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Work From Home Jobs PDF Print E-mail
Tampa Bay Life - Work and Career

Many Americans are looking for jobs that they can do at home ,either as a way to supplement their full-time income, their spouses’ income, or as a source of full-time income.   Wanting to spend more time at home with their children is another motivation for parents to find a telecommuting position.   Gas prices have moved employers to actually provide more flexible work schedules for their employees.   Some employees have been given the option to work at home for part of the week and then go into the office for the remaining work days.  Work from home or telecommuting is not a new thing.  It has been growing over the years as the ways of communicating has also grown.

Information Technology has opened the door for a lot of telecommuting (work from home) jobs, but it also seen some shady characters advertising jobs that are just there to take people’s money.  Individuals looking for a telecommuting position should have their eyes wide open and be cautious about any position.
With that being said, there are many sources of reputable telecommuting jobs.

One source of reputable work from home jobs is from established companies. HSN (Home Shopping Network) offers work from home customer service position.  SDP (Special Data Processing Corp.) has Home Agent Sales Associates.  These positions do require that employees have some in office training before starting to work from home.   There also may be some additional times when employees must report to the office to get additional training
Education is another sector where work from home job seekers can find employment.  No matter the economic climate children and adults still need to be educated.  

Florida Virtual Schools, which offers virtual high school and middle school classes seek certified teachers to teach their classes all across Florida.  There are fulltime and part-time positions.  You will need to communicate with students and parents by phone and online.
Post-secondary education is another area where job hunters can find many telecommuting positions.  More students are taking classes online.  Colleges and universities are looking for someone to teach those courses. Don’t just look to schools that are solely online as a source of employment.  Traditional schools have been increasing their offering of online degrees and course.   Take a look at the employment section of your local higher education institution as well as the completely online programs.    Kaplan University has telecommuting teaching opportunities.

Everyone wants to look and feel beautiful.  That is probably why Avon and Mary Kay have lasted so long over the years.  Even in times of economic downturn people continue to buy cosmetics and beauty products.  Avon and Mary Kay has been a source of extra money or even fulltime income for women for decades. 

 
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Tampa Bay Life - Work and Career

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How to Occupy the Kids While You Work PDF Print E-mail
Tampa Bay Life - Work and Career

I did child care in my home for eight years. I learned something that became a priceless bit of knowledge to me. It pays to have some toys and games that are not available to the kids everyday. Of course I had a huge stock of toys and games that were accessible in the play room all the time. But I also had a huge box of Lego blocks that only came out of my closet on rainy days.

Some other items that I kept in the closet for rare appearances:

These kinds of toys when they are available all the time usually end up thrown all over the place in the toy room. But when they are only brought out occasionally, they are better taken care of and more likely to be used the way that they were intended to be used.

Notice what is not on my list:

These are great time fillers - but they are also potentially destructive if your attention isn't on the kids at all times, especially young ones. A ten year old can handle a set of paints, a five year old can't. It is far better to set them loose with a big set of dominoes than with play dough that you will be picking out of the carpet all evening.

So, reserve a shelf in a closet in your home and stock it with favored toys and games that your kids will be able to play with largely unattended. Explain to the kids that these items are "reward" activities.

When you need a couple hours of time to work, don't just pull out a reward activity and set them loose. Tell the kids, Mom needs some work time this afternoon and she is willing to bring out a reward activity - IF - you will spend the first half hour or so cleaning up the bedroom/playroom. (Reward Activities never come out at my house until the house is neat and orderly - so we can be sure that items won't be lost in the shuffle)

This way you buy yourself the first segment of time and you add value to the reward activity at the same time because they have had to work for it. Then once they have done this, take a minute to get them started with the reward activity. Hopefully, this will get you a couple hours total of work time - and a neat playroom. :) Make sure that when your work time is over, the reward activity is wrapped up and returned to it's place.

Remember, it will lose effectiveness if you use a reward activity too often. If you find that you have several days a week where you need time to work outside of bedtime and naptime, you should consider hiring a neighborhood teen to come in and occupy the kids while you work.

