You may have daydreamed of quitting your job, staying home, sleeping in, and making money with just your laptop and your smartphone. Working when you want, doing what you want, and raking in the money in your pajamas. If you can’t stomach the thought of punching a time clock, taking a 10 minute break twice a day, or being a “team player,” you might want to think about working for yourself. According to GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com’s 2005-2014 American Community Surveys, the population of those working from home grew faster than the employee population as a whole between 2013 and 2014.
Working from home encompasses telecommuting 100 percent of the time or part of the work week for an employer and working from home in a self-employed or home business capacity. More and more employers are allowing telecommuting to save money and improve productivity and employee engagement. While telecommuting work opportunities have grown almost 100 percent since 2005, the self-employed work at home population has also increased. Consider the following three jobs you can do from home before you make your next career move.
Virtual Assistant
Virtual assistants can write their own ticket as far as the work they do and the clients the serve. They can specialize in one part of office administration such as word processing and presentations, or offer a subscription package for general office services such as document creation, appointment setting, and travel arrangements. Many have backgrounds and training in corporate administrative assistance, with varying levels of education.
Virtual assistants can work independently for clients, operate a virtual assistant business hiring out VAs to clients, or work from home for a virtual assistant company. Working as a virtual assistant requires computer literacy, training in administrative assistance, and marketing knowledge and practical application. Industry support includes events like 2016 Live Summit conference for virtual assistants and professionals, which provide networking and education opportunities for VAs. According to work-from-home blogger Amy Lynn Andrews, VAs need an online presence such as a website and social media networks to operate successfully.
Child Day Care
For moms who want and need to stay at home to earn money, providing child day care is an attractive option. The mean annual earnings for childcare services averaged $21,701 in 2014 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Childcare work is expected to grow five percent through 2024. If you love kids and are motivated to provide a qualified loving and caring environment for them and a resource for parents, you may want to consider opening a family day care service.
There is some investment and preparation required to care for other people’s children in your home. Depending on where you live, special licensing, building code requirements, and background checks may be required before you can open for business. Look for a website such as the California Child Care Licensing Program for regulations in your area so you know what is involved and who to work with to become a day care provider.
Transcription
A job well-suited to working from home is transcription, including insurance transcription jobs. It involves listening to audio and typing up what is heard into text format. It requires training and experience in transcription techniques and terminology and a computer and transcription equipment.
There are several types of transcription: general, legal, and medical. Medical and legal transcription requires the knowledge of specialized terminology and transcriptionists generally have a two or four year degree in transcription and the type of terminology they’ll need for the type of transcription they’ll be doing. Transcriptionists and those who want to be transcriptionists can learn about the industry and the work and getting certified from the American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers.
Good transcriptionists are in high demand and can make a good living working from home. Allegis Transcription offers work from home opportunities in insurance transcription. Allegis work from home transcription jobs are assignments transcribing recorded audio interviews between clients and insurance adjustors discussing insurance claims. Minimum two year’s transcription experience, 98 percent accuracy, minimum 75 words per minute, and ability to learn Allegis transcript formatting standards is required.
There are a lot of upsides to working from home, including not having to buy and maintain a business wardrobe or brave the cubicle jungle every day. It does depend on your personality and personal preferences though. Some people thrive working remotely, others struggle to be productive. Research your options, talk to other remote workers, and carefully weigh your options.
You state a 75 wpm typing speed, but how about voice writing? Would not that qualify? I am learning voice writing and want to do transcription work as this suits my needs more.(flexibility) So where do you get experience? Does your compnay offer internships?
Hi David, that sounds really interesting. I don’t believe we have any voice writers currently. As long as you can do true verbatim transcription, you are welcome to go through our application process via our jobs page. Unfortunately we don’t offer internships at the moment.
Good evening,
I don’t have experience in transcription but would like very much to do such work from home, 3 days a week. Perhaps, you have jobs offers for unexperienced transcriptor or copist? Thank you very much.
Hi Micheline, my apologize for the late response. I missed your message. Unfortunately, at the moment we only hire experienced transcriptionists. I would recommend doing some online research for general transcription companies where they hire transcriptionists with less experience. Wish I could help more!
There are definitely disadvantages to being a transcriptionist working from home, unlike the person quoted in this article, Jeri Hector. That is comparing apples to oranges. I suggest people looking into transcription as a possible career choice do more in-depth research before committing.
Hello! I had been doing transcription for a dermatologist since 2009. I had offered to set this up and learned on my own and the setup was quite successful. The doctor is now retiring. Although I have had very little formal training, because of my experience, would I still be able to apply? Thank you.
Hi Nickie, you’re welcome to try applying. We’re currently hiring. Just head over to our jobs page to see our requirements.
I am going to be “snowbirding” to Florida in the fall and will be in need of employment. I have worked for an attorney for 15 years. I have transcribed depositions (taken outside the country), client telephone interviews, plus dictation everyday, all day. Other than this have no formal education. I type over 100 wpm. Would I qualify for this type of job? Would I be able to do the job both in Florida and Massachusetts since I would be living in each state about 6 months? Thanks.
Hi Deborah, thanks for checking us out. Yes, you can work from anywhere in the United States. And it sounds like you have great, relevant experience. You’re certainly welcome to head over to our jobs page and apply. The application provides more information on job requirements for our transcriptionist positions.
I’ve been a court reporting student for the past 2 plus years and have a writing speed of 100 wpm on my steno machine and 65 wpm on the keyboard. I’m currently taking a break from school to gain speed and work. I have been working part time for a general transcription company for about a month, but I’ve done multiple speaker transcription for the past two years through school. I was wondering if my experience was enough or if I should wait to apply.
Hi Heather, thank you for your comment. You’re welcome to check out our open positions on our jobs page where we detail the requirements. Thanks!
I am a court reporter with 30 years of experience. Do you have a sync with your formatting to court reporting machines? Have you had reporters in the past use their equipment for your transcription?
Hi Linda, thank you for asking. We would love to have you apply. You can certainly use your court reporting machine. The only minor issue is that you’ll need to copy and paste the resulting text into our templates.
I have an A.A.S. in Paralegal Law and while in school we had classes for transcription. I just took a typing test and I am only at 60 wpm. Is the 75 wpm firm? I know that I will speed back up once I get back into it.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Melissa, please check our jobs page for specific requirements.
I am a California resident. May I still continue to apply?
Linda, yes, you may still continue to apply. Thank you.