by Daniel J. Gansle

Created on: February 02, 2009

The net provides a wealth of opportunities for people who are looking for a professional paid job where they can work at home and make money.

People having a difficult time finding a job may want to consider a job on the net as a customer service representative, virtual assistant, virtual concierge, freelancing professional, or About.com Guide.

This article takes a look at 5 ways people can use the net to land a professional paid job where they can work at home.

Customer Service Representative

Because of a backlash against outsourcing call centers to other nations where customer service representatives have difficulty speaking the language, some companies have begun to employ customer service representatives who work at home. LiveOps specializes in offering virtual call centers through contracted employees who work at home. Alpine Access also offers people the opportunity to work at home and make money by contracting out their services as a customer service representative.

Virtual Assistant

The virtual (personal) assistant is essentially an administrative assistant called upon to work at home. This person must have his or her own office equipment and perform administrative tasks such as e-mail response, appointment setting, scheduling meetings, transcription, arranging travel, customer relationship management, and answering phone calls. This is a full-time, salaried job that even features an association dedicated to furthering the virtual assistant career field; the International Virtual Assistants Association. For more information, see VirtualAssistant.org.

Virtual Concierge

Similar to a virtual assistant, the virtual concierge is a bona fide full-time job. However, the job of the virtual concierge is more geared toward the hospitality industry rather than office administrative work. For example, a client calls asking to reserve a hotel ballroom for the annual holiday office party. One company hiring virtual concierges on the net is VIPdesk. The company pays $14 or more per hour for full-time work which even includes eligibility for a full suite of benefits.

Freelancer

Due to a wealth of phony ads claiming to offer freelance jobs, the job seeker must use discretion when seeking a freelancing gig on the net. Freelancing websites such as Guru and GetAFreelancer pair serious professionals with freelancing opportunities. Sologig is similar with the exception of bidding on projects. For freelance writers, Helium posts writing gigs from real-world publishers paying anywhere between $20-$200 per article.

About.com Guide

The popular website About.com is where many people arrive on the net for answers to pressing questions such as, "how does a computer work" or "how to invest in real estate." Any person can apply to be a guide on About.com and help to answer these questions by writing articles on their website. The application process is lengthy, but if the person is selected for the job, About.com promises the person will make no less than $725 per month. The website cites the average pay for Guides is around $2,000 per month. For more information, point your web browser to http://beaguide.about.com or click here.

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