Thursday, September 13, 2007

5 Great Jobs you can do From Home by Joe Taylor Jr.


Clogged interstates and expanding suburbs have pushed commute times in some cities above the two-hour mark. Meanwhile, school schedules, extracurricular activities, and rising child care costs have placed greater burdens on working parents. For many adults, working from home offers both a cost savings and a quality of life improvement that the entire family can enjoy.

Before you take the plunge into the home-based job pool, consider what sort of education you'll need to gain clients and do the best job for them. An online career training program may be the shortest path to your work-at-home goals. Thanks to new technology, you can bring your work home with you--and keep it there. These five careers offer enjoyable job duties, flexible hours, good pay, and no commute.

1. Database Administrator
As businesses of all sizes rely on complex customer relationship management systems and
information technology networks, a growing army of freelance database administrators provide the same level of technical support once enjoyed only by Fortune 500 companies. Meanwhile, more large companies now allow database administrators to work from home. Many database administrator jobs require flexible hours and on-call scheduling, which also makes them ideal for working parents who want to make more time for their kids. By earning a bachelor's degree in information technology and passing a certification exam, you can start earning $60,000 or more per year as a home-based database administrator.

2. HR Recruiter
In a tightening economy, it's crucial for companies to find the right team members as quickly as possible. With a typical job search costing as much as one third of a position's annual salary, more businesses hire professional recruiters to speed up the hiring process. While some recruiters travel to meet with potential candidates individually, most recruiters perform their work online and over the phone. Many HR recruiters start their careers as associates with larger agencies, earning $41,000 or more per year. By getting an
online business degree specializing in human resources and building experience and a portfolio of successful placement, a home-based recruiter can even go solo, working from home exclusively.

3. Graphic Designer
Now that high-end graphic design workstations cost less than $4,000, many talented graphic designers can easily set up home offices. Whether telecommuting for an employer or working as a freelance professional, a home-based graphic designer can often earn more than $38,000 per year. Competition for graphic design jobs is still intense, so a
degree in digital graphic design and a solid portfolio are essential to landing a home-based job. For the home-based student, online graphic design degrees are also available.

4. Medical Transcriptionist
A growing number of medical offices have discovered how to reduce their overhead by outsourcing transcription of patient records. After completing the required
medical administration training courses and certification exams, home-based medical transcriptionists can earn $27,000 or more per year. Communicating via dedicated fax and internet lines, doctors and nurses send sensitive and urgent information to transcriptionists, who turn those notes into consistent data for hospital and insurance computer systems. Medical transcriptionists with a background in sales and marketing can usually expand their practices by training and hiring additional transcriptionists.

5. Customer Service Specialist
Airlines started using home-based customer service specialists a few years ago, in response to consumer backlash to overseas call centers. Banks, insurance agencies, and credit card issuers have followed suit, opening up new opportunities for people who love to solve problems but who prefer to work from home. Courses and degrees in
business and customer support can prepare you for this home-based career. Employers pay for dedicated telephone lines and often provide reimbursement for headsets, computers, online degree classes, and other customer service necessities. Most home-based customer service specialists earn $27,000 or more per year.

Look Before You Leap Into Working From Home...
Though the benefits are many, working from home in any of these five careers can pose certain challenges. For instance, you'll need to teach children not to disturb you while you handle customer calls. Veteran work-at-home professionals reveal that it took some time for household members to realize that they work at full time jobs that require concentration. Also keep in mind that most employers and clients will expect you to have a degree, training, or both in your chosen field. Still, the benefits of working from home far outweigh the disadvantages. Americans are uniquely suited to telecommuting jobs, and
online career training programs make learning job skills easier than ever.

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