Companies That Hire People to Work From Home

Sadly, there is a lot of misinformation and scams out there concerning work from home jobs. The reason is very simple: there are many, many people who want to work from home. Unscrupulous people will take advantage of people who actually need to work at home: single moms who have no money for child care, low-income people who need more work but can't afford to commute, and many other types of people really need to be able to work at home.

There is a set of legitimate work at home jobs. Here they are:

• Medical transcriptionist
• Freelance writer
• Freelance editor
• Customer service representative
• Sales representative
• Virtual assistant

A good rule of thumb to always follow is this: Never, ever, under any circumstances, should you ever pay money to a company up front. As an employee, you should be paid by the employer and it really is that simple. If you are ever asked to pay for something up front, it is probably a scam.

You will fair well in the job market if you make sure to have a professional resume and treat your work from home career as you would any other type of job: keep regular hours, never miss deadlines, and always be online and reachable. For example, an employer should always be able to reach you by email, IM or phone.

These are big-name, legitimate, professional companies that hire people to work from home.

• Demand Media (writing and editing)
• 1-800-FLOWERS (customer service and sales)
• 1-800-CONTACTS (customer service and sales)
• Best Western Hotels (customer service and sales)
• Hilton (customer service and sales)