On Telecommuting

(2) Start looking for a job at a big company that provides telelcommuting (working from home) as an option

Many large corporations have embraced telecommuting practices and allow their employees work from homes or satellite offices. Working for a big company often may mean more security unless they are not doing too well and downsizing vs. telecommuting is they rhyme. Big companies often provide more support to their telecommuting employees than small companies, simply because ‘biggies’ have more means and often they save on telecommuters, so why not share some of that to make their telecommuting bees feel better.

Sun Microsystems — Work where you hang your coat
SBC / AT&T — Promoting telecommuting since 1992
Intel — Intel even had a telecommuting CEO
Cisco — Smart Valley Telecommuting Guide
Microsoft — Telcommuting Confessions of Microsoft’s Staffing Manager

(3) Start working for a small (more liberal) business

This option, as anything else in life, may/will take time to find. Often this will be a business in your area, so you can meet up with your other co-workers not only over IM (Instant Messenger), but also in person. If you would rather work with a team of people rather than purely on your own and for yourself, start looking for this type of businesses around, ask your friends, let everyone on the earth know you are looking for a telecommuting job, join local business associations and networks, keep asking.

Very important: update your resume and make it clear you are looking for a telecommuting position. Have your resume available in different formats — text, word doc, pdf, an post it online, you never know what your potential employee may pump up and or what they may have for resume submission requirements.

If you do get a call for an interview, dress nicely, be nice. These are people you will be working with, you want them to imagine you looking nice behind your computer screen. You will have a chance to relax later on — wearing jammies and so on.

Examples of small business with distributed teams of people working mostly from homes — my company TnR Global, 37 Signals, IR3W, and many others. Just keep looking and be open to options.

(4) Government agencies offer telecommuting opportunities

Government agencies have gotten a mandate to introduce and promote telecommuting.
I have little experience of working with/at government agencies and can not help you there yet.

Most of the answer you can find at Telework America and then discuss with your supervisor.

5) Find a job at a virtual call center or become a virtual assistant

Virtual call center provide services for companies to handle customer support — inbound and outbound calls. They often hire people to work from home. Willow is one of such options and is promoted by the Telework Coalition. A few more options for virtual call centers from the Telework Coalition site. An average pay is $10 to $14 per hour.

The concept of a virtual assistant (VA) has become a reality in today’s world. Virtual Assistants provide administrative support to busy professionals. They often help search for info, prepare power point presentations, organize contacts, type documents. The International Virtual Assistants Association will give you some answer as to how to become a VA.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 29th, 2006 at 2:27 pm and is filed under telecommuter, telecommuting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.