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Have you got what it takes to be a successful telecommuter?

Here's a checklist to help you get a reality check before you submit your application to a jobs board.

First, ask yourself why you want to work from home. Make sure your reasons are sound.

It may surprise you to know that there are right and wrong motivations for telecommuting. So you want more time with your family? Then you may be in for a rude shock. Experience has shown that far from giving you time, working from home will eat into the time you have, especially if you have young children around. Instead of being able to care for them and work around their schedules, you may well find yourself having to get hired help just so you can concentrate on completing your assignments on time.

There is another dimension to this issue of right and wrong motivations. Hint:It's not about you and your interests only. Consider how it would look to your prospective employer if your stated reason for telecommuting is based on your interests only. Are you starting to get an idea of a better way? The secret for distinguishing yourself from the competition is to focus on the employer's interests instead. How would he benefit from your working from home? Become an empathic telecommuter, and you will be better able to get that dream position.

Secondly, have you got the personality of a born telecommuter?

The successful telecommuter has 4 essential personality quirks. You are:

Self-motivated. You manage your own deadlines, find your own answers, and don't need a boss looking over your shoulder.
Obsessive-compulsive. You feel the urge to finish what you start. You will do whatever it takes to complete a project on time.
A perfectionist. You are never satisfied with the work you do, and if you find a mistake in your work, you get really upset.
Cheerful and optimistic by nature. This is a trait that will help you be resilient enough to overcome any obstacles you may face as a telecommuter.

Thirdly, are you prepared for the negatives of working from home?

Can you deal with being on your own all day, every day, without the social and support network of an office environment?
Can you deal with friends and family who may not understand why you want to work from home?
Can you accept that good telecommuting jobs may be hard to find?
Can you accept that your skills may be limited, making your job search harder?

If you can work through these issues in your own mind, you would start off with an edge over your competitors, dramatically improve your chances of joining the ranks of successful telecommuters, and have more realistic expectations about what it means to work from home.

Learn more about this author, Serena Tan.
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