by Bob Moulesong Times Correspondent | Posted: Sunday, March 20, 2011 12:00 am
This is the third in a series that focuses on the issues facing workers age 55+. This week’s feature focuses on work-at-home options for older workers.
Many older workers retire, only to find that they need or want to return to the workforce after a short time on the sidelines. Returning to work is an economic necessity for some, a personal choice for others.
One reason could be financial. The Great Recession raided any 401k and pension plans, leaving those retired or entering retirement short of savings. Homes and property lost much of their value, further eroding the liquidity of retirees.
Another reason is the social aspect. Many workers who are ready to retire age-wise do not want to isolate themselves from the working world. They need and want that social interaction, and a part-time job can provide that opportunity.
With the price of gasoline approaching $4 per gallon, the cost of commuting to work can negate the income. The prospect of long commutes and annoying co-workers can be daunting for the older workforce. A good compromise might be to find a work-at-home job.
Quality, genuine work-at-home opportunities do exist. Some workers are leery of advertisements that claim untold riches for staying home, and with good reason. There are many scams out in the online world, and many of them revolve around work-at-home scams.
In the past few years, the Federal Trade Commission has seen the number of complaints about work-at-home scams nearly double. The FTC advises looking for two glaring red flags – jobs that promise to pay more than ever dreamed, and firms that charge a fee to obtain more information about a job.
Rat Race Rebellion http://ratracerebellion.com/ is a website dedicated to legitimate work-at-home opportunities. The site screens job advertisements and lists the ones that are real. It also contains many links to jobs by category, such as call centers and medical coders.
Alpine Access http://www.alpineaccess.com/ is a home-based call center that provides services to Fortune 500 companies. They have provided a virtual call center to businesses since 1998, has 4,500 current work-at-home employees, and are actively looking for more employees who want to work from home.
Retirees who decide to return to the workforce via work-at-home opportunities need to think about the kind of work they are willing and qualified to do. Here are five jobs that have become popular in the work-at-home realm.
1) Customer Service Representative. CSR’s answer incoming calls, take new orders, track existing orders, and handle complaints. They may also troubleshoot and do technical support, depending on the type of job. Employers usually offer paid training sessions to bring CSR’s up to speed on how to perform their tasks. Workers usually need their own up-to-date computer and a high-speed Internet connection.
2) Online Juror. Companies will pay for online jurors to sit on mock juries and provide attorneys feedback on cases they’re working on. Think of these as virtual focus groups. An attorney will post a case on a secure website for online jurors to review. This may include listening to audio and video presentations, as well as reading material. Then a verdict is submitted. A summary is posted later to view the results.
3) Virtual Assistant. There has been a significant increase in demand from both small-business operators and larger corporations to hire virtual personal assistants to do various administrative tasks. Duties range from making travel arrangements to sending out letters and other support services that can easily be handled remotely via e-mail and phone. Employees need knowledge of computer software applications, such as desktop publishing, project management, spreadsheets and database management.
4) Online Tutor. Private online tutoring sessions with students is a growing area. The subjects in demand are world history, physics, science, math and English. Help with preparation for standardized tests such as the SAT are also in demand. An online tutor connects to a student inside a secure online classroom. The student and tutor chat using instant messaging, draw problems on an interactive whiteboard, share a file to review essays and papers and browse resources on the Web together. Tutors need to pass exams in the fields they choose to teach.
5) Freelance writers. To break into the world of freelance writing or editing, employees need a clear grasp of sentence and paragraph construction, spelling, grammar and punctuation. Jobs exist in the fields of copyediting, proofreading, resume writing, technical writing, and blogging. Retirees have found a large growth area in blogs on the Internet that value experience.
Many older workers who decide to stay actively employed can find excellent chances in the work-at-home field. A little research can provide a lot of opportunity.
