It's long been of great interest to people tired of their day job to land home based work.
The idea of doing work on a laptop while on the couch in pajamas is extremely appealing.
"Eat cereal, code a website, watch football, and get paid? Sign me up!" Unfortunately, the reality is that it takes time to become established in the freelance world, so it's a good idea to retain your day job until you're certain you've gained enough connections through your hard work online to become a home based worker.
How Do I Start My Work From Home Career? A good first step for someone looking into doing home based work is resume and portfolio building.
If you don't have any examples of your work, create some for yourself and put them in your portfolio.
Use jobs you've held in your resume even if they're unrelated, your resume should show that you're trustworthy and reliable - such as having a visible list of jobs you've retained for an extended period of time.
After you've created a strong portfolio and resume, you can begin to scour the Internet for job listings that suit your interests and skills.
Many of these will expect some sort of cover letter during application, which is your chance to play up your own skills and exactly how you fulfill the requirements they're looking for and why you're the best-suited for the job.
What's in a Good Cover Letter? It's actually very simple to write an excellent cover letter.
If the employer posts their name be sure to use that in the salutation, if they don't a simple "Hello" may suffice, "To Whom it May Concern:" tends to be overly formal but if it makes you feel comfortable it can be used.
Follow with a brief listing of your skills and how they match up with what the employer is looking for, as well as touching on any special requests they make.
If you find they have a requirement you don't meet: address it! Explain why you don't meet it, and why you feel it shouldn't disqualify you from the position.
An excellent cover letter can mean the difference between being skipped over, or interviewed.
Always keep cover letters less than a page - three paragraphs should be more than enough.
Providing Good Work Samples Often a buyer will ask to see a specific sample from someone who wants to do home based work for them.
This is usually used to weed out those who steal their portfolio from others, but sometimes can be used for a darker purpose, which is what has made it a source of great debate among freelancers.
Generally, a very brief assignment probably won't cause any huge loss for a worker if a potential employer decides to just steal the product, but sometimes employers request larger test assignments.
If this is the case you're well within your rights to request that both of you discuss a fair rate for this test assignment, so you're compensated for your work and the employer can see an example of what you can do and if you aren't the right match is only out a little bit of money.
Do You Have What It Takes? It's absolutely possible for anyone to become a home based worker! With determination, dedication to deadlines and quality, you can find your way into the world of freelance work easily.
Now as for using it as a replacement for a full-time job, that will probably take a long time if it ever happens...
but home based work will absolutely offer some extra pocket money.