It seems everyone wants to do it: Work from home, that is. Whether it’s being able to work in their pajamas, or getting to spend some extra time with their children, something is prompting people to consider giving up their day job to look for this "alternative" form of employment. The only problem seems to be actually finding a work-from-home job! Where are these companies that have openings for telecommuters? And how does one go about finding them?

As the number of people wanting to work from home grows, so does the number of opportunists who hope to profit from this group that seems to be so naive. (And, at times, so desperate.) Advertisements appear almost everywhere claiming to be the answer to people's work-from-home dreams. Most of these claims end up costing want-to-be telecommuters more money than they will ever make from actually working at home. Despite the best efforts of government, these opportunists (AKA "Scammers") seem to be gaining momentum. Is there any way for job seekers to avoid them and actually find home-based jobs?

The answer is "Yes". How? Through information. Information that will teach you, the job hunter, how to find your own home-based job. Learning how to research can be the best investment a job seeker can make; therefore, in the paragraphs that follow, you will learn how to research and find a home-based job.

SCAMS
The first thing to be aware of is what makes a job lead a scam. There are business “opportunities”, and there are actual scams, such as when a person or company poses as an employment firm, yet requires you to pay X amount of money in order for you to be placed. Or, the company claims to be a hiring company, but requires you to pay X amount of money in order to
“process your application”.

If you are looking for a home-based job, you should follow similar steps that you did when you sought traditional employment:

A real job does not require you to pay them for training. (Either you have the skills, or you don‘t.) Nor would they charge you for materials necessary to do the job. (Either you already have them or they will GIVE them to you.) Finally, a real job would never expect you to pay for information about the position. In sum, you don't pay a company to work for them; they pay you!

DIFFERENT JOB CATEGORIES
When searching for a home-based job, keep an open mind. Working from home has gone way beyond envelope-stuffing and craft assembly. In fact, thanks to the widespread use of the Internet and e-mail, the possibilities are almost endless. To simplify things, I’ve broken down the different types of telecommuting options into four categories.

1) 100% REMOTE OR VIRTUAL
Virtual or Remote work typically means that you will never personally meet your employer or your client. Your location is irrelevant. You will apply for the job online, perform an online “interview”, such as a test, or maybe do a telephone interview; and your work is delivered to you via e-mail or through a network. Obviously, jobs under this heading will require that you are very computer literate.
Jobs that fit under this category include:
-- Some research
-- Customer service and other telephonic-oriented work
-- Web design
-- Online tutoring
-- Transcription
-- Writing
-- Telesales/telemarketing

This is typically the hardest category to find work in because, even though the job is virtual, you are still dealing with real human beings and there are trust issues. You will have to be very good at selling yourself on your resume to get such a position. Competition is also high in this category, so having a professional resume and good interview skills are crucial.

2) HALF IN/HALF OUT
I use Half In/Half Out to refer to work that is based from home but requires you to leave your home to complete important functions of the job. You still might never have to visit your company’s office, or even personally meet anyone that you work with or for. However, portions of your job must be performed away from the home. This is a very good option for people who are want to work from home because they value independence or do not like commuting to an office every day. Jobs in this category usually allow you to create your own hours, work at your own pace, and work around your own schedule.
Examples of half in/half out jobs are:

-- Mobile notarizing/signing
-- Some consulting positions
-- Estimating
-- Probate research
-- Investigating
-- Merchandising
-- Mystery shopping
-- Social work or nursing Case management
-- Insurance or mortgage appraising

3) MAKING AN OCCASIONAL APPEARANCE
Some jobs allow for working from home, but require that you physically check in from time to time. You might need to receive your initial training in person, such as when you are selling something very specialized. You may need to attend weekly, monthly, or yearly meetings or conferences. If you aren’t local to the company’s headquarters, you may need to be prepared for occasional travel, sometimes including overnight stays to accommodate meeting or training schedules.
Examples of Making An Occasional Appearance jobs include:
-- High end sales
-- Consulting
-- Real estate or insurance
-- Medical
-- Recruiting
-- Legal work
-- Certain business-oriented jobs.

