Nix9to5

Opportunity knocks.

// February 11th, 2010 // Work at Home

And sometimes, it ding-dong ditches.  You know, rings the bell urgently as you rush bleary-eyed to the door, tripping over toys and laundry, only to hide in the bushes giggling when you fling open the door.  Yeah, sometimes it does that.

At the end of last school year, I heard about a possible opportunity working from home at an online high school.  A friend of mine is working for them and found out that they planned to hire several new people.  She told me about the job and put in a good word for me.  I applied and debated going ahead and packing up my office.  I mean, I was IN.

But that sneaky little job sprinted around the corner laughing the whole way.  It wasn’t that I didn’t get the job; it was that there was no job to get.  The company did some restructuring shortly after telling their staff about all the new hires they would be making, and they ended up not hiring after all.  *sigh*

My friend seems to enjoy working for them, and it has allowed her the flexibility to work from home and spend her days with her little boy.  I know that if the company does end up hiring again, I can count on her to give me a heads-up.

Despite my disappointment when August rolled around and I still hadn’t received a call for an interview, I did take a couple of really good things from the experience.  First, it made me realize that I couldn’t just wait for an opportunity to drop into my lap–I’d have to find something and make it happen.  Second, it helped me realize some different work-at-home opportunities out there.

Here are some of the jobs I have tried or am currently doing:

Copywriter
Online Assistant Shopper
Dictation Typist
Independent Sales Consultant
Online Writing Lab Tutor

Some of these have worked out great; others have taken way more time than they are worth.  I’ll talk about each of these in upcoming posts.  I’ll tell you the pros and cons of the things that I have tried, but know that what didn’t work for me might work great for you.  Just like with any job, your success depends a lot on what you want to do and what you are willing to do.

When you look for a job that you can do from home, don’t be afraid to try something new.  Brainstorm different ideas; search the internet to find out what types of jobs are available for telecommuting; talk to friends, colleagues, and family members to see if they know of possibilities.  You never know what will turn up.  During the course of a conversation about coupons, I had an acquaintance offer to pay me to do her grocery shopping.  As much as I hate grocery shopping, I’m actually considering it.

(On a  side note, now that I’m using coupons, grocery shopping has almost become more of a game than a chore.  It’s kind of a fun challenge to see how big I can get that “You Saved” part of my receipt to read.)

If you are just beginning to brainstorm ideas, or if you have no idea where to begin, I recommend WAHM.com.  Visit the job listing page or browse the forums.  You’ll be surprised at how many legitimate opportunities there are.  Among them may be the perfect work-at-home job for you.

What jobs have you tried or considered?