Clark Howard's Tips

Be a home-based call center operator

August 21, 2007

Many people want to do part-time work at home, especially when they have a newborn. But a lot of work-at-home offers are scams. One stat has it that for every legitimate offer you may see, you're going to come across 42 scams.

Clark wants you to be careful if you're looking to work at home. Be sure to avoid the ads in the back of women's magazines about envelope stuffing, doing medical office paperwork and the like. There is, however, one area that's proven legitimate over time: becoming a call center worker from your home.

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Employers like this option because they don't have to rent office space for you, so it costs them less than setting up a call center.

Typical costs for a call-center employee could be $31, while it only costs a company $21 to set you up to do the same work at home. Bear in mind that these figures are not what you'll be earning; they represent what the company pays out of pocket to set you up as an independent contractor.

Fortune magazine reports that there are now about 100,000 people involved in such work-at-home businesses. That number is expected to triple in the next 30 months.

Be sure to check out Clark's list of legitimate vendors in this field. Not many people know it, but JetBlue was one of the pioneers in the home-based call center industry. Now companies like 1-800-Flowers and J. Crew are also getting in on the action.

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