Forbes.com

There’s a certain appeal to working from home, particularly if you’re starting a second career, or kicking off a “working in retirement” sideline.

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In today’s job market, lots of people are finding ways to do just that. Most home-based jobs come with flexible or part-time schedules.

I love this kind of work. It’s what I have done for the past ten years. My office is portable. I  write and report from virtually anywhere I can tote a large canvas bag filled with files, my Apple must-haves-MacBook Pro laptop, iPad and iPhone– and have an internet connection.

I enjoy the flexibility of my hours… and the view when I write from my cottage near the Shenandoah National Park in Sperryville, Va. For writers, a home-based job is a no-brainer. Lots of my friends make a living this way.

In the past year, I’ve written a couple of columns for AARP on Great Home-Based Jobs, and the range of possibilities always amazes me. Some of the jobs I have covered include: customer service call center positions, tutoring, mediation, translating brochures and manuals for businesses, graphic design, bookkeeping, virtual assistant, and grant and proposal writing.

If you’re noodling around with the idea of dipping your toe in, here are a few tips to consider:

1. Work-at-home scams have been around for decades. In the past few years, the FTC has seen the number of complaints nearly double. Legitimate work-at-home jobs exist, but you’ll need to do some homework to avoid the too good to be true operators The home-based work website ratracerebellion.com, a website co-founded Christine Durst, an internet fraud and safety expert, for example, prescreens job leads.

2. Search online for telecommuting jobs.

• You might start with LinkedIn or your alma mater’s career center job board. Surf the big job boards: CareerBuilder, Simply Hired, Indeed, Monster.com, and Flexjobs.com.
• If you are looking for a specific niche or industry, refine your search to the appropriate job-posting site. Stop by company websites and head to the career section for job openings.
  

3. Tap into online employers. If you have a hankering to tutor, for instance, Tutor.com, is worth a visit. Hourly rates are between $10 and $14 an hour, based on experience, subject tutored, company and grade level. Some private tutors, however, can make as much as $65 an hour. A certified teacher is preferred, but not required. Professional experience can get you hired. At Tutor.com, high-level math and science expertise is highly sought after.

For customer service, you might try Alpine Access, a major call center service, headquartered in Denver, Co. The firm currently has 4,500 work-at-home customer service agents working in 1,700 cities. The agents take in-bound calls for the IRS and a variety of companies, including Office Depot and Hewlett-Packard.

4. More flexibility = less money. These jobs don’t always pay the big bucks and few offer benefits. A job answering customer calls might entail logging into your home computer for anywhere from 18 to 30 hours each week answering customer’s questions, processing and tracking orders for a rate of $9 an hour. That said, a translating job might bring in $50 to $120 an hour. Grant and proposal writers can pull down anywhere from $18 to $50 per hour and up; part of compensation may be based on the value of the grant obtained. Bookkeeping pays a range of $10.23 per hour to $24.25, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but $50 or more is possible depending on advanced training/degrees and location.

5. Don’t expect a face-to-face job interview. Sure it’s possible, and you might even find yourself taking part in an “out-of-your-house”  training session if you land a job or client, but for the most part it’s really a blind date. I work for several clients who I’ve never met in person or Skyped. You’ve got to have great phone and e-mail skills to keep the communication lines open and build a relationship without a physical meet and greet.

6. Discipline and motivation count. Be honest with yourself. To make a home-based job a success, you must be keenly focused and a self-starter. Plus, you should be comfortable with a solitary work environment. There are no “let’s slip out for a lunch” breaks here. This is obvious advice, but it can be a pitfall for well intentioned work-from-homers. Your reward: All the money you’ll save on your wardrobe, and if you’re lucky, a view you can use. PJs, anyone?