Avoiding home-working  scams: ask the expert

Finding a job you can do at home for decent money and conditions used to be incredibly difficult, it’s possibly getting marginally easier now (employers are more used to the idea – “hot desking,” for example, saves them money).

First, the obvious warnings … don’t send your potential ’employer’ any money (for example to pay for ‘supplies,’) don’t pass on your personal and bank details etc  to any site without taking lots of precautions (e.g. does the site have the ‘lock’ indicator, does it have a good Google page rank indicator, is it regarded as a safe site by your internet protection software, etc?) and make sure you keep records of the terms and conditions about your employment given on the site and during email exchanges. Google search ‘teleworking forums’ to find out about current spams, poor employers, good opportunities etc.  Also speak to your local Trading Standards/Consumer Protection people to see whether they’ve any extra guidance to offer.

What I’d suggest is you first start to explore the sites of known employers in your area and see which indicate a willingness to be family friendly and offer flexible working.  Even if these sites don’t say they offer home working, it would be a good idea to ring up the employer/line manager and say you’re very well qualified to do their jobs (mention your experience, qualifications etc) and then say you think it could be done from home as an extension of their family friendly/equal opportunities employment policies. Don’t say anything else for a moment or so until the person taking your call has had time to take the idea on board and think about their response.  Be ready to point out the cost savings/quality improvements the employer can enjoy from hiring you as a home-based worker (e.g. tell them about local press articles citing similar employers’ positive experiences of hiring home workers).

If you use job boards to track down home-based work, use respected job boards with years of experience in working with employers offering flexible and home-based work.

You can also consider setting up your own low-cost home-based business.  This is not a good time to start any business but it’s possible to make a little money from taking in ironing, offering to do small clerical jobs (e.g. telephone answering) for tiny local businesses.  Again, go to the teleworking forums for ideas on what you could do and how you could set up for yourself at minimum cost and risk.

Good luck!