Work From Home – Part 3 of 3

Welcome back for the final post in the Work From Home series.  If you’re new to the series please go back and read Part 1 HERE.  If you’ve been with us for the series and are returning to read the final post, thank you!

Working at home typically falls into three categories; employee, freelance and independent contractor.  While I want to make sure you have a basic definition I won’t be delving into these in depth.  If you have specific questions please feel free to email me or comment here.  I am happy to answer your questions or assist you with locating the information you need. So, back to the categories working at home falls into:

Employee – Pretty self explanatory.  I’m sure that if not all then 99.9% of us know what this means.  You work for the company, they set your hours, they pay you an hourly rate.

Freelance – You agree to provide a service for a company and are able to work with multiple companies at one time.  You’re essentially selling your service and have no long term commitments.

Independent Contractor – You are your own boss however in my experience companies can still set your schedule for you, require you to adhere to their policies and procedures.  Essentially you enter into a contract with the company on how you will provide services.

If you are not going to be an employee of a company you will most likely want to at the very least, research incorporating or becoming an LLC.

So, when is it okay to pay money to a company before you work?  It is common for a company who is partnering with you as an Independent Contractor to ask you to pay for a background check and/or credit check.  What I would say is that with any company you need to do your research!  If it sounds to good to be true IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!!  There is not a position out there where you do 10 hours of work a month and make thousands of dollars.  Well, not legally anyway.  If you find a company on Craigslist or from other source and you’re not sure then go to the forums I will be talking about below and see what others have said.  If you can’t find anything already there then ask for opinions.

There are two forums which I find invaluable when researching positions and companies as well as looking for leads.  I suggest you bookmark them, browse them, search them when deciding if you should work with a company.  They should be in your go to resources for work at home information and no I’m not affiliated with either.

Work Place Like Home – This is my personal favorite.  There is a ton of information broken down in an easy to use forum format.  The users of the forums are generally nice and helpful.

Work At Home Mom – I personally do not find this site as easy to use however it is packed with information and I know others love it.

Interested in Freelance work?  Check out ODesk.  I have friends who use it consistently and love the projects they find there.

VIPdesk – You can provide preferences however your schedule is set for you and may or may not fall within them. You are an employee.

Live Ops – You set your own schedule, pay can be based on talk time minutes (meaning while you’re actively on a call), there is little to no support while working.  You are an Independent Contractor.

Working Solutions – You set your own schedule, pay can be based on talk time minutes, support is top notch.  You are an Independent Contractor.

American Express – Positions offered routinely for at home customer care as well as at home travel agents.  I have heard the training is intense, they provide you a computer, phone etc. and provide an allowance for your internet service. Here is an example of a Home Based Servicing Position which opened up on the 20th. HOME BASED SERVICING – Customer Care Professional-13001803 As of the time of this post this position is still open. This is an employee position.

Apple – At Home Advisor – Apple Care and iTunes Positions are offered routinely.  Both are at home positions.

Walgreens – These positions can be found HERE.  Not everything listed will be an at home position so you will need to sort through the list.  I do not know anything else about working for Walgreens at home.

Rat Race Rebellion – Another great resource for leads and information.

LionBridge -  This company offers several opportunities for Independent Contractors to work non-phone positions.  One of the positions they have available is as a search engine evaluator.  In this position you evaluate webpages per different search terms.

Appen Butler Hill – Same as LionBridge.  Non-phone positions!

Westat – Outbound calls to obtain research information from general public.  They provide the system that autodials the targeted audience.  Many of surveys are in comparison to the census.
This is a small sample of the positions that are available out there.  Once you spend a little time on the forums; Rat Race Rebellion, Work Place Like Home and Work at Home Mom you will be amazed at the opportunities that are out there.

If nothing else I hope this post is helpful in leading you in the right direction.  Again, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email me or comment here.

Good luck on your search! : )

~ Tammy