Legitimate Online Jobs - Do They Exist?

Searching for legitimate online jobs is an exhausting experience. There are so many scams, it's not hard to see why so many people feel real online jobs don't exist.

I will list several proven online and work at home jobs, offered by realcompanies, but first I want to explain how an individual can be taken in different directions.

The term "online job" can have several meanings, depending on your personal criteria, current employment status, and your desire to either work at home or in an out of home environment. There are jobs that are done online, online business opportunities, and businesses that provide online services. But what are the differences between the three?

A job that is done online, whether as an employee of a legitimate company or as a consultant (aka freelancer) providing an online service, is a job where an individual has negotiated with their employer, or predetermined the fact to their client, to allow the opportunity to do the assigned work online - typically at home. These are truly legitimate work at home jobs. As an employee, the employer takes care of any payroll issues, including employment taxes. As a consultant, you are responsible for self employment tax issues. Many companies who seek individuals to fulfill online jobs do not consider individuals as employees, but rather consultants.

An online business opportunity allows an individual to feel as though they own a business. However, the individual more than likely has paid a start-up, or sign-up, fee. Online business opportunities are mostly in the direct sales arena, and - in my opinion - are not worth the money invested. Most of these "opportunities" consist of a company sponsored website where an individual promotes products or services. The hidden truth: many of these "opportunities" expect you to recruit other people into the "opportunity". I don't like online business opportunities; most of them are scams - no real opportunity comes out of the deal, except to those accepting the fees. People are easily lured into the lies of earning a high income.

A business that provides online services is an actual business started by an individual. The business is something in which the individual has a great deal of interest and truly enjoys the work. The individual provides the service online to clients.

For the sake of this article, I am going to concentrate on online jobs and list actual companies who are in need of people who seek legitimate "work from home" jobs. As I come upon more companies who seek online workers, I will add to the below lists. It is worth mentioning that, due to the need of their clients, some companies may require the needs of individuals on a sporadic basis. However, it is my finding that call center, customer service, and general bookkeeping online jobs are the most stable.

LEGITIMATE ONLINE JOBS:

Call Center / Customer Service Jobs

• Brighten Communications A business-to-business telemarketing company specializing in the outsourcing of lead generation. The clients you will be making calls on behalf of represent professional organizations in industries such as finance, brokerage, and high-tech.
• Customer Care Group Hiring actual employees, not independent contractors, Customer Care Group is a virtual company hiring customer service reps. They claim salaries are never less than $10.00 per hour.
• Customer Loyalty Concepts You will be contacting existing newspaper subscribers selling a variety of services.
• Hilton At Home A leading reservations and customer care service company, they have created a work at home environment that embraces the principles of individuality, flexibility, and stimulating work.
• Home Shopping Network (aka HSN) They currently offer Work at Home opportunities in St. Petersburg FL, Roanoke VA, and Nashville TN. As an HSN Customer Care Representative, you can enjoy both the convenience of home-based employment and the benefits of working for an established, people-oriented employer.
• LiveOps Outsourcing call center solutions using work at home agents. $30.00 fee for credit and background check.
• On Point @ Home A different kind of work-at-home experience, they combine the convenience of working from home with many of the advantages of a traditional office environment.
• Service Call Management Seeking at-home agents to serve customers by taking telephone and e-mail orders.
• Service 800 Looking for motivated individuals who want to work at home conducting telephone interviews with customers who have recently had a service experience. Currently only hiring in the states of Florida, Minnesota, Texas, and Wisconsin.
• West At Home West agents handle client's interaction with their customers, from customer care and live chat to email and incoming sales calls.
• Working Solutions A long-standing company, Working Solutions.com offers many legitimate - NO FEE - home based opportunities.

Data Entry

Data entry jobs are very hard to come by. As a close alternative to data entry, try applying for a work from home job in the transcription arena.

• Capital Typing An outsourcing company providing virtual office support, including data entry. They are looking for talented people to join their team.
• Dion Data Solutions Complete an apilcation, and - if approved - you will be contacted to provide work at home data management services for them. NO FEES TO JOIN.
• Executive Assistance Although they mainly seek virtual assistants (VA), there are some clients who are in need of contractors to perform data entry as part of their VA tasks.
• Micro job sites, such as Amazon Mechanical Turk and Microworkers are great places to find simple data entry jobs.

Bookkeeping

• A/R Recovery Work at home collecting Accounts Receivable.
• Balance Your Books Provide A/P, A/R, payroll and general support for clients.
• Bateman & Co. Seeking "telecommuting" staff accountants. CPA required, with at least 3 years of prior public accounting experience. They will furnish the necessary software.
• BookkeepingJobs.com A community providing new bookkeeping opportunities every day.
• Compass Advisors A nationwide executive search firm serving the financial services industry.
• VT Audit If you have experience in processing payroll, or you have worked with bills of lading in shipping and receiving, you can join our team of home based auditors.

Transcription Services

• Absolute Document Services Seeking corporate, medical, and legal transcriptionists to work at home.
• Accutran Global Legitimate online jobs doing medical, legal, financial, investigation, interviews, and focus group transcription.
• American High-Tech Transcription, Inc. Looking for independent contractors for general transcription work such as interviews and police reports.
• Cambridge Transcripions Part time positions available, either on-site or off-site providing corporate or legal transcription.
• Tiger Fish Provide transcription services: video, editing and legal transcription.

Virtual Assistant Jobs

• Corporate Concierges Looking for virtual assistants to perform a wide range of services: appointment setting, on-site filing, event coordination, website management...the list goes on.
• Executive Assistance (Canada) They are always seeking people to add to their team of VAs.
• Team Double Click They offer a wide range of administrative jobs: Virtual Assistants, Real Estate Assistants, Telemarketers...jsut to name a few positions. However, they do not have jobs that are strictly typing or data entry.
• Troy Research They currently seek a Survey Production Coordinator to work as an independent contractor. On occasion, they hire individuals as employees.
• Virtual Staffing Team Always on the lookout for new team members.