-
We
were recently featured on Good
Morning America
-
--
-
-
-
--
--
|
|
|
Finding Legitimate
Home-Based
Work Online
by Chris Durst & Michael Haaren
If like millions of
others you too would like to work from
home, don’t worry, there are many legitimate job leads online. But with
a
42-to-1 “scam ratio” among the leads generally, the trick is to find
that
needle in the haystack without getting stuck!
Google Search Phrases
– The “Good” and the “Bad
When you use an
online search engine, different phrases will
get you dramatically different results.
On Google, for
example, the search phrase “work from home”
produces over 20 million hits, while the phrase “this is a
telecommuting
position” turns up only 294. Why the disparity? In part because
scammers often
use the phrase “work from home” as their hook.
For real hirers, on
the other hand, the location of the work
is usually but one aspect of the job. They use phrases like “this is a
telecommuting position” in the same way they might mention “this job
requires
that you be able to lift 50 lbs.” (Of course, not all advertisers who
use a
particular phrase are thereby bogus or legitimate, but we think you’ll
see our
point.)
Following are just a
few examples of “good” and “bad” search
terms.
Bad
search terms:
“work from home”
“work at home”
“work at home jobs”
“home business
opportunity”
Good
search terms:
“must have home
office”
“this is a freelance
position”
"this is an
independent contractor position"
“this is a
telecommuting position”
“will have the option
to work from home”
Beware Other “Hooks”
and Indicators of Doubtful Leads
Here are some other
signs to watch out for as you search for
legitimate work:
- The pay is
unrealistic for the nature of the work or the
time commitment.
- You’re required to
pay for more information or
“application processing.”
- The ad says “no
experience necessary.”
- The ad is vague or
ambiguous about what you’ll actually be
doing.
- The company’s only
Web presence is at a “free” site.
- If you call for more
information, someone tries to “sell”
you the job.
Other Online Resources
You can get the
“inside scoop” on many hirers, and find other leads as well,
by visiting one of the many Websites dedicated to home-based workers.
Some of our favorites
are:
Be Proactive
Career advisers know
that published leads represent only a small fraction of
the jobs available. What does this mean for you? That you should (1)
network
like crazy, and (2) search out and contact the companies most likely to
be
interested in hiring an off-site employee or freelancer.
Who are these
companies? Young firms in expansion mode, where bold thinking
– and a willingness to try new labor arrangements – will often reign.
And they’re not hard
to find, either. Every year, 500 hot younger companies
are profiled in Inc. magazine alone
( www.inc.com ), and they’re often
mentioned in
the business supplements of the larger newspapers, too.
You can also target
companies that have just won a substantial contract, or
who have just received investor funding. Money is the “blood” of any
enterprise, and these “transfusions” spell growth for them – and
opportunity
for you.
|
-
Rat Race Factoids
|
Work
From Home Scams
There
is a 42-to-1 scam ratio among "work from home" ads on the Internet, and
that is not counting the ones that arrive as spam in your inbox. [Read
our press release on this statistic.]
Average
Annual Vacation Days by Country:
United
States...........13
Japan...............25
Canada...............26
Great
Britain............28
Brazil..............34
Germany...............35
France................37
Italy.................42
|
--
|
|
-
|
