It’s funny to think that, just a few years ago, work from home jobs were looked down as ‘not real jobs’ and not viable options for long-term careers. But then 2020 happened, and the entire world had to re-examine how we conducted our business, with remote work and working from home becoming the most viable option for most companies.
Sure, quarantine entrepreneurs have also started springing up, but if you’re not comfortable with starting your own business, then working from home might be the better option for you.
Work from home jobs make sense: in a world where we’re constantly connected to the internet –whether it’s social media, email, or otherwise –why is office work still being forced? In my opinion, work from home jobs aren’t just the future: they’re a necessary present.
It’s a win-win situation, if you think about it: employees get to work from the comfort of their own home (and, with pandemic restrictions easing around the world, they’re no longer restricted to their house) and companies get to save money on overheads (reducing your office space is key to saving big money, after all).
Of course, not every work from home job is going to be lucrative or conducive to a career, but a plenary majority of them can be great sources of income. Here are our top picks for work from home jobs that you should consider:
Best Work From Home Jobs: Customer Service Specialist
With more and more companies transitioning into a remote workforce, virtual call centers are easily becoming a new driving force in the work-from-home business space. While previous experience as a customer specialist –either phone-based or in retail –would be preferred, picking up the trade isn’t particularly difficult, and many virtual call centers will provide the necessary training.
Because of the simplicity, many people have started running their own virtual call centers and operating it from home, making this a small business idea that can become a lucrative career in the long run. While a customer service specialist won’t need much in terms of equipment, you will need a more-than-decent internet connection in your home office and a computer that can handle running multiple teleconferencing apps at the same time.
Best Work From Home Jobs: Online Data Entry
As more companies go online, many of the older corporations will require their documents to be digitized, which means that the online data entry industry is booming. Data entry jobs sound exactly like it says on the tin: companies will send over documents –either hard copies or scans –and your job will be to manually input the data into a digital format.
Be warned, though: while a majority of the online data entry jobs available online are from legitimate companies, the ease and lucrative nature of the job means that scammers are out there preying on vulnerable people by offering temporary or part-time contracts in lieu of full-time positions. Do your due diligence and research the company very well before accepting an online data entry position.
Best Work From Home Jobs: Copywriting and Editing
One of the most common –and most lucrative –work from home jobs has to be freelance writing. In essence, copywriting and copy-editing are all about writing a certain amount of words for a client’s website, blog, newsletter, or any other digital content that they might require. In fact, it’s one of the most popular pandemic-centered business opportunities that companies have started leveraging.
While in-house copywriters and editors (i.e. writers who are employed by a company) and freelance copywriters and editors earn roughly the same on average, the latter can earn more if they’re able to find more clients or they price their services above the average pay. Generally, a freelance work from home writing or editing job requires very little outside of a decent laptop, a keyboard, and maybe a webcam for teleconferencing every once in a while.
Best Work From Home Jobs: Social Media Manager
In the age of social media, the social media manager has become a crucial aspect of any company’s online business process. Social media managers have to be jacks-of-all-trades: they need to know how to do copywriting (for post captions), be experts in various Content Management Systems (every social media platforms CMS is different), a little bit of video and photo editing skills, and even some customer service experience. It’s the perfect job for younger people because of their status as digital natives, and becoming a social media manager is probably one of the best ways college students make money with on the side.
However, because of the demand, becoming a social media manager requires a couple years of experience. It’s a very lucrative job, but it’s also a highly sought-after position, which means that you might have to start with a low pay at a small company before moving up to the big leagues. However, once you get a couple of years of experience under your belt, you can start charging a comfortable amount from employers.
So there you have it, the best work-from-home job opportunities you can grab not only during the pandemic, but beyond it. Experts already agree that working from home may remain even after everything goes back to normal. Hence, causing great distress in commercial real estate. When commercial rent rates skyrocketed especially in big business districts, people are now wondering if their value will resurge in the months and years to come.
If you’re thinking of a change in career or upskilling yourself, look into the list above to give a good idea of where to take your career next. Even interviews are now done via video conferencing, therefore it’s even possible to work from abroad, pending travel restrictions of course.
The best job you’ll ever have could just be around the corner. The best part is you can do it at home.
