5 Ways to Prepare for Your Work at Home Job

While working at home  used to be somewhat of a rarity, it is now a regular part of working life for many people. Indeed, some companies are now happy to employ full-time remote staff, or offer current staff the option to telecommute on some days.  

If you're considering telecommuting or working from home , make sure you are ready before you dive in. A work athome job has many benefits, as long as you know how to prepare your home and your expectations.

Set up a  dedicated work space

You may have telecommuted occasionally, plopping the laptop down on the dining table with a few pertinent folders and a cellphone at hand. That was OK for a temporary work station. But if you're doing this full time, you need a dedicated office space in your home.

Hopefully, you have the option of converting a room in your home into an office. If you don't, can you build a space in the basement, or convert a large portion of a room into a work space? Room dividers and clever furniture placement can help. This needs to be somewhere that you use only for work, allowing you to easily separate it from your personal and leisure time.

What's more, if you have a family, or kids you need to set solid boundaries for your telecommuting hustle.  You may need to get a sitter for little kids.  Let them know that it's extremely important for you to have a place to work without noise or distractions. Sometimes, it's possible to shut out noise with a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones, or even ear plugs. But that is not ideal. 

Invest in the best equipment that you can afford

You may be lucky and get a telecommuting job that supplies you with a computer, phone, and other necessary electronics and equipment. However you may have to go out and purchase these items on your own if you are an independent contractor. 

However you get your equipment, make sure you have the best that you can currently afford. You are now on your own, without the help of an IT department or other specialist. You do not want to be at the mercy of old, glitchy equipment that could leave you in serious trouble at the worst possible time. Plus, get the latest software updates.  I have always had good luck with Dell Laptops 

You will also need to have excellent services to support this equipment. For starters, you'll need a great, high-speed internet connection. You'll also need good cellphone reception. If you're getting a lot of dropped calls or interference, you will find it frustrating to communicate with the office and any customers you may deal with. In that case, look into signal boosters, or get a landline 

 Do not ditch your office attire completely

A lot of people think that when they get a work-at-home gig, they'll swap the suits and professional clothing for jogging pants and a T-shirt. Depending on the kind of work you are doing, that's not always a good idea. You may need to do video conference via zoom or webex and you don't want to come across as sloppy.  

Set regular office hours for yourself

A work-at-home work can means a lot of flexibility. But, if you get into bad habits quickly, that flexibility can soon become a threat to your productivity and your livelihood.

The problem with a work-at-home job is the amount of freedom and distraction that comes with it. In an office environment, you have a work space, a boss, coworkers, and very little else to do but focus on the task at hand. At home, you are literally surrounded by the comforts of home. You have a living room, a TV, music, a kitchen full of food, a garden, and a bed …

Fight the temptation to sleep in an extra hour, or take two hours for lunch. These can become dangerous habits. You won't finish your tasks on time, or you'll rush and produce sloppy work. Either way, you could soon kiss your telecommuting job goodbye, and all the perks that go with it.

So, set your hours, and stick to them. After a while, it will become second nature. And let your family and friends know that you're at work, even though you're at home. 

Know what your work-at-home role entails

This one can trip many people up, simply because the expectations they have might not align with those of their employer. If you're truly working for yourself, and you're your own boss, this will not be an issue. But if you are working for a company, you may discover that they have guidelines for you to follow.

For instance, you may need to be available at your computer and/or phone at certain hours throughout the day. They may want you to travel into the office for big meetings, or to organize presentations. 

Beware of these common work-at-home scams

Clark Howard local consumer guru shared some of the scam ideas 

“You’ve got to be careful if you’re looking to work at home. Be sure to avoid the ads in the back of women’s magazines about envelope stuffing, doing medical office paperwork and the like. The one area that has proven legitimate over time is becoming a call center worker from your home.”

Work-at-home scams are always in season, with scammers looking to empty your wallet at a time when it’s already light because of unemployment or reduced hours at work. Here are a few common warning signs to look for:

Social networks are a hot spot for work-at-home danger. 
One company called Easy Tweet Profits claims you can make up to $873/day online. They even claim one person earned $400,000/year using their method of tweeting your way to success. The catch? By signing up for their program you agree to be charged just under $50 per month! There are a whole host of other companies with similar names (usually involving “make money” or “make profits”) that suggest social networking can be a cash cow. But their game is all the same: Whether you’re talking about something you see on Craigslist, eBay, Facebook, Twitter or whatever’s the next hot thing, you’ve got to be wary.

Phony job listings on legit job-hunting websites. 
One fraudulent group was listing fake jobs on CareerBuilder, which is an otherwise respectable site. The group was charging a big fee for a background check before consideration of any applicants. Federal, state and local authorities received more than 17,000 complaints filed by people who were ripped off by this particular group. And that’s just the number of people who found their way to complain. Who knows how many others were taken?

