Legitimate Work From Home
I was laid off from my job 6 months ago and steadily looking for a full time job. Because I was laid off I have to start over pay wise. I'm looking for a "legitimate" work from home company for data entry work to supplement my income. I prefer to find one that is not a pyramid scheme where someone else makes money off of the work I do. Does anyone know of a "legitimate" company out there that offers data entry work from home?
Unfortunately I think "work from home" searches can be incredibly scammy because working from home is such a great opportunity. If you want to avoid pyramid schemes, I'd recommend you steer clear of any sort of MLM (multi-level-marketing) because there are such gray areas. You can usually check if a company is an MLM through a Google search.
I would definitely recommend checking out the two companies that Mariah suggested!
According to this article (http://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/avoiding-work-at-home-scams-1.aspx), it's very important to remember that working from home is frequently not a lucrative profession. Anyone who promises to make you rich working from home is usually a red flag. Some other advice includes starting on freelance websites (like the ones Mariah suggested, or like Elance, which is actually a part of the Upwork community) or searching for your profession and the word "freelance" instead of "work from home".
Another place I found through an internet search that appears to be legit (and was mentioned on a CBS News article) is VIPDesk. You can check out the article here: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/legit-work-from-home-websites-and-the-scams/
Finally, here's a great reference from the FBI about Work From Home scams that can be something to help you weed out the bad stuff while you search: https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/april/workathome_041709
Don't be afraid to ask here if you're not sure of something, we are happy to help you research!
Hi Joan: Great question! I know one of the best ways to work from home is to use trusted sites like Upwork.com and Guru.com to find employers who are contracting data entry work. Payment's protected and they're pretty good about identifying scams, so it should be a good first step for you.
Amazon is hiring work from home service support representatives. Check out the career page for more info.