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| Yes | 65% | 331 votes | Total: 513 votes | |
| No | 35% | 182 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesI was taught how to type on a manual typewriter. After leaving school I used an electric typewriter at work, but I still needed all my newly acquired typing skills for setting out rows of words and columns of figures in financial documents. Errors could only be rectified using correcting fluid and the whole thing had to be retyped whenever something needed to be added or altered.
My career in office work lasted for more than ten years, during which time I was always expected to type quickly, often with deadlines to meet, and accuracy was also important. I was a good reliable typist and my employers were all satisfied with my work.
When I was no longer typing at work, I bought myself a word processor to use at home. I set up my own home business for the first time, while I was still working full time, by starting an introduction service. My spare time was spent typing up people's details, mailing out newsletters and lists, and I did achieve some success, with at least one pair of customers married to each other! This, of course, was before the days of internet dating sites or SMS text dating services.
By the time the many people were starting to buy their first desktop computer or laptop, I had ended my employment and was now working full time from home. I established myself as a desktop publisher, producing a quarterly magazine, small press publications and newsletters. I used a professionally designed website to promote my services to the online world, and the income I got from the website more than covered the cost.
Five years later my publishing services were no longer required, because by then anyone with a computer could put their work on a website or print it out on paper.
Now I spend my time writing web content. My articles, reviews, blog posts, discussion topics and comments can be found on many sites. Everything I publish or write is paid for or is earning money for me.
It does take some thought and a little knowledge to do it but I can produce many hundreds of words every day. My touch typing skills are of great benefit to me as a writer, because I never have to look at the keyboard, and words appear on the screen more or less as I think of them. Then I can revise and edit my work before I proofread, spellcheck, and finally submit my piece.
Knowing how to type well, quickly and accurately, has given me the opportunity to work for myself from my own home. It's still a typing job, but now I am my own boss, and I keep all the profits, except of course what I must pay in tax.
Learn more about this author, Ruth Belena.
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No
Why do a typing job from home? If the answer is "money money money" than the answer to this debate is an uncompromising no; a typing job from home is not worth it due to job security, career opportunities and networking limitations.
Typing from home jobs are contract based for the most part. You don't come into the office, you don't get the salary, the health care or the opportunities for advancement. Working from home the worker loses valuable opportunities to mingle with coworkers, get support on projects, and show everyone how hard he or she is working. A faceless employee, the contract typist can do multiple jobs, work hard on all of them and end up being the first to be cut when the job market goes sour. They are the least connected and their opportunities suffer for it.
These setbacks and difficulties mean that a home typist does not have a career, they have sources of income that aren't reliable or long term. A typist who wants to get rich is much better off investing in the stock market or betting on horse races. For the monetary obsessed, working typing jobs from home are not worth it. However, that doesn't mean work fromhome typing jobs aren't worth it for everyone.
People who like working for themselves, have a reason to want to be home most of the time, or have other long term goals they are working for will find a work from home typing job to be the ticket to what they need. Parents who need to work but don't want to miss their child's first steps will benefit greatly from work from home jobs like typing, though it would still be recommended for security reasons for at least one spouse to have a higher paying profession. People who chafe under their boss and are self motivated would also benefit from getting out from under the corporate heel. Yes, they still have to work for somebody, but if a working relationship doesn't work out, they don't have to stick with it.
The last category, people who have other long term goals, are people who need money to get by in this world (everyone) but who also have specific goals with their life that they need time at home to achieve. Novelists would be one example. A novelist can do typing at home jobs to pay the groceries and eliminate precious time spent commuting that instead can be put to work on a book. Another example would be an entrepreneur who wants to start her own business. Working from home will pay the rent but also give them that smidgen of extra time that can be spent developing a different line of work. Time could be slowly siphoned away from the typing profession and spent on the personal business, allowing for a startup that isn't as much of a risk to their lively hood as it could be if they put one hundred percent of their money making time into it.
Typing from home jobs can be worth it, but only if the job itself isn't the important part. If the job is there to help other dreams become reality than it is a great option. If it is there to be a sole source of income and a career than the typist should be serious about looking for a better job.
Learn more about this author, Siobhan Shier.
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