Work From Home

[Lilacs4Me]

I really need a work from home position. I live in an area where jobs are scarce and low paying. The closest major city is over 50 miles away. I have over 21 years administrative/ clerical experience. How do you find legit work from home positions?

Mine came to me. Our division's office closed and we were told we could either be laid off, move to HQ out of state, or start working from home. We were able to secure a meeting room one day a week in another division's office, but work from home the other 4 days/week.

Most companies that I know of, are getting on board with flex scheduling perks, and the best one (IMO) is working from home on a regular basis. My company started out letting employees choose one day a week to work from home, and then as employees started to prove themselves trustworthy of the "perk" allowing more days per manager discretion. By the time our office closed, everyone had been working from home a couple days a week as it was and the transition was smooth.

Unless you are a call center rep or something similar, or in national/territory sales, I don't think there are very many "legit" work from home opportunities out there that aren't affiliated with an already-established employment arrangement, but I could be wrong or unaware. I've certainly not heard of many people whose #1 criteria in a job search was "I want to work from home". It kinds of seems like it comes along with the perks of a company who wants to give their employees a good work/life balance, but isn't inherently a "thing" to base a job hunt on. JMO

 

[MrsBooch]

I'm a program manager for a financial company - I can WFH whenever I want or need to - it's very flexible for my position but not so much for other people with the company based on their roles, they need to physically be here. I think there's still an "old school" 9-5 bodies in seats mentality but it is shifting considerably. Every employee is issued a laptop and we have regularly drills for business continuity to see if we can all WFH if needed due to whatever circumstances. I love my job and this is just an extra bonus. I live in the North East so this is critical for winter months - If there's ice and snow, I dont go.

 

[DisneyKoyote]

I would absolutely LOVE to WFH. What type of jobs are there where you can WFH but also make a really high salary (not including starting your own business lol)? I know computer programmers can make a lot and also work from home, but are there better roles?

 

[soccerdad72]

My wife now works from home a couple days a week. She's been at the same accounting firm for 25 years (14 as a partner), but is heading up a new area within the firm, which she's building right now. Her new role doesn't have an official office. She'll keep the office space she has right now downtown, but most of the time, she'll either be at home or travelling to one of the other cities where her new department is also going to be located (either Chicago or New York, mostly).

 

[nicolita3]

I work from home about half the time. I am a nurse and a corporate resource for skilled nursing home mds nurses. I will fill in for mds nurses who go on vacation or need extra help.

 

[RUDisney]

I would absolutely LOVE to WFH. What type of jobs are there where you can WFH but also make a really high salary (not including starting your own business lol)? I know computer programmers can make a lot and also work from home, but are there better roles?

My BFF works from home every day. She is a physician who works for an insurance company as an Intake Manager. She decides whether someone can have the procedure or tests that his/her doctor recommended.

 

[superme80]

My DH works from home in IT. It is great, but I wish he went into the office a little more. He drives me insane!!!!

 

[DisneyKoyote]

My BFF works from home every day. She is a physician who works for an insurance company as an Intake Manager. She decides whether someone can have the procedure or tests that his/her doctor recommended.

This may be a nosy question (feel free not to respond), but may I ask what the salary range is? I'm mostly asking because I've had this discussion with a friend of mine who is interested in leaving her finance role to a job where she has the opportunity to WFH- but she's also concerned about possible reduction in her salary. She's currently in her late 20's making close to $200k, and I'm certain her career can take her up to $400k+ in the future (base pay). We were both discussing whether there were any WFH positions that can get her to a similar salary. Definitely in her current role she would be laughed out of the office if she asked to WFH 1-2x a week.

 

[TCRAIG]

WFH full time - I’m in Tech

 

[RUDisney]

This may be a nosy question (feel free not to respond), but may I ask what the salary range is? I'm mostly asking because I've had this discussion with a friend of mine who is interested in leaving her finance role to a job where she has the opportunity to WFH- but she's also concerned about possible reduction in her salary. She's currently in her late 20's making close to $200k, and I'm certain her career can take her up to $400k+ in the future (base pay). We were both discussing whether there were any WFH positions that can get her to a similar salary. Definitely in her current role she would be laughed out of the office if she asked to WFH 1-2x a week.

