Who doesn’t dream of working from home? No matter how much you like your job, working from your kitchen table or couch sounds like a pretty sweet deal.
According to the Freelancing in America: 2017 study commissioned by Upwork, 57.3 million people (36% of the entire U.S. workforce) are already freelancing. Freelance workers are projected to make up more than half of the U.S. workforce by 2027. This prediction makes sense given that hiring a remote workforce provides access to a wider range of talent.
When you’re the talent searching for the right company, use these strategies to avoid getting scammed and find legitimate work from home opportunities:
- Research strategically
There are so many job listings that aren’t legitimate that you really need to do research before sending in your application. Sometimes it’s not worth your time.
Search for the company name on Google, and follow every lead on the first page. If nothing comes up in the search results – not even on the company’s own website – the opportunity might not be legitimate.
- Vet the legitimacy of the company
Do a few basic searches online to vet the legitimacy of the company posting the job you want to apply for.
- Search for a Yelp listing. Some businesses don’t have online business listings because they don’t have a physical presence, but it’s worth checking out. If a business has a listing with current reviews, you’ll get a good idea of how the business operates.
- Search for a Google My Business listing. Like Yelp, the presence of a Google business listing isn’t guaranteed, but when a listing exists, it will help you vet the company.
- Check for a verified profile on Inc.com. Inc.com provides profiles for businesses after verifying they’re operational, have a working website, working phone numbers, and appropriate content.
The profile features the name of the company’s leader, yearly revenue, industry, location, year founded, and number of employees. Inc.com verifies companies that exist solely in the remote work space. Trafilea’s profile, for example, is listed in the Advertising & Marketing section, reports 150 employees, and provides a brief company description.
Finding a business on Inc.com doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a great company to work for; it just means the company has been verified to a degree. To cut down on the amount of time you spend responding to job postings, reply to ads you can trace back to a seemingly legitimate business. When you run out of those, start replying to the rest.
- Calculate your actual pay
Some remote work opportunities pay by the project, not by the hour. A remote gig might pay high per project, but if the work is tedious and takes too long, you might end up earning $5 or $10 per hour. A solid work from home opportunity won’t pay you peanuts.
The moment you know a job’s pay rate and the work you’ll be expected to perform, calculate your true hourly pay rate. If you’re an independent contractor, you’re not guaranteed minimum wage, so you’ll need to decide if the pay is too low. If you’re considered an employee, be cautious of gigs that don’t offer to make up the difference when your hourly work doesn’t meet minimum wage. If a company doesn’t explicitly state they will make up the difference, they probably won’t.
- Create your own work from home opportunity
Take your entrepreneurial spirit and run with it. If you want to work from home, but can’t find a job working for someone else, it’s time to consider starting your own business.
Starting a business isn’t the easiest road, but it does give you more freedom around what you do and where you work. Not all entrepreneurs end up running their business from a standard office. Today, 59% of entrepreneurs continue to work from home after getting their business off the ground.
When you create your own work from home opportunity, you’ll be the one hiring freelancers and other remote workers.
Listen to your intuition
Most of us have shown up to an interview, only to be sold on a multi-level marketing program. The world of remote work is similar. You never know what you’re responding to until you get a reply from the company.
Be brave enough to decline an offer that doesn’t feel right. There is no shortage of opportunity, you just need to be diligent about finding a legitimate offer.