Applying For Work At Home Jobs

What can you expect when applying for work at home jobs? First, you may want to update and have your resume ready! While some places may have an online application on their website, some of these places may want you to include your resume. Other places may only just want you to send them your resume when applying. If you are prepared ahead of time, the applying process may go a little faster.
A big mistake that I have heard from employers is that people will not read the directions when applying for a position. For example, does the employer state if they want the resume sent to them in an attachment? If so, does it also say what format they may want the resume to be in, such as a word doc, or plain text. Perhaps the job description does not even want the resume sent in any attachment but included in your email. So be sure to read the job description when applying for jobs. In cases where it may not state how they want you to send a resume I usually find it best just to include my resume in the email.
You may also want to keep a list of the places you have applied to, this way if any company contacts you, you will know that you actually did apply to a certain place. Also it may come in handy for you if the company wants to interview you, you can possibly visit the company's website get a feel for the company before an interview.
Some companies may send you an automated email after applying for a position letting you know they received your application or resume. Some companies do not do this and sometimes will not even send a response letting you that they received your information at all. Please be aware that sometimes they may to busy to respond to you but that it doesn't mean that they aren't interested in hiring you at all.
When comes to interviewing you, the employer may send you email stating that they will call you at a certain day or time for an interview and they will not give an options of times. Some employers may write and ask if you are available for certain days and/or times for a interview. There are some instances when an employer may call to schedule a interview also. Then there some employers who will call when you least expect it and want to do an interview right then. So it is best to be prepared for those unexpected calls!
Do not be discouraged if you do not hear from any company right away. Believe me, I know how difficult it can be to sit and wait for a call or an email. Sometimes you may even feel that no companies are interested in you at all. A helpful hint is try and apply daily to as many places as possible. For places that you know hire telecommuters often but you aren't sure if they keep your resume or application on file, apply to them every two to three weeks. A position may just open up from time to time and your application and/or resume may be towards the top! Also when it comes to your resume, have a friend or family member review because sometimes a few little touch ups can make a big difference!

Should I Pay For A Work At Home Job?

One thing I learned while looking for work at home jobs was to never pay any type of fee to work for a company. I have never paid a fee of any sort for a job myself but yet know that some past companies I worked for now are charging a background check fee. Some of these companies include LiveOps, Workathomeagent (West), ACD Direct, and Arise to name a few.

So what can you do to help protect yourself to find out if a company is legitimate and if you should really give that company your money? Do your research!

Ways to find out if a company is legitimate is type in the company's name in google and also type in scam next to the name. See what comes up and read read read! Next, check out the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and see if there is any information there about a company. However, just because a company doesn't up show on the site doesn't mean the company is a scam. Another website to use is ripoffreport, check this website also!

You can also ask for the company's website. Does the site look professional? Is there any misspellings? How long has the website been up? Use whois (dot com) to see what other information you can about the website such as date the website was made, how long they had or bought the domain for, the person's or company's address to see if matches what the person or company told you. Also, on the website you may want to see if they have a way to contact them besides email and check out the address and phone number given.

Another helpful tip is to find out if the company or person has a business license. A legitimate company or person won't have a problem giving the number and the state they are licensed in.

Be weary of people who don't want to give you information such as a company name, where they are located and other important questions you may have. It has been my experience that scammers are the ones who tend to get angry and will refuse to answer questions or may give you vague information. Scammers will also tend to tell you that you may lose out because so many want this job or may try to make you feel at fault for wanting more information.

In the end, if you find a job that asks for any type of fee, please do your research! Paying a fee may help you to get that job you want or it may get you nothing but lost money in return.

