More and more young professionals are working at home than ever before. Think about it. You get to save time and money on your daily commute, and you make the same salary from the comfort of your own home. You can’t beat that!
Of course, working at home does require discipline and attention to detail since you will be your own boss, after all. But once you find the right job to work at home, you have the opportunity to set your own schedule, manage your own projects, and potentially make even more money than you did in your cubicle at 40 hours per week.
Here the top 5 work at home jobs for 2011 for young professionals:
- Freelance Writer: By using a freelancing website like Elance or Odesk, you can start making money using your writing skills at home. The writing projects available are diverse, ranging from writing online articles to blogging to writing e-books to writing press releases and more. These websites will allow you to bid on writing jobs on a project by project basis, where you can balance your workload accordingly to earn a full-time income from home.
- Customer Service: Large corporations are beginning to outsource their customer service to young professionals working at home. Many times all you need is Internet access, a phone line, and perhaps Skype. Customers calling in to a company call center will be routed to your home, where you will provide customer support, tech support, or even take orders.
- Online Seller: These days, many people sell on eBay as a hobby, but you can take your selling to the next level to turn it into a full-time income. Selling on eBay does take business savvy and a commitment to your online store, but once your products become popular, you can earn a residual income from home. As the best rule of thumb, start out small selling on eBay until you build up enough income to quit your day job.
- Sell Your Crafts: Another popular seller’s website that has gained recent notoriety is Etsy. If you have a love for making unique items, you can sell pottery, jewelry, clothing, bath products, and more directly through Etsy. Etsy charges a small fee of $.20 to list your item, and they will take 3.5% of the sale price. However, you do have the opportunity to expand your reach and sell to a global audience to increase your sales.
- Online Tutoring: If you have a teaching degree or excelled in a certain subject in college, you can visit a website like Tutor.com to get paid for providing support to students. Tutoring is done through file sharing, instant messaging, and even the use of an interactive whiteboard online. The pay starts at the base level of $10-$15 per hour, yet it can offer a steady income or even a second income to supplement your salary. To tutor, you don’t have to be certified as a teacher, but you do need a college degree.
