I don’t think there can be any doubting the legitimacy of working from home while answering phones for a large established company that just wants to tap in to the more flexible, and usually cheaper, WAHM or retired market. A professional job without the overheads for the company or the travel costs for the telecommuter. The problems arise when the company isn’t in the FTSE or NASDAQ.

If ‘Bobs Gardening’ in Vegas wants an out-of-hours customer support agent he can put a post on a site like ours and reach the very people he needs. But is Bob evil? Will Bob take a months worth of your work and then decide to fire you without pay? Is Bob legitimate?

Here are a few litmus tests to use when asking are work at home jobs legitimate -

1. What kind of email is the job poster using? Is it a free gmail account or is it acompany.com? If it’s acompany.com check that the address has a website. If its a gmail or yahoo don’t fret, they may not want their company inbox jammed up, just send them an initial message or resume but after reaching the negotiation stage make sure you do so through their bona fide email address.

2. Once you’ve checked that their methods of communication are legit then check that the company itself is. You can go through government bodies to check credentials but this is usually overkill. Just google the company name and see if any red flags go up.

3. Get paid fast. The above suggestions are fine when working for people that have some sort of registered company, but what about those that need you most. The one-(wo)man-band that is juggling 10 different aspects of his/her business at once that desperately needs a flexible hand. They may only have a gmail account! The simplest test is to get paid early and often. If you’ve just started working for someone insist on getting paid weekly, or even daily, until you build that trust between each other. This way if Bob is evil you’ll only have lost a little time and cash.

So – are work at home jobs legitimate? Yes, but take a few initial steps to make sure your employer is the good sort, they’ll understand, and as the trust grows you’ll become their telecommuting right hand and there’s nothing like being indispensable.

hiremyparents.com – vetted & screened work at home jobs

Yesterday we came out of testing and launched the hiremyparents Partner Programme that pays you to refer our great service and get paid. And this isn’t some 5% breadcrumb deal. We pay our referrers a massive 75% of all revenue created.

This percentage of sales combined with a no-brainer offer to customers means that one of our beta partners pocketed over $5000… in a week!

How? How?….How? – I’ll tell you.

Our PartnerResource Website (this is what’s taken the time) is chocked full of graphics, article, ebooks, emails, tutorials, reviews… everything you need to promote hiremyparents. If you don’t have the skills and knowledge to use these tools… no problem – we have put together a daily step-by-step to do course that will send you an email each day with ‘things to do today’ inside. Follow the steps and slowly build a revenue that will continue to grow and provide a residual income on auto-pilot.

This is no get-rich-quick scheme, we wouldn’t do that to our reputation! The bottom line is – if you don’t get your 75%, we don’t get out 25%! So we’ve made it as easy as possible to earn, and earn quick, through our programme with the kind of results that will ensure you continue to promote hmp into the future.

Take a look at the programme now. It’s available globally and there is absolutely no commitment necessary. If you feel it isn’t for you (ha) just walk away.

Any questions you have should be directed to Steve, your Partner Manager, at steve@hiremyparents.com, or, leave a comment below.

I was reading Seth Godin’s blog post  Career fairs… and how they are the last resort for companies and job-seekers alike, and I realised that the giant job boards on the internet are just the same. A company needs to fill some drone position so they get HR to just throw up a description and chuck $400 at monster.com or careerbuilder.com. They don’t have to put any effort in, as long as you can string a sentence together you’ll do. Hell, all these big job boards even share the same database – stick the job on one it goes to the many.

If a company has a real ‘career’ opportunity it goes specific. It goes to job boards that specialize in certain skills or industries – that’s where you get ‘that’ job. Better still companies are now finding employees on social sites such as facebook and LinkedIn, where they can find the person they need through relationships and referrals.

