If you’ve ever had a 9-to-5 job, you’ve probably daydreamed about escaping the office life. After a long day of dealing with difficult customers, unpaid bills, pointless meetings, and a demanding boss, those online ads promising big money for working from home can seem pretty appealing. Unfortunately, most of these ads are scams. But don’t lose hope, there are legitimate work-from-home jobs out there.
For the past 11 years, I’ve been living that dream. I work from home as a freelance writer, setting my own hours and working in my comfy home office. But let me tell you, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns. While there are definite perks, there are also some serious downsides. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re cut out for it, you can make a decent living and enjoy a more satisfying life.
Finding a legit work-from-home job isn’t a walk in the park. You can’t just Google it because many of the "jobs" you’ll find are scams. The Federal Trade Commission even warns that most offers to start your own online business, stuff envelopes, or work as a mystery shopper are usually fake. But there are some real work-from-home jobs out there:
-
Writing and Editing: I’ve worked with a variety of clients, from textbook publishers to websites. Your earnings depend on how fast you work. On average, an internet content writer can make about $18 per hour.
-
Translation: If you’re fluent in a foreign language, you can earn around $24 per hour translating documents. Chinese and Japanese speakers are particularly in demand.
-
Graphic Design: Graphic designers can work with many types of clients, designing everything from banner ads to illustrations for children’s toys. Freelance graphic designers earn an average of $22 per hour.
-
Marketing: This field covers a wide variety of topics, from SEO to public relations. Your earnings depend on your specialty. For instance, public relations specialists make about $28 per hour.
-
Customer Service: Some companies hire U.S. workers to answer their customers’ questions and help with orders. The pay is only around $10 per hour.
-
Online Tutoring: If you have a college degree, you can earn around $15 per hour tutoring students in your field.
-
Medical Transcription: Medical transcriptionists take notes dictated by a doctor and use them to write memos and reports. Certified medical transcriptionists can make about $17 per hour working from home.
-
Software Development: Many software developers work full-time for one company, but you can do this job from home if you have the right equipment. The pay rate is about $38 per hour.
-
Technical Support: If you have a degree in computer science, you can get a job working from home helping businesses with their computer problems. The pay is good – around $24 per hour.
-
Web Development: About one out of four web developers is self-employed. This job pays around $33 per hour.
There are websites that focus specifically on freelance and work-at-home jobs, like Flexjobs, Freelancer, Guru, and Upwork. For media-related jobs, you can check out the freelance marketplace on Mediabistro and the job postings at FreelanceWriting.com. For jobs in engineering and design, try the Canadian site Cad Crowd.
Freelancing has its benefits. You get to set your own schedule, control your working conditions, choose your clients, skip the commute, and avoid office politics. But it also has its challenges. Your income can be uncertain, you don’t get benefits, you have to pay extra taxes, you have more responsibility, and you might miss the social contact you get from working in an office.
To succeed as a freelancer, you need to have the right skills, discipline, assertiveness, organization, a financial cushion, and a thick skin. You also need to be the kind of person who values the freedom of freelancing more than the stability of a regular job.
There are tools out there to help freelancers with taxes, accounting, setting up a website, healthcare, budgeting, and retirement. Some good sources of information are Freelancers Union, TurboTax, Wave, WebStarts, Healthcare.gov, and various personal budgeting programs.
Freelancing isn’t a perfect lifestyle, but many people who’ve tried it, including me, would never go back to a full-time job. The freedom to work exactly when, where, and how you want can be well worth it. If you’re unsure about freelancing, you can start by taking a few freelance gigs on the side while keeping your full-time job. This will give you a chance to build up your freelance resume, find clients, and figure out if freelancing is right for you.
