Legitimate work from home options?
February 2, 2020 11:04 PM
I had an extended hospitalization a few months ago. I am doing much better, but not better enough to return to the work I was doing. The ideal would be working at home for 6 months to a year, part-time, as I focus on my full recovery.
Most of the "work from home" businesses, that I have found so far, seem like frauds or scams. Have you been hired at a "work from home" business that was legit? Tell me about it.
(Not looking for stories of transitioning an office job to telecommuting. I can't make it to the office right now.)
Most of the "work from home" businesses, that I have found so far, seem like frauds or scams. Have you been hired at a "work from home" business that was legit? Tell me about it.
(Not looking for stories of transitioning an office job to telecommuting. I can't make it to the office right now.)
Basic background: I am a native English speaker, with an undergraduate degree in a humanities discipline and a masters in psychology. (I am not a licensed counselor.) I am familiar with all of the MS Office Suite products. All of my previous positions have involved some clerical work, though primarily in a supervisory role for the past few years. No programming skills; no languages at the level where translation would be an option.
posted by hworth at 11:28 PM on February 2, 2020
posted by hworth at 11:28 PM on February 2, 2020
Teach English at home to Chinese kids. About $20 per hour. Requires a certificate that can be had for less than $50 (and can be knocked off if a week to ten days, max) and a web camera. Requires no knowledge of Chinese. The hours are such that one could work a full 40+ hours per week. The schedule can be grueling–early mornings and weekends–but the work is relatively easy.
I have an incredibly wide variety of work experiences, but I'm 61, so I'm not "attractive" to employers, though I'm not ready to retire, nor can I afford to retire yet. If you can pass a background check, this might be viable for you.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 2:52 AM on February 3, 2020
I have an incredibly wide variety of work experiences, but I'm 61, so I'm not "attractive" to employers, though I'm not ready to retire, nor can I afford to retire yet. If you can pass a background check, this might be viable for you.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 2:52 AM on February 3, 2020
Maybe some of the problem is terminology? "Work from home" does sound scammy; in my experience, real companies that let you work from home use the term "remote". "Distributed team" is another term that might help your search.
As for what kind of work, software support is relatively unskilled, well-paying, and common.
posted by kevinbelt at 6:20 AM on February 3, 2020
As for what kind of work, software support is relatively unskilled, well-paying, and common.
posted by kevinbelt at 6:20 AM on February 3, 2020
I've been really impressed with the number and quality of the remote job postings on Pangean. They recently switched to a freemium model where some of the "best" jobs are behind a paywall, but there are still a lot of options across a lot of different job sectors.
posted by helloimjennsco at 7:20 AM on February 3, 2020
posted by helloimjennsco at 7:20 AM on February 3, 2020
I teach part time on an online Masters degree. If you have a Masters you might be qualified (this is all I had in terms of qualifications when I was hired). This is a growing thing with legit universities where I live, might be the case where you are too.
posted by Balthamos at 8:58 AM on February 3, 2020
posted by Balthamos at 8:58 AM on February 3, 2020
I worked for 6 months as a nutrition coach for Noom, the diet app. I do not have a background in nutrition at all, but I do have a Ph.D. in psychology (also not a counselor) and was a CrossFit coach for three years. They don't require much in the way of experience, you just have to be able to relate to people in an online chat and have a basic understanding of habit formation (you should be more than fine with your masters degree in psych). They provide all the training after a somewhat extensive interview process. It's an OK salary for a full-time work at home position ($37,500/year, non-negotiable) and they provide insurance after their 90 day probationary period.
I will warn you that the company culture is a bit...cult-like. There are multiple meetings conducted via Zoom (the video conferencing app) that are basically rallies to boost morale, and any indication that you are less than happy with your job (via their weekly, NON-ANONYMOUS "happiness" surveys) will result in a storm of faux concern to get you drinking the Kool Aid again. There's a lot of emotional labor involved in coaching your users, and a lot of talk about self-care for the coaches, but in practice it's quite difficult to do that and keep up with the job requirements.
Overall, it's not the worst gig I've ever had, but it's a special kind of person who can do it long term. YMMV.
posted by Fuego at 10:55 AM on February 3, 2020
I will warn you that the company culture is a bit...cult-like. There are multiple meetings conducted via Zoom (the video conferencing app) that are basically rallies to boost morale, and any indication that you are less than happy with your job (via their weekly, NON-ANONYMOUS "happiness" surveys) will result in a storm of faux concern to get you drinking the Kool Aid again. There's a lot of emotional labor involved in coaching your users, and a lot of talk about self-care for the coaches, but in practice it's quite difficult to do that and keep up with the job requirements.
Overall, it's not the worst gig I've ever had, but it's a special kind of person who can do it long term. YMMV.
posted by Fuego at 10:55 AM on February 3, 2020
If you can get your LPC, it is entirely possible to practice remotely. My spouse does so in a different but also medical-adjacent field. Licensing, insurance, platforming, and marketing might take longer than you would like, though. Maybe contracting through a remote provider?
posted by FakeFreyja at 11:21 AM on February 3, 2020
posted by FakeFreyja at 11:21 AM on February 3, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by JZig at 11:18 PM on February 2, 2020