Q-and-A: Legitimate Work-at-Home Opportunities

As a career counselor, I receive many questions about work-from-home opportunities. For most people, the prospect of working from home is ideal—offering convenience, flexibility, availability to take care of family duties, extra income to help pay the bills, and space to deal with physical or medical limitations.

Most of the questions I get come from people who need to balance financial needs and family obligations. Financial pressures and family needs often create stress, anxiety, fear, and sometimes even desperation. People with these feelings are the perfect target for scams and frauds!

 

Private and government research estimates that more than 98 percent of work-at-home opportunities are fraudulent. That’s the assumption you should start with if you’re looking to work from home. 

This isn’t the first time I’ve written about this subject. Here are several questions I’ve received recently, along with some helpful advice about legitimate work-at-home opportunities.

Q: I would like to work from home and make use of my computer and administrative skills. I have been an Internet user for several years and have really good customer relations skills. I’d like to work about five hours a day and use the rest of my time to care for my Mom, who lives with us. Many of the work-at-home opportunities I see on the Internet aren’t very clear about what I would be doing to earn the money—up to $2,000 each week. How do I know which ones are for real? –Margaret, Memphis, Tenn.

A: Margaret, working from home and capitalizing on your computer and customer-contact skills seems a natural way to make extra money and still be able to handle family obligations. But first off, any ad that suggests you’ll earn more than $10 to $15 per hour is almost certainly fraudulent. The testimonials with pictures of men and women holding up their “first week’s earnings” check for $6,400 are just a marketing trick. Don’t believe them.

Here are several jobs and opportunities available from legitimate organizations:

1. Customer Service and Call Center – You’ll need a high-speed Internet connection, a land-line phone (not a cellular or Internet-phone service) with a headset and a work area that will allow a quiet and professional environment. Major traditional employers, such as JetBlue Airlines, employ call-center staff who work from home. You apply for these positions as you would for any job opening.

Most opportunities, though, are from companies such as Alpine Access, West, and LiveOps, which principally employ home workers. Expect to pay equipment fees, background-checking fees, and training fees. Don’t be put off by these fees from legitimate employers; think of them as the cost of getting into the work-at-home business. You handle customer service, order processing, and lead-qualification calls. Some of these jobs pay “by the minute” that you’re on the phone, and others pay hourly wages. You commit to a work schedule, and you’re expected to be available at the assigned times. Get all the details before you sign anything or send any payments.

2. Medical Services – This can include medical billing, claims, and records coding or file transcription. There are many legitimate firms looking for qualified individuals to work from home—but there are even more frauds and scams. Medical records and administration often requires training beyond high school and some relevant experience. MedQuist is a firm offering work-at-home medical administrative-service jobs. You should also consider contacting local hospitals, clinics, and doctors’ offices to get the names of the services they employ, and then apply with those services.

3. Virtual Assistant and Concierge Services – A number of organizations hire people to work from home as personal assistants or to provide concierge services. These include AssistU, Get Friday, and VIPdesk. From home, you’d provide the same services as an administrative or personal assistant or the concierge desk in a hotel. You’d need a complete computer, Internet, and phone setup, and you’d have to commit to specific hours of coverage. Prior experience is a plus.

4. Personal Care Assistance – There are organizations and people who might hire you to babysit, provide elder care, walk pets, and house-sit. The work may not be in your home, but you’ll work close to home. Care.com is an Internet site where you can register as a certified-care provider. The company would schedule your assignments to babysit, care for elders, and perform other personal-care tasks. There are several large and reputable eldercare providers, such as Home Instead Senior Care, Right at Home, and HomeWatch CareGivers. You would be paid by the hour, and your pay would reflect your qualifications—including training in medical nursing.

 

Q: I worked as a teacher for 30 years. I’d like to take advantage of my lifetime of experience, but I don’t want to work for an organization and commute five days a week. I don’t have a clue how to build up a list of clients, and I’m not inclined to be a salesperson and promote myself. There must be organizations who would hire me to work from home on projects and assignments several days a week. –Kevin, Duluth, Minn.

A: Employers are increasingly willing to hire retired professionals to perform contract or project work from home. There are several professional fields that lend themselves to working at or close to home:

1. Writers and Editors – Many people want to be freelance writers or editors, working from the comfort of their sun-filled back porch and sipping tea while earning “big” money. There is work available, but it’s likely you’ll not earn more than $15 to $20 per hour, at best. Still, there are a number of organizations you should contact to arrange assignments, including WritersMarket.com, MediaBistro, Associated Content, Freelance Writing Jobs, and Writerfind.com. You might also be able to find assignments or part-time work through traditional employers, though the competition is fierce.

2. Tutoring – You can work in the local office of an educational company, such as Kaplan or Sylvan Learning, or you can get involved with the new world of online tutoring, in which tutors use the Internet and the phone. This is a rapidly growing area and has a number of legitimate opportunities, including Tutor.com and the National Tutoring Association.

You could also consider starting your own tutoring business. With the right qualifications and experience, you can establish your own in-home business. Advertise in your community newspaper, craigslist, and by word of mouth. Private tutors can earn $25 to $60 per hour, but you’ll earn less if you work through an agency or tutoring company—probably $12 to $20 per hour.

3. Translation Services – If you’re fluent in a foreign language, you can work from your home or in the community. Most hospitals require translators in almost every foreign language. You can also work from home. Learn about opportunities at Telelanguage, the American Translators Association, or SDL. Again, you’ll need a complete computer, Internet connection, phone system, and a quiet work area. The pay can range from $15 to $40 an hour or more for languages in high demand.

Most career coaches have their own businesses and work from home, but you can join a career-services network, such as Career Management Alliance. This organization maintains a list of qualified coaches, and prospective clients can search it. Also contact the human resource associations and organizations in your community to learn about local career-counseling associations. Check the listings in your local Yellow Pages for “Career Coaches,” and network with these people for ideas.

5. Other Expertise? – Many people have an expertise in some area, whether it’s nuclear energy or crocheting. Register at the online site, LivePerson, and present your expertise to online searches for experts in your field. You’ll be paid by the minute (yes, by the minute), and LivePerson.com handles all the administration. You just need the obligatory phone, computer, and Internet connections and to commit to a schedule of your choosing.

So Who’s for Real?

There are countless articles warning us of how to detect fraudulent work-at-home opportunities. That’s great, but how do you know for sure that an opportunity is legitimate? Even the Federal Trade Commission, which is charged with enforcing fraud laws governing franchises and work-at-home offerings, advises that it cannot verify whether or not any particular offer is legitimate. The FTC can only report the names of organizations people have complained about, while at the same time, acknowledging that scam artists change their names and Web sites as often as most people change their underwear.

There is now more help. RetirementJobs.com, the provider of AARP.org’s job search engine, has been researching and verifying legitimate work-at-home providers for several months. The company has published its first listing of Verified Work-at-Home Opportunities™. Verified Work-at-Home Opportunities™ provides the names, Web sites, and work opportunities of organizations that RetirementJobs.com researchers have reviewed and found to be legitimate—both in terms of being businesses and being employers of work-at-home staff. The list will be continuously maintained and expanded to include more organizations and more information. You are cautioned to use the list with care. Even legitimate work-at-home providers may charge fees for various equipment and services.