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Work-from-home Ideas - mrs.b - 02-07-2014
Now that my higher education is complete...I'm thinking of leaving the traditional workforce. One of my main drivers is that we are homeschooling my son, and while we are making it happen around our schedules and we are all certainly happier for the change over the public school experience he had, it can be quite a challenge for all of us. If I had a bit more time with him, it would help considerably. Also, while I was once the highest earner, my husband just received a promotion and raise, which makes it a bit more feasible. Finally, the responsibilities and workload in my job continually increases; for months, I've had to bring work home every night, commonly working from a few minutes after I walk in the door until after everyone goes to bed (which is eating into that homeschool time), and typically have about 6-8 hours of work each weekend. It's not a pace I can or am willing to continue, it's not fair to hubby and son, and I'm tired.
All that said...we need some supplemental income. While hubby's new paycheck is great, it still does not quite cover all our bills. In addition, all our benefits are through my employer, and his employer's plan costs more so we would need that extra difference coming in.
Does anyone have ideas for non-traditional work composed of telecommuting? I've seen those scammy-looking ads on a lot of the job websites, but surely there are legit options out there.
Work-from-home Ideas - publius2k4 - 02-07-2014
mrs.b Wrote:Now that my higher education is complete...I'm thinking of leaving the traditional workforce. One of my main drivers is that we are homeschooling my son, and while we are making it happen around our schedules and we are all certainly happier for the change over the public school experience he had, it can be quite a challenge for all of us. If I had a bit more time with him, it would help considerably. Also, while I was once the highest earner, my husband just received a promotion and raise, which makes it a bit more feasible. Finally, the responsibilities and workload in my job continually increases; for months, I've had to bring work home every night, commonly working from a few minutes after I walk in the door until after everyone goes to bed (which is eating into that homeschool time), and typically have about 6-8 hours of work each weekend. It's not a pace I can or am willing to continue, it's not fair to hubby and son, and I'm tired.
All that said...we need some supplemental income. While hubby's new paycheck is great, it still does not quite cover all our bills. In addition, all our benefits are through my employer, and his employer's plan costs more so we would need that extra difference coming in.
Does anyone have ideas for non-traditional work composed of telecommuting? I've seen those scammy-looking ads on a lot of the job websites, but surely there are legit options out there.
Western Governors University hires student mentors, and the mentors are allowed to work from home. I think the minimum qualification for this is a masters degree in the field in which you are a mentor.
Work-from-home Ideas - mrs.b - 02-11-2014
Thank you, publius! I may look into that down the line after I've earned the credential. I've finally decided what I want to be when I grow up (that happens after 40, I hope!) and have trimmed my previously not-so-short list of graduate schools to two...which I'll refrain from naming here in open public for fear of jinxing myself on the application processes.
Unfortunately, I do not yet have that Masters degree yet, though. After some more brainstorming, planning, and so on, I am going to stick it out where I am for as long as possible while I at least start the process of earning a Masters in Accountancy with plans to eventually sit the CPA exam. Holding an MAcc and CPA opens a lot of part-time and seasonal work options locally, that will allow more time at home to focus on kiddo's education. It captures the parts of my job that I absolutely love (all things numerical) while offering enough of a career change to eliminate the parts for which I am not so fond (HR). In the meantime, we're reworking the home schedule and kiddo curriculum to hopefully fix the time-crunch issues since I'll need to squeeze a bit more out of the clock to get back to hitting the books.
I realize I am/was asking for the holy grail of employment opportunities - a telecommuting job doing "something" and making decent money. If those were widely available, I doubt many would be here, looking into career changes!
Work-from-home Ideas - Jonathan Whatley - 02-11-2014
Could you take private clients as as a bookkeeper/tax preparer/non-certified accountant?
Work-from-home Ideas - sanantone - 02-12-2014
You don't need a degree to take the enrolled agent exam. I posted a thread in the off-topic forum about enrolled agents. Some open their own businesses and make enough money during the tax season to not have to work the rest of the year. Check the technical support section of Craigslist. I was hired for a work-from-home technical support job after passing a proficiency test and interview, but I turned it down. The base pay was around $10 an hour, but you can earn up to $13 an hour with bonuses. They require split shifts. There are non-technical customer service jobs that allow you to work at home: LiveOps, Alpine Access, and a few others. With these companies, you do have to pay for a background check, but they are legit. Leapforce hires work-from-home search engine evaluators.
Work-from-home Ideas - Tedium - 02-12-2014
If you like reading and are obsessive about catching errors you can try freelance copyediting. I plan to do that myself. Here is one group to get you started: Editorial Freelancers Association: Home
Work-from-home Ideas - burbuja0512 - 02-12-2014
It may not be quite what you have in mind, but I've been in medical software B2B sales for years and most people I know work from home. I've worked from home for over 3 years and will only have to return to an office because my new job is a senior management position.
