Work-at-home options for seasonal work
Thinking about a seasonal job? Work-at-home options can provide benefits — that extra income, flexible hours and the enviable dress code of slippers and sweatpants. Using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Kiplinger highlights three occupations with good hourly wages and, if you’re interested, potential for full-time status.
• Pay: $11/hour (plus benefits)
• Preferred education: High school
• Essential skill: The gift of gab
When you dial a company’s help line, the call typically goes to a mega call center somewhere. But increasingly, customer service calls also route to home-based agents, who answer questions, complete forms and log complaints through their computers. Hours are flexible and few firms require specific education or experience. Training (usually paid) is provided, and you will be expected to have phone and Internet service that meet minimum standards. Also expect to undergo a credit and background check. SYKES Home Powered by Alpine Access, Convergys and West Corporation rank among the major employers. All three are highly rated by the Better Business Bureau, usually hire agents as employees rather than contractors, and offer benefits such as paid vacation and medical insurance to full-time workers.
• Pay: $12-$14/hour
• Preferred education: High school
• Essential skill: Ability to juggle calls and clients
A virtual assistant does everything a traditional assistant might do, from scheduling appointments and maintaining records to preparing memos and reports. Most VAs are contractors, not employees, and they operate out of their homes as independent businesses with multiple clients. Newcomers can market themselves to potential clients through local business groups, Facebook and Twitter, and the International Virtual Assistants Assocation jobs board. Zirtual, a Las Vegas-based company that provides virtual assistants for busy professionals nationwide, hires full-time and part-time assistants who must be able to work specific hours each weekday.
• Pay: $13-$19/hour
• Preferred education: High school
• Essential skill: No reservations about making reservations
Concierges used to be the highly primped men and women who gave restaurant suggestions at the counters of hotels. Thanks to the Internet, however, they can now work anywhere, providing travel assistance, making reservations and answering questions by phone, email, text message or chat. VIPdesk.com, as an example, hires home-based concierges for a variety of companies. Employees can earn full benefits, including insurance and paid vacation, and can set their own full- or part-time schedules. Other companies, such as Virtual Concierge, act as go-betweens for homebased concierges and clients such as UBS, the financial-services firm.