When you show up for a company meeting or conference, be aware that you are also being re-evaluated. Be prepared to continue to sell yourself as a valuable employee. Your boss will be asking him or herself, “Why should I keep this employee?” during every meeting. You will have to prove yourself a lot.

4) LOCAL CANDIDATES ONLY
Some companies might allow you to work from home, but want to make sure that you are physically accessible. Either that’s how they feel comfortable or, perhaps, there are assignments that need to be delivered to you in person. In this category, you will more than likely be under an employee status, not operating as an independent contractor, which is common within the other categories. You might have to pick up your work assignments every day or week, and then deliver completed work to them personally at a determined time. For these companies, it would not work to use a totally virtual employee, or even someone fitting under the other two job categories.
Examples of jobs that tend to work for local candidates only are:
-- Sewing or piecework
-- Data entry work
-- Transcription
-- Art jobs
-- Clerical
-- Craft work
-- Babysitting

Clearly, some jobs listed under one of the above categories could also fit under another one.

Transcription work, for example, can be Local Only or 100% Remote. It all depends on what is most practical and comfortable for a particular company. How a company chooses to operate can also change after working with a person for some time. As previously mentioned, trust is a big factor in how a company decides to employ a home-based worker.

Once you have learned the various types of working from home opportunities that exist, and you are able to avoid the scams and "joke" jobs, the next step is to actually locate an actual job. For most people, this is actually the hardest part: finding a company that will allow them to work from home in the first place!

There are several good sources to use when you look for home-based employment. They include:

The first place most job seekers look when they want to find employment is in their local newspapers. However, if you find even one legitimate work-from-home job ad there, you’ll be lucky. Companies rarely advertise at-home positions in newspapers.

Most likely what you’ll find are ads, such as, “Earn $1,000-$5,000 a week from home! No experience necessary!” This seems like an obvious red flag for a pending scam, but it is actually common. I’m sure you’ve seen this type of ad. I suggest that you steer clear of these and not even check them out in the hope that they are real jobs. Trust me, they ARE too good to be true.

The Internet, word-of-mouth, and creating a job are the best ways to find a home-based job. For one reason, the Internet is the primary way a home-based worker and a company communicate. Whether it’s through e-mail, or logging on to a company’s network to make reports, almost any job--even the least technical one--will probably require you to use the Internet. The Internet also offers the widest array of sources for job hunting. You can use job boards, or visit actual staffing firms through their web sites. So, if you aren’t Internet savvy it’s time to get that way.

JOB BOARDS
Within the Internet are several excellent types of sources. The first and most common online source that’s used to find jobs is the Mega Job Boards. There are many different sizes and categories of job boards. Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com are a couple examples of what I call Mega Job Boards. They are general job boards, and will post any job, in any occupational category. (Such as accounting, psychic reading, or nursing jobs). These boards will post any job lead that a company pays them to post.

It is possible to find some good job leads here; however, because they post any job a company pays them to post, you’ll also have to do a lot of screening. Start out your search by entering specific keywords, such as “work from home”. You will probably be presented with at least a thousand job ads. However, of those thousand or so results, most of them will be scam or junk ads. You will need to scan through those all those ads in order to get to the real telecommuting job ads. (We'll talk about how to do a quick scan in a following paragraph.)

Fortunately, there are other job boards worth looking into, too. One type is called NICHE job boards. These are boards that advertise jobs within a particular industry or category. Retailjobs.com is an example of an industry niche board. This site posts only job leads from companies seeking retail-related workers, such as clerks, merchandisers, stock personnel, and so on. NetTemps.com is an example of a category niche board. Rather than posting jobs within a particular industry, however, they will post for any industry as long as the job are all for temporary or contractual positions.

