Working from home is a dream come true for me. I worked in regular offices for a long time and always wanted the opportunity to be able to work from home.
It’s not always easy and it doesn’t solve all of your “work” problems, but the commute is great! And yes, I can work in my PJs technically if I want to, although I do not recommend that.
I was able to make my own legit work at home job (I’ll tell you about that later!), but if you’re looking for something now, it can be really hard to figure out what is real and what is a scam.
And there are a lot of scams out there. Let’s look at that first.
How to Tell if A “Work From Home” Job is Legit
As you start searching through “work from home” ads, you’ll start to recognize quickly the ones that don’t seem like they could possibly be legit work. Here are a few indicators that you’ve stumbled onto a scam:
- There are fees involved. If you’re being asked to pay a fee for something like a credit check or a particular software, it’s probably not a legit work from home job.
- You’re asked for banking information. There’s no reason to have to give your bank account information for Direct Deposit purposes until after you have received a legitimate job offer.
- You’ve never heard of the company and you’re not finding much about them online. If the company isn’t familiar to you, do a google search. That might be enough to set your fears at ease if you find a legit website and other information/articles about the company. If your search comes up with not much of anything it might be a scam.
- You didn’t find the job listing on a site like Flexjobs.com. If you want to feel assured that the work from jobs you’re looking at are legit, then a service like Flex Jobs is worth the fee for using it. This is a fee for the service that Flex Jobs provides of vetting work from home opportunities. Not a fee that you are paying to a company that wants to hire you. If you find a work from home opportunity on Flex Jobs, you can feel confident it is legit.
How To Get a Legit Work From Home Job
Ok, so now you know what to watch out for to make sure you aren’t getting involved with anything shady.
So how do you land the perfect work from home job?
#1. Ask
One thing a lot of people neglect to think about is asking their current employer if it’s possible in their current position. Obviously lots of jobs can’t make this accomodation, but many can.
It might just be as simple as asking.
#2. Apply
Ok, if asking your current job for remote work didn’t pan out, then it’s time to start looking elsewhere. That means applying to jobs online. I mentioned Flexjobs and that is the first and only place I would go to find a work at home job.
Once you’ve applied, you’re hopefully getting some interviews and you need to be prepared to knock those out of the park.
If it’s a remote interview, there are certain things to consider ahead of time.
- Practice with the technology you’re going to be using. It’s probably going to be Zoom or something similar, but make sure you have everything installed properly and your camera and mic are working.
- Pick a quiet place that has few visual distractions. You don’t want the tv on, the dog barking, the kids slamming cabinets doors. And you want to think carefully about what is in your background.
- Dress appropriately. Just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you aren’t still at an interview. Wear interview attire, head to toe. It will make a good impression but it also will help put you in the “interview” state of mind.
- Practice interview questions with someone. This is important no matter what type of interview you are doing, but especially for a remote interview. You want to do this remotely so that you can get a feel for the flow of a conversation online. You want to avoid interrupting and that can be very easy to do over a Zoom call.
Of course all of your standard interview protocols apply. Say thank you. Be prepared with questions. Revisit your resume ahead of time and remind yourself of all of the awesome things you’ve accomplished.
Companies You’ve Heard of That Offer Legit Work From Home Jobs
There are plenty of companies that you’ve heard and might even do business with frequently that offer legit work from jobs. Name recognition isn’t the only way to know the job is legit, but it helps. And when someone asks, so what do you do? It’s a lot easier to say, Oh, I work for Amazon doing customer service from home than if it’s a company no one has heard of!
Here’s just a few to start with:
- Amazon
- Citizens Bank
- Johnson & Johnson
- Salesforce
- United Health Group
- Zoom
Of course Zoom has work from home jobs, right?
There’s a full and detailed list of the Top 25 place to find a work at home job on Flexjobs.
How I Work From Home
I mentioned at the beginning of this post that I work from home. I’ve been working from home for myself for almost three years.
I adore working from home and I can’t imagine ever going back to a normal office environment again.
Because I work for myself, I have lots of flexibility with my hours. I’ve gained back hours every week that I used to spend commuting. I get to set my own dress code! I do try to get fully dressed and ready for “work” every day, though because it puts me in the Working mindset and makes me feel good.
So what do I do?
I help people build their own Pocket Businesses so that they can work at home, for themselves.
At Pocket Business we teach people how to create their own business that they can manage from their own kitchen table. Or their own home office is better for your posture, but the key is you can do it from your own home for yourself.
A Pocket Business needs just a couple of things to be succuesful: An Audience and an Offer.
Your audience is made up of the people you want to help. And your Offer is a digital product or service you create to help them.
Let’s take a look at some real life examples.
Meet Nancy from Noble Knits
Nancy is a knitter. She has a blog where she would write content about knitting, knitting patterns and all sorts of wonderful knitting stuff.
People loved her free content but she knew she could offer them more.
So Nancy made a course that taught people How To Knit.
The very first weekend she offered her course to her audience, Nancy made $10,000.00. I sat down and spoke with her about that remarkable accomplishment.
So Nancy had an audience and an offer. And she has many more ideas on other ways she can help her audience. She has created her own Pocket Business.
Meet Rachel from This Crafty Home
Rachel’s another one of our students at Pocket Business. She’s building her Pocket Business to help busy moms save time.
Rachel found her audience with her blog and Instagram and has several offers like simple & quick Meal Plans that her audience loves.
I spoke to Rachel after she surpassed her husband’s monthly salary for the first time.
Again, she has an audience and an offer. And she makes money every month.
She’s at home, building a business for herself, watching her kids grow up every day before her eyes and managing her home life.
I’m telling you, it’s a dream come true.
If you’d like to learn more about how to start your own Pocket Business, you can check out our Pocket Business Handbook. It’s free :-).