What jobs/careers can you genuinely work from home with?
Discussion
So there are a lot of scams or pie in the sky opportunities out there.
Are there any genuine jobs/careers where you can work from home for a decent living, where a good majority of the time is spent at home and not visiting clients or the main office.
I've been thinking about the whole work/life balance recently and I'm slowly getting a bit tired of going to work in an office all day, having to interact with a lot of colleagues and students who I'm not really interested in talking too, and getting frustrated with other lazy departments/colleagues.
I'd really like to work from home if I can, where I can start and finish at whatever time I feel like as long as the work is completed on time. I wouldn't mind for instance, starting at 11, taking as many breaks as I like and working through until 10 at night. I find my mind is most active and I'm at my peak during these hours
This is also in part due to an illness I had a year or so ago which I'm still recovering from, which at times leaves me extremely tired and makes it very hard to wake up and get off to work on time in the mornings.
I renovated my house this year. I did a lot of the smashing apart and then project managed putting it all back together. I really enjoyed doing it as for the most part I did things how I wanted and put the hours in as and when needed and then rested on the days where there were natural breaks between jobs/trades coming in.
So I think I've somewhat answered my own question and would really enjoy being a property developer, but I haven't got the proper experience/qualifications, or funding to make a career/job of it.
So does anyone have any Ideas/suggestions?
Are there any genuine jobs/careers where you can work from home for a decent living, where a good majority of the time is spent at home and not visiting clients or the main office.
I've been thinking about the whole work/life balance recently and I'm slowly getting a bit tired of going to work in an office all day, having to interact with a lot of colleagues and students who I'm not really interested in talking too, and getting frustrated with other lazy departments/colleagues.
I'd really like to work from home if I can, where I can start and finish at whatever time I feel like as long as the work is completed on time. I wouldn't mind for instance, starting at 11, taking as many breaks as I like and working through until 10 at night. I find my mind is most active and I'm at my peak during these hours
This is also in part due to an illness I had a year or so ago which I'm still recovering from, which at times leaves me extremely tired and makes it very hard to wake up and get off to work on time in the mornings.
I renovated my house this year. I did a lot of the smashing apart and then project managed putting it all back together. I really enjoyed doing it as for the most part I did things how I wanted and put the hours in as and when needed and then rested on the days where there were natural breaks between jobs/trades coming in.
So I think I've somewhat answered my own question and would really enjoy being a property developer, but I haven't got the proper experience/qualifications, or funding to make a career/job of it.
So does anyone have any Ideas/suggestions?
What is it you do at the moment?
Accountancy is a good one, my accountant incorporated my company, does my VAT, self assessments and yearly accounts, all from home, and as I understand it mostly looks after contractors like myself. I guess this will involve some studying though, and personally I find it all far too boring!
My sister in law works from home earning a small fortune as a HR consultant. She got her CIPD qualifications, and she writes policies for companies, and occasionally represents people in employment tribunals etc - minimal time spent with clients.
Mother In law is a website designer. She charges a lot less than most companies and can still makes a lot, I think she's self taught as well. She also makes loads of money from buying old s
t furniture and basically White washing it and selling it as 'shabby chic' on Facebook selling groups. Can't believe how much people pay for that st tbh!
I'd love to work from home but any of the things I can think of doing bore me to tears
Accountancy is a good one, my accountant incorporated my company, does my VAT, self assessments and yearly accounts, all from home, and as I understand it mostly looks after contractors like myself. I guess this will involve some studying though, and personally I find it all far too boring!
My sister in law works from home earning a small fortune as a HR consultant. She got her CIPD qualifications, and she writes policies for companies, and occasionally represents people in employment tribunals etc - minimal time spent with clients.
Mother In law is a website designer. She charges a lot less than most companies and can still makes a lot, I think she's self taught as well. She also makes loads of money from buying old s
t furniture and basically White washing it and selling it as 'shabby chic' on Facebook selling groups. Can't believe how much people pay for that st tbh! I'd love to work from home but any of the things I can think of doing bore me to tears
Software developer, I've been working from home for the last 3 years. Visit the main office maybe once every couple of months. Skype phone, fast internet and good company vpn facilities mean I am usual more productive and much cheaper at home than sitting in a flash expensive office in the city.
To be honest, it would be any type of job which involves the majority of your work sitting in front of a laptop, doing some form of productive output, such as writing code or churning through MS office type activities.
I used to work in software support, and would drive 50 miles to sit at a desk with a phone to work off a laptop all day on my own. I ended up taking over the in house PBX and figure out how to implement remote worker phones, and within a month we were all working from home.
The issue you have is that there are still a lot of companies where the management don't "trust" their employees to work from home, so you would need to find out if they support it.
I fully agree with you, though. I'm not one for working in an office all day, with people I have no interest in, listening to their chat, farts, coughs or he said she said bks.
Consider the downsides, though - you really need to be aware of cabin fever and make a point of getting out and about when you can. I've worked 4 days in a row before now in a 1 bed apartment without ever leaving the place, not fun.