Another type of job board is what I call SUPERNICHE job boards. These boards go beyond job postings within one industry or category. They focus on a single profession within an industry. iHireNursing.com is an example. This site focuses strictly on nursing jobs, and does not post jobs for the entire medical field. Accountants.com is another example. Ads on niche and super-niche boards carry a lot less junk and scams than the mega boards because moderators of these boards screen their ads more carefully before posting them. Therefore, these are good sources for finding work-from-home jobs.

Now, when viewing search results from these bigger boards, you can scan these ads without actually having to read all of them. Look for some common denominators, so to speak. For example, if you have 50 job results on one page, and most of them start with “Work from home! Easy work!” you know not to even bother looking at those. Or, if you see that one company is posting dozens of the same ad for areas all over your country, you will probably want to avoid those, too. (Such ads are probably ads posted by a Webmaster or affiliate in an effort to lure to you a site to purchase something.) Look for ads that advertise specific positions, posted by a real-sounding companies or staffing firms. For example:

Case manager needed for adolescents.
Orange County Appraiser needed.
Account executive for Northern territory

Legitimate jobs rarely put “work from home” in their job title. Why? Because working from home is a benefit, or perhaps a requirement. It is not a job! So, scan past all the amazing results and focus on the jobs.

Another internet job resource is STAFFING FIRMS’ WEB SITES
There was a time when, if you wanted to apply for a job through a staffing firm, you would have to actually visit a firm in person. Now, you can simply visit their web site. The whole process is completely virtual. You can browse their lists of jobs--even using search words, like on the bigger job boards--and submit your resume for their database in the event that they have a position that meets your criteria. And, since these companies are hired to find people to fill job openings, they will actively seek you out if you are qualified for a job they've been asked to find people to interview. I suggest that you leave your resume on every staffing firm web site you can find.

FEE-BASED WEB SITES are another option
Because of the growing popularity of telecommuting, there are some people who make it their business to comb the job boards, the newspapers, online groups, staffing firms, and search engines for good job leads; and then arrange all their information into sensible formats so that, for a fee, you can simply log on to their web sites and view nothing but legitimate work-from-home jobs.

Unfortunately, there are also people who think they can make a quick profit by promising job seekers that they can help them find this difficult-to-find type of employment. Be careful to research each site before you simply read the sales pitches and claims, and then pay their fee. You may not get what you pay for.

If you come across the right fee-based site, you are doing well. You will have a flow of home-based job leads at your fingertips at all times. However, if you buy into the wrong one, you’ll end up in a mess: applying to companies that don’t really hire home workers, or no longer exist, or do not want their job ads posted on work-from-home web sites. Investigate each site before you pay them their fee.

Just like spotting for scams, there are some points to research before you join a fee-based lead site. In brief, you need to check into the following:

Guarantee of employment
If a fee-based job site offers you a guarantee stating that by joining their site you will get a home-based job, run. No one can promise that you’ll be hired! In fact, whether home-based or other wise, I think we all know that being employed is probably the last thing we can bank on these days!

The type of advertising they do
If you find that a fee-based company advertises itself on job boards as a company who is hiring, be wary. There’s nothing wrong with advertising; however, if they are trying to lure you to their site by posing as a hiring company just to sell you their services, take that as deceptive advertising. If they can’t be upfront in the beginning, then don’t trust that they will be upfront throughout your membership.

Their reputation
Before you invest in a fee-based site--no matter how low their fee is--ask around. Visit work-from-home message boards and chat groups and ask members what their opinions are of a particular site. Forum members love to blast a scam, so they’ll tell you if they know of someone who was disappointed by the service or actually was scammed. On the other hand, they’ll also let you know if the site is valuable, or at least worth a try.

Length of time in business
Just because a site is new doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable. However, if they make claims that they’ve helped thousands of people, yet they’ve only been operating for three months, then you should stay clear. You can check a site’s age by looking at the copyright date on their homepage, or, better yet, looking up their information on Whois.net. Although new companies might have the best intentions, due to unforeseen circumstances they might not last. If you invest money into a membership with one of them, and it folds in three or four months, you’re back to square one.

