Work From Home Jobs: Search Tips & Tools for WAH Job-Seekers

Work from home jobs are more available than ever before. You just have to know how and where to look. This article provides tips and tools for the home-based job-seeker looking for a legitimate work at home job.

Work From Home?

Imagine waking up, putting your coffee on, making lunches, getting your kids off to school (insert your morning routine here) and sitting down at your computer to go to work.

No more dress code. No more fighting rush hour traffic. Relief from high fuel costs. No need for expensive meals purchased at fast food eateries and restaurants. Plus the many other benefits enjoyed by home-based workers.

Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Well that's exactly what many Americans and others are doing these days. And in increasing numbers. The technical term is telecommuting. Simply put, they're working from home.

It used to be that working at home was a privilege reserved only for home-based business owners and other professionals whose job allowed them to complete some or all of their work at home.

These days however, thanks largely to advances in technology (computers and the Internet), the door to home-based employment is now open to many for whom the door has previously been closed.

Today, busy college students, stay-at-home moms (and dads), and those challenged by the traditional workplace, such as the handicapped and disabled, are finding more and more legitimate work at home job opportunities.

In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20%, or, 1 in 5 Americans now work at home full time.

Home-Based Employment

So what kinds of jobs are these home-based workers doing?

There is a wide variety of jobs being performed at home. Legitimate work at home jobs can be found in all of the following fields.

Appointment Setting
Data Entry
Document Coding
Customer Service
Editing
Freelance Writing
Fundraising
Legal Transcription
Medical Transcription
Online Tutoring
Order Taking
Programming
Proofreading
Research & Surveys
Reservations
Sales
Telemarketing
Translating
Virtual Assisting
Website Design

And this list is far from comprehensive.

The question then becomes, where can you find these jobs and the companies offering them?

Regular Search Engines

For starters, use your search engines. Ask, Google, Live (formerly MSN) and Yahoo are the biggies. But wait before you begin searching! There are some things you can do to get better search results. Read on.

Specialized Job Search Engines

There are also specialized job search engines you can use. Sites such as Indeed, Juju and Simply Hired will return results from major job boards (CareerBuilder etc.) as well as jobs posted directly to their own sites.

Specialized Job Listing Sites

And finally, there are specialized job listing sites. Sites such as TelemarketingFromHome.com provide specialized job listings for a specific type of work or industry. Using this site as an example, if you are interested in call center work from home, you can find jobs in Appointment Setting, Customer Service, Fundraising, Order Taking, Reservations, Sales, Surveys and more.

Search Tips

Use the following tips to make your work at home job search return better results and to avoid getting burned.

Get Better Search Results

To limit your search to work from home jobs, enter the field/position you are interested in plus "telecommute" (without the quotes). You can also try searching by entering the field/position plus "work from home" or "work at home" (with the quotes).

Beware of Scams

When searching, beware of scams. "Work From Home" scams are everywhere, including on the Internet. Never pay money to someone for the opportunity to work from home or to access job listings. There are plenty of free sites offering the same information at no cost. The only exception to this rule is for a background check. There are some legitimate companies that require a background check (at your expense). If you are unsure of a company, do some research. Check with the Better Business Bureau online to see if there
have been complaints. Another good site to check is RipOffReports.com.

Good luck with your job search!

So there you have it. A list of resources to aid you in your search for a work at home job, as well some specific tips to help you along the way. By using all of the resources available, you are sure to find the perfect work from home job for you.

Custom Work At Home Job Search Tool Page