We just relocated from one major metropolitan area (washington, DC) to another (Chicago, IL). As such, I’m looking for a new job.
I like the idea of telecommuting - working either from home, or driving to a “satellite office” only a few miles from my house and doing work that really doesn’t necessitate putting on a suit and commuting for an hour to a formal office.
What companies are really championing this and actively recruiting people for such positions? My brother in law worked for H&R Block, and they extended the option to him when he was planning to quit. I imagine that some of the bigger corps. are warming up to the idea.
I’ve read a little about this, and different companies have different kinds of programs. But I think what you will find is that “telecommuting” typically is a privilege that is extended to current employees who have already demonstrated in the traditional setting that they can do good work with minimal supervision, and even then the situation often is that they come into the office a couple of days a week for meetings and consultation and work at home the rest of the time. It’s hard to imagine a company hiring a new employee without being able to monitor, supervise and just get to know him. If they really wanted someone who only worked at home they would use independent contractors or free-lancers.
Some kinds of work don’t require much time in the office–salespeople spend a lot of time visiting clients, for example–but it doesn’t sound like you’re looking for work as, say, a telephone linesman or a state trooper. If you want/need to work close to home, you might find your options limited. If you have specialized skills that are in demand, you might be able to start your own business and sell your work on a contract basis. But if I were looking for work in a new city I would look for the best job I could find with the skills I have, and then try to make a better deal for myself after I was established.
Most likely the best way to do that is to create the job yourself, you must have some skills that people need or want.
Other that that perhaps a partnership with a small business, where your income is dependant on your performance.
I think as stated above, if you are looking to be a telecommuting employee, that is normally a privilege or sometimes a curtacy for certain temporary situations.
Depends on where you are and what you do. Many technical (programming) jobs can be done that way.
Lady Chance runs a division (a small one) of a software development firm and when we moved to Ohio in February she kept her job and runs things by remote. In addition, most of her developers and testers are working out of their homes. Her group is based in Arlington, VA but only two people are at the HQ. The rest are in southern, VA, some in FLA, some in San Diego and her in OH.
One thing to bear in mind: if you can do the job from home, then someone working from (e.g.) Indian can probably do it to. Telecommuting jobs are often ripe for outsourcing.
I’d say there’s a lot of resistance to the concept, and even retrenchment. I remember there used to be occasional survey forms we had to fill out indicating our commuting habits for the past week, and, IIRC, employers could get some kind of benefit if enough employees reported that they carpooled or took public transit–or telecommuted. But I haven’t seen those forms for several years. I think they went out when the Bush administration came in. My company used to have applications for telecommuting arrangements, but not any longer.
What’s worse is that some big-brained person realized that if the job could be done off site, there was a good chance it could also be done off shore at a fraction of the cost, if the job was of a routine, or if the worker did not really need to be onsite. I recall that there was not yet any talk of outsourcing when telecommuting emerged into the popular consciousness, but now I think it’s gone a long way towards torpedoing that trend.
Some companies believe that their professional level staff needs to be onsite to work most effectively. At least, this way they’re likely to be less eager to send jobs off shore. A programmer working onsite may still be able to compete against his/her Third World colleagues on that basis. But a programmer in his bathrobe at home, working with his feet up, cannot.
http://www.tjobs.com/jobopps.shtml
Search on google and you’ll find lots of sites. I’ve been VPNing for over two years now and find I’m more productive at home than at the office with all the Sales Reps, Clerks and Engineers coming around asking questions on how telecommunication systems and products work. Now they just email their questions and I meet the people socially that I want to be associated with. It’s perfect. Every one and a while I show up at one of the Offices in the City to meet and greet. You might wish to put together a business case for your existing employer. As whomever takes care of the real estate what the average cost per person per year it is for your Corp. It was $7,100 per person for my Corp when I moved to my home.