I have no idea what she makes. She worked for the government for over 20 years as a civilian, so she was earning a doctor's salary, but not as much as if she was in private practice. I know she is making quite a bit more by working for the insurance company.

She had to go to the HQ for a few months when she got the job for training, but then moved back home to work.

I know that some companies ding you in salary for WFH, but mine doesn't, so it doesn't matter if we're at home or in house. They are expecting the same work from us in either location.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

This may be a nosy question (feel free not to respond), but may I ask what the salary range is? I'm mostly asking because I've had this discussion with a friend of mine who is interested in leaving her finance role to a job where she has the opportunity to WFH- but she's also concerned about possible reduction in her salary. She's currently in her late 20's making close to $200k, and I'm certain her career can take her up to $400k+ in the future (base pay). We were both discussing whether there were any WFH positions that can get her to a similar salary. Definitely in her current role she would be laughed out of the office if she asked to WFH 1-2x a week.

My husband's boss makes about $200K and works from home whenever he wants to, as does DH. They are in finance for a nationally known service-based management company.

Again, as I stated earlier, positions that allow WFH are almost always a perk of the company you work for, and not just the job itself. You have to get the job first, then work out the terms of your scheduling with you rmanager/HR based on the needs of the business and the company culture (my boss HATED letting us work from home, but she didn't have a choice - the company extended the perk to us). I work from home 4 days a week because what I do for the company can be done remotely full time AND my company allows it, but there are departments/divisions in my company where employees have to be physically present to do their jobs. The division office my team meets at once a week was acquired a few years after we started the work from home perk with our parent company and they haven't adopted flex scheduling, thus all of those employees are still in an office 5 days a week even though pretty much all of them have the technological capability to work remotely. (poor people!)

 

[Miffy]

I really need a work from home position. I live in an area where jobs are scarce and low paying. The closest major city is over 50 miles away. I have over 21 years administrative/ clerical experience. How do you find legit work from home positions?

@Sinderelly: You might consider looking into being a virtual personal assistant. With a little research on the internet, you can find out what's what with it. Check out Upwork--they have a lot of listings there for that sort of job and you can see what people are charging, what kind of experience they have, etc., to give you an idea of what's involved. This is freelance work, which means hourly pay and zero benefits. So that may not be what you're looking for.

As for myself, I WFH as a freelance copy editor. I got my start when I had an in-house job at a publishing house.

 

[DisneyKoyote]

My husband's boss makes about $200K and works from home whenever he wants to, as does DH. They are in finance for a nationally known service-based management company.

Again, as I stated earlier, positions that allow WFH are almost always a perk of the company you work for, not the job itself. You have to get the job first, then work out the terms of your scheduling and the needs of the business. I work from home 4 days a week, but there are departments/divisions in my company where employees have to be physically present to do their jobs.

Got it, in her finance job I suppose it's fine to WFH whenever you want, no one says you cant...but people rarely do it unless they're sick or have a really good reason. It's kind of like an image upkeep- coworkers definitely talk behind your back if you're consistently working from home and you have the danger of it impacting your bonus, promotion, etc.

Edit: ah wrote this before I saw your edited post. Yea, in her finance world the company culture would definitely not be happy with her doing that. Face time is still I thing I suppose...even though you don't need to be physically present to do your job

 

[Momager]

My husband's boss makes about $200K and works from home whenever he wants to, as does DH. They are in finance for a nationally known service-based management company.

Again, as I stated earlier, positions that allow WFH are almost always a perk of the company you work for, and not just the job itself. You have to get the job first, then work out the terms of your scheduling with you rmanager/HR based on the needs of the business and the company culture (my boss HATED letting us work from home, but she didn't have a choice - the company extended the perk to us). I work from home 4 days a week because what I do for the company can be done remotely full time AND my company allows it, but there are departments/divisions in my company where employees have to be physically present to do their jobs. The division office my team meets at once a week was acquired a few years after we started the work from home perk with our parent company and they haven't adopted flex scheduling, thus all of those employees are still in an office 5 days a week even though pretty much all of them have the technological capability to work remotely. (poor people!)

Not always true. My job was advertised as WFH.

