I’ve been working online for almost 4 years now. I love the flexibility and how I can be close with my family whilst still trying to earn for a living. For a mother like me, being away from your child is hard. I can’t imagine myself going to work, spending all my day in an office and wasting valuable time traveling to and fro – with very little time left to offer my kid.
Getting an online job is not difficult at all. You just need to go ahead and search for jobs that are being offered as “work from home” or “telecommute.” There are hundreds of them out there - with a variety of fields to choose from. You can go to Craigslist.org or sign up in Getafreelancer.com to search for one.
Of course, like in any other job, you need to play on your strengths and skills. You’re not going to apply for a programming job if writing is really your strong point, are you? Besides, the current trends now are jobs that deal with data entry, research and writing.
In fact, if you know how to use the Internet, have average computer knowledge and average English skills – you are as good as hired!
Most employers (and I am specifically talking about those outside the Philippines) look for so-called “Virtual Assistants.” These are people that they hire to do the tiresome and miniscule work for them. Tasks like sending out email to prospects, searching for contacts, creating email or social networking accounts – things that they don’t have to bother doing themselves, in other words – easy jobs.
I’m sure most people can do these tasks and some employers wouldn’t even bother if you have previous experience or not. They can test you out for a week or even a month, and if you give them solid results – you’re in!
When it comes to getting paid, there are now several ways to get them. But it is advisable that you already have a bank account that allows fund transfers, especially from Xoom or
PayPal. If you don’t have one, you can still get your payment via local money remittance companies like, Cebuana Lhuillier or LBC. I prefer to have it go straight to the bank, though.
The best I’ve tried so far is
PayPal, more so now because it has allowed withdrawals to Philippine banks like BPI. Once my client sends in his payment, I can withdraw that and have it sent to my bank automatically. And in less than 3 days it’s deposited in my bank account.
Aside from accepting online payments, it too works great if you need to transfer money or make purchases – as it is the most safest and popular service out there.
All you need to do is sign up to
PayPal for either a Personal or Premier account. However, if you’re going to be working from home, Premier is the way to go. It has all the benefits of a Personal account like; sending money, receiving money, purchasing online AND you can get paid by credit/debit card. That last part allows for prospective clients to have more flexibility when paying you.
If you want to keep earning and also have lots of bonding time with your family, like me, you may want to give working from home a shot.
