Being a parent doesn’t mean sacrificing your career – or at least it shouldn’t! Many stay-at-home mothers now look for flexible part-time jobs that allow them to make some money while still being a full-time parent.
Most women who become full-time mothers sometimes regret not being able to put their education to use.
The challenge is to find stay-at-home mom jobs that you can easily do from the house, without giving up the responsibilities of being a mom.
Thanks to the Internet and digital technology, having a career sitting right at home isn’t a dream anymore. A plethora of stay-at-home moms work up to six hours a day right from their kitchen or bedroom and make a decent living (much to the delight of their husbands and bank account!). Regardless of the skills you possess, you can always find work-from-home jobs that pertain to your qualifications.
Here are the top 7 jobs for stay-at-home moms.
If you are someone with a vast resource of patience and have the ability to talk on the phone while on the computer, then the job of a customer service representative could be ideal for you. Most companies outsource customer service, and are always looking for people to help customers resolve a conflict, find an answer to a query, and needing help when trying to find the right product.
A dedicated phone connection and excellent computer skills are required, besides being helpful and patient with callers. Both part-time and full-time positions are available, and you can make as much as $20 an hour. You typically need to devote around four hours a day.
Check out our complete guide to work from home customer service jobs.
Most mothers are usually poignant at multitasking (it comes with the territory!). That’s why the job of a virtual assistant could be golden for stay-at-home moms. A plenitude of companies save employment costs by hiring self-employed virtual assistants to perform typical office duties, including data entry, replying to emails, and managing social media.
Take a moment to review our complete guide to becoming a virtual assistant.
The job of a transcriptionist is probably the easiest among all work-from-home positions (but probably still too difficult for Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad!). It essentially involves listening to an audio and typing out what you hear. If you’re looking for a job that requires no prior experience, transcription could be for you.
Since transcriptionists are usually hired without much prior experience, you are only required to have a computer to get started. The job can vary from transcribing a medical dictation to a college lecture. Finding a transcription job is easy for those that are dedicated, but you may first have to take a short test to check your typing skills and attention to detail. Pay is up to $25 per hour or more.
If you used to be a corporate professional before turning into a full-time mom, the job of a corporate English trainer could appeal to you. You must be a native English speaker with at least basic computer skills, online or phone chat abilities, and an interest in other cultures. If you have office experience, it’s definitely more useful because most of the students you will work with work in a corporate environment.
Training students in countries like Korea, Japan, and Germany where English isn’t the primary language is the main pursuit here. You will receive training in how to conduct various sessions on topics such as conducting meetings, making professional small talk, and greeting others (if you have the people skills of B.A. Baracus in Rocky 3 this is probably not the job for you).
You might also have to work at night sometimes because of the different time zones, for instance (no worries, you can watch 24, House of Cards, or The Good Fight any time because of technology). Pay is around $15 an hour.
With the rise in online courses, there’s prolific need for remote teachers. No matter what subject you’re skilled in, finding on opening for online teachers isn’t too difficult. If you have prior teaching experience that is definitely a plus.
The average salary of online teachers is around $30,000 (but if you work less your pay will not be that high, it just depends on your schedule), and certain subjects have a higher salary than others. You have to teach via Skype (though many schools – such as those in South Korea have their own software for you to use) or record your sessions for prerecorded classes.
‘Core subjects such as history and English have a higher demand. In some cases, you may have to go through a background check and be licensed to teach in that state (though this is rare because the state you are in will have no clue if you are teaching South Korean students English, for instance; your employer would be a school in Korea or Japan so the state you are living in in the US would have no bearing). Learn more about how to teach online from home.
If you’re someone with an opinion, taking surveys might be a suitable part-time job for you. Tasks include taking an opinion poll, reviewing a product, or answering questions about shopping habits. You are either paid through PayPal or check, or receive points that can be redeemed for cash.
You can sign up to as many sites as you want, and you will be contacted whenever there’s an appropriate survey for you to take. However, be wary about sites that has a membership fee, are vague about payment, or seek personal information such as your bank details or your social security number. They are most likely a scam.
As a stay-at-home mom, you will be able to relate to other mothers like you. From children’s food habits to kids’ recipes to everyday hacks, there can be several things that you like to share with others. If you have a decent video recording system and editing software, you can easily become a vlogger on YouTube and make money from advertising revenue.
All you have to do is make engaging and fun videos starring you and your children on various child-related topics, and upload them to YouTube. If your vlogs start gaining some digital traction, you could generate some revenue from your videos. It is one of the most creative online jobs for moms.
These are not the only work from home jobs that pay decently. Social media management, link building, document formatting, blogging, bookkeeping, graphic designing among others also pay well (if you work hard and have something valuable to offer to the client/customer/employer). However, all these virtual jobs need specialized skills. These jobs are also more demanding in terms of time, and in some cases requiring an advanced level of education.
There are scores of online platforms and job boards that will connect you with employers. Legitimate job boards never ask for upfront payment, though they take a certain cut from your earnings. Life is not easy; don’t expect it to be!