Pitches to be your own boss. 
Our Consumer Action Center is hearing from a lot of callers who go to help-wanted sites, find an opportunity that looks good and then contact the supposed employer. It turns out to be a pitch for owning your own business, with promises of huge money. Unfortunately, the only ones making money are the people pushing startup kits and related costs.

Top Career Path with Remote Work at home Jobs

In this list of the 100 top companies for remote jobs, there are clear trends in terms of the career fields where these companies hire regularly for work-from-home jobs. 

Here are the top career fields with remote jobs, followed by examples of companies from this list hiring for those types of jobs:

1. Medical and Health: UnitedHealth Group, Anthem, Inc., Humana
2. Computer and IT: Dell, Xerox, Teradata
3. Education and Training: VIPKID, Kaplan, Western Governors University
4. Sales: HD Supply, NCH Corporation, Williams-Sonoma
5. Customer Service: SYKES, Working Solutions, Amazon
6. Accounting and Finance: JLL – Jones Lang LaSalle, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase
7. Travel and Hospitality: Hilton, BCD Travel, Carlson Wagonlit Travel

13 Work at home Telecommuting jobs for the Sports Fan

CNBC recently shared 13 jobs that you are work at home if you are a sports fan.  Some are  full time.,  a few part time    Here are some job titles plus descriptions  to search for!  

1. Fan Happiness Associate

Job description: "Working full-time and remotely, a fan happiness associate is needed at a sports ticketing app. The job involves fielding incoming phone calls, emails and texts; helping customers with questions relating to the app; placing new orders; and following up on customer inquiries. Must have two or more years of customer support experience."

2. Project Manager

Job description: "A company that promotes bike riding is seeking a project manager to manage the successful delivery of projects, maintain relationships with local contractors, and oversee the website for each project. Must have project manager experience and a bachelor's degree for this remote position."

How to get Started with Upwork

3. Contributor — Chicago Bulls

Job description: "A contributor is needed to develop content, generate story ideas, conduct research, monitor team scores and news, and more. Must have strong writing ability, as well as a passion for and extensive knowledge of the Chicago Bulls. This is a remote position anywhere in the U.S."

4. Senior Football Sales Specialist

Job description: "Working for a non-profit that assists with collegiate scouting, a remote sales specialist will evaluate and qualify football student-athletes academically and athletically, match them with the appropriate membership, sell and enroll qualified student-athletes and other tasks."

5. Game Day Monitor

Job description: "This part-time, remote role will work for a baseball-related company to handle the quality assurance of live audio and video streams over the web, supply nightly reports to game night staff, and troubleshoot issues. You'll need to work your hours around the MLB game schedule."

6. Major Gifts Officer

Job description: "A major gifts officer is needed at a soccer organization to generate philanthropic support, oversee a major gift program, establish an annual operating plan and steward donors through a range of experiences and communications. This is a full-time, remote job in the New York area."



7. Fantasy eSports Beat Writer

Job description: "As a freelance, remote job, a fantasy eSports beat writer will be responsible for writing data-driven articles related to trends in major U.S. sports with an emphasis on fantasy sports. The writer will also collaborate with an editor to develop new content topics. Being an avid eSports fan, along with writing skills, will qualify you for this job."

8. Sports Sales Representative

Job description: "A sports sales representative will work for a custom mouthguard company part-time to generate a robust pipeline in designated markets, close new business deals, and help with event bookings. Previous sales experience is needed, and experience with sports or sports technology is a plus."

9. Senior Sports Editor

Job description: "A remote senior sports editor will manage the editorial processes of a sports channel, lead writers and editors, and create content for distribution channels. A bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience will qualify you for this full-time job."

10. Video Contributor — MLB Team Brands

Job description: "A freelance, remote video contributor will develop 5+ original videos per week for a sports website, and collaborate with the league manager and executive producer on script development and video ideation. Must have experience producing short videos."

11. Freelance Artist

Job description: "Working remotely, a freelance artist is needed at a sportswear company to contribute original illustrations to supplement an in-house art staff. Must have solid illustration/line art/layout skills, and be able to complete designs to customer specifications."

12. Marketing and Operations Specialist

Job description: "This position will communicate directly with customers, create a customer retention strategy and marketing strategy and improve visibility for a popular sports-oriented website. You'll need strong customer service skills and a love of data/metrics for this full-time, remote job."

13. Social Media Producer

Job description: "A website for sports fans needs a social media producer to contribute coverage of live events, discover real-time breaking news and trending social stories, create original social content and collaborate on story ideas and packaging. There is an option to work from home."

July 2017 income report

I  get a lot of questions about am I am really making money online. I think it is important that you can make money while working at home without  MLM or direct sales. 

I want to start tracking each month for my readers how much money I am making at home doing call center work and some of my other gigs.   Due to Non disclosure agreements I signed  I am not comfortable in saying which call centers I am working making  this money. 

Call Center work I track by the number of hours I am logged in and taking calls.   Some call centers pay a flat hourly rate and some pay only on sales and other pay per talk time.  

