Stay at Home Jobs: Must-Try Opportunities for Beginners

INSIDE: Hello and welcome! We know sorting through all the stay at home job options can be overwhelming, so we’ve cut to the chase and outlined 11 of the best ones for you here.

Work-at-homers come from all walks of life. We have different educational and professional backgrounds, different reasons for wanting to work from home, and our own challenges and strengths.

Many of us, however, are looking to make a life change. We don’t care about having career gaps on our resume or going into the same field of work we are coming from. We are willing to try new things as we enter this next stage of our lives, whether that’s becoming a stay at home mom or a nomadic remote worker traveling the globe.

As different as we can be, no matter what: We all want to start making money from home.

Stay at Home Jobs With No Experience Required: 11 Amazing Opportunities

If you’re embarking on a life change and want a remote job but aren’t quite sure how to break into the field, you’re in the right place!

Here’s my hand-picked list of the best stay-at-home jobs for beginners. Each of these ideas lets you make money without leaving the house.

1. Customer Service

Many people who work from home get their start in customer service. It’s an easy entry point because the jobs are readily available and hire frequently. Lots of online retailers (even Amazon) hire their own customer service agents, and there are even companies that manage virtual call centers for other businesses.

Most of these remote jobs require high-speed internet access and a landline to receive incoming calls.

While customer service may not be your dream job, it’s legitimate work and the pay is usually pretty good. That $10 to $15 per hour can certainly help pay the bills while you find your perfect side hustle.

Some customer service jobs are seasonal, making them a favorite way to earn extra cash for Christmas or summer break.

Learn more in my Ultimate Guide to Virtual Call Center Jobs.

Where to Find Stay at Home Jobs in Customer Service

Alorica @ Home

Alorica is a well-known employer in the work-at-home world. It hires customer service agents in many U.S. states, training is paid, and payment is through direct deposit or pay card. You also get employee benefits, which is rare!

Amazon

If you’ve ever called Amazon about a missing package, you’ve talked with one of the company’s many customer service reps. Associates are eligible for health care, the company’s retirement plan, vacation, and paid time off — but only if they work more than 20 hours a week, which is not guaranteed.

• Pro tip: Amazon Work-From-Home Jobs: What You Need to Know to Get Hired

Enterprise

Customer service agents at Enterprise work from home helping people book rental car reservations.

Kelly Connect

This company is a work-at-home division of the international temp agency, Kelly Services. When you work for Kelly Connect, you’ll receive weekly pay. Here’s my Kelly Connect review.

Intuit

Intuit regularly hires seasonal customer service representatives and tax advisers to cover the busy tax season. Under “location,” choose USA Remote on the job board.

Related: If you’re a tax expert, you can get a tax preparer job from home.

LiveOps

LiveOps offers a variety of at-home customer service positions, from taking food orders to payroll support. You need a dedicated phone line, and if you’re offered a position you must pay for a background check, which costs about $45. Learn more in my LiveOps review.

Sitel

Customer service specialist Sitel offers workers a guaranteed hourly wage. Health insurance and a 401(k) plan are available to full-time employees.

Sutherland

Sutherland offers paid training and paid time off for its customer service roles. It also has a military spouse program. High-speed cable or DSL Internet is required.

Sykes

This company has been offering stay-at-home customer service jobs for a long time and frequently has openings. Jobs are currently not available for residents of Alaska, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Washington DC.

TTEC @ Home

TTEC was named a 2020 Top 100 Company with Remote Jobs by FlexJobs. Reps often provide customer service via phone, text and even on social media.

U-Haul

Here’s another company you know! U-Haul hires for a variety of customer service positions, from reservations to roadside assistance. A variety of schedules are often available. Check the careers page for current openings, and see my post on How to Work at Home for U-Haul for more info.

Working Solutions

Working Solutions invites you to become part of the “Woohoo Crew.” This is a well-known and trusted company in the outsourced customer service industry. At the time we updated this post, it was not hiring in California, New York, Pennsylvania or Washington.

2. Search Engine Evaluation

Many people really enjoy working as a search engine evaluator, looking over web search results and rating online ads for quality. No phone is involved, and the pay is pretty good — usually about $13 to $15 per hour.