What You May Need For Your Work At Home Office

The most important piece of equipment for your office is your computer of course. But what you may not know is that most all companies may want you to have at least 512MB of ram and an XP operating system. Some companies may allow you to have a Vista operating system but if you don't at least have Windows XP, you may have a harder time getting a job. So when applying for jobs, you may want to look if a company has specified what computer requirements that they may want you to have for the job. You may not want to lie about your computer system because some companies might have go through an online check which will tell them about your computer.
When it comes to computer software, companies may ask that you have Microsoft Office (some may accept Open Office) installed on your computer. If you need Microsoft Office you may want to see if you can get the student's version which may help you save money. Other software that they may ask you to have is some sort of virus protection, ad-ware blocker, and spy ware protection.
A printer is another must have for your home office. Most of the time when you are accepted for a position the company may ask for you to mail in certain documents and may ask you to fax the documents in. This does not necessarily mean that you will need a fax machine because you may live close to a place or someone that can do this for you. Sometimes companies may also give you some training materials or a manual which a printer can come in handy for this.
If you are applying for customer service jobs you may need to have a headset that connects into your computer, some companies may require a certain type and others may not specify on what type you need. Or you may need to buy a headset that will plug into your phone. It really depends on the computer because either the calls will come through your computer or the calls will come through your phone. If you have the calls come through your phone, companies usually require that you have a land-line phone with no other options on it such as calling waiting, calling forwarding etc.
In the event that you are applying for transcription jobs you may need to have a foot pedal and headphones. I am not sure if any other equipment is needed but from what I read, this seems to be the only two things mentioned.
When it comes to your internet connection, most companies require that you have high speed internet such as DSL or cable. Many will not accept dial up or even satellite internet. This is something you may also want to look for applying, many jobs will state what you state this under their requirements.
If you need to purchase things for your home office, be sure to save your receipts! You may be able to claim these purchases on your taxes at the end of year. For more information on this, I highly recommend reading the IRS website.
I realize that there may be jobs out there that don't require any of the things that I have listed but it may be in your best interest to read the job requirements or to directly ask any employer so that you will be prepared!

Today's 7/16 Work At Home Job Leads

Lead's from job search engines- these companies may not hire often or may close the openings.

Health Claim Specialist - Telecommuting Possible-
http://jobs.nwsource.com/texis/jobsearch/details.html?id=467315344a03a0

Web Applications Developer-https://uhg.taleo.net/servlets/CareerSectionart_ip_action=FlowDispatcher&flowTypeNo=13&pageSeq=2&reqNo=707819&art_servlet_language=en&csNo=10000

Customer Service Representative- Telecommuting Possible-
http://jobs.nwsource.com/texis/jobsearch/details.html?id=4669e5c24a018e

Telecommuting Patent Attorney - Work from Home
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?ipath=EXIND&cbsid=22962c670cc641a1a273ec46ce12a2fe-235317946-X9-2&siteid=cbindeed&Job_DID=J3G2GY6R3BYX3975MQK&cbRecursionCnt=1

Internet Ad Sales Executive $100K+ - Los Angeles (ENCINO) Calif-
http://www.sologig.com/freelancers/fl_projectdetails.aspx?id=805164

Customer Care Expert-http://www.employmentguide.com/jobdetails.html?jobid=2654623&page_view=Indeed&wt.mc_id=indeedspons&CAC-Indeed&attr=sponsor

Marketing Sales Representative-http://www.jobsearch.org/seeker/jobsearch/quick?action=JobSearchViewJob&JobSearch_JobId=43705618&JobSearchType=JobSearch

Please research companies when applying!

Work At Home Forums

There are many message boards online that can be helpful in aiding you on your work at home job search. Some forums will post daily job leads, help people research to find out if a company is legitimate or not, and you can gain a lot of knowledge from just reading past posts from other posters. Forums are great resources but don't rely on just them for finding work at home jobs.
A helpful tip when finding a forum is go through many posts, even older ones because you can find out information that you didn't know before. Some forums. may even have posts at the top of the message board or folder (some call this stickies) and these posts never move and may contain very helpful information.
The reason I mention reading through old and new posts is because sometimes people will come to the boards and ask the same questions over and over again. In cases where a forum may be small, people may not mind this but in the case of larger forums people may ignore you or may be rude in replying to your post. Many times you may just find the answer you were looking for in an older post!
When it comes to posting you may not want announce in your first post that you are desperate and looking for a job and ask that someone please help. If you do this in a large forum it may be likely that your post will be ignored. The reason could be because this is something that is done often and I think people have become immune to these types of posts. It is not to say that no one will answer you, if it is good day someone may try to help but I have seen many posters attacked by doing so.
Second you also want to be sure that you are posting in the right folder. Most forums I belong to have a separate folders, one could be for job, one could be for businesses, one could just be for everyday talk. Go through the separate folders if you are unsure and read some of the posts, after a time or two you should be able to navigate through forums easily.
My intention is not to scare people of message boards and forums but to give helpful tips. Once again I will state that these resources can be very helpful in guiding and assisting a person in their work from home job quest! Another plus is you could end up making additional friends too!

