When the pandemic hit, a worldwide lockdown ensued. The fear of being infected with the virus gripped people around the world. People were forced to stick to the premises of their house 24/7. Since all governments mandated a lockdown in their respective countries, people could not go to work. As a result, many lost their jobs while others took hefty pay cuts. This is when people started looking for the best work-from-home jobs. The jobs helped people sit in the confines of their homes and earn money.
Since the pandemic hit, work from home has become the norm. Breaking the chain became the motto of the world and employees of big as well as small companies started working from home. In-person meetings transformed into video conferences and managing a team online became a casual thing. While some of the companies sailed through the crisis, many companies were forced to shut down due to losses. The job market took a heavy toll and millions lost their jobs around the world.
With no option to go outside and find work, people turned to the internet and started looking for work from home jobs that would not only keep them safe but also provide them with a decent income to tide through the pandemic. A study estimated that, in the U.S, over 30% of the workforce was working from home during the pandemic. This number is on the rise as many people who lost their jobs have also started to work from home as they found online jobs like data entry and freelance writing.
If you are searching for a comfortable work from home job to pay for your rent and food, here are some of the best work-from-home jobs to consider.
1. Data entry
Data entry has helped millions of students and homemakers alike to earn a passive income. It is one of the easiest jobs in the world; however, it requires your time and concentration. As the name suggests, you will be required to enter data that will be sent to you in a handwritten format. You will have to type in this data on your computer and send it back to your employer.
Many companies have handwritten data stacked in some office space waiting to be entered into a computer to save physical space. These companies usually post their requirement online and hire people who are willing to work. This job doesn’t need any special qualifications. You just need to enter each word without spelling mistakes. Some places pay as much as $10 per hour.
2. Telemarketing
If you have good sales experience or think that you can convince a person to buy something, then you can try telemarketing. While some companies do ask for a college degree, some companies hire with just high school graduation. All you need to do in a telemarketing job is call people from the list that the company provides and sell the respective company’s products. There will be targets to achieve and also a prerequisite number of calls you will have to dial per day.
3. Virtual assistant
Companies want virtual assistants who can answer queries that come to their websites. This is a form of online customer support where you will be required to chat with customers and resolve their queries online. This is an easy-to-do job in the comfort of your home.
Some companies would also require you to support multiple clients by providing administrative, creative, and technical services. You would be required to answer emails, send out business-related documents and respond to media. Companies will assign you tasks based on your skillset.
4. Affiliate marketing
The affiliate market is where you sell other company’s products for a commission. You can browse through a company’s products and if you find something with the value you can begin to market it online. You can promote one or multiple affiliate products and try to attract potential customers who want to buy the product. If you make a sale, a part of the revenue earned from the sale will be yours. To become a successful affiliate marketer you would need good sales tactics and skills to market products online.
5. Language translation
There are plenty of language translation jobs available online. LinkedIn, the most popular job search engine has over a hundred best work-from-home jobs that let you work as a translator. To work as a translator you would need to have in-depth knowledge of two different languages. You can earn by the number of pages you translate. This job often needs you to work under tight deadlines.
6. Freelance writing
Freelance writing jobs have been quite famous even before the pandemic. Backpackers and frequent travelers often take up freelance writing jobs as a way to earn money on the go. You would need some writing experience to land one of these jobs.
You would be required to write on topics that are given to you by your employer. These assignments have fixed deadlines with some conditions that are to be met. The conditions often revolve around the article being SEO-friendly with a specific word count.
7. Web developing
Just like freelance writing, freelance web development has also been very prevalent even before the pandemic. Sometimes startups outsource the building of their website to freelance web developers considering the low cost. This job would require you to develop websites for startups and small-scale businesses according to their requirements. You would also be required to fix any bugs that might be experienced after the launch of the website. Similar to freelance writing, you will have certain deadlines to meet.
8. Teaching
The market for online teachers is growing. Since the pandemic hit, schools and colleges have taken to virtual classrooms to teach students. There are numerous online teaching jobs that you can pick and choose according to your skillset and subject matter expertise.
Preply is an online language learning platform that provides one of the best work-from-home teaching jobs to qualified teachers. They provide video tools and learning materials to guide your teaching. They connect you with students all over the world and take a commission as a fee from the money you have received from teaching for a few dedicated hours. Over time, the commission reduces depending on the number of hours you have dedicated to teaching on the platform. No special certifications are required to teach on this platform.