If you want to be truly happy in a job you’re going to have to find it where they put the jobs you want – not where they put the jobs they want you to fill. (I made a tongue-twister)

Related Video…

This Is Specific

Related Job Board Articles …

Job Boards And Their New Role in Your “Social” Job Search | Brazen …

I have friends who work at major online job board sites, but I’ve never been sold on them. Years ago I received a few interviews from job listings on Monster, but the positions were filled even before my interview. …

The Resume Chick

Q: How well do job boards work in YOUR job search? The fact is many hiring managers and recruiters live on social networks… Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Monster.com, Inside Tech, and others… It all comes down to how ‘in the loop’ are …

People@Work: Scams Hit Job Seekers When They’re Most Vulnerable …

Online job boards, such as CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com, are all too familiar with such scams and have dedicated pages on their sites that provide job seekers with tips on how to conduct safe online searches. …

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• Using Social Networking Sites for Job Searching (timesunion.com)
• Using Twitter and Facebook to Find a Job (time.com)

The recruitment process is all about finding the one perfect candidate among the basket full of candidates. The phone interview has become a popular, flexible, inexpensive and speedy way of finding that one person:

Preparing for a Phone Interview

Before you begin your phone interview make sure that you are confident in your understanding of the position you are applying for and the company you are applying with. Do extra homework on the company’s history and research recent company news. Preparation is the key and will make a great impression on your interviewers.

Prepare your Interview location. Make sure you’re in a comfortable place with no distractions. Keep your resume in clear view, have a pen and pad to take notes and a glass of water sitting close by. Minimize any outside distractions that could potentially take your mind off the interview (HOT TIP: Disable call waiting on your phone). Dress the part so you feel and sound professional. The more professional you feel the more professional you will come across on the telephone.

Most importantly – Practice Interviewing. Rehearse and Practice. There are many ways to help you prepare for the telephone interview. Have a friend/ family member conduct an interview. Ideally, rehearse with someone from the same industry. The best way to hear how you sound is to tape yourself. Remember the more preparation you put into the interview the better prepared you will be.

Preparation is the key! Write down answers to questions you believe are going to be asked. Have questions ready to go so when the interviewer says ‘Do you have any questions to ask us’ you’re ready and prepared.

What to do during the phone interview:

• Remember to Smile. Experts say that smiling puts you in a better state of mind and will project a positive image to the listener
• Speak in a steady voice. Don’t rush what you’re trying to say. Ensure that you sound enthusiastic and passionate
• Don’t forget to breathe. It will help you stay calm and sound more relaxed
• LISTEN – Answer the questions which are being asked. Do not make the mistake of telling the interviewer what you want to tell them. Give them the answers to their questions.
• Keep a glass of water handy – Nothing is worse than having a dry mouth
• Address the interviewer in the appropriate way. Do not shorten people’s name. They are your potential employer not your ‘mate’
• Take your time – Don’t rush the interview. This is your time to shine. If your feeling nervous take a moment or two to collect your thoughts
• Cheat Notes. Prepare beforehand with notes to help drive you through the interview. If the interview is going to be technical then have notes ready to prompt yourself if needed
• Don’t forget to ask questions

What NOT to do during the interview:

• Do not eat
• Do not chew gum
• Do not drink
• DO NOT SMOKE
• Don’t interrupt the interviewer
• Don’t answer with just a ‘yes’ and ‘no’ - elaborate your answers, provide examples if applicable
• Don’t be too Casual/informal
• Long winded answers to questions

Conclusion:

The only way to master a phone interview is to practice, be professional, and show your passion for the job role. Remember you have made the phone interview stage so don’t blow your interview by not being ready.

Good luck!

Gavin Davis is the owner of RedStarResume and one of the hiremyparents experts – hmp members can take advantage of his very special and very limited offer here

Telephone Interview Technique

Related articles …

• Better Talking Lets You Practice And Review for Interviews [Interview] (lifehacker.com)
• How To Ace a Telephone Interview and Get the Job (howcast.com)
• Thank You Letter After Interview (slideshare.net)

This is the exact same scenario with your resume, it can be discarded within a matter of seconds. An example I always use to highlight this reality came during my experience as a recruitment agent in London. I was to fill a new job opening as an equities trader for one of the most prestigious investment firms in the UK. I was asked to select the top 10 resumes to forward onto the hiring manager. I advertised the job on a Monday and by Thursday I had over 300 resumes sitting in my inbox. I did not have the time to sit and read through every line of each resume sitting there, let alone the hundreds more that would follow. I had to ‘scan’ the resumes and eliminate the weak or moderate ones right away. This is a very typical scenario, especially in this current economic climate. Your resume needs to be convincing from the start.

