The Six Best Jobs for Working at Home

by Leslie Truex

Published on this site: January 8th, 2007 - See more articles from this month

Every day I get email asking me how to find legitimate work-at-home jobs. I have to say this always baffles me because every week I wade through thousands of jobs to find a select few to post in my weekly newsletter. The problem I believe is that people look for the wrong jobs in the wrong places. They often limit themselves to jobs like "typing" or "data entry" that are so rare they might as well give up on the idea of working at home.

My suggestion to them is to find work in areas that are hiring. There are many companies looking for home-based employees to do work that doesn't necessarily require a great deal of experience or education. So why not go after these jobs?

Some people tell me, "I don't anything about these jobs." That's Okay. Many of these jobs don't require a formal education and some have entry-level positions. Further, several of these jobs pay very well. As long as you're willing to learn and work hard, there are companies ready to hire you.

Here are six job types that have hundreds of job openings available now. These jobs are found all over the Internet on job related websites. If you have been searching for a work-at-home job, you have probably run into many of them. Remember, even if you don't know how to do these things now, many are easy to learn and are worth considering.

1. Copywriting: Don't let the word "writing" scare you. You don't need a degree in English to be a copywriter. In fact, some of the most successful copywriters break most rules taught in high school English. The best thing about copywriting is that it can be very lucrative and requires very little in terms of education and experience. In fact, many copywriting experts indicate they earned a fulltime income their first year without having previous experience. Copywriting involves writing promotional materials including ads, brochures, sales letters, press releases, reports, and web site copy. There are many good books that teach about this type of writing and all say you don't need to be a great writer; you simply need to learn the techniques of promotional writing. Some books that can teach you about copywriting are "The Elements of Copywriting" by Gary Blake and Robert Bly and "Writing Copy for Dummies" by Jonathan Kranz.
   
   
2. Customer service: This is another job that doesn't necessarily require a lot of skill or experience. Most customer service jobs I find are related to order taking and help lines, and usually require a pleasant voice, second phone line or DSL, and headset for your phone.
   
   
3. Sales/telemarketing/research (phone surveys): Many people hate sales and telemarketing, but if you want to work at home badly enough, its an area worth trying. Most companies have established scripts and training so it's easy to jump right in. Like customer service, you will likely need good phone skills, a quality phone with headset and high-speed Internet access.
   
   
4. Transcription: The most common form of transcription jobs I find are in medical transcription and usually ask for at least two years experience. However, legal and business transcription is a growing market. People doing teleseminars are also hiring transcribers to transcribe their talks. Then there is the growing captioning field, which are the transcribers who type for the closed captioning on your television. You can learn medical and legal transcription through correspondence courses. Or become a general transcriber or captioner by teaching yourself and practicing to improve your speed and accuracy.
   
   
5. Translation: The Internet has made the world a smaller place and many companies want to make their website and other materials accessible to people in other countries. If you are fluent (speaking and writing) in more than one language, there are many companies that need your services.
   
   
6. Graphic or web design and web programming: Often employers will want a combination of all skills required for these jobs so I have lumped them together. These jobs do require extensive knowledge and frequently specific software. However, many will take entry-level employees, so if you can get the education, you may be able to get a job. Many community colleges offer courses in these areas. You can check online educational resources as well.

Experts in economics talk about "supply and demand". The above jobs are in large supply and are waiting for you to fill the demand. If you take the time to develop your skills, there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to find a job in one of these areas.

Leslie Truex - is a work-at-home consultant and owner of Work-At-Home Success http://www.workathomesuccess.com a free resource to help people work at home in a job or home business. Sign up for her free ezine to get jobs and other work-at-home information and resources in your email weekly.