Here is part two of my series on ground rules for working from home. If you missed part one, please check it out here!
High Speed Internet and/or a Land Line is Very Desirable. Many work-from-home jobs require that you have high-speed Internet and/or a home phone line. It is definitely possible to work from home if you only have dial-up, but it’s a lot more difficult to land the jobs. Or, if you have (like me) decided to get a high-speed Internet connection through cable or satellite, and then use a cell phone for your phone service, thus skipping the home phone line, just be aware that this will keep you from several fields like Phone jobs or Virtual Assistants. If these jobs are something you are interested in, it may be worth it to put in a phone line just for the job. There are also some jobs that require two landline phones, although that is not the norm. In these and other special cases, you have to make the decision if the money spent for these phone lines would be worth it for you in the long run. It is a fairly large proposition, because the phone company will normally have some sort of fee for installing the second line, sometimes a very large fee, and if you take the job and it doesn’t end up working out, those extra costs you incurred will be money down the drain. I don’t want to be too negative about it, because under the right circumstances, it could be a great decision. It is something to consider carefully, however.
This is Not a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme. The money will not start pouring in right away. Even if you manage to get a job within a week of starting your search (like I was lucky enough to) there is still a lag before you receive that first paycheck. As an Independent Contractor (almost all work-from-home jobs are IC positions, although there is an occasional employee job offered,) the business pays you when they get paid. Many businesses bill their clients on a Net 30 basis, meaning that they give their clients 30 days to pay the bill, so they take 30 days to pay you too. Many businesses will have you bill them for the work that you did from the first of the month to the 15th of the month on the 16th of the month, and then they pay for that work on the 15th of the next month. So if you started working on January 1st, you wouldn’t get your first paycheck until February 15th. Some places are even slower—it could be two months or even more before you see your first check. If you are looking for instant cash, this is not the route to go. A pawn shop is instant cash. Car title places are instant cash. I don’t recommend either one, but at least it is money in your pocket right then. If your circumstances are dire enough that you need a job and money right away, this will not be your saving grace, as hard as that is to say.
Tomorrow I’ll post the next installment on the ground rules of working from home—good luck on your quest for the perfect job!