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of the first steps to finding a legitimate work-at-home job
is to understand what telecommuting is all about. Below are
the answers to the top ten telecommuting questions.
1)
What is telecommuting?
Telecommuting describes the situation in which a person works
off-site for all or part of the workweek. In essence, he commutes
via telephone or other telecommunication equipment such as
a modem. He may telecommute from home, from a satellite location
or mobile office. He doesn’t do assembly work, email
processing, envelope stuffing, or ad placing.
2)
How many people telecommute?
The number of telecommuters is difficult to compute. The International
Telework Association and Council reports the number of employees
who telecommuted at least 1 day per month increased from 23.5
million to 24.1 million in 2004. That number is over 137 million
worldwide (Gartner Group). Further, employers offering telecommuting
increased 22% in 2004 according to Lori Rosen, CCH workplace
analyst in HR Networking: Work-Life Benefits.
The
difficulty in determining the number of telecommuters is partly
due to the ambiguity in defining the status of some workers.
For example, many people who work at home are “hired”
by a company but are contract workers not employees. Are they
counted as telecommuters? How about freelancers who are also
"hired" or contracted by companies to perform specific
tasks? Whether or not these groups of people are counted in
the over all population of telecommuters can significantly
affect the resulting number of telecommuters. However, experts
agree that the numbers of people who are working at home for
a company are increasing steadily each year as the concept
of telecommuting grows in acceptance.
3)
What companies allow telecommuting?
Telecommuting can be found in companies and organization (including
government agencies) of all sizes. AT&T is a pioneer in
the telecommuting phenomena. Other organizations include Aetna,
Gale Research, Journal Graphics, the Federal Government, many
state governments, and even small privately owned companies.
In essence, its everywhere.
4)
What jobs are best suited for telecommuting?
While telecommuting jobs have expanded to include a large
spectrum of job types, the jobs best suited to telecommuting
are those in the technical field especially in computer programming
and writing. However, telecommuting jobs can also be found
in research, customer service, accounting, journalism, transcription,
marketing and PR, sales, law, social work, nursing, and many
other areas.
4)
Do telecommuter’s get salaries and benefits?
Salaries and benefits are part of many telecommuting programs.
They can be found mostly in situations in which an employee
has made arrangements with his employer to work at home, and
in highly skilled or professional jobs. Many of the telecommuting
jobs found on the Internet are freelance or contract-based
work in which the employee is paid on the amount of work completed.
However, contract work doesn’t necessarily mean sales
nor does it mean inconsistent income. There are many contract
jobs that are steady in terms of work and compensation.
5)
Do you have to pay for telecommuting jobs?
NO! Legitimate employers never charge to hire you. NEVER!
Any place that tells you otherwise is selling you something.
Telecommuting jobs are like any other job. You are hired because
you have shown you have the skills and experience for the
job. You wouldn’t pay your current boss for paper clips
or to add you to payroll! The only time money may be involved
in a work-at-home job is for equipment (not all companies
supply the equipment – but you should be careful of
any company that tries to sell you it’s equipment) or
if you use a fee-based job database to locate work. Further,
any job announcement that suggests you can sign-up to work
isn’t a real job. There is always an application process.
6)
Where can telecommuting jobs be found?
There are two ways to get a telecommuting job. The first is
to consider your current job. Are there tasks at your current
job that you could do at home? If so, create a Work-At-Home
Proposal outlining your work-at-home plan and how it will
benefit your company. The second way is to do a work-at-home
job search. The best places to find these jobs are on career
oriented websites. Many of the fee-based telecommuting job
databases are very good and cut down search time significantly.
But always do research before forking out money to a telecommuting
service.
7)
Do I need special skills?
Special skills, particularly in computer programming, will
make it faster and easier to find a work-at-home job. But
there are work-at-home jobs in many fields that don’t
require any special degrees or skills. Basic skills you should
have include writing, organizing, Internet use, research,
and problem solving.
8)
Do I need special equipment?
Maybe. Many telecommuting employees do not provide equipment
or materials. A company is most likely to provide needed equipment
if you are a full-time employee moving from an onsite position
to a telecommuting one. In other cases, companies may reimburse
the cost of some expenses such as materials and travel. In
many cases, companies don’t supply or reimburse for
anything. In this case, your expenses may be tax deductible,
which is like getting reimbursed.
At
the very least, you should have a fast computer with programs
needed to do the job, a high-speed Internet connection, and
possibly a second phone line and fax.
9)
Is telecommuting suited to parents?
Telecommuting offers many benefits to parents but that doesn’t
mean telecommuters can get by without childcare. Many companies
require a written telecommuting agreement with childcare arrangements
specified. Working at home with children can be difficult,
as children need much attention and care. Even when they are
engaged in an activity, they can be a distraction. If you
plan to work at home, it would be wise to research different
child care options such as pre-schools, co-ops, and play groups
that could give you some uninterrupted time to work.
10)
Does telecommuting work for everyone?
No. While telecommuting offers many benefits such as flexibility
and no commute time, it does have its disadvantages. Working
at home requires much self-discipline to avoid distractions
such as the dishes and television. It can create resentment
at the office especially if the office staff is unable to
contact the telecommuter or ends up picking up extra work
not being finished by the telecommuter. One of the biggest
complaints by telecommuters is the isolation experienced by
working at home. Telecommuters are left out of the formal
and informal office social systems unless they make an effort
to keep in touch with the office.
Telecommuting
continues to grow as more and more businesses see the cost
effectiveness of allowing people to do work from home. But
to find telecommuting work requires the same amount of diligent
effort and professionalism as needed in a traditional job
search. Your best bet for finding legitimate telecommuting
jobs is to understand telecommuting and the companies that
use telecommuters.
Article
by:
Leslie Truex is a stay and work-at-home mom and author of
“Jobs At Home: A Complete Guide to Finding and Creating
a Work-At-Home Job” which provides detailed telecommuting
information and hundreds of job resources. Learn more and
get her FREE 5 day Jobs At Home email course at www.jobsathomesuccess.com
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