Keywords For Searching Work From Home Jobs

When looking for a work for a home, most people tend to use "work from home" in their search and will come across many scams.

When using different search/job engines these keywords are helpful in using during your search:

*telecommuting
*telecommute
*telecommuter
*telework or tele-work
*teleworking or tele-working
*virtual
*virtual employee
*virtual company
*virtual assistant
*virtual office
*working virtually
*work virtually
*work remotely
*home workers
*home-based
*home-based employee
*home-based employment
*home-based jobs
*must have home office
*must have dsl
*remote work
*remote contractor
*outsourcing opportunity
*freelance
*freelance jobs
*1099 employee
*independant contractor
*off-site
*self-employed

**Scams may still come up with these keywords, please research companies you find!

Things To Think About When Looking To Work From Home

There are various things to consider when looking to work from home. Do you need a job quickly? Do you have time to read and research? How much money are you looking to make? If you have small children at home, can you still work? These are just a few questions you may need to ask yourself if deciding to take that step in working from home and I hope to answer these questions and other questions that someone may have.

Many times over the years I will see posts from people stating that need a work from home as soon as possible. The truth of the matter is that there is more competition for work at home jobs than it may be to find a brick and mortar job in your area. Some people do luck out and find a job within a few days of applying to places but for the majority of people it can be months and months before they can land a work from home position.

If you already have job you may want to seriously consider searching and applying to work at home jobs before deciding to leave your outside job. If you need a work at home job right away and are hurting for money it may be quicker for you to find a out of home job than it is to find a work from home job.

There are work from home jobs but a person has to be willing to research and search the web. There are websites and forums that can be helpful in assisting you in your search but if you can learn to search the web on your own this will only help you more in the long run! For example, a forum that I visit has thousands of members on that board and when someone posts a job lead many people will jump on applying for that one position. If you can learn to find job leads on your own, I feel this greatly improves your chances on landing a position that thousands of other people don't know about. Don't be to do some of the leg work yourself!

When it comes how much can you make at home, this is where it gets a little tough to answer. Some people seem to think you can make big bucks working from home and yet others really don't care and are willing to settle for a few dollars an hour. However, working from home can save you money when it comes to gas, clothes, lunches (if you go out for them), and some child care costs. The downside to this is that you may lose out on the benefits you receive from out at home job such as Medical, Insurances, paid vacations and other things. When it comes to pay, some companies will pay their work from home workers than what they pay their inside workers. What may be a good or great wage for some, may not be worth it to others. For me, I make more at home than I would working outside of the home for my area but it took years of work, research, and applying to get to where I am today. So depending on your skills, what you need to make this can be a good or bad thing.

The majority of people I talk to seem to want to work from home because they have small children and don't want to have them in childcare and/or don't want to pay child care expenses or other reasons. The things you may want to consider is, will you have help with the children while you are working such a babysitter, spouse, or Mother's Helper? Can you work when your spouse is home (day or night) and not be interrupted while working? Do your children require a little care or require your full attention? This is not to say you can't work at all just because you have children but this can make it harder for you to work at home. Just a little side note here, I do have children, my son was 9 and my daughters were in high school when I started, their ages made it easier for me to do this.

If you are still ready to start your work from home job search, now is the time to start working on your resume. Some jobs may only have you fill out an job application, some places may want you to include your resume with the application and some employers may only want a resume. There are many online resources available to guide you if you need assistance and services available if you want to pay someone to do your resume for you. Remember your resume is a reflection on you, so take the time to make your resume shine!

I realize that some of the above things I mentioned above may not fit everyone and there are other things I could have also included, which I hope to do in later articles. For now, I just wanted to cover what I most seem to hear from new people seeking work from home jobs. Best of luck in your search!