I've Worked From Home for Over 2 Years... (Long)

Hi all,

I don't post here much anymore. But I thought I'd briefly share my story in response to some of the questions posted here about work-at-home jobs.

I've worked from home for over 2 years. I'm an EMPLOYEE -- not an independent contractor or self-employed business person. I have a steady paycheck and full benefits.

(I think that when looking for at-home work, it's important to make that distinction. Do you want to be an employee -- presumably with steady income. Or a self-employed business owner -- where the money isn't steady (at least at first) and it's all going out before it comes in?)

I work in a call center for my local electric company. It wasn't until after I hired on with them that I was even aware that they HAD the home agent position. To qualify for the positon, I had to be promoted to a certain level so I could handle more call types. They won't put new hires in the position. I moved up very quickly though and within a year, I'd been promoted twice and qualified.

I get up in the morning, turn on my computer and log into their network through remote access. They gave me a laptop, a full-sized monitor, keyboard and mouse, plus the phone. They paid to have a phone line installed and they pay for the DSL service. The computer and phone equipment, the 2nd phone line into my home and the DSL service on that line is all in their name and belongs to them, not to me. They pay those bills and I never see them

My schedule is exactly the same as if would be in the office: I log in at 9 AM, take my hour lunch and the two 15-minute breaks at the designated times and log off at 6 PM. It's no different than if I were in the offfice. And because I'm logged into their network, they can see if I'm logged in or not and if I'm available to take calls. So there's complete accountability.

As Mel. White and Dennis Beavers have stated, REAL work-at-home jobs are very limited in the type of work that you do and they ARE typically dead-end jobs.

They also have to see good performance. If you're the type who needs hand-holding or isn't a self-starter, then you WON'T be selected for the position.

But they don't do it just to benefit me. It's a benefit to the company. To get the position, I agreed to carry a pager with me everywhere and be on call 24/7. If call volume spikes at any time (due to power outages or whatever), I'm required to answer the page and get on the phones -- even if it's in the middle of the night. And yes, they HAVE paged me in the middle of the night. And when I was in church. And during a Christmas Eve service. And on a Sunday afternoon.

I have the option to say "NO" to a certain number of the pages in any given quarter. But I'm obligated to accept a certain percentage of them. If I don't, then I'm not keeping my end of the agreement and I could forfeit my home agent position.

If there's a storm and call volume spikes, they page the home agents before they call anybody else into the office. It's faster.

I live in South Florida and we've had VERY active hurricane seasons here for the last couple of years. During storm duty, after a hurricane hits, we're all required to work 12-hour shifts (minimum) seven days a week untill all of the power is restored. One day, I completed my 12 hours (a Thursday) and was scheduled to go into the office the next day for a 16-hour shift beginning at 10 AM (a Friday).

Well, I got paged at 3 AM (Thursday night/Friday morning) and hadn't actually gone to sleep yet when I was paged. So I got on the phones and wasn't paged to get off until 9 AM when the day-shift people came in. I was still in my jammies and hadn't slept for over 24 hours. I called my supervisor and explained the situation, telling him that there was NO way I could come into the office or do a 16-hour shift. If he wanted, I could work another 6 hours (maybe) to complete my 12 hours (I'd just worked 6 hours overnight), but that was my limit. I was dead tired.

He called me back, told me to go to bed for the day and put me on a 12-hour night shift.

Flexibility and extended hours are required in this job, especially during hurricane season. When my power is out due to hurricanes (I was without power for 4-6 day stretches in 2004 and a 7-day stretch after Hurricane Wilma in 2005), then I go into the office to work. Not going into work is NOT an option during storm duty. It's an "all hands on deck" situation. (The company will actually send someone out to pick you up if you can't get out for whatever reason.)

I'm single with no children though and so I have more flexibility than many people do. If you have young children you want to stay home to watch, this is NOT a job for you. (Unless they're in school or you have someone to watch them.) Even though I'm at home, I'm tied to my desk for at least 8 hours a day and cannot get up to just answer the door or whatever. I HAVE to stay on the phones. (And they can see if I'm logged into their network or not.)

If I have any techincal problems that will keep me off of the phones more than 30-60 minutes, I'm required to pack it up and go into the office. Fortunately, I live less than a mile from the office. And they do require my presence in the office from time to time: for meetings, etc. (Though recently, I went 10 WEEKS without going into the office. Ha! Ha!) Most employers would require you to be on their premises at one time or another.

I'm pretty much at the top of the call center pyramid though. (There's one or two more positions I could take and still stay home, but that's it.) Any other promotion would require me to go into the office. The company is large and has a lot of opportunity to move up and out. I've beem doing this for almost 4 years now and I'm VERY burned out. Customer service is NOT fun and is very stressful. (And the customer is NOT(!!!) always right.)

But I made a conscious decision to stay where I am for the time being. Why? Because one of my benefits is tuition reimbursement. And I decided to go back to school to finish my degree. I enrolled in school last fall and have been going non-stop ever since. In fact, I just completed 2 consecutive express terms this summer. (An express term is where we take a class and do a semester's worth of work in just 6 weeks.) I took TWO classes each term so I've completed 4 classes and received 12 credits just this summer alone.

I have some physical problems which inhibit my mobility. Staying at home is ideal for me, though I CAN go into the office if necessary. But because I'm back in school, I decided that staying at home would help me keep up with the demands of work AND school. Due to my physical problems, going into the office every day would make it more difficult.

So yes, it's a "dead end" job. But I've been in school before and I've been neck-deep in credit card debt before. But working full-time and going to school part-time allows me to 1) pay all of my own bills without being a burden to my family or racking up debt and 2) go back to school without much monetary cost to me or running up school loans. (I still have to pay for my books and any miscellaneous fees.)

I've decided to make school my focus instead of climbing the corporate ladder. (After all, I can only go so far without a Bachelor's degree anwyay.) The way I see it, if I can complete my degree in 6 years (I had to start all over at the bottom since none of my previous credits transfered from my first A.A. degree) and it's PAID FOR then I'm MILES ahead of the person who goes to school full-time for 4 years and then spends then next 10-20 years paying it off.

And I'm in the middle of launching my copywriting business too. A job with more responsibilities and going into the office would demand more of my time and me physcially and would very possibly prevent me from doing all of this.

And that's why I work at home and choose to stay in this "dead end" job. Once I get my degree, I definitely intend to move up and out! Debt-free of course... :)

If you're looking for a work-at-home job, realize that REAL work-at-home opportunities are limited. And employers are likely to require you to come into their offices at least part of the time.

If you want to expand your horizons and the possibilites, you'll have to start your own business. And being a business owner (as opposed to an employee) is a whole 'nother animal. You'll have to decide what you're cut out to do and what you're willing to do.

Realize that an employer with a work-at-home position may not offer that information up front. They may require you to work on their premises at first.

I know this doesn't help anyone with specific information on where to find work-at-home jobs. But I hope it clarifies some things and sets the record straight on REAL work-at home jobs.

Hope this helps!

Sincerely,
Michelle