When applying for jobs, you can bet that 50% of all the other applicants have similar skills and knowledge. So how do you make your resume stand out from the others? How do you ensure that you’re at least given the chance to present yourself in person?

Your resume is a marketing document, a convincing reason to want to meet with you for an interview. Without an appealing and marketable resume that contains information employers require, you will not get the job you want. Of course, never forget the complementary role a cover letter plays. A cover letter goes hand in hand with the resume. Good resume and bad cover letter end up in the same place – the trash bin.

Remember, your resume is the greatest asset you have – don’t forget this!

Find below a list of my top 10 resume tips:

• Professional

Keep it professional. Your resume is a business document, so it must be professional. Your resume is no place for gimmicks, pictures, or funny email addresses. Although you may think you look great in your picture or that your email address is funny (yes, I have seen love_homersimpson@hotmail.com), this is not required on your resume. You may think it looks great, but your employer may disagree. Stick to the facts and keep it professional!

• Targeted

The more targeted your resume is, the better you have at landing an interview. Employers want to know exactly what you can do for their company. It is important that you tailor each resume to each job (it will only take a few sentences to do this). Get rid of any information that is not required for a particular job. This will alleviate the tendency to overcrowd your resume with too much irrelevant information.

• Well-written

A well-written, concise resume will make a greater impression with your employer than a long winded ‘padded’ resume. Use positive action words such as: enhanced, influenced, restructured, and attained. This will add that extra boost to your resume. On the same hand, avoid everyday buzz words. Remember, your resume needs to focus on your key skills and achievements. Words such as ‘hard worker’, ‘reliable’ and ‘ambitious’ can have a more detrimental effect on your resume as these words are seen as adding no value to resume.

• Self-promoting

Your resume is a marketing document. Promote and sell yourself! Do not be scared to sell your skills, accomplishments, and abilities. If you don’t tell the employer, no one else will. Focus on what you can offer the business rather than what the business can offer you. Emphasize your skills, especially the ones the job is asking for. An employer wants to know that you have the relevant skills for that particular job. If a coffee shop is hiring a barista, and you’ve already worked as one, make your skills stand out and take centre stage. Just like with the example of skimming over the magazines, you need your employer to take one glance at your resume and want to read on.

• Tailor your resume

Very important – a one size fits all approach does not work here. Every job is different, and depending on what the job is, you need to make sure you tweak your resume (and cover letter) for that particular job. Ask yourself, ‘What job am I going for, and does my resume have the skills and strengths required to present to my future employer?’ Tailoring your resume to the specific job you’re going for will show the hiring manager that you are serious about working for their organization.

• Quality, not quantity

Quality not quantity! Your resume is not a life story. Stick to the facts using irrelevant data, waffling, and padding your resume are detrimental. Let your skills and experience do the talking for you.

• Simplify

Forget about fancy fonts or clever uses of italics. Keep it simple. Your resume is not meant to be a work of art to be displayed on the wall. Not only can it be hard to read, but there are multiple scanning software programs that might be unable to read it, meaning it will end up being deleted before even being opened.

• Spelling /Grammar/Punctuation

Every word program these days has spell check – USE IT! Poor spelling and grammar will immediately land your resume in the deleted items box. It is a hard enough to get an interview, do not let yourself down with basic spelling mistakes. Re-read every word yourself, and get someone else to read it as well.

• Consistent

Be sure that your resume is written in a commonsense way – in order, logical, and easy to read. Be consistent throughout your resume with your margins, fonts, and line spacing. Don’t be scared to accentuate your skills or achievements with a different style of font or by using a bold font (but remember keep it simple. There is a fine line of going overboard when using different font styles). Consistency shows professionalism.

• Do not mention money

Unless you are directly asked about money, do not mention it. Keep your cards close to your chest. Do not rule yourself out before you even begin because of money.

Gavin Davis is the owner of RedStarResume and one of the hiremyparents experts – hmp members can take advantage of his very special and very limited offer here

More Resume Resources…

Hold That resume! 5 Red Flags in Online Job Listings | Wise Bread

A job listing says as much about the company as your cover letter and resume says about you. If a job listing has errors or looks extremely unprofessional …

Tips To Write Elegant Resume Without Lying at Career Advice

Tips To Write Elegant Resume Without Lying. December 4th, 2009. Preparing elegant resume without lying: Preparing resume by putting some untruthful facts is the most terrible thing a person can do for his or her career. …

Keyword Tips for Resume & Online Profile | Blogging4Jobs

Keywords should be an extremely important component of both your online social media profiles as well as your resume. These keywords can be a difference maker.