Online sources:
http://careers.convergysworkathome.com/
http://liveops.com/
http://www.westathome.com/
http://www.workingsolutions.com/
http://www.ivaa.org/
http://virtualassistantjobs.com/
http://www.tutor.com/
http://smarthinking.com/
http://journalismjobs.com/
This is the third in a series that focuses on the issues facing workers age 55+. This week’s feature focuses on work-at-home options for older workers.
Many older workers retire, only to find that they need or want to return to the workforce after a short time on the sidelines. Returning to work is an economic necessity for some, a personal choice for others.
One reason could be financial. The Great Recession raided any 401k and pension plans, leaving those retired or entering retirement short of savings. Homes and property lost much of their value, further eroding the liquidity of retirees.
Another reason is the social aspect. Many workers who are ready to retire age-wise do not want to isolate themselves from the working world. They need and want that social interaction, and a part-time job can provide that opportunity.
With the price of gasoline approaching $4 per gallon, the cost of commuting to work can negate the income. The prospect of long commutes and annoying co-workers can be daunting for the older workforce. A good compromise might be to find a work-at-home job.
Quality, genuine work-at-home opportunities do exist. Some workers are leery of advertisements that claim untold riches for staying home, and with good reason. There are many scams out in the online world, and many of them revolve around work-at-home scams.
In the past few years, the Federal Trade Commission has seen the number of complaints about work-at-home scams nearly double. The FTC advises looking for two glaring red flags – jobs that promise to pay more than ever dreamed, and firms that charge a fee to obtain more information about a job.
Rat Race Rebellion http://ratracerebellion.com/ is a website dedicated to legitimate work-at-home opportunities. The site screens job advertisements and lists the ones that are real. It also contains many links to jobs by category, such as call centers and medical coders.
Alpine Access http://www.alpineaccess.com/ is a home-based call center that provides services to Fortune 500 companies. They have provided a virtual call center to businesses since 1998, has 4,500 current work-at-home employees, and are actively looking for more employees who want to work from home.
Retirees who decide to return to the workforce via work-at-home opportunities need to think about the kind of work they are willing and qualified to do. Here are five jobs that have become popular in the work-at-home realm.
1) Customer Service Representative. CSR’s answer incoming calls, take new orders, track existing orders, and handle complaints. They may also troubleshoot and do technical support, depending on the type of job. Employers usually offer paid training sessions to bring CSR’s up to speed on how to perform their tasks. Workers usually need their own up-to-date computer and a high-speed Internet connection.
2) Online Juror. Companies will pay for online jurors to sit on mock juries and provide attorneys feedback on cases they’re working on. Think of these as virtual focus groups. An attorney will post a case on a secure website for online jurors to review. This may include listening to audio and video presentations, as well as reading material. Then a verdict is submitted. A summary is posted later to view the results.
3) Virtual Assistant. There has been a significant increase in demand from both small-business operators and larger corporations to hire virtual personal assistants to do various administrative tasks. Duties range from making travel arrangements to sending out letters and other support services that can easily be handled remotely via e-mail and phone. Employees need knowledge of computer software applications, such as desktop publishing, project management, spreadsheets and database management.
4) Online Tutor. Private online tutoring sessions with students is a growing area. The subjects in demand are world history, physics, science, math and English. Help with preparation for standardized tests such as the SAT are also in demand. An online tutor connects to a student inside a secure online classroom. The student and tutor chat using instant messaging, draw problems on an interactive whiteboard, share a file to review essays and papers and browse resources on the Web together. Tutors need to pass exams in the fields they choose to teach.
5) Freelance writers. To break into the world of freelance writing or editing, employees need a clear grasp of sentence and paragraph construction, spelling, grammar and punctuation. Jobs exist in the fields of copyediting, proofreading, resume writing, technical writing, and blogging. Retirees have found a large growth area in blogs on the Internet that value experience.
Many older workers who decide to stay actively employed can find excellent chances in the work-at-home field. A little research can provide a lot of opportunity.
