Working at Home 101 – Job Search

On my local parenting mailing list, someone recently asked about work from home opportunities and it got me thinking about when I first started researching working at home on my own. Working at home is something a lot of stay at home parents aspire to do. Unfortunately it is also something that a lot of jerkoffs like to screw people over on so I wanted to write up some of the things I’d learned over the past two years to help other folks NOT waste their time/money/hope on work at home venture.

This is the first of a weekly series on working at home. I’m hoping that my work at home misadventures and experience will eventually be of use/value to someone.

Work at Home 101 – The Job Search

Here’s the ugly truth about the work at home job market: most of the so-called work at home “jobs” you’ll find online are scams. Plain and simple. There are plenty of unscrupulous people and companies out there that are out to screw you out of your hard earned money. They know how badly most stay at home parents want to contribute to their household expenses and will do/say/promise “jobs” that are just scams to get money out of honest people.

How to avoid scams and more advice on finding a legitimate work at home job after the jump….

Three Golden Rules

Here are the Three Golden Rules about the work at home job search:

• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• If the job opportunity promises HUGE returns with LITTLE work, it is a scam.
• A legit job opportunity WILL NOT ask you to pay money up front

To summarize: trust your instincts when it comes to a so-called work at home opportunity.

Finding a Job

With the Three Golden Rules established, the question remains: So where can I find legitimate work from home jobs?

There are plenty of places you could look but here are a two of my favorite websites for legitimate work from home jobs:

• WAHM – www.wahm.com
• Work Place Like Home – www.workplacelikehome.com

Both of these sites are free, real communities of work at home professionals. They post real job leads and both have forums where you can ask real people about what it is like to work at home. The communities on both of these sites make them invaluable resources and I strongly recommend them to anyone on the work at home search.

I will say that I have found legitimate work at home jobs on Craigslist, Monster and Career Builder. So they do exist… it is just that you have to search through crap. A. Lot. Of. Crap.

What about paid job boards?

There are also quite a few paid job boards that claim to have legitimate work at home job posts.

Repeat after me: You shouldn’t have to pay to get a job. Period.

… but if you’re like me and you can’t help but wonder what these sites have that others don’t, you’ll end up ignoring your own common sense.

Yep, like a moth to the flame, I ended up subscribing to a paid job board. What can I say? The siren call of previously researched, legitimate work at home jobs did me in. Let my moment of weakness be your gain in the form of a nugget of knowledge.

I subscribed to FlexJobs though there are other job boards out there. Like most other job boards, FlexJobs is filled with neatly categorized job listings that run the gammut from customer support to blogging to appointment setters. The greatest advantage of FlexJobs is its claim that all the jobs are legitimate so theoretically speaking, you don’t have to wade through the usual muck. The biggest disadvantage is that beyond the frills and finery of their sleek Web 2.0 interface and general resources,  FlexJobs is essentially a reposting of job links — you click through to the actual posting.

So is it worth the subscription fee? It is a luxury rather than a necessity. If you can afford the $15 or so for the monthly fee and like the idea not having to wade through the muck and mire of the work at home job market on your own, then it may be worth it to you. I will say that it certainly feels like it saves some time in searching.  I love the illusion of having to do less footwork to land a legitimate work at home job. Overall I don’t think it is worth a long term subscription to the service but if you’re really desperate and can spare the $15 — but let’s face it, not all of us can — then it doesn’t hurt much to try.

Or you can write about the experience and plan to use it as a tax write off at the end of the year. *ahem*

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Next up: Work at Home 101 — Popular Job Types (And Scams)

Note: None of the links used in this post are sponsored. I have only recommended or reviewed sites that I myself have visited and can personally vouch for the experience.