Working from Home – Be Careful

When I speak of working from home, I am not discussing the idea of self-employment or specifically a home business, though those are options too. Working for a company, but doing so from your own home, is a possibility in some fields, and can assist people who have special needs that require them to be at home rather than in an office environment. You have to be careful though, because even though you may see more and more ads on the internet and television about making big money working from home, not all of them are legitimate. Compared to the mass amount of ads you hear, the actual amount of legitimate positions is relatively small, but they are out there.

In looking for such a position, be skeptical of any offer that asks you to pay money up-front to join or be submitted for positions. Any such position is more than likely a scam that will give you no real benefit. A legitimate position will not require you to buy into a program, or purchase a kit, or some other expense that they require you to pay to get the job. If they are legit, and there is really money involved in the purchase of some materials or something for the position, ask them to take those fees from your paychecks once you have begun working for them. If that is not a possibility, then chances are they are not able to guarantee you a position.

If you do stumble across one that seems perfect, you still should research it. Do an internet search and look for people who may have had experience with the company, and learn from their feedback. If you can not find information on the company after digging into the internet, then that may be a red flag that the company is new or a fly by night organization.

Some of the more common legitimate work from home positions tend to be tasks that companies hire outside staff to complete, saving them money over hiring a full time employee with benefits. Things like transcribing audio files into electronic formats, or other types of secretarial, clerical or administrative tasks. There are companies that pay you to conduct phone surveys, but there are many of those that are scams too, so be careful.  Technical writing, recruiting and telemarking positions also are known to have some at home workers employed for them.

Work from home positions tend to be part-time, or short term task oriented, and rarely provide benefits. Finding a full time with benefits positions is very hard to find. If you have a valuable skill, and have been employed for a company where you were a productive employee, you may be able to secure a work from home position with them (if your work is doable from home, of course). Try reaching out to prior companies to see if that option is available.

If you are flexible enough, and willing to do multiple small part time and freelance type tasks, then the chances that you can successfully manage working from home will increase. In all instances, be sure to do your homework, and as they say, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.