Legitimate Work at Home Jobs: Work at Home Internet Jobs

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."

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

• Curious about salaries? Email Dr. Salary
• Compare your salary: Get a free Salary Report
• Salary Stories - Customer Service Salary Survey

Comments

[kevin sargent]

I'm in the private franchising field and this is for anyone who is interested in makeing some cash now on thier spare time and potentionally making enough money to replace or surpass thier current income. Joining the franchise is cheap and will allow you to quickly earn money. If you are interested contact me at Spear_Chuckers_IBO@yahoo.com For any other questions you can check out my website www.ksargent4.qhealthzone.com or check out www.quixtar.com you may need my ibo# 5399243

[Legitimate Work At Home Jobs]

There's a wealth of information on work from home opporuntities here. Great resource center.

Cheers,
Steven Fu

[Tammie]

I think that this story is a little too discouraging. "No one wants to talk to spongebob." How many times have I called my cable company and talked to someone that I didn't like their voice or whatever company for customer service. As long as they get my customer service issue resolved, it really doesn't matter what they sound like. This country is too concerned with how people look and sound. Shame on you. As far as I am concerned that is discrimination.

[jeff paul scam]

I suggest working from home, you can work when ever you want, and you can alot more money with it , like i use jeff paul products for making money and it helped me alot.

[LMK]

'What is the pay like? Tim Whipple, of LiveOps, says "Agents starting out can expect to probably make $7 to $9 an hour.'

Not to be negative, but I just cannot help it as that is pretty crummy pay. Possibly I need to look into what region this person comes from because try living on the West Coast on that hourly rate, as it is just not possible, especially considering that I am assuming many of these work at home arrangements do not include company sponsored benefits, which is not a bad thing; it is only a bad thing when one is making $7.00 per hour. Wow, I made that much working retail in high school. When I did work from home, I was invoicing $55.00 per hour for administrative services, mostly focusing on human resources but also basic office admin. Although I do hold an advanced degree, it is in a natural science, so the rate was obviously not based upon education alone. Way to go to those of you making it work from home, but seriously, consider your own self worth and respect for $7.00 per hour.

Dr. Salary, please feel free to chime in here. I am interested in what your take on that particular comment is.

[Angel]

Work from Home jobs include Internet jobs. Internet jobs need not be from an Indian company. Even many foreign companies offer internet jobs to surfers worldwide. The main benefit of taking up jobs from firms abroad is the financial gain. These firms pay you more than Indian companies, because they pay you in their country standards. When converted into Indian currency, it will be much more than what you are paid locally. To procure jobs on the Internet, one must basically know how to use the net effectively.

[MelissaKD]

In response to "Jeff Paul Scam" who posted above on 1/26/09:

Granted $7-$9/hr is hardly anything worth mentioning, BUT considering today's economy, and the number of people being laid off and put out of work, $7-$9/hr is a LOT better than making nothing. And if able to do it from home, you can save a lot in expenses, such as gas, work wardrobe and childcare expenses, etc...

On the other hand, there are some families out there doing well enough that one spouse/parent doesn't necessarily HAVE to work, but would like to work for their own sanity. So for these families, it probably doesn't matter what the pay is.

[Tosha Loucks]

There are legit work from home available online. You just have to know how to find be and not fall for the scams.

Here's a great site with lots of great information. I have been working from home for over 5 years now and am making decent money. For more information on working from home and listing of available opportunities, please visit: http://www.workplacelikehome.org