As a web search evaluator, your schedule is flexible, which allows you to work around other commitments like pediatrician appointments and dinner prep.

The only complaint is that the work isn’t as readily available as many people would like. Search engine evaluation probably isn’t something you can depend on to cover all of your bills. But it’s still a good gig to bring in extra cash. (Be aware that you usually cannot hold a search engine evaluator job with more than one company.)

Where to Find Stay at Home Jobs for Search Engine Evaluators

Lionbridge

Current openings at Lionbridge include rating, translating and interpreting. Requirements vary by position.

Appen

Appen offers similar positions to Lionbridge, plus some small task opportunities and jobs evaluating social media.

3. Transcription

Transcription jobs involve listening to an audio or video file and converting it into text. You don’t need to be an experienced transcriptionist to be considered at many companies, but you do need to have excellent typing speed and accuracy.

Transcription is almost always production-based, meaning you get paid by the audio minute and not by how long it takes you to type something. The faster you type, the higher your hourly income. You can also get paid extra money in the specialized fields of legal and medical transcription. (If you’re interested in becoming a medical transcriptionist, Career Step is my go-to training resource for this specialized industry.)

If you think an online transcription job sounds fun but you aren’t sure about your typing skills, take the free typing test at TypingTest.com. Need to brush up? Use the free online course available at Typing.com to practice your skills.

Where to Find Stay at Home Jobs in Transcription

The two big companies in this industry (also my favorites) are TranscribeMe and Rev.com.

TranscribeMe

TranscribeMe offers the opportunity to have a transcription job with a steady work stream and uplifting work environment. All you need is a computer and internet access, and you can work from home or anywhere you choose.

Earnings start at $15 to $22 per audio hour. Medical and legal transcription jobs offer higher pay. No experience is necessary to apply. Check out my review of TranscribeMe.

Rev.com

Rev.com provides at-home transcription jobs with flexible hours. Choose your own schedule and workload. You can also select projects that seem interesting to you.

Rev pays weekly, with the average monthly salary being $245, but top earners can earn up to $1,495. Payment is issued via PayPal. Here’s my review of Rev.com.

Note: Transcribe Anywhere has a free mini-course to help you decide if this is a good career fit for you.

These companies also offer at-home transcription work:

CastingWords

CastingWords hires freelancers to transcribe audio and video files and to improve and edit transcripts. Because this is freelance work, you can choose the assignments you like and complete them from anywhere you have a computer!

Pay starts at 8.5 cents per audio minute, and payment is issued every Friday via PayPal. No experience is required, but you must pass a short test transcribing an audio file.

GMR Transcription

This company also offers transcription work, allowing you to create your own schedule and choose how much you’d like to work. Transcribers for GMR typically earn $1,000 to $3,000 per month, depending on their skills and the kind of work they take on.

More difficult assignments or assignments with quick turnaround times pay higher. No experience is necessary to apply.

Quicktate

Quicktate hires freelance contractors to transcribe for a large variety of projects. You can set your own schedule and work whenever you like. Some transcribing assignments are as short as two minutes, and others last several hours.

Applicants must pass a typing test and, if hired, pay $20 for a background check.

Tigerfish

Tigerfish is hiring quick typists with strong written English skills as transcribers. Beginners and experienced transcribers are encouraged to apply and earn about $15 working from home. Tigerfish offers flexible hours, and you can choose your workload.

To work for Tigerfish, you must be a U.S resident and have a Windows-based computer and access to high-speed internet.

Ubiqus

Ubiqus seeks U.S. residents for home-based transcription jobs. The work is part-time and can be tailored to your schedule. Higher-paying legal transcription and medical transcription jobs are available.

One to five years of experience is preferred, but candidates with no experience are considered, as well. All you need is a computer and internet access, and you can work from anywhere!

Finally, you may be able to find transcription work at sites such as Upwork and Fiverr.

4. Chat Agents (aka Online Customer Service Reps)

Usually, people who don’t want to work in customer service by phone don’t mind doing so by chat. Unfortunately, that means the competition for an online chat job can be tough.

