How Do I Determine a Legitimate Work at Home Job?

Hunting for a legitimate work at home job can be full-time job in itself, but you can increase your chances by researching companies before you apply. Reputable companies that have been in business for many years may represent the least risk when it comes to finding legitimate employment at home. You may also compare job offerings based on the type of information the company requests up front. For example, you may do well to avoid companies that ask for a lot of personal information, such as tax ID and driver’s license numbers before you’ve been offered a job. Likewise, you may avoid scams by ignoring those that ask for money.

Unfortunately, some ads for work from home jobs are not posted by legitimate companies. Instead, many ads are posted by companies or individuals who want something from you instead of offering a legitimate work at home job. For this reason, it is important to research companies before you apply, or at least before you provide a lot of personal information. You may search for company information on business review and rating websites as well as on job boards where work at home job seekers share information with each other. At minimum, you will likely want information about the company’s reputation and the number of years it has been in business.

When you are trying to land a legitimate work at home job, you may also judge an opportunity by the amount of information the company or individual is requesting. While most companies request private information such as tax ID numbers when you are hired for a job, having to provide such information before you are hired may be a red flag. If you are sure the company is legitimate and you want to apply for the job, you may write “provided upon hire” in the blanks requiring sensitive information. If you are concerned that this will hurt your chances, you may also speak to the person in charge of hiring about your concerns.

Some legitimate companies may perform background checks as part of their application processes. This may require you to provide a tax identification number and other sensitive information before you are officially hired. In such a case, it is particularly important to make sure the company is reputable before you supply the information. Even so, you may feel most comfortable if you only provide it after you’ve received at least a tentative job offer.

Most work at home job experts agree that you should never pay to apply for or accept a job. A legitimate company will not ask you for money when you are seeking employment. You may also do well to avoid job offers that require you to buy supplies from the company that is offering the position. Such a company is actually offering a business opportunity rather than a legitimate work at home job.