Q. What about places that put up “pay money to get a job” postings? Are they
        worth the money? Will I get a job if I spend the money?

        A. If a job asks for money, then it is not really a job. Think of it this way, would
        you pay to fill out an application for a job outside the home? No, of course you
        would not, so why you would pay someone for a work-at-home job? Let’s say
        that a listing says “Buy our software and you can work at home.” This probably
        means that you buy the software up-front and they give you a list of places that
        might hire you. The software is usually something similar to what you already
        have in your computer, like a word processor program or something you could
        buy in a local office supplies store’s discount section. The list of jobs they give
        you is usually a list of companies they found in the phone book and you can find
        the same companies yourself just by using the Internet Yellow Pages. And if
        companies were really hiring work-at-home people, then why would they give
        the software to another company to sell? They wouldn't! They would list the
        software requirements in their help wanted classified advertisement.

        Fact to remember: If they ask for money, then it is probably not a real job.
 

        Q. What about these places that advertise “Pay to join our group and we will
        help you find a job” or “We have hundreds or thousands of jobs listed” sites?

        A. I spent over $500.00 on those during my second year of job searching and
        never did get a job. I’m not saying they are all bad or tried to rip me off. Some
        were an all-and-all-out scam. Others honestly tried to provide a good job list for
        me to send my resume, but if you don’t have the requisite skills, it doesn’t matter
        how many honest job listings are provided. Still others provided job listings that
        were so old, they were no longer hiring or no longer in business! These sites used
        old job listings so they could say they had “thousands of jobs” listed. There were
        also some that listed jobs found listed by “monsters” and headhunters. My best
        advice is if you want to join one of these places, then you should go to a “work at
        home”-type message board and ask for other experiences with the company.
        Ask questions like: Did you really get the material they promised to send to you?
        What kind of jobs do the sites offer? Did you find a job? Remember that the
        people who run these companies often go to these message boards and reply to
        the questions posted by people like you , so be sure and wait till you get several
        replies so you can get to the truth.

        Fact to remember: Do your homework before spending the money – take the
        time to ask around and check out the company with the BBB (Better Business
        Bureau) to find out if there have been any complaints listed against the company.
 

        Q.  Are Medical Transcription (MT) jobs good jobs and is this type of job for
        me?

        A. Just because you take the MT (Medical Transcriptionist) classes doesn't mean
        that you will get an at-home job. I took all the classes and got certified. I then
        tested for jobs for a year before giving up on that type of work at home. This is
        not to say that it isn't a very good job for some people, it just wasn’t ever going
        to be the right job for me. I know several people who do MT work at home and
        love it. Most MT jobs require that you have at least six months’ to a year’s
        experience at an in-house job before they will consider you for independent,
        at-home production. Once you have gained your in-house experience (or you
        have been lucky enough to start out at home), you have to be prepared to work
        eight hours or more in a row transcribing.

        Most transcription jobs call for tight turn-around time (TAT). A typical scenario
        is that they give you a set time to record their audio using to your
        transcription-recording machine (either via phone line or web site). Then you
        have a set number of hours to do the transcription and send it back to the
        company. This means you have to have these hours set aside five days a week to
        work, just like you would if you when out to a job. Not all MT work will be
        consistently supplied, so you might find that you work fast and furious on
        Monday and Thursday, and have no work on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.

        My best advice is if you are interested in becoming an MT, then you should first
        check out the schools with the BBB. Go to an MT message board and read what
        other people who do this type of work have to say and ask them questions you
        might have. Also, buy training tapes to listen to before paying for classes to see if
        you are the kind of person who can listen to them all day and type what you hear
        (given that an MT school will obviously teach you the necessary vocabulary and
        formatting styles, etc.).

        Personally, I found that I could barely understand half of what the doctors. They
        talk very fast, some have foreign accents, and/or there were high levels of
        background noise (maybe the doctor was dictating while driving). I wish I had
        done my homework before I had paid for the at-home course that I took. Now I
        have a $300.00 MT certificate and a $250.00 transcription machine sitting in a
        box somewhere in my garage.

        Facts to remember: Be sure you really have the time the job requires and the
        desire to do this type of work, check out MT schools that interest you by asking
        about the school on MT message boards to see who else has gone to these
        schools, and check with the BBB to see if there have been any complaints made
        about the schools that were left unresolved.
 

        Q. I know HTML and made my own web site. Does this mean I can be a
        Webmaster at home?

         A. Probably not when it comes to jobs found through Internet job searches.
        Even if you know HTML, can make frames, tables, can create your own
        graphics, and use copy and paste JavaScript, you probably will not find a web
        page design job just by doing a regular Internet job search. I can write HTML
        freehand without an editor and am competent at many other web-page-related
        skills. I have sent out over 1,000 resumes and have not even gotten one honest
        reply. Three years ago I finally realized that if you really want to work at home
        doing web page design, then you need to have at least a two-year of college
        degree.

        This is not to say there are no honest HTML at-home jobs for simple skills like
        routine updates to web sites, but bear in mind that for every job available for
        doing HTML out there, there are thousands of people applying for it. I can't even
        imagine the number of resumes that are sent daily for jobs listed for HTML skills!
        My best advice is either go to college and get a degree in CGI, DHTML, Flash,
        ASP, VB Script, Java Script, Flash, Database Interface, Oracle, and SQL
        server (to name a few different skills and language codes) or try to develop a
        clientele of small business owners, local to your area, who need simple web sites
        and can’t afford expensive “professionals.” Many of small businesses would love
        to have web site, but either have no idea where to start, believe it costs too much
        money, or that they have to sell their product online (which they don't). They can
        use the web page for advertising, promote sales, or offer printable coupons. The
        best way to get this type of work is ask your friends to tell any small business
        owners they know about your services. In your town has a local newspaper or
        newsletter, consider placing an ad.

        Fact to remember: If you all know is HTML, then either get a degree so that
        you can apply to online jobs or hand out business cards to friends and local small
        business to create a local clientele.
 

        Q. I can make postcards, greeting cards, and write verses using my home
        publishing programs. Can I use these skills to get an at-home job?

         A. This can be done on a freelance basis at home. There are books that offer
        lists of companies that might buy your work. You can visit your local library or
        book store to get Writer's Market: 8000 Editors Who Buy What You Write
        and/or Artists & Graphic Designer's Market: Where & How to Sell Your
        Illustration, Fine Art, Graphic Design & Cartoons.

        Now you are probably asking, “So what do you do at home?” I make my
        money using affiliate programs. Affiliate program are online stores that pay you
        per click, lead, or sale by placing banner and/or products on your web page. I
        do make enough money to help pays the bills, an average of $14.00 an hour on a
        40 hour work week after overhead such as advertising and web host cost. To
        learn more about affiliate programs read "Tying Together Web P ages & Affiliate
        Programs to Make a Profit" at http://work-at-home.momsbreak.com. I have also
        made many work at home free printable sheets to help you.

        Good Luck with your pursuit of a work-at-home job or home business!

        Written by Kimberly Hargis
        Owner of Mom's Break http://www.momsbreak.com
        See Mom's Break ~ Home Business & Work at Home at
        http://work-at-home.momsbreak.com to find Articles from Expert Guest
        Columnists, 40 Free Printables and Files, Work at Home Mom Pride Shirts &
        Much More.