The great thing about B2B sales is that it's not the stereotypical salesperson you think of - that's B2C. If you find the right position, you're offering a service that companies need and it's more of a consultative role. Yes, you have sales goals, but you're selling something that people need anyhow. It's just your job to do presentations and help your clients find the best products for their needs. Another positive is that the pay is really good. Entry level B2B roles (at least in my industry) start off in the 60-80k per year range and once you've been doing it for a few years, you can easily make 6 figures.
The negative is that it can be difficult without any experience to get into a solid company and it's hard to sort through the job listings to determine which companies would be a good fit for you. Your best bet is to network and talk to people who work for different types of companies. Even if someone isn't in the sales dept, they may know enough about their company's products to give you a sense of whether you'd be interested in working there.
Sales isn't for everyone. I enjoy giving presentations and am not afraid of public speaking or speaking to "important decision-makers." I also dislike the fact that for some strange reason, my field seems to be very male-dominated and sometimes can attract very aggressive and rude managers. I have had bosses in the past that had no problem yelling and cursing in meetings when sales reps weren't hitting quota. Luckily, this personality type is less common than it used to be, but you have to be able to handle pressure and let these sort of things roll off your back.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you are interested and want more info.
Work-from-home Ideas - Westerner - 02-12-2014
This is kind of small compared to the other great ideas here, but a nice way to get a little extra money for things you do anyway is Swagbucks. It started as a search engine, and that's a big part of its operation. They pay you in "Swagbucks" for searching with them. Each Swagbuck equals 1 cent. You can redeem Swagbucks for gift cards (Amazon.com, WalMart, Paypal, Starbucks and more). You can also shop through them and get a percentage back in Swagbucks (they have great rates). There are also games, polls, activities and such that you can do when you have a few minutes to get more. I like it because I'm already searching and shopping online and now I get paid to do it
Here's a blog post I wrote about it: Making easy money with Swagbucks! | Star Shining Forever
Work-from-home Ideas - EI2HCB - 02-13-2014
Westerner Wrote:This is kind of small compared to the other great ideas here, but a nice way to get a little extra money for things you do anyway is Swagbucks. It started as a search engine, and that's a big part of its operation. They pay you in "Swagbucks" for searching with them. Each Swagbuck equals 1 cent. You can redeem Swagbucks for gift cards (Amazon.com, WalMart, Paypal, Starbucks and more). You can also shop through them and get a percentage back in Swagbucks (they have great rates). There are also games, polls, activities and such that you can do when you have a few minutes to get more. I like it because I'm already searching and shopping online and now I get paid to do itWesterner, I've tried this and it works out about 22cents per hour which was fine for fun but you couldn't rely on this source of income to pay bills. Its tax season and I'm completely swamped, H&R Block style work is available for around 13 an hour for data entry bookkeeping skills. There are some companies who'd love to farm out their payroll ect. the only issue with this is that you can't take a vacation if you have a weekly wage contract. My boss wants me to work in his office so that his data isn't compromised but you may find that there are some who'd let you pick up the work and drop it back off at the accountancy office. I can come and go as I please but its part time work most of the year with almost full time hours November through April.
Here's a blog post I wrote about it: Making easy money with Swagbucks! | Star Shining Forever
Work-from-home Ideas - burbuja0512 - 02-13-2014
One other thought... almost any profession will have something that can be done from home. Not all pay quite as well as in the office, but it's really easy to do searches on LinkedIn jobs or Indeed.com to find something in your field or related that can be done from home.
I know that LinkedIn jobs has the option of choosing only work from home jobs, so this might be the easiest. I once knew someone who did customer service for a nationwide floral company from her home. No, the pay wasn't spectacular, but it was easy and flexible. I would imagine that there are other types of customer service home jobs too.. just an idea.
Also, do keep in mind that working from home and being able to watch children isn't necessarily compatible depending on your child. I have homeschooled kids while working, but it truly only is feasible when they are older kids that require minimal direction. I don't personally think that it would be possible to work full time and do a good job while homeschooling a child younger than middle school, but of course it depends on your kid. But I also think that where there is a will, there's a way. In working from home, due to the lack of commute, time wasted at the water cooler or in redundant meetings, not having to get ready, etc, you end up putting in more actual "work" time than you do in an office. As long as you're disciplined, if there are interruptions during the day, you really can make up for them and then some. I know my company has gotten a LOT more work from me by having me at home. LOL this isn't always easy with late night/early morning international calls, but it balances itself out. I am really ready to go back into a physical office with my new job!