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Intrigued
by the idea of working at home in a job? Millions of
people each year surf the Internet to find the
perfect work-at-home job only to be overwhelmed by
the number of scams and work-at-home schemes. One of
the first steps to finding a legitimate work-at-home
job is to understand what telecommuting is all
about. Below are the answers to the top ten
telecommuting questions.
1) What Is Telecommuting?
Telecommuting describes the situation in which a
person works off-site for all or part of the
workweek. In essence, he commutes via telephone or
other telecommunication equipment such as a modem.
He may telecommute from home, from a satellite
location or mobile office. He doesn't do assembly
work, email processing, envelope stuffing, or ad
placing.
2) How Many People Telecommute?
The
number of telecommuters is difficult to compute. The
International Telework Association and Council
reports the number of employees who telecommuted at
least 1 day per month increased from 23.5 million to
24.1 million in 2004. That number is over 137
million worldwide (Gartner Group). Further,
employers offering telecommuting increased 22% in
2004 according to Lori Rosen, CCH workplace analyst
in HR Networking: Work-Life Benefits.
The
difficulty in determining the number of
telecommuters is partly due to the ambiguity in
defining the status of some workers. For example,
many people who work at home are "hired" by a
company but are contract workers not employees. Are
they counted as telecommuters? How about freelancers
who are also "hired" or contracted by companies to
perform specific tasks? Whether or not these groups
of people are counted in the overall population of
telecommuters can significantly affect the resulting
number of telecommuters. However, experts agree that
the number of people who are working at home for a
company is increasing steadily each year as the
concept of telecommuting grows in acceptance.
3) What Companies Allow Telecommuting?
Telecommuting can be found in companies and
organizations (including government agencies) of all
sizes. AT&T is a pioneer in the telecommuting
phenomena. Other organizations include Aetna, Gale
Research, Journal Graphics, the Federal Government,
many state governments, and even small privately
owned companies. In essence, it's everywhere.
4) What Jobs Are Best Suited for Telecommuting?
While
telecommuting jobs have expanded to include a large
spectrum of job types, the jobs best suited to
telecommuting are those in the technical field,
especially in computer programming and writing.
However, telecommuting jobs can also be found in
research, customer service, accounting, journalism,
transcription, marketing and PR, sales, law, social
work, nursing, and many other areas.
5) Do Telecommuters Get Salaries and Benefits?
Salaries
and benefits are part of many telecommuting
programs. They can be found mostly in situations in
which an employee has made arrangements with his
employer to work at home, and in highly skilled or
professional jobs. Many of the telecommuting jobs
found on the Internet are freelance or
contract-based work in which the employee is paid on
the amount of work completed. However, contract work
doesn't necessarily mean sales nor does it mean
inconsistent income. There are many contract jobs
that are steady in terms of work and compensation.
6) Do You Have to Pay for Telecommuting Jobs?
NO!
Legitimate employers never charge to hire you.
NEVER! Any place that tells you otherwise is selling
you something. Telecommuting jobs are like any other
job. You are hired because you have shown you have
the skills and experience for the job. You wouldn't
pay your current boss for paper clips or to add you
to payroll! The only time money may be involved in a
work-at-home job is for equipment (not all companies
supply the equipment - but you should be careful of
any company that tries to sell you its equipment) or
if you use a fee-based job database to locate work.
Further, any job announcement that suggests you can
sign-up to work isn't a real job. There is always an
application process.
7) Where Can Telecommuting Jobs Be Found?
There are
two ways to get a telecommuting job. The first is to
consider your current job. Are there tasks at your
current job that you could do at home? If so, create
a Work-At-Home Proposal outlining your work-at-home
plan and how it will benefit your company. The
second way is to do a work-at-home job search. The
best places to find these jobs are on
career-oriented websites. Many of the fee-based
telecommuting job databases are very good and cut
down search time significantly. But always do
research before forking out money to a telecommuting
service.
8) Do I Need Special Skills?
Special
skills, particularly in computer programming, will
make it faster and easier to find a work-at-home
job. But there are work-at-home jobs in many fields
that don't require any special degrees or skills.
Basic skills you should have include writing,
organizing, Internet use, research, and
problem-solving.
9) Do I Need Special Equipment?
Maybe.
Many telecommuting employers do not provide
equipment or materials. A company is most likely to
provide needed equipment if you are a full-time
employee moving from an onsite position to a
telecommuting one. In other cases, companies may
reimburse the cost of some expenses such as
materials and travel. In many cases, companies don't
supply or reimburse for anything. In this case, your
expenses may be tax deductible, which is like
getting reimbursed.
At the
very least, you should have a fast computer with
programs needed to do the job, a high-speed Internet
connection, and possibly a second phone line and
fax.
10) Is Telecommuting Suited to Parents?
Telecommuting offers many benefits to parents but
that doesn't mean telecommuters can get by without
childcare. Many companies require a written
telecommuting agreement with childcare arrangements
specified. Working at home with children can be
difficult, as children need much attention and care.
Even when they are engaged in an activity, they can
be a distraction. If you plan to work at home, it
would be wise to research different child care
options such as pre-schools, co-ops, and play groups
that could give you some uninterrupted time to work.
11) Does Telecommuting Work for Everyone?
No. While
telecommuting offers many benefits such as
flexibility and no commute time, it does have its
disadvantages. Working at home requires much
self-discipline to avoid distractions such as the
dishes and television. It can create resentment at
the office especially if the office staff is unable
to contact the telecommuter or ends up picking up
extra work not being finished by the telecommuter.
One of the biggest complaints by telecommuters is
the isolation experienced by working at home.
Telecommuters are left out of the formal and
informal office social systems unless they make an
effort to keep in touch with the office.
Telecommuting continues to grow as more and more
businesses see the cost effectiveness of allowing
people to do work from home. But to find
telecommuting work requires the same amount of
diligent effort and professionalism as needed in a
traditional job search. Your best bet for finding
legitimate telecommuting jobs is to understand
telecommuting and the companies that use
telecommuters.
Leslie
Truex is the author of "Jobs At Home: A Complete
Guide to Finding and Creating a Work-At-Home Job"
which provides detailed telecommuting information
and hundreds of job resources. Get her FREE 5 day
Jobs At Home email course at
http://www.jobsathomesuccess.com.
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