5 Truths About Working From Home

[Angela Caban USAA]

For many of us, working from home is a wonderful option. I know it was for me as a mom of two, graduate student and military spouse. My husband was away so much for training and this left me solo parenting for most of the time. However, I knew that I didn’t want to let my career take the back seat and working from home helped me keep my professional skills sharp. I also could not see myself shelling out hundreds of dollars a week on day care for the children, when I could easily stay home and work. Sounds great, right? However, it may seem a little too good to be true. And it surely was harder six years ago when I was job searching and organizations were hesitant about hiring a remote employee.

As someone who has worked from home for the past six years, I have gained just a little insight on the gift of working from home. I like to call this insight, work from home truths. It hasn’t been an easy ride, I’ve experienced the occasional ups and downs; however, I consider myself so darn lucky to have had this type of opportunity. What truths have I learned these past six years?

Here are 5 truths about working from home:

1. Lack of a college degree does not mean you cannot work from home. I did not earn my degree until later in life (28 years old) and I was gainfully employed for many years before doing so. Many professions do not require a degree, but can still generate a healthy second income from home.
2. Work-from-home jobs are not scams and are a genuine opportunity to make money. Certain professionals actually find it more comfortable to work from their home, myself included. Having the freedom of the 30-second commute to my desk is fantastic. No, I do not stuff envelopes, and no I do not write chain letters. There are real opportunities out there!
3. You will need awesome time management skills to pull it off. Companies measure employees by their productivity. If you do not produce results, you are out of there. When working from home, especially with small children, it is important you carve chunks of time throughout the day that are devoted specifically to your job. There may be times when you need to arrange childcare or only work during school hours. Everyone’s schedules will vary and your company might require you to be connected at certain times of the day, but time management is a key to success.
4. You might need to spend money to make money. I recently participated in a discussion with one of the leaders for civilian workforce development in the National Guard. One of our remote employees asked what she looked for in a consultant (in our case, someone who works from home). The leader shared professional organization memberships and training were key indicators of a successful consultant. Consider joining professional organizations related to your field and take advantage of any training opportunities out there. They can be expensive, but very helpful in the end. Many companies will pay a certain amount per year for training.
5. If you get discouraged, you are less likely to keep looking. Keep looking for opportunities. Remote positions are out there! The internet can be very daunting when it comes to work-from-home opportunities. Every link may promise the moon and you may find that as you dig deeper, things are not what they seem. I encourage you to be careful and be smart, but keep looking!

If you work from home, what truths have you found out? I would love to hear your feedback.

About the blogger:
Angela Caban is an Army National Guard spouse, freelance writer, published author and branding expert. Her husband was one of the many soldiers impacted by the unprecedented activation of the National Guard in 2008. In 2010, she founded the Homefront United Network, a military spouse and family support blog created to assist spouses who do not live near an installation, but also focusing on bridging the gap between National Guard, Reserve and Active Duty spouses. As a branding and digital influencer, she has created content for A&E, Lifetime Network and PBS. She has an extensive background in Human Resources and Communications, with her Bachelor’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Human Resources. Angela resides in the beautiful Garden State of New Jersey with her husband of 11 years and two children.

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[AwesomeSauce85]

I guess I would be in the later pool- I tried 6 ways to sunday to find a legit at-home job I could do but everything I was able to find was a form you had to fill out which led to another form, another form, another form, and a whole lot of spam. Then I found some that seemed legit but you had to pay to get access to jobs, as well as pay for all the equipment you would need to work at home as well as you had to pay to take a class to be trained in how to do the job in the first place. No luck finding anything legit without huge start up costs.

[Angela Caban USAA]

That is surely discouraging, AwesomeSauce85. Depending on the type of work you do, or are looking for, I also recommend joining some networking groups on Facebook. People are always posting help needed, and I have landed some pretty sweet gigs on there and I didn't have to pay a dime. 

[GeminiLanna]

Due to Medical conditions I really will need a work from home career in the future. I know some call centers have wfh opportunities , do you have any other suggestions ?

[Angela Caban USAA]

Hi GeminiLanna,

What kind of work are you looking for? Have you tried Freelance sites such as Elance? Also, depending on what it is you will be looking for, FB groups for those specific jobs are very helpful. Many times you will find jobs listed right in those groups.