Telecommuting Work and Employment Trends
Starting a new job is always exciting especially if it is in a field of interest. The more skills and experience you have in your industry gives you an advantage over other workers, especially when it comes to finding telecommuting jobs. Those who want to continue to work for a corporation or big brand employer from home will have to check to see if it is possible to be productive away from the office. I will talk about some of the opportunities available to a person who wants to become a teleworker.
It is important to note that these are real jobs, many require that you submit a resume, fill out an employment application and have a face to face or online interview. You will also be able to pick a health benefit package or be required to obtain drug testing and background check. This is due to being a salaried employee for the company and it is not the same as those work from home positions that is available to anyone who has a computer.
The job duties are similar to tasks you would do in a office building, cubicle or workstation. The only difference is that you will be mobile and can work anywhere including on a bus, train, airplane or home office. The benefits can be many with one of them being that you can set your own hours and have a flexible schedule for spending time with your family.
Telecommuting salaries may vary depending on where you live along with your education, skill level and training.You will get a chance to see which companies offer telecommuting opportunities for employees as well as the best cities to work from home.
It is important to note that these are real jobs, many require that you submit a resume, fill out an employment application and have a face to face or online interview. You will also be able to pick a health benefit package or be required to obtain drug testing and background check. This is due to being a salaried employee for the company and it is not the same as those work from home positions that is available to anyone who has a computer.
The job duties are similar to tasks you would do in a office building, cubicle or workstation. The only difference is that you will be mobile and can work anywhere including on a bus, train, airplane or home office. The benefits can be many with one of them being that you can set your own hours and have a flexible schedule for spending time with your family.
Telecommuting salaries may vary depending on where you live along with your education, skill level and training.You will get a chance to see which companies offer telecommuting opportunities for employees as well as the best cities to work from home.
The Virtual Office
Companies Give Employees More Flexibility for Work
Computer savvy workers have the flexibility to work from home and still complete work tasks. These types of jobs can be found in all types of industries from Information Technology, Management, Insurance, Sales and Healthcare.
Is this something that you want to try? if it is then check with your employer, see if they have positions that allow for telecommuting. If there is not positions available it may require that you negotiate with your boss and show the benefits of you being able to be more "mobile" in your career.
It may require that you take on more responsibility in the company. Step up and take the lead, show that you are capable of getting the results necessary to increase the bottom line in relation to revenue and customer satisfaction. Look for new and emerging trends in your industry because this may be how you can make a case for yourself and land that telecommuting job you have always wanted.
Types of Telecommuting Careers
Select from these choices
Telecommuting is not new, it has actually been around since the 1970's, it just was not as well known or publicized. Wives of military personnel often times needed to find work that would allow them to work from home to take care of the children and contribute to the household expenses.
Soldiers who were stationed over-seas for long periods of time created a challenge for the family. The wife needed to adjust to the new living conditions, possibly learn a new language and due to the limitation of working conditions could not work a traditional job.
Some of the more well-known types of telecommuting careers include:
1. Call Center Agent
2. Medical Coding/Transcription
3. Loan Document Processor
4. Legal Virtual Assistant
5. Headhunter Executive Recruiter
6. Data Entry Specialist
7. Telemarketing Phone Sales
These are just a few of the types of jobs you can work from home from legitimate employers. Many of the positions mentioned in this list will require that you have a work history, background experience and a resume to submit to job openings. Some interviews are done over the phone after you fill out a job application.
Turn your traditional work-related skills into an self-employment opportunity.
Paul and Sarah Edwards were the self-employment experts of the 1990's and they wrote plenty of books about working from home and working from a computer. A popular book from them is entitled: The Best Home Businesses of the 21st Century
Telecommuting is not new, it has actually been around since the 1970's, it just was not as well known or publicized. Wives of military personnel often times needed to find work that would allow them to work from home to take care of the children and contribute to the household expenses.Soldiers who were stationed over-seas for long periods of time created a challenge for the family. The wife needed to adjust to the new living conditions, possibly learn a new language and due to the limitation of working conditions could not work a traditional job.
Some of the more well-known types of telecommuting careers include:
1. Call Center Agent
2. Medical Coding/Transcription
3. Loan Document Processor
4. Legal Virtual Assistant
5. Headhunter Executive Recruiter
6. Data Entry Specialist
7. Telemarketing Phone Sales
These are just a few of the types of jobs you can work from home from legitimate employers. Many of the positions mentioned in this list will require that you have a work history, background experience and a resume to submit to job openings. Some interviews are done over the phone after you fill out a job application.
Turn your traditional work-related skills into an self-employment opportunity.