I have been very bad about keeping tracking of my income with my followers.   I step away from blogging and keeping track.    I am more focused on working  with real estate  agents and that has been keeping me busy.    

I am bad around working alot during the summer.  I would rather sit and enjoy the summer. 

I am continue to work the Dave Ramsey plan but I don't do it perfect.   Technically we are Step 3  trying to get to  6 months of expenses.   I do have one in college that we are trying to cash  flow  plus  husband is putting   money into his  401k. 

Call Center work   (click to see which companies hire call center workers) 

Time work  43 hours  

Pay $502

Average pay per hour  $11.67   

Elance (now upwork )  and other short task work including mturk -aka non phone work 

Pay 750 

I am not including anything from any  survey and rewards programs as to me those are just extras and I usually save them up for Christmas.  

Gross Total  $1252

Expenses  Landline phone and Internet  $100 

Net Total   $1152

I always take 25% off the top for taxes since I am an independent contractor and have a special account that is NOT touched .  I also have my husband take out extra taxes from his paycheck so we don't usually end up paying.  The 25% then goes to a bill or savings 

9 companies offering great work-from-home jobs

A local Ohio tv station did a profile on a work at home mom and is helping viewers best legit home work.  

Ann Poirier is a mom of a 1-year-old who didn't want to be away from her daughter 10 hours a day anymore.

Non phone work at home option

So she decided to work from home.

"When I had my daughter a year-and-a-half ago, I decided that I wanted to stay home with her, but I still wanted to stay involved in the field and make some money," she said.

Poirier now often works in the kitchen of her Loveland Ohio  home while her little girl plays just a few feet away.

How did she do it? She went to a recruitment site called FlexJobs  , a marketplace for thousands of work-from-home positions.

She found something that matched her skills as a business writer, and now works part-time writing news releases and training manuals for major companies.

"It's flexible, you can pick and choose articles based on how much time you have and how much ability you have," she said.

9 best home-based jobs

Forbes Magazine and FlexJobs recently listed companies offering the most home based jobs 

The top 9:

Updated for 2023 

Appen

Part-time Flexible Jobs

We are looking for people from all over the world to participate in some of our many exciting work-from-home opportunities. These opportunities range from simple surveys that can be completed in less than one hour to on-going projects that last for months or longer. Leverage your social media interest, mobile device savviness, your college degree in linguistics, online research skills, or passion for images, video, or audio. With so many diverse projects, chances are we’ve got something for you.

LiveOp

We help you work around your life, whether it be the wee hours of the morning or after the kids are in bed, we’ve got opportunities. Need to plan around other commitments? No problem. Live far from an city? Come on board! We’ve been welcoming customer-focused professionals and businesses into a thriving agent community for over 20 years.

As an agent with Liveops, you are a self-employed independent contractor, not an employee. If you decide to contract with Liveops, we connect you with opportunities that fit your unique combination of skills and availability. Main hustle or side gig —it’s all up to you.

Amazon

While most of Amazon’s hourly job opportunities require being at a local Amazon facility, there are some jobs roles in customer service and corporate that offer partial remote or work from home potential.

Teletech

Pull back the curtain of some of the world’s most iconic brands and you’ll find the people and technology

of TTEC. We're the friendly faces and advanced technology solutions at the heart of customer experience.

. 

LanguageLine

We are fanatical about people understanding people. We strive to improve the world and empower relationships one word at a time. Our clients, colleagues, and the communities we serve together are our inspiration and the key to success. Excellence is our non-compromising obligation. We learn from each other and are enriched by the diversity of people, thought, and culture. We are united in our differences. We are passionate about seeing people smile when they are understood and are committed to innovation to create more smiles. We make a difference in people’s lives every day. We help to ensure justice, save lives, welcome newborns, and build futures. This is the experience we live for.

Working Solutions

Work from home as an independent contractor

At Working Solutions, we understand the importance of having a healthy work/ life

balance. We provide ongoing education, community support, and valuable resources

to encourage agent success and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Kelly Services

Sutherland Global


You can find at home about each company at Flexjobs

Forbes also says health insurers are now among the biggest remote employers. Among them:

United Health Care

Aetna

Humana

You can see  

17 Healthcare Companies offering Remote Work Jobs

Are you a teacher we have rounded up some of the best opportunities!  Remote teaching opportunities include  including tutoring, teaching as second language as well reviewing academic tests 

How To Talk Your Boss Into Letting You Work From Home

A reader recently wrote into Forbes asking the questions about some flexibility in working a few days from home.   Even working a few days at home can be helpful for work and life balance. 


If I could work from home one or two days a week, I would have the perfect job.

It's crazy that I have to drive into the city during rush hour five days a week.

My office only has forty employees in it, and most of us don't work for the same manager or on the same accounts. I don't interact with my co-workers apart from pleasantries.

I could do a lot of my work from a coffee shop or anywhere, but so far my company doesn't have any work-from-home policies that I know of.

See the answer at Forbes 


See a Telecommuting proposal letter