Help me find my pal a WFH job

[CallMeCleo]

My best pal needs to find some paid work that he can do at home, that will earn him about £100 a week. Neither of us has any experience of wfh and honestly don't know where to start.

He's 60 and is a full time carer for his father who cannot be left alone in the house. Therefore he needs to find work that can be carried out ad-hoc in bursts of 2-3 hours in between his caring duties. He has an office, computer and smartphone. He can pop out to the nearby post box to send things, but can't drive to and queue up at a post office.

He's not a creative type and has no skills or money with which to set up his own business and we both lack the imagination to think of anything in that line, anyway. He isn't pushy enough to be a salesman. He doesn't have a high enough level of literacy to be, for example, a proofreader.

His strengths are reliability, a great work ethic, scrupulous honesty and trustworthiness. His previous careers were quantity surveyor for a building company, marine technician and shop assistant - none of which can convert into working from home.

He's not looking to make mega-bucks but just to bring in about £100 a week to keep him afloat.

Is it worth approaching employment agencies? I looked at the window display of one and there were no wfh jobs.

Is there a site that he can go on to find such a job? We can't find one.

Anyone got any ideas?

Local authority? We are still all working at home and looking at a hybrid way of working once we go back. Have a look on their websites.

Also very flexible with the hours.

I was going to say LA.

You could also look at parish clerk or clerk to governor posts which are casual.

Other casual posts can sometimes also be found at local authorities that you wouldn't necessarily think of.

If he isn't feeling too overloaded already with caring for his dad would he consider being a 'shared lives carer'

It's basically providing respite care for others in your own home. A bit like foster care for adults.

It can be on a hourly/ daily/ weekly basis, depending on what suits him. What he would need to provide is a warm and welcoming environment, a caring attitude and his time.

Depending on who is matched with him it may also be company for him and his dad.

Most local authorities offer it but people willing to be shared lives carers are few and far between mostly because the pay isn't usually good enough to make a living out of.

Thanks everyone for the replies so far.

@Siennabear

What kind of work would an LA employ people to do at home?

@MargaretFraggle

Parish clerk sounds good - he's a committed Christian, which must help!
What is clerk to governor? School governor?

@Hatgirl

Thank you for replying and explaing what that is. Sadly that would not suit him.

@CallMeCleo pretty much all staff are working at home (computer based) so anything really. I’m in commissioning and procurement. There’s usually jobs come up most months in different roles, you just have to keep your eye out.

Webcam? Some sort of niche older male type thing?

Yes it is clerk to governor meetings. The only thing is meetings are generally in person (same with parishes) so that may not be suitable.

I agree with pp to generally look for local authority jobs many of which are now WFH.

@Siennabear

Wouldn't these LA jobs require a person to be logged in to a pc from 9 to 5 and show that they have done a proper 8 hour day? We'll chase this up, though he lives in a small town, there just might be a part time vacancy for a clerical worker.

@MargaretFraggle

No, he can't leave the house to attend meetings. He only dares go for 5 or at most 10 mins. The dad is in his mid 90s and very frail and confused.

@SandysMam

Thanks for the laugh.

If he was a quantity surveyor presumably he is numerate and can work with a spreadsheet, and knows his way around the construciton industry. Has he thought of asking any construction firms if they need extra help? Construction seems reasonably busy at the moment despite lockdown etc.

Could he do any kind of admin/ billing/invoice chasing for a small builder for example? Or doing the record-keeping/adding-up end of QS work - most of it is done from designs and plans afaik - you don't have to go to site, though you would need to be able to read a construction drawing.

He should put a cv together - loads of advice online on how to do this.

Oh and he sounds such a lovely guy, to be caring for his dad day and night. But isn't he entitled to a bit of respite care? How does he keep himself fit and healthy (and sane!) if he is tied to the house 24/7?

(no need to answer btw, I know that wasn't your question and not really our business)

@Candycane222

Yes, he could do all the tasks that you list. He is good with spreadsheets, billing, admin, record-keeping. I will suggest he rings around the building firms.

He has not done quantity surveying for well over 20 years and, he tells me, it's the kind of career where you have to keep up to date with current regs and laws etc and he isn't.

I have suggested respite care and it's been swiftly ruled out - they won't accept it. He keeps fit doing housework, gardening, painting and house repairs and is healthy as he does not drink or smoke. He's perfectly sane, calm, happy and very good humoured. His religious faith seems to serve him well in this regard.

Glad to hear the he keeps himself well and happy :) I think a lot of small businesses buy in admin help - people who have started up something a bit 'creative' because they are good at it, but are too busy for the record keeping etc.

It might also be worth seeing if he can access some free training in eg book-keeping.

Very best of luck to him!

There's a consumer research organisation that you can register your details with and then if you meet certain criteria they contact you with market research activities that you get paid to take part in. I don't know how reliable it would be, and whether it can generate a consistent, regular income for your friend, but it might be worth looking at. It's takepartinresearch.co.uk

To add, the activities range from general to specialist and the specialist ones pay more - as a guide, I received £70 for providing an hour's worth of feedback on a tool that's being developed for my field of work, which is a bit niche and probably unusual, but there are lots of food and consumer-type surveys as well.

They pay into your PayPal account and you can then transfer it into your bank account, so your friend would need to set up a PayPal account if he didn't already have one.

uk.indeed.com/Work-From-Home-jobs

@RedpandaFluff and @Custardo

Many thanks, I have passed all this on to him.

Fingers crossed!

Has your friend claimed carers allowance and attendance allowance? If not that would be a boost to his finances.