More than two decades ago, when my son was a toddler, I was looking
at career options that would help me manage both work and home
successfully. As a young doctor, I had limited choices such as private
practice, teaching or a hospital job. I chose to set up a practice
closer to my home!
Nearly a decade later, the situation had changed. There were better opportunities for those who wanted to have flexible work hours. I had worked as a medical writer for a while from home, and later in health insurance sector for an overseas client. However, in less than a year, I started missing office environment, managerial role, team interaction etc. Hence, I started working as full time manager once again.
Finally, couple of years ago, I made a conscious decision to work from home so that I have time for career, family and my other interests. I find ‘work from home’ option to be fulfilling and rewarding, especially being able to do everything, including regular exercise and blogging!
Current Scenario:
With information technology explosion, the conventional outlook towards career has changed. Gone are the days when women had to compromise on their career after starting a family. Many Indian companies are offering ‘work from home or telecommute’ option to young mothers. Furthermore, it is not a taboo for men to work from home!
Available data indicates that world over less than 10% of employees work from home. According to a recent study, individuals who work from home are more productive when compared to those working from office!
Work from home options:
While browsing the web, you will find more than 100,000 ‘work from home’ jobs across industries on Naukri.com alone! In the medical field, depending on your educational qualification and experience, available options include medical transcription, medical coding, medical content writing, health insurance jobs and clinical research jobs, to name a few.
Currently employers are selective in offering work from home options, owing to concerns regarding productivity. When a full time employee chooses to work from home, the employment contract gets modified as per the company policy. Some companies allow employees to work for few days a week or few hours a day from home. On the other hand, one may choose to work as a freelancer or have an online business managed from home.
You can work for a single employer, working for fixed hours every day for 5 or 6 days a week depending on the employment contract. In this case, you are assured of a fixed income. Alternatively, you can work as a freelancer on projects of your choice. In this scenario, you run the risk of not getting projects back to back. You may have to negotiate payment for each project, and may end up working with several employers. Nonetheless, you will have the freedom to choose the type of work you do and flexibility to plan your own work schedule.
Both Indian and overseas employers offer work from home jobs. Before starting to work for an employer/company based in a remote location, please do a thorough online research to learn as much as you can about the employer/company. It would definitely help if you know someone who had already worked for the same employer/company. I have had a reasonably good experience with all the employers I have worked thus far, except for the rare instances of delayed payment.
Employers often require you to agree on terms and conditions of the job contract. If you have concerns about any of the clauses, seek clarification from your employer before accepting the terms. Please keep records of communication with your employer regarding job requirement and terms of payment.
Home Office Requirements:
At the least, you need to get a computer, high speed internet connection and a telephone for your ‘home office’. You need email and Skype access as well. In addition to word processing and spreadsheet, other software may be required depending on the type of job you do.
Ideally, you should have a designated place at home for working. If you cannot have a separate room with a desk and chair, you should at least have specific corner for your ‘home office’.
Working from home is no different from working from an office. Therefore, it is imperative that you are accessible online during the work hours. Even though home atmosphere is conducive for working, you may end up getting distracted by something or the other at home. Hence, you should have the discipline to maintain fixed working hours and complete your work on time.
Under normal circumstances, you can easily clock 6 hours of work comfortably. However, it is very important for you to schedule both home and job responsibilities and stick to the schedule. Plan some outdoor activity such as walking or shopping everyday so that you could beat the loneliness of working alone.
Advantages:
First and foremost, you save on commuting time and thus, have more time to spend with your family and on other activities.
Secondly, you can schedule your work in a flexible manner. With proper planning, you can balance work and home responsibilities well in the comfort of your home environment.
In my experience, ‘work from home’ can be as rewarding as full time work, if not more. But you need to choose the projects wisely, which I am sure you would learn in due course.
On a lighter note, you don’t need to invest on office clothes!
Disadvantages:
You won’t be meeting your co-workers in person, even though you communicate with them through Skype, phone or chat. If you are an outdoor person, you may find this aspect particularly difficult. In the long run, lack of human interaction may blunt your competitive edge.
Without the compulsion of fixed working hours, you are prone to become lethargic, which may in turn affect your productivity.
With overseas employers, you may not work on their holidays (Ex: Thanksgiving Day in the US), while you may have to take the day off for your festivals and this may not always be feasible!
Remember that when you work from home as a freelancer, you get paid for the work you do and you don’t get paid holidays.
You may not always get continuous work especially when you are working on independent projects. Hence, you need to plan your finances accordingly.
Work from home as a career choice:
Work from home may be a good career option for those who need to be physically present at home such as young mothers, or those who aspire for a fine work-life balance. Like any other job, if you maintain superior quality of work, timeliness and reliability, you will establish yourself as a good worker over time. Your employer would value your contribution and have a long term, mutually beneficial association with you. In case if you are a freelancer your employers would seek you out whenever they have work.
Nearly a decade later, the situation had changed. There were better opportunities for those who wanted to have flexible work hours. I had worked as a medical writer for a while from home, and later in health insurance sector for an overseas client. However, in less than a year, I started missing office environment, managerial role, team interaction etc. Hence, I started working as full time manager once again.