Paul and Sarah Edwards were the self-employment experts of the 1990's and they wrote plenty of books about working from home and working from a computer. A popular book from them is entitled: The Best Home Businesses of the 21st Century
My Experience Working As A Teleworker
My first experience of telecommuting for my job was out of college. I was hired to provide assistance to my office manager at the time. My title was as a data entry clerk, fortunately for me it allowed me to work remotely from my computer. My duties included entering my bosses notes that she would record at business meetings while traveling.
This is how I learned how to transcribe what is known as "meeting minutes" which entails typing the things being discussed during an office meeting among executives and program directors. The pay was entry level and I was on-call meaning that I only worked when my supervisor had her weekly meetings in various cities across the U.S.
It wasn't the highlight of my career but it was a great learning experience. I was able to learn how to be hyper-focused on the audio recordings being presented and documenting the main points being discussed that would later be included in a report that was distributed to all the attendees of the business meeting.
After about 6 months of doing this very tedious and boring job transcribing minutes, I found another job that payed better and gave me a regular 9 to 5 schedule. As you can see this was my first experience with telework in the beginning of my work career and before I started writing online.
Entry Level Pay and Being On Call
This is how I learned how to transcribe what is known as "meeting minutes" which entails typing the things being discussed during an office meeting among executives and program directors. The pay was entry level and I was on-call meaning that I only worked when my supervisor had her weekly meetings in various cities across the U.S.
It wasn't the highlight of my career but it was a great learning experience. I was able to learn how to be hyper-focused on the audio recordings being presented and documenting the main points being discussed that would later be included in a report that was distributed to all the attendees of the business meeting.
After about 6 months of doing this very tedious and boring job transcribing minutes, I found another job that payed better and gave me a regular 9 to 5 schedule. As you can see this was my first experience with telework in the beginning of my work career and before I started writing online.
Telecommuting Trends
Working from anywhere in the world may sound like an exciting option. Depending on your career field it may be one of the ways that you can get a promotion and advance in the company. Thought-leaders who seek global opportunities will be in demand.
If you are willing to relocate and travel to parts of the world that are short handed in areas of medicine, technology and business it may be to your advantage to become a teleworker. Corporations have locations all over the map and they need trained personnel who can complete work tasks from remote offices.
In this case you will be among a growing number of employees who telecommute for work. Using the latest technology such as the Apple Tablet, Mac Laptop computers, Wi-Fi, Teleconferencing with the help of Skype you can do everything that you normally would in the company office.
In an effort to be more mobile you can set your own hours and schedule your time with your family to fit a well rounded personal and professional lifestyle. Stay at home moms and stay at home dads now have options available that were not even a consideration years prior. It just may be more cost-effective to have individuals who can work from home, it saves on car fuel expenses along with healthcare costs.
In the event of all the advantages it is important to realize that this is not an option for all work professions. It usually only works for careers that require some sort of technology either with a computer, smart phone or digital and electronic communication.
Other types of careers that fit best with tele-work is going to be one's that require frequent traveling internationally or from state to state. Meeting clients and conducting business at conferences where work can be easily transmitted through fax or cloud computing.
If your employer or job does not lend itself to a mobile working environment you may want to consider a career change or even going back to school for advanced technical training in a new field.
List of Telework Careers
The mobile office includes some jobs that you can do from your home computer. I have compiled a list of companies that are hiring e-workers online.
You can choose from the following occupations:
1. Technical Writer
2. Graphic Designer
3. Coding Analyst
4. Data Entry
5. Customer Care Agent
6. Call Center Representative
These companies are hiring workers:
Most require that you have a phone line and a internet connection as well as a way to receive and send documents with a fax machine or service.
1. Alpine Access (alpineaccess.com)
2. West At Home (apply.westathome.com)
3. WAHM Jobs (wahm.com/articles/Jobs.html)
4. LiveOps (join.liveops.com)
5. Convergys (http://careers.convergysworkathome.com)
To find more similar jobs search for telework, telecommuting, wahm, call center jobs, virtual employment and freelancing careers. Then you can get a list of legitimate employers who are hiring workers to work from home.
Setting up your Workspace
Working from home will require that you have all the necessary equipment for your job, this can include things such as hardware and software. Not all telecommuting jobs will require all of these tools, so only get things you absolutely need.
1. PC
2. Netbook
3. Laptop
4. Editing Software
5. Internet Service Provider
6. Broadband Phone Connection
7. Wireless Router
8. Backup File Systems
9. Web Cam
10.Printer
11.Fax Machine
12.Scanner
13 Copier
14 Transcription Software
Read more about Telecommuting Tools at Microsoft.com.
