Work at Home

[robinsonbn]

Does anyone do the whole work online at home thing? I want to look into it because we could use the extra money and with a new baby and me trying to finish a degree it is the best solution. I can't exactly finish school work full time and raise a new child. At least not for a few months. I will be getting a job in December but until then I wanted to get into this online thing I think Data Entry or somthing would be best though my field is Public Relations so I could call people(though I hate it when they call me) Anyway please someone get back to me with some feedback on this cause I don't want to get scammed.

[dules]

Just a quick thought - you will need childcare, even if you are at home with your baby, unless your hours are very flexible and you can just drop work to go be with your baby when s/he's hungry, awake, sick, etc.

Just FYI because I do some contract work at home and know some other moms who do and the companies' impressions of those who have childcare vs those who don't are very clear.

Good luck.

Best,
Mary

[JulieL]

I work from my home. I work for my dad though doing phone calls and data entry. I don't know about other companies legitimacy unfortunatley. But this set up works great though. I've been doing it for 4 years now. I work anywhere from 2 - 4 hours a day during the week. I mostly work when DS is in preschool, and DD is napping. Now for me I can stop at any time and start again at any time. The hard part is learning to let house stuff go while you need to work. And then getting the house stuff done has to be done around a baby, or at night. But when you look at no money vs some money, it's worth it.

[tiapam]

I don't want to be a killjoy, but I think that this scenario (find online job, have baby, find new job in December, try to finish school) may be unrealistic. Unless this is not your first baby and you know what you are getting into. December is just around the corner and so is your baby. It's hard to focus on something new with a new baby. Can you register with a temp service or do some babysitting before the baby comes? You could also try working retail for the holidays, if you have some free childcare.

If you still want to try it, the only advice I have is that you shouldn't give anybody any money in order to find a job.

-Pam

DD - One year old!

[kellyotn]

I don't know anything about the "data entry" jobs, except that most are scams. Seems way more people WANT that type of work than actually HAVE that type of work. So, there's a big market in scamming the job seekers pay for bogus information leading nowhere. I'm sure there are legit jobs out there, I've just never actually known anyone to find them. (Other than the medical transcription stuff, which requires a lot of training before getting started.)

Can you do something with a temp agency for a few months? Retail? eBay misc items?

[kijip]

The ads advertising such work are scams. Usually booklet selling scams.

I do some work from home as a grant writer and manager at a non-profit however, it is in conjunction with a regular office job that has considerable flex.

Real work form home opportunities are rare and the legit ones are usually as a contractor for a small local business (say bookkeeping for a small firm or web design) or a very skilled telecommuter. Either way, they are usually only available to people looking in their established field or at their company that does not want to lose them (and even then they are hard to come by.) You quite likely will need a sitter for a newborn to work from home IME.

I agree with a previous poster that the best way to get extra money with the baby on the way is to get some odd jobs now and save up. Babysitting, retail, pt office admin etc.

[robinsonbn]

Thankyou to everyone who responded. I am glad to hear opinions because I was completly lost. I would love do to the temp thing though I don't know how to do that either and how much time does it entail. To be honest the only thing I know about Temp jobs is what I learned from the movie "Monster In-Law" :) I am due October 4th and have narrowed my classes down to one online class this semester. I am in my last year before my bachelors so I decided that pushing it back till say a summer graduation instead of a June one would be ok. However, we do need to find a way for me to make some extra money because holding a normal part-time job with a new baby and trying to do even one class will probally be to much. I am glad you guys said what you did about the online jobs it can be so confusing with all the hype out there. If anyone has any info on the temp thing or how I would find a small business to contract out for data entry please get back to me. I actually have training in Medical Termanology because my Major is Public Relations and at one point I was going to have an internship at a local hospitals PR office and they required it. Anyway please any info helps and thankyou for your replys thus far :)