:
To avoid the work-at-home scans, ignore the ads for “make $2000 month at home no investment” in the self-employment magazines, and look for contract work in your field. Many organizations contract out word processing, medical billing and transcription, and better compensated work in human resources.
- Look up medical billing services or ask local hospitals and group practitioners on what basis they outsource these services. You might even find someone doing this work and ask them how they got started. You are looking for models who have successfully done such work at home.
- Contact employment agencies and ask if they get assignments for work in your field that can be done at home; of course, such firms will take a large part of your compensation in fees.
- Visit the Society for Human Resource Management web site regularly-and those of other professional organizations in fields of interest-and look for postings of contract jobs.
- Reply to want ads for the kind of work you do. Sometimes they will state “can work from home” or “flexible schedule.”
You may have more success if you can at least work on an employer’s premises occasionally.
— Carol Anderson, Career Development and Placement Office, Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy at New School University in New York City
Second Answer:
It sounds like you are basing your job search solely on
one criteria– that you want to work from home. You never indicate what it
is you want to do. So that is where you will want to begin. What do you want
to be?
Forget the bit about working at home. That’s already
settled. But don’t assume you have to settle for less than what you want or
are qualified for just because you require the ability to do it from a home
office. By looking only where work-at-home jobs are advertised you are only
going to find the scams and jobs that may be beneath your professional
abilities. Think of what you can do for an organization– and then figure
out how to make it fit your needs too.
Don’t shrug off the thought. According to a study released
in February 2000 by Rutgers University, 68% of all workers use computers to
do their jobs and 41% say it just doesn’t matter where that computer is
located. Another study by the William Olsten Center shows that 66% of all
companies either actively promote or are engaged in piloting remote work and
telecommuting for their employees.
If you choose to stay in Human Resources, there are a
variety of options open to you. The overwhelming trend in HR is outsourced
work– it’s expected to jump from being a $14 billion industry to nearly a
$40 billion industry within the next three years. Within that growth,
there’s bound to be opportunities for one with your background and needs to
work from home.
Also consider freelancing your other skills. To see a
directory of web sites specializing in “free agent” work, please go to this
link: ct/Part-time” target=”_new””>http://www.myjobsearch.com/cgi-bin/mjs.cgi/specialty.html?BySpecialty=Contract/Part-time. For a special report about how these job boards work and how to find a freelance job you love, please see this link:
http://www.myjobsearch.com/articles/westover12.html.
— Kelly Stone, myjobsearch.com