I used to work in software support, and would drive 50 miles to sit at a desk with a phone to work off a laptop all day on my own. I ended up taking over the in house PBX and figure out how to implement remote worker phones, and within a month we were all working from home.
The issue you have is that there are still a lot of companies where the management don't "trust" their employees to work from home, so you would need to find out if they support it.
I fully agree with you, though. I'm not one for working in an office all day, with people I have no interest in, listening to their chat, farts, coughs or he said she said b
ks.Consider the downsides, though - you really need to be aware of cabin fever and make a point of getting out and about when you can. I've worked 4 days in a row before now in a 1 bed apartment without ever leaving the place, not fun.
Edited by devnull on Wednesday 7th October 12:53
devnull said:
Consider the downsides, though - you really need to be aware of cabin fever and make a point of getting out and about when you can. I've worked 4 days in a row before now in a 1 bed apartment without ever leaving the place, not fun.
^^^ ThisI worked for two years as a freelance graphic and web designer working from home. Took a biggish paycut to get a "normal" office job. You don't realise for a while how much you need the interaction with other people to generate ideas.
My new assistant designer is a very experienced guy, who has done the same thing. He was working from home for some decent-sized client, but has come to work for me at well below what he is really worth just so that he has somebody to talk to about the designs.
boyse7en said:
devnull said:
Consider the downsides, though - you really need to be aware of cabin fever and make a point of getting out and about when you can. I've worked 4 days in a row before now in a 1 bed apartment without ever leaving the place, not fun.
^^^ ThisI worked for two years as a freelance graphic and web designer working from home. Took a biggish paycut to get a "normal" office job. You don't realise for a while how much you need the interaction with other people to generate ideas.
My new assistant designer is a very experienced guy, who has done the same thing. He was working from home for some decent-sized client, but has come to work for me at well below what he is really worth just so that he has somebody to talk to about the designs.
The ideal job would be one where you can have a good balance of working from home and working in an office. We have home workers in our company, but I don't envy them. I would prefer around a 50/50 mix
I'm a translator, I haven't been near an office since I left wage slavery in 2001. I get the occasional offer to go in and work in-house for people, but I always turn those down - partly because I don't have time to spend days out working in other people's offices, but mostly because I like working at home. Of course, that's not to say I wouldn't consider working in someone else's office if they offer enough money, but they never offer enough to make it worth my while.
So anyway, translation is a good career for working from home. The downside is that you need to speak - ideally - at least two languages to near-native level (as well as your own native language) and be capable of translating as well. (Not all linguists can translate.) You could manage with one language, but your market would be more limited and you'd have more downtime.
Working from home is great! I'd never go back to an office-based job.
So anyway, translation is a good career for working from home. The downside is that you need to speak - ideally - at least two languages to near-native level (as well as your own native language) and be capable of translating as well. (Not all linguists can translate.) You could manage with one language, but your market would be more limited and you'd have more downtime.
Working from home is great! I'd never go back to an office-based job.
devnull said:
The issue you have is that there are still a lot of companies where the management don't "trust" their employees to work from home, so you would need to find out if they support it.
I had a friend who's Manager didn't trust him, so he had to leave his webcam on so his manager to check that he was at his desk in working hours - mental.I have historically worked in sales / estimating within the construction industry.
I recently made the leap from office-based estimating and sales to working 'on the road'.
Except I'm not. You see, I achieve far more in a day spent with my laptop and phone working from home than I do out on the road. I see the advantage of closing a deal or rectifying a complaint in person, so that's what the majority of my appointments are arranged around.
I'm finding it increasingly difficult to 'justify' being out on the road, too. I've had several people even insist that they don't see me more frequently than once or twice a year - because they simply don't need to and it's a waste of everyones' time.
The other travelling salesmen in my team are a lot older and seem good at making good their case for being out and about, but my generation (I'm 26 years old) have the experience of working with email, which I think has a big part to play in my struggle getting to grips with this role.
I guess what I'm saying is, a Sales role should be something you can apply to working from home perhaps 50+% of the time, even when the expectation is that you spend only a fraction of your time working from home, because of the advent of email communication.
I recently made the leap from office-based estimating and sales to working 'on the road'.
Except I'm not. You see, I achieve far more in a day spent with my laptop and phone working from home than I do out on the road. I see the advantage of closing a deal or rectifying a complaint in person, so that's what the majority of my appointments are arranged around.
I'm finding it increasingly difficult to 'justify' being out on the road, too. I've had several people even insist that they don't see me more frequently than once or twice a year - because they simply don't need to and it's a waste of everyones' time.
The other travelling salesmen in my team are a lot older and seem good at making good their case for being out and about, but my generation (I'm 26 years old) have the experience of working with email, which I think has a big part to play in my struggle getting to grips with this role.
I guess what I'm saying is, a Sales role should be something you can apply to working from home perhaps 50+% of the time, even when the expectation is that you spend only a fraction of your time working from home, because of the advent of email communication.
I do pre-sales for a software company. I've left the house for work twice in the last month. Sometimes it's more sometimes it's less.