Work From Home Terminology
What Does it Mean? It can be confusing at times when it comes to learning the terminology of "working from home", it may seem to be all the same but it is not.
Self-employed: This is when you run your own business from home and you have a business license such as a LLC, it can be having your own website and offering products and services to clients.
Telecommuting Employee - This is when you are hired to work for a company and they want you to work in a remote location which can be your home, or on the road traveling.
Home-based Worker - This can be referred to most freelance positions that you can do at home from a desktop computer or laptop.
Independent Contractor - This type of work is when you provide your work skills on a per contract basis which can be temporary or ongoing.
All of these work titles have exceptions and can become complex because of the way most of the work at home careers are intertwined together and include many variations depending on the type of job and skill level required.
Other phrases include: telework, telecommuting, remote worker, web worker, virtual employment, e-workers, mobile office, home office, freelancer, etc. Read more about mobile professionals and this flex work lifestyle on About.com.
Companies decide to let workers be more mobile Looks like the sign of the future where more employers are allowing employees to work outside of the office.
Telework
Although it seems like a great idea to work from home, setting your own hours and working outside of the office it can have its downsides as well. First of all it is not an occupation that is recommended for everyone. It takes a focused, detail oriented and task driven individual to succeed in this type of career path.
You must be able to work unsupervised and be able to make decisions on your own. It also will require that you be able to plan your weekly activities to meet deadlines and stay productive. If you work with a team of other co-workers you will want to be able to communicate with them effectively while on the road.
Traveling across country could put a strain on your personal and family life, plus you will need to be computer savvy keeping up with the latest technology gadgets for doing your work on the go, plane, bus or train.
You will also find that you put in longer hours than you normally would at the company office because now you can work 24/7 day or night, which could keep clients calling you at all hours of the day. It can be hard to know when to put the phone down or when to shut off the computer. Balance is needed to succeed as a teleworker.
How Much Money You Can Make as a Telecommuter
The upside to most telecommuter type employment positions is that you can earn considerably higher salary than your co-workers simply because of the cost savings from not having to provide you a workstation in the companies headquarters.
This will allow more flexibility in the budget for paying you more per hour depending on your skill level, education and experience. If you negotiate with your boss and present a reasonable offer you may earn a pay raise while working from home.
Another thing to consider is the location of your employment, different parts of the country pay a significant difference in payscale. For instance if you are working for a business located in a remote area vs. one that is in the heart of the city it could translate into how much money you will make.
The employer you choose to work for will require you to do some due diligence and see how your new telecommuting career will compliment the cost of living expenses you will face from year to year.
Best Places for Teleworkers
A study has been done to see which places in the U.S. are the best for working outside of the office. Using your home as your office is not as unusual as you may think and plenty of companies are offering this as an option for having a flex work schedule. The information comes from the US Census Bureau where the top 5 on the list include:
1. Cincinnati, Ohio
2. Santa Fe, New Mexico
3. Boulder, Colorado
4. Atlanta, Georgia
5. Austin, Texas
Mobile technology has made working on the road easier and cost efficient with states such as Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco and Boston. Those in IT fields have a wider range of locations to work from home.
The areas of work for home-based occupations were in Telecommunications, Web Developers, Software Developers, Database Administrators, Computer System Analysts and IT Managers are in demand and companies will continue to need qualified workers who have what it takes to get the job done, from anywhere in the United State of America as well as internationally.
Call Center Representative Job Description
The interesting thing about virtual call centers is that there is usually a remote location that all calls are processed though. Companies can have home workers take calls from customers from all over the world.
To get started you will need to have a land-line or telephone line in your home office, then you will want to purchase a headset for answering phone calls at your computer monitor. Its best to set-up your workstation in an area of the home that will be quiet and uninterrupted.
You can pick the schedule you want to work, usually from 3 different shifts. Early mornings, Late afternoons or Graveyard shift hours. Most dispatch call centers operate on a 24 hour 7 day a week work schedule allowing for a more flexible time span for answering calls.
If you are familiar with home shopping network or and QVC shopping those places take customer orders over the phone. Other places that sell items by means of television infomercials are AS Seen On TV networks.
Business processing outsourcing is used to deliver services and products at a lower cost because the workers are independent contractors which do not require health benefits or retirement plans. Home workers still have to apply, have an interview and be hired as employees but under a home-based worker contract.
Having prior work history and experience in answering calls, providing customer service and documenting sales transactions is needed. When applying for these types of jobs make sure to include reliable references or any credentials you may have.