Online sources:
http://careers.convergysworkathome.com/
http://liveops.com/
http://www.westathome.com/
http://www.workingsolutions.com/
http://www.ivaa.org/
http://virtualassistantjobs.com/
http://www.tutor.com/
http://smarthinking.com/
http://journalismjobs.com/
Many older workers retire, only to find that they need or want to return to the workforce after a short time on the sidelines. Returning to work is an economic necessity for some, a personal choice for others.
One reason could be financial. The Great Recession raided any 401k and pension plans, leaving those retired or entering retirement short of savings. Homes and property lost much of their value, further eroding the liquidity of retirees.
Another reason is the social aspect. Many workers who are ready to retire age-wise do not want to isolate themselves from the working world. They need and want that social interaction, and a part-time job can provide that opportunity.
With the price of gasoline approaching $4 per gallon, the cost of commuting to work can negate the income. The prospect of long commutes and annoying co-workers can be daunting for the older workforce. A good compromise might be to find a work-at-home job.
Quality, genuine work-at-home opportunities do exist. Some workers are leery of advertisements that claim untold riches for staying home, and with good reason. There are many scams out in the online world, and many of them revolve around work-at-home scams.
In the past few years, the Federal Trade Commission has seen the number of complaints about work-at-home scams nearly double. The FTC advises looking for two glaring red flags – jobs that promise to pay more than ever dreamed, and firms that charge a fee to obtain more information about a job.
Rat Race Rebellion http://ratracerebellion.com/ is a website dedicated to legitimate work-at-home opportunities. The site screens job advertisements and lists the ones that are real. It also contains many links to jobs by category, such as call centers and medical coders.
Alpine Access http://www.alpineaccess.com/ is a home-based call center that provides services to Fortune 500 companies. They have provided a virtual call center to businesses since 1998, has 4,500 current work-at-home employees, and are actively looking for more employees who want to work from home.
Retirees who decide to return to the workforce via work-at-home opportunities need to think about the kind of work they are willing and qualified to do. Here are five jobs that have become popular in the work-at-home realm.
1) Customer Service Representative. CSR’s answer incoming calls, take new orders, track existing orders, and handle complaints. They may also troubleshoot and do technical support, depending on the type of job. Employers usually offer paid training sessions to bring CSR’s up to speed on how to perform their tasks. Workers usually need their own up-to-date computer and a high-speed Internet connection.
2) Online Juror. Companies will pay for online jurors to sit on mock juries and provide attorneys feedback on cases they’re working on. Think of these as virtual focus groups. An attorney will post a case on a secure website for online jurors to review. This may include listening to audio and video presentations, as well as reading material. Then a verdict is submitted. A summary is posted later to view the results.
3) Virtual Assistant. There has been a significant increase in demand from both small-business operators and larger corporations to hire virtual personal assistants to do various administrative tasks. Duties range from making travel arrangements to sending out letters and other support services that can easily be handled remotely via e-mail and phone. Employees need knowledge of computer software applications, such as desktop publishing, project management, spreadsheets and database management.
4) Online Tutor. Private online tutoring sessions with students is a growing area. The subjects in demand are world history, physics, science, math and English. Help with preparation for standardized tests such as the SAT are also in demand. An online tutor connects to a student inside a secure online classroom. The student and tutor chat using instant messaging, draw problems on an interactive whiteboard, share a file to review essays and papers and browse resources on the Web together. Tutors need to pass exams in the fields they choose to teach.
5) Freelance writers. To break into the world of freelance writing or editing, employees need a clear grasp of sentence and paragraph construction, spelling, grammar and punctuation. Jobs exist in the fields of copyediting, proofreading, resume writing, technical writing, and blogging. Retirees have found a large growth area in blogs on the Internet that value experience.
Many older workers who decide to stay actively employed can find excellent chances in the work-at-home field. A little research can provide a lot of opportunity.
Online sources:
http://careers.convergysworkathome.com/
http://liveops.com/
http://www.westathome.com/
http://www.workingsolutions.com/
http://www.ivaa.org/
http://virtualassistantjobs.com/
http://www.tutor.com/
http://smarthinking.com/
http://journalismjobs.com/
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