Related Articles…

• Ten Resume Mistakes You Must Avoid (bargaineering.com)
• Thank You Letters Can Make An Impact (timesunion.com)

1. Schedule Uninterrupted Work Time

Set aside hours when the kids know that you’re working, and they can only interrupt if it’s a real emergency. You may have to explain to them exactly what constitutes a “real” emergency. If the house is on fire: emergency. If Timmy won’t share his toys: not an emergency.

2. Explain the Importance of the Family Business

If you launch your home-based business and you’re off and running, you suddenly have less time for the children. If you don’t take the time to tell them why the business is important and why it takes so much of your time, they’re bound to interrupt a lot. Sit them down and explain the many benefits of the family business, and how they can help by minimizing interruptions. With that said, being a parent is a higher priority and the most important job you have.

3. Take Turns

If you and your husband are working together in the business, you may have to take turns giving your children the needed and desired attention they require. Work in shifts and take turns managing and playing with the kids, while the other one is working on the business.

4. Involve Your Children

Even if you have very young children, they can still be involved in the family business. Young children can learn to stuff envelopes or help clean the office. Older children can learn simple bookkeeping tasks and even answer the phone for you. Pay your children for the work they do, and it will help them to learn to appreciate the family business (and understand the importance of it all). You can also assign household chores as part of the “business” tasks that they complete. Every dish that’s washed and put away is time that helps you work and contributes to more family time together at the end of the day.

5. Set Up a Rewards System

If you meet all your business goals for the week, take the family out for some special time together. Let the children know that they can help earn these treats for the whole family by being responsible, completing all their chores on time and minimizing interruptions while you’re working.

6. Schedule, Schedule, Schedule

Your schedule doesn’t have to be set in stone. In fact, it can’t be since you’re working from home. However, having an overall schedule for the whole family can help balance work and life issues. Post the schedule in an area where everyone can see it. Have a set routine for each day of the week, and include times for each child. It can list everything from independent coloring time to chores and more. No matter what subjects go into the schedule, setting a routine for the kids will help teach them responsibility, and it will keep them occupied.

Remember, you’re running a home based business for the benefit of your entire family, not just yourself. Keep this in mind and remember that there has to be a degree of flexibility when you implement these work life balance tips. If there’s a short-term family crisis, be prepared to lose a little sleep if you have to in order to continue meeting your business goals.

Love this post, originally written by Daphne Mallory at wahm.com

To start, we need to understand when you can get career planning started. You can find a wide range of options right from school level. You’ll find that career planning can and does happen as an introduction to college as well as all through college. But, you can also take advantage of services long after you have graduated. Career planning can happen anytime.

What happens in career planning? There are a number of different things that can happen in career planning. You will be able to get an understanding of what the career you are considering has to offer. Or, if you are unsure of what you would like to learn and do, you can take a wide variety of testing solutions that will help you to determine what you are interested in as well as careers that you are talented for. You will also find that in some college level classes of career planning you will be able to learn about many different careers and test your hand at what they have to offer you. This is an excellent way to see what’s out there.

Career planning is important because it allows you to be able to get a good idea of what you would like to do with your life. Counsellors and teachers can help you find the answers that you need to your questions and give you options to consider. Career planning can help anyone, at anytime in their lives to find solutions to their needs. Beyond being able to help you plan for the classes you will take, career planning can help you to begin your future.

Resources: http://www.careerplanner.com/ – http://careerplanning.about.com/

I strongly urge you to register now, if you haven’t already, and if you have we want you to tell your friends and colleagues. To this end we’ve developed the ‘Referrinator’, a contact importer that allows you to inform your contacts of hiremyparents at the press of a button.

Take a look at the video below to see how easy it is to use and please inform any parent you think would benefit from a flood of flexible work opportunities or any business that would find free job posting a breath of fresh air - Link to the Referrinator

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpYEyZeIicY