Work at Home Based Jobs and Careers

Home-based careers have grown since high-speed Internet and PCs have become common place in most homes. If you have experience, skills or degrees in certain areas, you may be able to find an entire career or start a new business using these skills at a job conducted entirely from the comfort of your home.

Customer Service Representative

Companies use various ways to outsource their customer service departments to save money from having to hire employees. Many companies like drugstore.com, 1-800-Flowers and 1-800-Contacts use independent contractors working from their homes as customer service agents. In order to get a job doing this, you must have people skills, a high-speed internet connection and a land line. Some positions are part-time while others are full-time positions. Rather than working directly for the organization, many companies that assist various businesses hire contractors to work for them.

Reservation Agent

If you have worked in the travel industry in any capacity as a travel agent or for an airline and you know how to use the SABRE reservation software system, you may be able to find work as a virtual reservation agent working from home. Airlines, hotels and other hospitality companies like credit card corporate travel programs hire individuals to work as employees of their company with full benefits from home. These companies usually require the individual to live in the region where their corporate headquarters or training centers are located so they can come in from training and to get equipment.

Writing

If you have a degree in English or journalism, or experience writing as a full-time job or freelancing for magazines, newspapers or online websites, you may be able to find full-time employment online as a writer. Everyone from traditional publishers and print media to websites hire freelance writers periodically or short term. If you have a lot of experience you may also be able to find work proofreading or editing papers or websites.

Translator

If you speak two or more languages, you may be able to find work as a translator for websites, publishers, corporations or translation firms. In addition to translating copy or documents, many companies seek live translators who can provide real-time translation over conference calls. Many of the translation companies require you to take a test to prove your fluency before hiring you. Pay varies widely depending on the language you can translate, as well as the demand.

References:
Little White Ebook: Top Ten Virtual Work from Home Careers for 2008