 

[FindingTheMouse]

Not only can working from home make life a lot more flexible, it can save a ton of money. My previous job I had over a 1 hour commute. I've been working at home at my current job for 7 years. I work in tech. I took almost a 20K pay cut when I started working from home, but because I no longer needed all the extra commute costs, food costs and other expenses I actually ended up with more money in my pocket.

You have to get the job first, then work out the terms of your scheduling with you rmanager/HR based on the needs of the business and the company culture

As stated before this isn't always true. My current position wasn't advertised as WFH, but because of the type of work I do I was able to get it when I went through my terms when being interviewed. They had very few WFH people in the company when I started. There are a lot more, and my team is almost all remote workers.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

I really need a work from home position. I live in an area where jobs are scarce and low paying. The closest major city is over 50 miles away. I have over 21 years administrative/ clerical experience. How do you find legit work from home positions?

flexjobs.com
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/work-at-home-jobs-company-directory-3542836ratracerebellion.com

edit: thebalancecareers is a legitimate site, but it showed up looking like an ad, don't know why? But that is the site that I used to find my work from home job with Google, back when the site used to be called about.com

 

[Lilacs4Me]

Not always true. My job was advertised as WFH.

Referencing my posts:

Quoting myself, notably the phrases in red:

"Again, as I stated earlier, positions that allow WFH are almost always a perk of the company you work for, and not just the job itself. You have to get the job first, then work out the terms of your scheduling with you rmanager/HR based on the needs of the business and the company culture"

"Unless you are a call center rep or something similar, or in national/territory sales, I don't think there are very many "legit" work from home opportunities out there that aren't affiliated with an already-established employment arrangement, but I could be wrong or unaware. I've certainly not heard of many people whose #1 criteria in a job search was "I want to work from home". It kinds of seems like it comes along with the perks of a company who wants to give their employees a good work/life balance, but isn't inherently a "thing" to base a job hunt on. JMO"

Yes, there are exceptions. I agree. Lucky you to find a advertised legit work from home opportunity! I have rarely come across one that isn't a call center or answering emails type-position, but kudos to you!

 

[Lilacs4Me]

Not only can working from home make life a lot more flexible, it can save a ton of money. My previous job I had over a 1 hour commute. I've been working at home at my current job for 7 years. I work in tech. I took almost a 20K pay cut when I started working from home, but because I no longer needed all the extra commute costs, food costs and other expenses I actually ended up with more money in my pocket.


As stated before this isn't always true. My current position wasn't advertised as WFH, but because of the type of work I do I was able to get it when I went through my terms when being interviewed. They had very few WFH people in the company when I started. There are a lot more, and my team is almost all remote workers.

i could be wrong, but I am almost positive that your experience is exactly what I am talking about. MOST jobs that allow working from home are either due to already-sanctioned company policy or negotiations during the hiring process. Exceptions being made on a case-by-case basis, of course, since there is no such thing as "always" and "never".

It's been a long work-at-home day lol, I woke up at 6am, got online at 6:12am, and probably won't be done until about 7pm with only little breaks here and there. (whoever thinks working from home is easier than being in an office, take it from me, it's NOT! ) so it's also a really good chance that I am missing what you are disagreeing with me about! lol

 

[FindingTheMouse]

Not really disagreeing with you. Your one statement just implied a blanket statement that you need to get the job first before getting to work from home. That's not always the case. It is a case by case and company by company basis on who can with from home.
But with that said you're right it's very easy to get sucked into doing more with than you would if working at the office. I can easily keep working as there is no commute, don't need to be home by 6 as I'm already there or I'll just do this one thing Saturday morning shouldn't take long and takes 4 hours.

 

[firefly_ris]

I work from home as a front end web developer. I've been in web development professionally for 19 years and originally started doing it "for fun" in the mid 90s... I don't find it as fun anymore, lol, but it pays the bills. I started working from home/became self employed when my office based position was a victim of the recession, early 2009, and quickly became a freelancer. Fortunately it worked out because having my own flexible schedule was a huge help once I had children the following year.

I do sometimes need to get out of the house so I sometimes drive to a coffee shop or even just my in laws house for a change of scenery.