In an earlier post, I presented some fairly negative, yet honest facts and figures concerning the success rate people have when working from home. The focus of that post centered around ‘business opportunities,’ including affiliate marketing, direct sales, and a host of other business formats which have historically proven to be a waste of time and money.
And if you are disabled or an injured worker seeking to re-enter the work force—or simply to find a legitimate company to work with, the last thing you need is to waste money. I should know—–on purpose, I joined forty or fifty ‘work from home’ programs over a nine year time span, and the results I reported speak for themselves. Unless you have specialized business knowledge, the physical or emotional wherewithal, and a workable budget, you can expect to fail. Also, many of these type programs are simply scams.
Now, having said that, I did promise to include a list of legitimate organizations which hire folks to work from home, and pay anywhere from minimum wage to $15 an hour. And I will live up to my promise, and publish these links at the end of the post. These are companies which will not charge you a fee to apply, but you can expect a comprehensive application process—-this varies a lot among these companies.
Before I list these companies, however, we need to take a look at your resume and your cover letter.
First, make sure your resume is up to date, and clearly states your objective. This is not the place to ramble on and on. Your objective should state that you are actively seeking employment, (either part of full time) and that you have a dedicated land telephone line, are computer literate, and are prepared to work a flexible schedule. Average computer skills are generally fine.
Your resume should not exceed two pages—-try and reduce it to one page. Hiring managers (especially these days) are quite busy and do not wish to read paragraph after paragraph of your past job requirements and responsibilities. Do not embellish your work history. Honesty is still the best policy.
Try and point out some accomplishments you made while employed—i.e. ‘was responsible for increasing department revenue by twenty six percent’ or anything which shows you are a valuable commodity. Never be negative about a company you worked with, even if they were a horrible company. Be positive, enthusiastic, and keep to the point.
Many of these positions listed below are call-center jobs, either outgoing sales calls or incoming customer service positions, and others are research oriented. If you simply do not wish to act as a salesperson, that is fine. There are enough positions which are mostly service oriented and do not require you to attempt to sell something to someone—-cold calling, it used to be called. Either you are good at it, or you hate the idea. Most folks hate the idea.
Make sure your resume reflects your current contact details. Many resumes end up in the waste basket simply because the telephone number or email address is incorrect.
Another issue to deal with is the fact that you are disabled. My belief is that you should be up-front about your disability, and be prepared to discuss the limitations caused by your condition. This can be handled in a cover letter.
Also, you can mention that the Department of Labor has found that disabled people tend to be high quality employees, with less incidents of poor work habits, and generally, possess a higher level of company loyalty. Quite simply, many disabled folks work harder to make sure the duties and responsibilities of the job are completed in a satisfactory manner. Drive this point home with a one sentence declaration in your cover letter. Get yourself noticed.
Alright, here are a few companies you can look at. I have verified every one of them, and was offered a position by one which I had to turn down due to job requirements vs. medical realities. You will need to take a hard look at what is required—time, effort, etc. and honestly assess whether you are capable of doing it. Please do not apply for a position you know is not going to work out.
http://www.alpineaccess.com/external
http://www.workingsol.com/home.htm
http://www.bsgclearing.com/riskmanagement/voicelogthirdpartyverification
http://www.virtualassistantjobs.com
http://www.vipdesk.com/info/default.asp
Good luck to everyone.
Advocate
