Suggestions for legitimate work from home opportunities?

[nadine_mn]

I know I saw someone post a few in a thread awhile back but like an idiot I forgot where.

I am currently dealing with some major anxiety and depression and leaving the house is something I may do once a week at the most. My husband works and we have been just squeaking by while I have been doing therapy and stuff to get better.

But then you know shit happens...we have/had 3 senior pets. Late last year our 11 yr old German shepherd had his spleen go wonky (I had several worried posts in Pets and Lounge...its a complicated story) but he had surgery and is doing fine now. Our 15 yr old Lab mix Jazz had a tumor removed in January. Our cat Scout just recently lost his battle with pancreatitis and he had undergone a lot of expensive tests and surgery.

Now Durango has a mass that is a nerve sheath tumor...its not life threatening like his spleen was, but at some point will need to come off and we are tapped out. I know that having pets is a commitment for life and as they get older this stuff happens...we just weren't expecting it to happen all at once. I'm afraid to take Jazz in for a checkup now...I mean I will but still...sheesh.

Between limitations in my physical mobility and mental anxiety, working from home is the best for now with the ultimate goal of course getting back to work. I hate that the financial burden is borne by my husband, not that he has ever complained because he is amazing.

I'm sorry, this has turned into a poor me post rather than a hey give me some suggestions. I just needed to vent a little. I am so very lucky and blessed to have a roof over my head, food in my belly, a great spouse and wonderful pets who I love dearly.

So maybe suggestions could also be useful to any other DUers who need some help, I know I am not the only one out there.

[Marthe48]

1. MY work from home links

I just checked these before Christmas. They were all working:

Hope you can find something you enjoy:

https://www.flexjobs.com/

www.guru.com

http://www.freelancers.com/

http://www.hea-employment.com/

www.homeworkers.com

http://www.monster.com/

http://www.headhunter.com/

http://www.jobengine.com/

http://www.careeronestop.org/Toolkit/ACINet.aspx

http://www.jobsourcenetwork.com/jobopenings/jsframe.htm

http://telecommutingjournal.com/

http://www.wahm.com/jobs.html

http://www.flexjobs.com/

http://www.mtjobs.com/

http://www.ahdionline.org/

http://www.mtdaily.com/



These are links from a recent Redbook magazine. I liked some of the ideas for myself, but I am already selling on eBay and don’t want to do more:



Try: Customer service or direct sales. With call centers moving back stateside, many companies are hiring home workers, who work shifts as short as three or four hours. Agencies like ContractWorld, Sutherland Global, Convergys, and Arise hire for big retailers.
Try: Dog-sitting. After interviews and reference checks, you can list yourself on rover.com ordogvacay.com, both of which match pet owners with sitters or host families.
Try: Freelance business consulting. Hourlynerd.com matches up high-profile companies with independent business consultants on a per-project basis.
Try: Online-juror case reviews. To prep for trial, attorneys use services like onlineverdict.com andejury.com to run their cases by mock jurors, who get paid. It's like making money watching Law & Order!
Try: ESL tutoring. You don't need a teaching degree to tutor English as a second language to students via video chat. Try cambly.com or wetutorenglish.com
Try: Digital earning task apps and sites. Make extra cash while going about your regular shopping. An app called EasyShift asks you to complete micro-tasks while in a store, such as verifying a product is in stock. Sites like Swagbucks also offer payouts for taking surveys, watching videos, and shopping online.
Try: On-demand delivery. Turn your minivan into a cash-mobile. Through roadie.com, you can book local or interstate delivery jobs.

[cry baby]

2. Nice list! nt

[nadine_mn]

3. wow - holy cow - thank you so much

Really I can't thank you enough

[Marthe48]

7. I like the tutor opportunities

I've been a volunteer for AFS for many years. We have hosted several high school students and then got into a family mentor program at Marietta College. We got to know many international students who lived on campus, who wanted to know more about American culture. I thought that the becoming a language tutor would be a fun sideline, but even being retired, I just don't have time. Good luck to you!

[Autumn Colors]

4. Forget medical transcription (MT Daily & MT Jobs websites above)

This profession is going the way of the dinosaurs. I used to make a great living doing this from home - first working for a company and then striking out on my own (eventually had several other MT's working for me).

Our profession is being replaced entirely by a combination of: electronic medical record (EMR) systems, voice recognition software (that's getting more and more accurate), and the remaining little bit of work that's left being outsourced to India and other places.

Part of the ACA (Obamacare) includes grant money given to medical practices and hospitals to help them convert to EMR systems (required by the ACA). When my biggest practice made the switch and started training their doctors and staff, it took only 2 months for my company to lose 90% of the work we used to get from them.

First I gave up my health insurance, then I had to let my other MTs go and do all the work myself, but then it got to be so little that I lost my house to foreclosure and now I'm being supported mostly by my boyfriend and am on Medicaid.

Do not pursue medical transcription courses or jobs ... it's a dead end! I would caution against medical billing, too, because the EMR systems do a lot of that automatically from info entered by the doctor or assistant during the physical exam. There may be work of that kind out there now, but that will be the next thing that disappears as practices/hospitals do more and more of their work via the EMR.

I tried pursuing some of the jobs on MTjobs.com but there are so many experienced transcriptionists in the same boat as me that every time there's a new job listing, it seems like it's filled immediately -- hundreds of people vying for the same few jobs.

I'm looking for work-from-home ideas, too, because I've been working from my home since 1999, and I also have some issues with anxiety. The thought of going back into an office or other type of out-of-home work situation is getting me very nervous.

Good luck to you!

[Marthe48]

6. That's a shame

I worked from home for 9 years in computer operations for a medical transcription company. I didn't transcribe, I made sure reports were assigned, and delivered to the clients. I had a number of reasons that working from home worked for me and the job I held fit like a glove. I retired when my daughter had her first baby. Babysitting doesn't pay as much, but it is a lot more fun
I knew the voice recognition systems were coming, but I didn't realize how quickly they've taken over the jobs. Our company focused on ESL doctors and at the time, we didn't think any voice recognition would get to be that good. No offense to doctors, but a compliment to the MTs and editors who developed an ear and patience to transcribe the reports.

[Autumn Colors]

9. The bigger issue is EMRs

Most practices now have a computer in each examining room, and data is entered either by the doctor or by a medical assistant during the exam. The EMR takes that data and can do all of the following:

1) Generate a History & Physical report for file
2) Generate a letter to the referring physician
3) Generate a referral letter to a specialist
4) Do most of the billing for insurance or for the patient
5) Fax prescriptions to the patient's preferred pharmacy
6) Order labs and diagnostic studies

There isn't much need for voice recognition to be good at this point. When a doctor needs to dictate something more than a generic, cookie-cutter letter, they'll dictate it and the system can make the generated letter and original audio file available. They may have one person in the practice who can do all of the editing of those letters. If not, that's when it goes to a service, but to an editor, not an MT. Editing pays about half when transcription did and there are fewer jobs to go to the many, now unemployed MTs. On top of this, some services outsource that work overseas.

I had hoped technology would develop slow enough that this profession would take me to retirement age, but I'm in my mid-50s and wondering what to do at this point ... what should I "retrain" for that won't be replaced by technology, outsourcing, or guest workers?

[pinboy3niner]

5. Some info that was posted by ScreamingMeemie in another thread (link)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7795143

Also see Post 132 following that reply. Good luck!

[nadine_mn]

8. Ah that is where I saw it

thank you - must have mentally blocked that whole thread