June 18, 2005

• I had two friends who worked mostly from home in programming jobs (one did Basic, and the other SQL, I believe). However, it wasn't 100% at home; the former spent about a quarter of her time going to the company's labs, and the other actually did some international travelling about two or three times a year, and would also go to the company's offices at least two or three days a week. Both quit their jobs last year, for personal reasons, so I can't say what the job market for at-home programmers is like right now.
• I work at home as a freelance translator - i.e. no boss, no company to work for (multiple translation agencies and direct clients give me work). Many years' targeted education resulted in this, though - not sure what I'd do if working from home was the main stipulation. But if you have another language and are prepared to put the effort in to train, it might be worth thinking about.
• I think that a lot of medical transcription and billing, and perhaps even some insurance paperwork, can be done from the home computer. It's not the most exciting work in the world, but it's work. I am not an expert on this, I just used to work at a dr's office that has recently outsourced its billing. I'm just helping in the brainstorming.
• Rentacoder is one legitimate possibility, though you're competing with Russian and East European talent who will work for less. It's not really a job, but it can secure a flow of work.
• I have done medical transcription from home. It is a good way to make a living IF you are an exceptionally fast, accurate typist. Pay is generally by the keystroke. Getting work is the Catch-22, since everyone requires experience first and nobody wants to hire an inexperienced transcriptionist. Billing could potentially be quite lucrative if you don't mind working with codes and--again--are a good typist. You might want to check with vocational training centers that offer instruction in these trades if they appeal to you at all. I've had some dubious experiences dealing with prospective employers who've wanted to hire me long-distance, and still think that initial employment contacts should involve at least one direct meeting, so that both parties concerned are assured of each others' legitimacy. Good luck.
• I'm a tech/security cosultant. At least half of my work I do from home. If you're not up to that task, I understand some of the newer airlines like Jet Blue have some of their phone-based ticketing agents working out of the home as well. You might want to look into that.
• Net-Temps has provided me with the most reliable and honest/accurate job leads for working on a contract basis. If there is a university that you can get to every quarter or so, and you can afford to print up some posters/flyers/business cards, I would recommend selling your services as an editor of master's and doctoral theses/dissertations. These documents have fairly rigid standards of publication expected, so many candidates will pay a reasonable fee ($20/hour) for copyediting. Many agencies/community groups need help with grantwriting. Again, getting clients will be the hardest part, but the work is out there.
• Freelance writer: research and write about what interests you. Rates: 0.50 cents a word or more. Works best if you have an area of expertise to write about. Average earnings for Canadian freelance writers is about $20K/year. Most make less. Some make phenomenally more.
• Do you have an MA degree in anything? Many universities, and especially community colleges, are desperate for online teaching adjuncts.
• I echo the writing suggestions - in particular, look into technical writing if you are reasonably comfortable with software/computers and language. Consider spending some time working at an employer's site to gain their trust. If you are interested in writing, programming, and mathematical optimization, e-mail me.
• They were just talking about this over on MeFi.
• How do I get work as an online adjunct? I have an MA, a PhD, and a good head for radio.
• The phone sex operator in the MeFi thread makes $75,000 a year!
• I do what deconstructo said: casual transcription/proofreading for masters students. We live very close to a teachers' college and university, and I get work through word of mouth. I charge $15/hour and get paid cash, the students bring their recorded interviews to me or email me their theses and I transcribe or edit them. If I advertised, I daresay I'd get more work than I could manage, because we have a high percentage of foreign-language students who really need someone to proofread their work for grammatical errors. And you don't need in-depth knowledge of the subjects.
• Wolof: Have you taught before? If not, your best bet is to contact universities in your area. See what courses they offer in your field and create simple syllabi for some of the lower level ones. (For ideas, google the course title + syllabus). You need to get the department chairperson to feel comfortable with you and your abilities. If a course crashes and burns due to a flakey adjunct it is a huge mess. Once you have a few onlne courses under your belt and a file of positive student evaluations you should be able to approach schools at a distance. In the states the main source for academic job ads is The Chronicle of Higher Education and www.academic360.com/. Breaking in can be tough or easy, depending on your field. The pay is lousy, at least in the states, but with practice you can get pretty efficient at it. The Chronicle had a story a few months back about a woman who made around $80k/year teaching a lot of courses online--she wouldn't say how many. I am an associate professor at a small state school in the Midwestern U.S., I teach about 80% of my courses online. I miss the more direct contact with students, but love the many, many mornings my little boy and I have gone fishing while the rest of the world rushed off to work.
• Thanks for the replies, everyone. Any kind of phone work is out for me because I am unable to speak clearly enough over the phone - and, I don't think I could keep a straight face trying to do phone sex. I don't have a MA in anything, just a mere BA, and although I minored in Russian in college, my fluency has gone down ye olde crapper, so I wouldn't feel comfortable doing translation at this point. Freelance writing is very interesting, however I have no idea how to break into that. There are several small universities within driving distance, so I think I'll be looking into offering my proofreading services there. Thanks again for all the suggestions!
• Freelance writing is very interesting, however I have no idea how to break into that You could start with an article about jobs you can do from home! Best o' luck.
• And thanks, VG for posting this- you've got me all inspired to skulk around some of the local universities here. I'm an editor myself, and would dearly love to be free of commuting to a sillier job.
• Thanks, LarryC.
• Freelance writing is very interesting, however I have no idea how to break into that. Check these out: About.com's freelance writing section. AbsoluteWrite.com's section on freelance writing. WorldwideFreelanceWriter.com. There are a lot more sites like these out there.