Legitimate Work at Home Jobs: Work at Home Internet Jobs

June 24, 2008

We’ve all heard of outsourcing, but lately that trend is reversing somewhat, creating new legitimate work at home jobs in the U.S., according to an article on CSMonitor.com. These work at home internet jobs are called “home-based customer service agents.” When they clock in for work, their phones ring at home; they make reservations, take customer orders, check on deliveries and answer questions.

There are reportedly 110,000 work at home customer service jobs in the U.S., and 80% of these work at home internet jobs are staffed by women. IDC, a market research company in Framingham, Mass, told CSmonitor.com that these legitimate work at home jobs are "expected to triple to 328,000 by 2010." So how do you find these legitimate work at home jobs? Keep reading!

How does your salary compare to legitimate work at home jobs? Find out by taking PayScale’s full salary survey.

Legitimate Work at Home: Inshoring Jobs

Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but why the increase in legitimate work at home customer service jobs in the USA? Tim Whipple, vice president of agent services for LiveOps, told CSmonitor.com, “Not every type of call works well when you send it to India and the Philippines.” Michael Brown, a Los Angeles customer-service consultant, adds, “You can’t easily train 5,000 people at a call center in Bangalore. Here you have more control.”

Do You Know What You're Worth?

Work at Home Customer Service Jobs: Diversity

Christopher Carrington, CEO of Alpine Access, says his company employs 7,500 people. Of those employees, the average age is 41, and 80% have some form of college education. Surprisingly, around 10 percent have some kind of an advanced degree. Carrington says, “They bring 10 to 15 years of work and experience in the particular industry they’re serving.”

The Best Work at Home Jobs

For a sportswear company, Carrington looks for employees who studied fashion merchandising in their college years or have possibly worked in a clothing store. Carrington also hires people with disabilities. Home-Base USA hires military spouses, enabling them to keep a job wherever military assignments may take them. Southwest Airlines and Jet Blue look to employ stay-at-home moms.

Computer Work at Home Jobs

The great thing about working at home is you that have no commute (saving money on gas), but you need to have a quiet workspace: no children yelling, dogs barking, or doorbells. You also need self-discipline and the ability to work unsupervised. Christine Durst, CEO of Staffcentrix told CSMonitor.com, “You need high-speed Internet, DSL or cable, great computer skills, a separate phone line, and a pleasant phone voice. Nobody wants to talk to Sponge Bob.”

No Fee Work at Home Jobs vs. Scams

This all sounds great, but you need to watch out for work at home ad scams. Warning signs include: “Work at Home” appears in the ad headline, no experience is necessary, no resume is requested, unbelievable pay and a “fee for more information.” Legitimate work at home jobs can be found at RatRaceRebellion.com, workplacelikehome.com (message boards) and wahm.com.

What is the pay like? Tim Whipple, of LiveOps, says “Agents starting out can expect to probably make $7 to $9 an hour. I have agents who are invoicing $15 to $20 an hour.” If we compare that to a traditional customer service salary at the PayScale Research Center, we find that pay ranges from $10 to $15 an hour, depending on experience, about the same as working in your PJs.

How does your salary compare to a customer service salary? The PayScale Salary Calculator is a quick and easy way to compare positions. When you want powerful salary data and comparisons customized for your exact position, be sure to build a complete profile by taking PayScale’s full salary survey.

Cheers,

Dr. Al Lee