Will the stimulus money create jobs?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/10/infrastructure.jobs/index.html

Clark Howard offers Work from Home suggestions

Would you like to work from home?

Clark gets tons of calls from people who would like to do database or customer service work out of their homes. The problem is that there are many ripoff work-from-home outfits that claim they will find you work for an upfront fee. They are just trying to make a quick buck off you. Below are some sites Clark has checked out and determined to be legitimate. Of course, you should check them out thoroughly yourself before getting involved. Good luck!

• AlpineAccess.com - Virtual call center provider using home-based customer service agents

• Arise.com - Answer calls, e-mail and chat requests for global companies at home. Some users have reported a $13 background check fee, a $99 assessment test fee and other charges.

• ConvergysWorkatHome.com - Be an independent contractor home agent providing customer care, human resources and billing services

• eLance.com - Links freelancers with employers in IT, graphic design, writing, engineering, translation, marketing, accounting and administrative and legal services

• IntelliCare.com - Call center company that provides clinical and non-clinical telephone services to health plans, healthcare providers, and care managers nationwide

• LiveOps.com - Virtual call center using remote and home-based agents. All applicants are required to undergo a mandatory background check that costs $50. For an optional fee of $175, a more extensive background check allows you to work with specific Fortune 200 companies that have partnered with LiveOps.com.

• MSVAS.com - This company has developed virtual assistant training programs for U.S. military spouses and U.S. Department of State Foreign Service spouses

• TeamDoubleClick.com - Be a virtual assistant

• WAHM.com - An online magazine for work-at-home moms

• West.com - Be an "at-home-agent," with duties including obtaining, entering and verifying customer information, answering questions, resolving issues, explaining sales features or offering additional products or services

• WorkingSolutions.com - Be a home-based customer service agent

• WorkplaceLikeHome.com - An active discussion forum where you'll discover lots of job leads

One bit of advice before you take the leap into a work-at-home opportunity: Take an inventory of your talent, add a dash of creativity to your thinking and come up with a plan that suits you.

• If you sew well, do alterations for others.
• If you have a good grasp of a particular subject, tutors are always needed.
• Good with a computer? Consider teaching others how to use one. You might also want to do computer work for college and graduate students. Try putting up flyers around your area as well as the local colleges and universities.
• Create personal websites for friends and neighbors. Parents might want to purchase one from you as a gift for a child. It can used for photos and 'firsts' as the child is growing. This makes a great gift to the parents of a newborn!
• Are you handy with crafts? Costume jewelery making and selling can be aimed at school-aged girls or adults, and all well-priced gift items sell well especially before the holiday season.

The list can go on as long as you align your talents with services or products others need. Be imaginative and create a job! If you choose to go the standard work-at-home route, heed these warnings from the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau.

Special thanks to our listener Carrie for her input into this list.

Clark Howard’s suggestions for freelancing and consulting

Here are some resources from Clark Howard, www.clarkhoward.com

Feb 16, 2009 -- New websites to find freelancing and consulting jobs

Clark is making it part of his new mission to be a resource for the unemployed and the underemployed during this tough economic cycle.

The conventional wisdom about education and employment -- as your level of education rises, the less likely you are to be impacted by lay-offs -- has been completely flipped on its head this time around. This recession knows no boundaries in terms of education, skill level, training or years on the job.

If you have skills of a certain nature, try picking up some consulting work (aka freelancing) on a per-job basis. The Internet offers a variety of sites that hook freelancers up with employers. The San Francisco Chronicle's Tom Abate has compiled a list of such websites, including the following ones:

• eLance.com
• oDesk.com
• Guru.com
• crowdSPRING.com

These sites are being called "virtual hiring halls" because they're a modern adaptation of the union hall idea where workers would go to await job orders.