9. Online Consultation
Since the pandemic hit, people have been afraid of going to hospitals for consultations. Because hospitals are hotbeds for Covid positive patients, this fear is justified. People are not only susceptible to Covid but other ailments can happen as well.
Since visiting a hospital is not such a great idea during a health crisis, many hospitals and health websites have propped up online consultations with certified doctors. If you are a doctor or have medical experience, you can enroll on one of these websites and take calls at the comfort of your home. Even if you are a retired doctor who wants to help people during this crisis and earn a passive income, this is the best way to do it.
Doctors are not the only people who can engage in online consultations. If you are an accountant or a lawyer, you can provide advice to small businesses for a fee. Many small businesses are failing during the crisis; they are facing issues related to working capital management, bad profits, increase in debts, etc. If you are a chartered accountant you can provide advice on these matters for small businesses.
If someone is trying to set up a startup during Covid-19, a lawyer can help make the business legally compliant. As a lawyer, you can help with the registration of the business, arranging the necessary documents for setting up, applying for licenses, etc.
In case you are a software engineer, you could consult businesses on how to use a new software program or what software can help a business to further its growth and make business processes easier.
10. Freelance animation
Video marketing is the new king of content. Incorporating elements of animation design on your website makes it more attractive to the customers. Animation and graphic design in your explainer videos can help engage customers. To improve traffic on websites, companies hire animation designers to include animation content on their websites. LinkedIn and Twine are two of the most popular sites where you can apply for work from home jobs for freelance animation designers.
12. Blogging
Blogging has the potential to bring you a neat income if you are willing to work hard. If you are an expert in any subject and have content ideas in your field of expertise that people would love to read, then you can start your own blog. You might be a chef and have a lot of new recipes that people would love; you might be an avid reader and have deep insights to share the books you read. Or, you might be a software developer and have an idea on how to improve the performance of the software or you could even be a gamer with lots of tips and tricks that can be used in a wide variety of games that you have mastered.
To become a blogger, you would need a basic WordPress subscription to start. The basic subscription is free and you can start writing down your ideas and posting them on your blog. Make sure your blog is SEO-friendly so you can drive traffic to your page and pop up in google search results. Once you have enough readers for your content you can upgrade your subscription and start earning some money from your content. Make sure you keep your ideas insightful and come up with something new that your readers might not already know about.
13. Social Media Management
Since the advent of social media websites like Twitter and Facebook, it has become a common platform for companies to advertise their products. For many of them, the majority of their sales are secured from social media websites. It is necessary for a company to have a social media account on all the important platforms. This can not only improve sales but also drive traffic to the company’s website. Therefore, companies often look for social media managers that can handle their social media accounts.
Social media managers market a company’s products on social media pages and also manage these accounts. As a social media manager, you will have to upload content about a company’s products, share news stories that are relevant to your company to drive traffic, answer to messages that are dropped by potential customers, etc. This is one of the best work from home jobs as this can earn you a tidy sum of money every year.
14. Career Coaching
Career coaching is one of the best work-from-home opportunities if you have a passion for helping others and have up-to-date knowledge of the current job market. If you have some experience in workforce development it will be an added advantage. As a career coach, you would be helping your clients to realize their passions and achieve their dream job. You have to be updated about the current hiring practices, the positions that are available in the job market, and the companies that are hiring for different positions.
Conclusion
Do remember that some work from job homes can turn out to be scams. Some jobs ask for upfront money before you take the job. Avoid these jobs as most works from home jobs don’t ask for money when you start working.
Make sure you are hired by a legit employer. Check their website and also search your employer on websites like Glassdoor and LinkedIn. Try and find employees of that firm and ask about the job to know more about it. Ensure that you ask detailed questions to the person you are in contact with for getting the job. Ideally, an HR personnel should be able to answer all your queries in detail, stressing on all the important points.
Landing the best work-from-home job is a dream for many. There is nothing like working a job that will allow you to work from home and spent more time with your family. You can save costs on travel, babysitter, and those casual lunch meetings with your colleagues at expensive restaurants. Since the pandemic, work from home jobs is becoming a casual way to work around the world and with technology, things are even easier.
So, grab a work-from-home job to make your life more peaceful and have flexible working hours.
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