Verifiable references
Testimonials look nice on web sites, but are they real? Ask the site owner/manager if you can actually contact previous and current customers. Are they open to letting you hear from other members? Or, are they reluctant? There is nothing wrong with doing this. It’s just like any other service. Find out from these references if they ever found work through the site in question. If not, was there at least an ample amount of leads that could have helped someone? Also find out what kind of support was available to members. Was there someone to talk to when they had questions? Were their e-mails answered in a timely fashion?

Contact information
I can hardly tell you how many times visitors of my own web site have called and then said they couldn’t believe they were actually speaking to me. It wasn’t a miracle; I simply posted my real contact information. Unfortunately, many sites don’t do that. If a site is asking you to pay for their service, yet doesn’t provide a way for you to reach them to ask a question or place a complaint, be leery. You have the right to know who’s behind a service you are paying for. There’s no reason you should have to go through a fill-in-the-blank form and then be clueless of where it goes when you hit the Submit button.

Take the time to look into these points before you sign up with a fee-based job site.
It’s your money; don’t lose it trying to make it!

WORK-FROM-HOME WEB SITES
Another option that you should look into is the numerous free work-from-home web sites out there. These sites are usually graciously run by stay-at-home moms, for other moms. Although they have only a fraction of the job resources that a good fee-based web site has, and they are typically loaded with banner ads and non-work related information (such as breastfeeding), they are still worth looking into. If you find just one applicable job lead, you haven’t wasted your time.

FREELANCE WEB SITES
A growing type of web site is the freelance site. These have developed tremendously over the past three or four years, and are good resources for people seeking home-based employment on a contractual basis. AllFreelance.com is a one such site. The jobs posted on this site typically are projects, as opposed to long term, steady employment. Employers/companies that have projects that need to be done, such a writing a manual, sewing a line of dresses, or creating a database can post their projects online, and let freelancers bid on them. The person who seems the most qualified at the right price wins the job.

If you are highly skilled in a particular area, this is a good type of site to seek home-based employment. If you do a job well, you will get a good reputation and will soon be in high demand. I suggest placing your profile on these sites if you have a specific skill that is marketable.

CREATE YOUR OWN JOB
Staffing firms, job boards, and job lead services are all valuable tools to use when seriously looking for a legitimate home-based job. A final option to mention here is to create a job for yourself.

If you are a technical writer or medical transcriptionists, for example, why not contact a company who is looking for such a person to work onsite, and then meet with them to discuss working for them from your home? As I mentioned before, companies are sometimes leery of using home workers; but, if you get an interview and go in with solid qualifications and a clear blueprint on how this type of work arrangement will actually help them, you have a pretty good chance. This works particularly well with very small or very large companies.

Just remember that you not only have to be qualified enough for someone to hire you for a job onsite, but you must spell out how you will be able to perform your duties just as well--if not better-- offsite. To help negotiate the arrangement, be willing to make a few sacrifices, too. For example, since you won’t have the commuting costs that other workers might have, maybe you could agree to take on an extra or more difficult project. Perhaps you could cover the office for them on Saturdays. This will help you get your foot in the door, at least.

There are numerous jobs that can be performed from home. With a computer, a telephone, and a fax machine, there is almost no limit to the jobs that can be done remotely, partially from home, or occasionally from home. If you are clear on what your skills are and if you can sell yourself properly on a resume and in an interview, you can use the vast online resources to find a home-based job. It takes effort. But if you use the ideas we’ve discussed here, you can find a job that’s suited for you.

Copyright 2004, Pamela La Gioia

Pamela La Gioia is Founder and Administrator of Telework Recruiting (http://www.teleworkrecruiting.com ), a premier job-lead web site that provides thousands of job leads and job resources for the US, Canada, and the UK. She is currently writing a workbook on telecommuting, which offers step-by-step guidance on finding real home-based employment. Questions or comments are welcome and can be sent to Pamela at pam@teleworkrecruiting.com