How to Work from Home
October 2, 2017 1:04 PM Subscribe
What options are available for me to work from home to earn some extra income? I am looking for work I could do that would let me earn between a hundred to two hundred dollars per week. I have an idea of some of the options, but I need more info that's from people and not google. What are reputable (not scam-ridden) means to find such work? What such work would you recommend to someone with a pretty generic skill set?
I am good and experienced at customer service, but not at pitching or sales.
I am experienced doing data entry.
English first language, with pretty good verbal and written skills, German as a second language, able to translate from German to English but not the other way around. (I did not learn German in a school, but at home, and so my grammar and spelling in German are weak. I understand spoken German quite well, and can make myself understood without an accent, but expressing myself without grammatical errors is another matter.)
Did a CELTA course a long time ago and, also a long time ago, volunteered to teach English at the local literacy center.
Some experience, but not very much, doing legal work (standard paralegal stuff per Florida Bar rules.)
I have some graphic arts skills, but they could use some improvement.
I am not looking for big bucks, just don't really want to do 100 surveys to earn a $5 dollar gift card to a store I'll never go too.
Your ideas appreciated! Thanks!
I am good and experienced at customer service, but not at pitching or sales.
I am experienced doing data entry.
English first language, with pretty good verbal and written skills, German as a second language, able to translate from German to English but not the other way around. (I did not learn German in a school, but at home, and so my grammar and spelling in German are weak. I understand spoken German quite well, and can make myself understood without an accent, but expressing myself without grammatical errors is another matter.)
Did a CELTA course a long time ago and, also a long time ago, volunteered to teach English at the local literacy center.
Some experience, but not very much, doing legal work (standard paralegal stuff per Florida Bar rules.)
I have some graphic arts skills, but they could use some improvement.
I am not looking for big bucks, just don't really want to do 100 surveys to earn a $5 dollar gift card to a store I'll never go too.
Your ideas appreciated! Thanks!
There's a lot of hospice call center jobs from home.
posted by bbqturtle at 1:47 PM on October 2, 2017
posted by bbqturtle at 1:47 PM on October 2, 2017
Lionbridge, Leapforce, and Appen all have work at home jobs evaluating search engine results (and some other jobs doing similar work.) Definitely not a scam and should put you in your target range for income if you work 10 hours a week.
posted by Redstart at 1:48 PM on October 2, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by Redstart at 1:48 PM on October 2, 2017 [14 favorites]
I've been doing quite a bit of captioning through both Rev and 3Play. It's pretty easy to hit $100-$200/week on there once you get over the learning curve.
posted by astapasta24 at 2:25 PM on October 2, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by astapasta24 at 2:25 PM on October 2, 2017 [19 favorites]
I would look into the idea of ‘side hustles’, which are things you do on the side to earn a few hundred or more a month. On my phone so no link, but there’s a book called ‘Buy Buttons’ by Nick Loper with tons of ideas of how to make money on the side. There’s also a podcast by Chris G (i’m not even going to try and spell his name) called Side Hustle School where he does an episode every single day outlining someone’s side hustle and how it started.
Having already consumed the above and reading your question specifics, I’d also recommend putting up a profile or fiverr for some data entry or paralegal work.
posted by cgg at 4:55 PM on October 2, 2017
Having already consumed the above and reading your question specifics, I’d also recommend putting up a profile or fiverr for some data entry or paralegal work.
posted by cgg at 4:55 PM on October 2, 2017
Nthing the search engine or captioning work. I did both for about 6 months between jobs and it was legit and almost kinda fun work. The places I worked only offered PT positions, but I was able to get in 10-15 hours a week for ~$12/hour.
posted by rhiannonstone at 7:15 PM on October 2, 2017
posted by rhiannonstone at 7:15 PM on October 2, 2017
Maybe look into legal translation? You'd need to acquire some knowledge of German/Austrian/Swiss legal systems somehow, but it can be interesting work that pays well. Various certifications are available, and would be useful for you in order to build skills and confidence, but there are no real barriers to entry.
In the German>English market it's quite normal to work only into your native language, so don't worry about that - but brushing up your active German would be useful so you can communicate with clients from those countries.
posted by altolinguistic at 2:16 AM on October 3, 2017
In the German>English market it's quite normal to work only into your native language, so don't worry about that - but brushing up your active German would be useful so you can communicate with clients from those countries.
posted by altolinguistic at 2:16 AM on October 3, 2017
You said CELTA- why not teach/tutor English online? Flexible, easy, and actually quite fun- varies depending on the model/market but generally in the range of $10-15 an hour (45-ish minutes for the lesson itself). You sit down with a headset and go through a prefab curriculum (of varying quality/hilarity) on a learner/blackboard-type interface with one to five humans on another part of the planet, pretty much whenever you want. (business models vary- if you wanna invest in developing/selling your own class, that's also possible, and ostensibly better paid after initial outlay). I discovered this world when I broke my leg and couldn't go around to my usual ESL students, then kept with it for ages after that because if you factor in travel time, lesson prep, and the high cost of trousers, it became almost a draw for in-person tutoring, plus you can do it while traveling.
posted by redpajamas at 6:33 AM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by redpajamas at 6:33 AM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: These are all great answers. They give me a much better idea of what's out there. Thank you!
posted by Crystal Fox at 5:04 PM on October 5, 2017
posted by Crystal Fox at 5:04 PM on October 5, 2017
1. Upwork is a resource you might want to consider. I get most of my part-time gigs there (and hire from it too). The site's a bit of a catchall for everything - side hustles, remote jobs, full-time work, so you'll find everything there. Just don't be surprised that you really do find everything, meaning that there're as many fun, interesting and reasonably paid jobs as there are low-paying and ethically questionable gigs.
Another resource is Facebook. I've also managed to get gigs via friends of friends of friends, and simply because I put up my "Anyone need a spunky and punny writer? Available for work immediately" status. People are surprisingly happy to help.
2. It sounds like you have the generic skill set to be a writer, virtual assistant, or customer service rep. (I'm a freelance writer myself). Doesn't sound like you're too confident of your translating or designing skills though, so I'd stay away from those sort of jobs, at least for the moment.
posted by Spiderwoman at 3:14 AM on October 6, 2017
Another resource is Facebook. I've also managed to get gigs via friends of friends of friends, and simply because I put up my "Anyone need a spunky and punny writer? Available for work immediately" status. People are surprisingly happy to help.
2. It sounds like you have the generic skill set to be a writer, virtual assistant, or customer service rep. (I'm a freelance writer myself). Doesn't sound like you're too confident of your translating or designing skills though, so I'd stay away from those sort of jobs, at least for the moment.
posted by Spiderwoman at 3:14 AM on October 6, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Hermione Granger at 1:08 PM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]