The majority of my work is done via email and conference call/webex.
One thing though, I am at my desk 9-5ish as that is when business gets done. If I started at 11 customers couldn't reach me and if I worked to 7pm I couldn't reach them. So there is flexibility but you do need to keep business hours for any job that requires interaction.
Also, it suits some people and not others. I love it, some people go stir crazy.
The majority of my work is done via email and conference call/webex.
One thing though, I am at my desk 9-5ish as that is when business gets done. If I started at 11 customers couldn't reach me and if I worked to 7pm I couldn't reach them. So there is flexibility but you do need to keep business hours for any job that requires interaction.
Also, it suits some people and not others. I love it, some people go stir crazy.
Thank you for the replies everyone. There are certainly a good mix of opinions.
I currently work in University administration / student adviser role, and whilst its a good job and one of the best places I've worked, It's quite low paid and I'm now starting to find it very repetitive and would perhaps suit me better later in life if I was winding down my working life.
I've got no formal qualifications other than A levels, and I've used my university funding. However, I'm happy to re-train either by doing professional courses or going back to uni but I would need to find a company to sponsor me/pay the fees.
If I was working from home I wouldn't get 'cabin fever' as I'm quite active outside of work with my hockey club either coaching or playing 3 times a week and I also play 5a side. With this in mind, I'd also need a job that doesn't encroach on the weekends so I could continue with those activities.
I did like the idea though of Tues, Weds, Thurs in the office, and the Monday and Friday working from home.
I'm still keen to work in the construction/property development industry. Perhaps this will give me the right balance of office type work, site visits, and varying projects that would keep me interested and keep the grey matter working properly?
I currently work in University administration / student adviser role, and whilst its a good job and one of the best places I've worked, It's quite low paid and I'm now starting to find it very repetitive and would perhaps suit me better later in life if I was winding down my working life.
I've got no formal qualifications other than A levels, and I've used my university funding. However, I'm happy to re-train either by doing professional courses or going back to uni but I would need to find a company to sponsor me/pay the fees.
If I was working from home I wouldn't get 'cabin fever' as I'm quite active outside of work with my hockey club either coaching or playing 3 times a week and I also play 5a side. With this in mind, I'd also need a job that doesn't encroach on the weekends so I could continue with those activities.
I did like the idea though of Tues, Weds, Thurs in the office, and the Monday and Friday working from home.
I'm still keen to work in the construction/property development industry. Perhaps this will give me the right balance of office type work, site visits, and varying projects that would keep me interested and keep the grey matter working properly?
Willeh85 said:
Thank you for the replies everyone. There are certainly a good mix of opinions.
I currently work in University administration / student adviser role, and whilst its a good job and one of the best places I've worked, It's quite low paid and I'm now starting to find it very repetitive and would perhaps suit me better later in life if I was winding down my working life.
I've got no formal qualifications other than A levels, and I've used my university funding. However, I'm happy to re-train either by doing professional courses or going back to uni but I would need to find a company to sponsor me/pay the fees.
If I was working from home I wouldn't get 'cabin fever' as I'm quite active outside of work with my hockey club either coaching or playing 3 times a week and I also play 5a side. With this in mind, I'd also need a job that doesn't encroach on the weekends so I could continue with those activities.
I did like the idea though of Tues, Weds, Thurs in the office, and the Monday and Friday working from home.
I'm still keen to work in the construction/property development industry. Perhaps this will give me the right balance of office type work, site visits, and varying projects that would keep me interested and keep the grey matter working properly?
Can you not do a degree through the Uni you work at? I was under the impression you can get on courses easily if you work there (well that is what my friends who work at one says).I currently work in University administration / student adviser role, and whilst its a good job and one of the best places I've worked, It's quite low paid and I'm now starting to find it very repetitive and would perhaps suit me better later in life if I was winding down my working life.
I've got no formal qualifications other than A levels, and I've used my university funding. However, I'm happy to re-train either by doing professional courses or going back to uni but I would need to find a company to sponsor me/pay the fees.
If I was working from home I wouldn't get 'cabin fever' as I'm quite active outside of work with my hockey club either coaching or playing 3 times a week and I also play 5a side. With this in mind, I'd also need a job that doesn't encroach on the weekends so I could continue with those activities.
I did like the idea though of Tues, Weds, Thurs in the office, and the Monday and Friday working from home.
I'm still keen to work in the construction/property development industry. Perhaps this will give me the right balance of office type work, site visits, and varying projects that would keep me interested and keep the grey matter working properly?
Type R Tom said:
Can you not do a degree through the Uni you work at? I was under the impression you can get on courses easily if you work there (well that is what my friends who work at one says).
I can for the most part get on the courses fairly easily, especially as I'm friends with a number of people in the admissions department.The problem lies with funding the course. I used up my 'allowance' from student finance England 10 years ago but never completed my degree. I get a 25% discount on any course fees and my department will only pay them in their entirety if there is a business need, which for the most part tends to be MBA's and doctorates for Academic members of staff.
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