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I need a home-based job: ask the expert
I am a full-time mum desperate to get a job and start earning again. My husband is in the forces and is away a lot. My problem is I can’t afford childcare as we live on one income and I have no other family who can babysit if I went to work. What job can I get/help with childcare? I fear if I did get a job all my earning would go onto childcare. I have worked as a receptionist and as a retail assistant. I have also worked in telesales for two years and my last post was as a dental nurse for two years. I really need a job that is either based from home, or driving (in which I can have my son in the car with me – such as delivery of goods etc). I have access to a laptop at home, but do not have a landline (again this is due to the fact that it is difficult to get landlines set up when one moves every two years!).
You face a daunting number of obstacles! Other problems are that the county where you live is something of an unemployment black spot outside the tourist season and wages are fairly low.
You may be able to give yourself more options if you can team up with another mum (whom you are sure you can trust with your son) and share the childcare.
If you opt for a driving job, please remember to sort out the insurance if you use your own car on business. If you are to drive a company car or van, please remember many employers don’t allow non-employee passengers (also the employer’s insurance may not cover passengers).
Possible ideas and options (including self-employment) are as follows:-
– run a pet taxi service for pet owners visiting vets, taking animals to kennels etc – safeguard yourself by doing this only through the local vets etc and only carry owners / animals known to the referring organisations
provide a home-based ironing service (or similar)
– investigate whether you could work in telesales or phone related work from home, using an employer-provided mobile phone
– find a nursery job prepared to give your son a place at a discounted cost
– find an employer that offers creche facilities at a discount to staff
– provide a home-based emergency dental advice / appointment booking line after hours (on the employer’s mobile) as the employee of local dentists
– speak to the base management officers and see whether they’ve any contacts with local employers that might help you (eg maintenance companies needing home-based admin help, etc)
– house-sit / garden-sit.
The odds are stacked against you, but you may be able to find a job niche somewhere that allows you to earn at least a little money while looking after your son. Best of luck!
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Comments [4]
Julie says:
The best way to earn real money online is to learn a skill that people would pay you for, for instance web development or SEO expert or content marketing. Do some online courses and really immerse yourself in the work and take it from there. Best of luck, if you believe in yourself and work hard you will succeed!
Anonymous says:
Hello,
I think that joining http://www.odesk.com would be such a great move for you.
They have a lot of Administrative/ Customer Support roles on there plus many other general assistant roles. You don’t always need a phone to carry out the work either, some of the tasks are purely based online.
I wish you all the best.
Michele
Linda Whittern says:
Hi Anonymous,
I’m sorry you felt my answer to "full-time mum" was negative and unhelpful. I feel it’s important to acknowledge the very real obstacles that people face – if you don’t, people feel like failures because they’re struggling when the reality is the situation they’re trying to cope with is extremely difficult.
I listed 8 practical suggestions that might enable “full-time mum” to start earning again, in spite of the constraints she faced as regards unaffordability of childcare, lack of a landline, living in an economic black spot and having to move every couple of years.
I had to warn “full-time mum” against potential problems if she followed up some of the suggestions – for example, sorting out the car insurance for business use is something that must be done, if it’s not the insurance company may not pay out if her car gets stolen or is in an accident.
I did take into account she has no land line. I suggested she might be able to do phone-related work from home using an employer-provided mobile phone. She has a customer service and tele-sales background that might make her an attractive proposition for employers wanting someone to make high-value sales / customer service calls.
Thanks for taking the time to tell me what you thought. I hope you feel this answer has narrowed the gap between us.
Anonymous says:
My goodness, what a lot of negativity, Linda Whittern! Not to mention that the person has no phone and has clearly stated that. Might I suggest you be a little more encouraging next time, instead of ‘You face a daunting number of obstacles’ and ‘the odds are stacked against you’. Let’s hope this woman has more helpful people around her than you!