Finally, couple of years ago, I made a conscious decision to work from home so that I have time for career, family and my other interests. I find ‘work from home’ option to be fulfilling and rewarding, especially being able to do everything, including regular exercise and blogging!
Current Scenario:
With information technology explosion, the conventional outlook towards career has changed. Gone are the days when women had to compromise on their career after starting a family. Many Indian companies are offering ‘work from home or telecommute’ option to young mothers. Furthermore, it is not a taboo for men to work from home!
Available data indicates that world over less than 10% of employees work from home. According to a recent study, individuals who work from home are more productive when compared to those working from office!
Work from home options:
While browsing the web, you will find more than 100,000 ‘work from home’ jobs across industries on Naukri.com alone! In the medical field, depending on your educational qualification and experience, available options include medical transcription, medical coding, medical content writing, health insurance jobs and clinical research jobs, to name a few.
Currently employers are selective in offering work from home options, owing to concerns regarding productivity. When a full time employee chooses to work from home, the employment contract gets modified as per the company policy. Some companies allow employees to work for few days a week or few hours a day from home. On the other hand, one may choose to work as a freelancer or have an online business managed from home.
You can work for a single employer, working for fixed hours every day for 5 or 6 days a week depending on the employment contract. In this case, you are assured of a fixed income. Alternatively, you can work as a freelancer on projects of your choice. In this scenario, you run the risk of not getting projects back to back. You may have to negotiate payment for each project, and may end up working with several employers. Nonetheless, you will have the freedom to choose the type of work you do and flexibility to plan your own work schedule.
Both Indian and overseas employers offer work from home jobs. Before starting to work for an employer/company based in a remote location, please do a thorough online research to learn as much as you can about the employer/company. It would definitely help if you know someone who had already worked for the same employer/company. I have had a reasonably good experience with all the employers I have worked thus far, except for the rare instances of delayed payment.
Employers often require you to agree on terms and conditions of the job contract. If you have concerns about any of the clauses, seek clarification from your employer before accepting the terms. Please keep records of communication with your employer regarding job requirement and terms of payment.
Home Office Requirements:
At the least, you need to get a computer, high speed internet connection and a telephone for your ‘home office’. You need email and Skype access as well. In addition to word processing and spreadsheet, other software may be required depending on the type of job you do.
Ideally, you should have a designated place at home for working. If you cannot have a separate room with a desk and chair, you should at least have specific corner for your ‘home office’.
Working from home is no different from working from an office. Therefore, it is imperative that you are accessible online during the work hours. Even though home atmosphere is conducive for working, you may end up getting distracted by something or the other at home. Hence, you should have the discipline to maintain fixed working hours and complete your work on time.
Under normal circumstances, you can easily clock 6 hours of work comfortably. However, it is very important for you to schedule both home and job responsibilities and stick to the schedule. Plan some outdoor activity such as walking or shopping everyday so that you could beat the loneliness of working alone.
Advantages:
First and foremost, you save on commuting time and thus, have more time to spend with your family and on other activities.
Secondly, you can schedule your work in a flexible manner. With proper planning, you can balance work and home responsibilities well in the comfort of your home environment.
In my experience, ‘work from home’ can be as rewarding as full time work, if not more. But you need to choose the projects wisely, which I am sure you would learn in due course.
On a lighter note, you don’t need to invest on office clothes!
Disadvantages:
You won’t be meeting your co-workers in person, even though you communicate with them through Skype, phone or chat. If you are an outdoor person, you may find this aspect particularly difficult. In the long run, lack of human interaction may blunt your competitive edge.
Without the compulsion of fixed working hours, you are prone to become lethargic, which may in turn affect your productivity.
With overseas employers, you may not work on their holidays (Ex: Thanksgiving Day in the US), while you may have to take the day off for your festivals and this may not always be feasible!
Remember that when you work from home as a freelancer, you get paid for the work you do and you don’t get paid holidays.
You may not always get continuous work especially when you are working on independent projects. Hence, you need to plan your finances accordingly.
Work from home as a career choice:
Work from home may be a good career option for those who need to be physically present at home such as young mothers, or those who aspire for a fine work-life balance. Like any other job, if you maintain superior quality of work, timeliness and reliability, you will establish yourself as a good worker over time. Your employer would value your contribution and have a long term, mutually beneficial association with you. In case if you are a freelancer your employers would seek you out whenever they have work.
You can aspire for both financial and career growth by graduating to
more complex and challenging work in your chosen area. On the contrary,
if you look for promotions as in an organization, ‘work from home’ may
not be the right option for you. Nevertheless, you may still look at it
as a stopgap arrangement to tide over a demanding phase in your life!
This article was published on 'Linkedin' on 12 July 2015. Click here to read the article on 'Linkedin'.
If you like this post, please share it with your friends, followers or contacts, by just clicking the 'Face book', 'Twitter', ‘Pinterest’ or 'Google +’ icons you see below the post. Feel free to post your comment/ feedback. Your support is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
This article was published on 'Linkedin' on 12 July 2015. Click here to read the article on 'Linkedin'.
If you like this post, please share it with your friends, followers or contacts, by just clicking the 'Face book', 'Twitter', ‘Pinterest’ or 'Google +’ icons you see below the post. Feel free to post your comment/ feedback. Your support is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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