To think there are no real, enjoyable ‘work from home’ jobs?

[AnneTwackie]

I’d like to reduce my hours and do something different working from home. Everything I see looks like a scam.
Tell me your happy/horror stories.

[GeneandFred]

Run my own business along with my husband, media provider for small businesses and brands. We have our own studio (garage conversion) he focuses on the video side and I run the social media management side.

[ZZPer]

Work full-time from home as a freelance translator.

[Di11y]

my DH works for a local council who actively encourage home working, DH works 2/3 days per week.

My sister is an interior designer and WFH only going into the office or pitches a couple of times a month. not that usual though I don't think

[WombOfOnesOwn]

I work for software companies, also in a marketing capacity like someone above. I've been fully remote for years now.

I have also held other legitimate work from home jobs, mostly tied to writing and editing. There's a lot of this work available for highly-skilled native English-speaking professionals, because very little can be outsourced to non-native English speakers without it being obvious that the copy was not written by native speakers.

When I was younger and more foolish, I also did phone sex operator work. I made, for that time in my life, good money, but that kind of work took a real psychological toll and probably caused me to be much more negative about men in general.

For years, my husband (now ExH) did work from home jobs that involved customer service for major companies. Basically like a call center job, but in your home office instead of a cubicle farm. He was very much a slacker and loved it in spite of the low wages, he could read a script from his computer in his pajamas and just about pay his half of the bills.

[FunnyInjury]

I trained as a bookkeeper years ago and always worked from home until youngest went to high school. Mixture of employed and sub contract work.
Still do (in theory) one day at home still, but this time if year it's all day every day and mist evenings too.

Its served its purpose over the years but I prefer houng to my job in an office now as wfh (especially such boring work ) can get to you after so long.

[cantwatchthis]

I'd love to know what some of these jobs are. I currently want to leave teaching and working from home would be ideal

[FunnyInjury]

I've only just finished tonight, excuse the typos please

[HairsprayBabe]

I WFH full time for the civil service

I run a national training program for a specialist field and I work with other government bodies and private companies to deliver it.

Flexible hours, great holiday and the pay is about the national average (if that is still £27k)

Lots of civil service jobs are WFH, I have some travel involved - one or two days a week for about 2 months a year, but this varies - and I don't always have to do it anyway!

[ThisIsNotMyRealName1]

OP, possibly you don't have the skills for a "real" work from home job? Think of something you're good at or interests you and see if there is a market for it. That's what I did and I've now worked from home for 10 years. I enjoy it most of the time, plus the flexibility around being my own boss and home based are great.

[bumblingbovine49]

I'd hate to WFH full time . I am my most productive and creative when working with other people. I find working from home a bit depressing if it is for more than 1-2 days a week.

I currently WFH 1 day a week and that is quite nice as there is no commute but it is definitely a ' perk' so can be taken away any time. Also I am.flexible and go in for meetings on my WFH day if it is necessary ( eg if I have to present to senior management or major.clients and the date can't be changed etc)

[chocolateteapot20]

Following a bout of illness I had to find work from home, so what I do now is a real combination of lots of things: some audio transcription/a tiny bit of virtual assistant work; some translating; some library/information work (I'm a qualified librarian); some writing (some jobs better paid than others); and working to get our little local craft business off the ground after a couple of false starts. But it has taken over a year to get to the stage where my income is reasonable, and it's still half what I was earning in my profession.

Other things I'll be obtaining qualifications in the near future include my formal translating qualifications; editing; and possibly editing and indexing. I've also considered UX and teaching English from home (I'm also a trained languages teacher) and may well go back to them if I have to. When I worked full-time I also did a little bit of writing from home and I worked for one of the text answering companies (now defunct thanks to Smartphones and some truly stupid decisions the company made). I graduated into a recession; I've never felt comfortable only having one string to the bow.

Amongst my immediate family and friends I know people who are self-employed as: graphic artists; plumbers; electricians; journalists/features writers; book-keepers; technical writers, painters; craftspeople; doggy day care and training; aromatherapy massage therapists. Just for starters. It doesn't happen overnight though, it takes a long time to get established. Some earn a really great living, others a reasonable one. For some of us it's feast or famine, too much work, or not enough. And while I'm now considering trying to go back into the workplace part-time in the next year or so, I don't think I could ever cope with the petty politics and utter nonsense of it on a full time basis ever again.

