Are There Legitimate Work at Home Jobs?

The work at home scams out there get a lot of attention. So many people have fallen for them over the past few decades (in magazine ads before there was an Internet), that many people now believe that any work from home job must be a scam. In reality, millions of people work from home at legitimate jobs that don't require a commute.

Some people work from home doing work from a local employer. These are telecommuting jobs that are based in a physical office. These jobs can be found through local classifieds or sites like Monster.com. There are also a number of employers who will consider telecommuting, creating a work from home position from one that was previously done in the office.

Other legitimate work at home jobs include:

Call Center Jobs: These are call center jobs that are given to people who answer the phone calls from their own homes. These jobs usually require a special headset and a second phone line. In virtually all cases the company requires the worker to have a land line for the calls.

Transcription: These positions require transcribing taped notes into text. These workers work for doctors or other professionals who take notes with a pocket recorder. The transcriber listens to the tapes and types all of the spoken words into a computer file. These jobs can come from temp agencies or directly from a doctors' office. They are also available on sites like Elance .

Data Entry: These jobs are increasingly done by home workers as employers are discovering how inexpensive it is to have people work from their own homes. These jobs are often available from local temp agencies. Some are available through Elance and other freelance bidding sites .

Online Retail: Many people create their own home careers by selling items online . This can mean starting up your own website to sell things, or you can go through a site that is already established. A few years ago, Time Magazine featured several high-volume eBay sellers who sell items from home for a living. They estimated that there were tens of thousands of people in the United States who worked full time as eBay sellers.

All of these jobs are completely legitimate and all are growing fields that allow workers to skip the commute and enjoy more time with their families.