Career Tips and So Much More

Working at home is a major career move. With the decision to work at home, there are many considerations and decisions that must be made. First of all, decide whether or not working at home is the right career for you. Second, you need to know what type of job you will be doing. Opportunities for work at home women, both online and offline, are many. The success of a work at home career largely depends on knowing your own skills, requirements of the job, finding the right match, and making them work to your advantage.
 
Because of the amount of experience and expertise you have developed from your previous job, sometimes the best way to start your work at home career is where your out-of-home career has ended. Using your previous work experience and connections as your launching pad, becoming an independent contractor in the same field could be your best bet. Try finding a company that hires work-at-home people in your field. You may also use your previous experience to qualify you as an “expert” writer or consultant in your field.
Some women, however, take this work-at-home career step as a way break off from the lifestyle of their old job. There are many opportunities for entry level work as an independent contractor, should you decide to try something entirely different. Here are some careers you may choose from:


Customer Service, Data Entry and Virtual Assistant
You can work in the online customer service industry, dealing with customers over the phone. The equipment needed is very minimal when you work as a customer service agent—a reliable internet connection and a working phone. If you are familiar with the medical field, a medical transcription job could work for you. Some companies also hire virtual personal assistants to telecommute.
Sales
Business opportunities in sales are very vast. The simplest one to make money out of is the direct selling business where you are given a credit line as a start up to be able to sell different products from established brands. As a result, you can earn commissions through sales and/ or recruiting other people to sell the merchandise. There are hundreds of companies out there who are willing to take in sales agents.

Service
Everyone has a talent that can be profitable. One option for making money is to offer your service to the community in exchange for a certain amount. The most lucrative ones are day care center operators (works well for mothers with children), event organizers, hairdressers, florists, make-up artists, designers, and tutors. These all have the option of working at home. If you haven’t any experience in these fields, find classes to enroll in to learn a new skill which you can later apply in starting a business.

Internet Business
Many women have found a good source of home income through the interweb. There is a vast ocean of opportunities that can be found online. You can go into web design or writing. You may also set up an online store such as eBay where you can sell your own products or get commissions from selling the products of others such as Amazon and other affiliate-based sites. There are others who make a good business through internet marketing, by recommending certain products and directing web traffic to a site. They earn commissions for every sale made.

Most important of all, is for you to decide what type of job you would like to do. If you love to be around people, perhaps direct selling and consultancy is good for you. If you are the type who is comfortable working in front of the computer and practically lives online, try starting your own website or a business on the web. If you want the comfort of getting a weekly paycheck, perhaps telecommuting positions can work for you.
When you have decided on a job you like, do a good amount of research about it, so you will know what it takes to become successful in that business. Also be wary of scammers. That is part of the risk of having an online business.
Make a realistic computation of the hours and effort you will be spending on your new business, then sit on that decision for a week and see how it feels. Visualize how your life will be like when you make this career change. When you have thoroughly considered your options, finding the right match isn’t that hard to do.

 
 Copyright © 2011 Athena Goodlight

 
Read More......

The economic downturn of the United States followed by same in other nations during the recent past years has immensely transformed the outlook of the labor force. It is not an unusual scenario in a highly volatile and competitive global economy that companies would “want a workforce they can switch on and off as needed,” according to Ravin Jesuthasan , a compensation expert at Towers Perrin. This has created a seismic shift in the labor force away from traditional full-time jobs toward contract work, in the employees’ hopes of taking “control” of their own financial future.

Since 2009, about 30% of the US job market is comprised of part-time or temporary staffers, independent contractors, and the self-employed. Perhaps if this continues, this “contingent” workforce will grow to about 40% in the next decade as predicted by the experts.

Freelancing is expected to spread beyond its traditional structures to professions such as engineering, accounting, law, health care, and sales. All are now starting to rely heavily on contract work. According to Adam Sorensen, a compensation and benefits expert at Worldrat Work, an association of HR executives, “We’re in the early stages of what will be a really different era in the workplace, and a growing segment of workers will need to structure their career around this model.”

Because this is an inevitable occurrence in the business trend, you can take advantage of it by thinking and acting in an entrepreneurial manner career-wise. You may test the waters in the ocean of freelancing by finding what type of work you can land while still having a full-time job. There are numerous outside projects you can take on. The more common ones are consultations, teaching, or speaking engagements on the side. Make sure you have managed your commitments and schedules with your boss and present company before you moonlight.

How do you know which of your skills are in demand? You can start by studying the company that you work in. Try to see what job functions your employer is outsourcing. It is also helpful to visit websites that specialize in giving job offers to freelancers. Included among these are oDesk.com, Elance.com, Getafreelancer.com, Sologig.com, and Guru.com.

You could also go to the extreme. Start your own business. Now could be a good time to be starting your own company, if ever you have already thought about striking it out on your own. Ken Moore of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center stated that, even if the economy is mired with recession, rents and equipment are still cheap. He also points out that with the rising unemployment there are still plenty of highly skilled workers that you can hire.

This is not to suggest that starting a business will be easy, especially with the tight lending policies of the banks, that’s why it is advisable to start small. Don’t rush into giving up your steady paycheck just yet. Most entrepreneurs begin their businesses even while they are still in a full-time job, according to surveys.

Always be prepared for any possibility, whether you plan to do it on your own or not. Start networking. Be present in industry conferences, broaden your range of contacts, and spread word about your projects and opportunities you came across. It may be an old-fashioned advice, but why not try to do a favor for a freelancer today. Perhaps, in the future the favor might be returned.


Read More......