And some of the things I've mentioned I loathe (I'll never be a fan of audio transcription especially when the pay is so low compared to what they charge the end user and I always have to chase this particular company for invoices - will be looking for another company very shortly), but others I really love (some of the subjects I write about).

If you're really serious, sit down, work out what your top 5 to 10 skills are, and work out what you need to do to turn them into a business. Talk to others who've done similar things; network generally; contact your local chamber of commerce or other business network; draw up a business plan, just to keep you on track, and look into any start up funding you might be entitled to.

[Wincher]

I wfh at least one day per week, this week I have childcare issues so will prob do two days (I can start at 7am as DH can do the morning shift with the kids and take them to school and then I can finish at 3 to collect them). I work for a university although in a professional services role rather than academic.

[Corrag]

I've worked from home for the last seven years, in financial services. It's quite a specialised role and the company wouldn't be able to employ enough of us in one location so they have no choice really. Works well for us. I've not been to the office for >2 years.

[cheesefritters]

I’m a freelance writer and work from home. I love it!

[Wincher]

@chocolateteapot20 I've done audio transcription in the past as a wfh job to top up my income and it was pretty dull, I agree! This was back in about 2003 and I used to get paid 5x the length of the tape (cassettes in them days) at £5 per hour, so £25 for an hour-long recording. It seemed like quite good money at the time! Hasn't technology removed the need for that job now?

[Weffiepops]

Project managing from home is good

[RebelWithVerySharpClaws]

Hi OP, I have run a business from home for 25 years and it has been great in allowing me to be a hands on mum. The downside is that it was really fucking lonely in the early years, not so much now that lots of my mates are retiring, and I really have an advantage over them in that respect because I know how to manage my time. My area of work is quite specialised and lucrative and it is not something anyone else can replicate, otherwise I would share it with you. I would say only work from home if you have no choice and if it is very lucrative, otherwise, it is a lonely life that you don't need when you are bringing up little kids. A life away from all that family, wife and home stuff looks pretty healthy to this long term successful self employed home working woman. Best of luck with your choices.

[Ravenfeet]

I work for a university (not an academic, support staff) and can freely choose whether to work at home or go into the office. As long as I have my computer with the specific software I need and an internet connection, it doesn't hugely matter where I am.

[Pavlova31]

As others have said does anyone have specific titles and details of the non NHS ,Academic or Accounting Jobs that they do ?
Is there a legit agency dealing with wfh jobs ?

[Katypyee]

I work from home running my own business. A proper job. Depends what skills, experience and qualifications you have. Also, if you are looking for an employer you need one that accommodates home working, or are able to negotiate from the start.

[DesLynamsMoustache]

I run my own business and WFH exclusively.

DH works in IT and works from home most of the week apart from site visits. He has no office base.

[CherryPavlova]

Our organisation is predominantly home based but with a requirement for some travel and nights away from home. It’s a good balance usually.

[SarahAndQuack]

@Pavlova31, I'm a research fellow; I've been a teaching associate and a research associate prior to this. You would find jobs on jobs.ac.uk, which is a legit site. I don't think anyone would use an agency. In terms of details, salaries vary - you often have periods of low employment/zero hours contracts during the early stages. When I've had a full time salary it's been between 28 and 31k.

The issue with academia is you have to decide to go into it early. It is fantastic for flexible working, but the route in is a PhD and postdoc, and at the moment it is very competitive, with something like 2%-5% of PhD students getting permanent academic jobs.

[clairethewitch70]

Craft workers, what kind of craft do you do?

I have a proper job working from home. I do the accounts (Company Secretary) of the family business, work about 5 hours a day but paid for full time. Sometimes I do 3 hours sometimes 10 a day. I love my job. Due to my health I could not hold down an out of house job. This was office based but I changed due to illness.

[Dio23489432489234]

OP, possibly you don't have the skills for a "real" work from home job? Think of something you're good at or interests you and see if there is a market for it

This. Otherwise known as being a freelancer or self employed. The added bonus is you don't have a boss and your hard work isn't just making more money for rich people above you.