You chose to stay home with your kids - so make sure you aren't spending as much time away from them at home as you would have at an office!

Kelly McCausey is the host of Work at Home Moms Talk Radio, an internet radio program and podcast for Moms who want to work from home and still be a great Mom! http://www.wahmtalkradio.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kelly_McCausey
 
Easy Tips to Keeping Kids Quiet While You're on the Phone PDF Print E-mail
Tampa Bay Life - Work and Career

One of the easiest ways to get into the telecommuting industry is to get a phone job. These phone jobs are more readily available than other telecommuting jobs and usually pay pretty well.

When you first start working on the phone from home, keeping the kids quiet can be a bit of a challenge. There is a fine line between keeping your child quiet and stifling the fun that kids should have every day. Here are some age-appropriate ideas on what you can do to make sure you get at least some quiet phone time in each day.

For Babies:

  1. Keep them busy with some soft toys that make little or no noise. Fabric dolls and stuffed animals are a good choice. You can also use the stackable plastic rings. I found a soft, fabric covered box that came with a set of 4 finger puppets. The box had different openings and a mirror on one side. My baby spent hours putting the animals in and taking them back out.
  2. Wear your baby in a sling. You will be able to nurse her while you work and she can take a nap in mommy’s lap. Get her used to the noise of everyday life in your house from the day you bring her home from the hospital. Don’t keep everyone in the house quiet. The baby will get used to hearing your voice and will be able to sleep even when you are talking on the phone…in fact she will find comfort in it.
  3. Work while your baby naps. Try to get your baby on a good sleeping schedule that works for you and your job. Make sure you have something around that will sooth her quickly – like a favorite stuffed animal – should she wake up early while you are on the phone.
  4. Work when someone else can watch the baby. You can get a few hours of work in while your husband is home. Ask a relative if she would be willing to watch the baby a few hours a week. You can also trade babysitting with a friend or neighbor. Offer to watch her child for a few hours a week, if she will do the same for you.

For Children:

  1. Get your children on a sleeping schedule and work while they nap. Don’t let them sleep too late in the afternoon, or you will have a hard time getting them down at night.
  2. Work while you husband or significant other is home, or ask a relative if she would be willing to watch your children for a few hours a day. You can also look for a Mom’s morning off program in your area. Your child will get to play with other kids while you work. Trading babysitting or arranging play-dates will work as well.
  3. Give your kids a special game to play. Many board games work well, or if you have an additional computer you can pick up some age appropriate software. The key is to find something that doesn’t make a lot of noise and will keep their attention for a little while. Make sure you don’t use any given game too often, or your child will get board with it quickly.
  4. Use a noise-quieting headset. If your kids do get loud from time to time – and believe me they will – the headset will cancel most of the noise. It’s well worth the small investment. Be sure to invest in a good quality headset though.
  5. Work in short intervals while the kids are around. Kids can only be good and quiet for so long. Make sure you take frequent breaks to play with them. Have a tickle session, take them out to the yard to play catch, play hide and go seek for a few minutes. Just let them be kids and get rid of some of that build up energy.
  6. Teach them that they need to listen to you when you ask them to be quiet. They will learn to respect your need for some time to work. Make sure you give them something interesting to do and pay them lots of attention when you are not working. This should work as long as you don’t ask them to stay quiet for hours at a time. Just be firm and stick to your guns when they do get noisy while you work.

Always remember that kids will be kids. Keep your sense of humor. It’s not the end of the world if you have to excuse yourself from a phone conversation to break up a fight or attend to a child that needs you. Your kids will get noisy from time to time. Try your best to keep them quiet, but not at the expense of stressing yourself out or expecting too much from your kids.

Nell Taliercio is the owner and founder of http://www.TelecommutingMoms.com – which is a leading resource website with work at home jobs and everything a telecommuting mom would need. Come visit us today!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nell_Taliercio