Like most independent contractor customer service positions, most online chat jobs only pay for the minutes you’re actually interacting with customers, as opposed to the hours you’re logged in. With most companies, that averages out to about $10 per hour, but some companies pay minimum wage.

As with transcription work, you need to be able to type well if you’re going to succeed as a chat support agent. Aim for 60 words per minute to do well, although some jobs only require a minimum speed of 30 to 40 wpm.

Where to Find Chat Agent Stay-at-Home Jobs

If you’re interested in becoming an online customer service representative, check out the following companies.

The Chat Shop

The Chat Shop is a U.K.-based live chat agent company. The work is varied – you may be chatting with a property investing service one moment and planning a ski holiday for a customer the next.

The Chat Shop provides the training and tools necessary for the job. A strong ability to multitask and stay focused is required because the work is often high-pressured.

You must be able to work 20 to 40 hours a week and have a typing speed of 65+ words per minute. The Chat Shop is currently hiring in the U.K. and in the following U.S states: Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

SiteStaff

SiteStaff hires chat hosts with “Grade A” problem-solving skills to work from home. An ability to multitask is crucial for this job because chat hosts often hold three to four conversations at the same time.

Though this is remote work, you’ll have a close-knit team for guidance, assistance and coaching. Pay starts at about $10 an hour.

Ginger.io

Ginger.io is seeking remote mental health coaches who want to help people learn to live healthier lives with the Ginger.io app. Applicants must excel at empathetic listening and building strong rapport, both through text and video calling.

Qualifications include a coaching certification or a master’s degree in psychology, plus six months of supervised experience as a coach, counselor or therapist. Benefits include health coverage, wellness events and professional development.

More ideas: Companies such as Uber and Apple also hire at-home chat agents, so don’t overlook the opportunity to work for large companies you know and recognize. You can also search for chat agent jobs on job sites such as Upwork, Indeed and FlexJobs.

5. Online Moderator

Even though many of us have moved our online conversations to private groups on Facebook and Google+, there are still plenty of booming public forums out there. Those online forums need moderators to answer questions, enforce guidelines, and keep out spam. Some of these gigs also carry over to social networks and even blogs.

There is a lot of competition for an online moderator job, and the pay isn’t always great — usually about $8 to $10 per hour. But it’s an easy, flexible job and can usually be done with other activities.

Where to Find Stay at Home Jobs as an Online Moderator

BabyCenter

BabyCenter is looking for friendly people to become community moderators. Responsibilities include encouraging friendly community conversations and thoughtfully handling violations of online community guidelines. This can be a great stay at home mom job — you’ll be an instant expert on the topic!

Community moderator candidates must be able to multitask, work well on a team and come up with creative problem-solving techniques. A bachelor’s degree is preferred but not required.

ModSquad

ModSquad is hiring freelance contractors from all around the world to join its team of digital engagement services. You can set your own schedule and choose the opportunities that interest you most or create the most earning potential.

Jobs offered through ModSquad include live chat help, forums and social media. The requirements for each job are specific, but you’ll usually only need a computer, internet access and a quiet working space.

LiveWorld

LiveWorld provides work-at-home moderator opportunities to applicants from all over the world. Work varies depending on the client, with some work including checking businesses’ social media content or moderating chat boards.

Pay starts at about $8 an hour, and payments are issued biweekly. Work hours are flexible, and training is provided.

6. Freelance Writing

There is an endless amount of freelance writing work for people with the right skill set. That doesn’t necessarily mean you need a degree in journalism or English — it simply means you need to have good grammar and research skills.

Becoming a freelance writer is one of my top recommendations for people looking for a flexible work-at-home schedule. You can learn more about it in this post on freelance writing for beginners.

What’s more, freelance writing can be very good money once you break out on your own and get away from the “content mills” (sites that offer articles for sale cheap and pay their writers accordingly).

If you are looking to dabble in online content writing without any commitment, check out beginner-friendly options below.

Where to Find Stay at Home Writing Jobs

Textbroker

Make money by writing anywhere in the world with Textbroker. There are thousands of freelance writing jobs posted on the site every day, so you can choose how much or how little you write.

An experienced team of editors regularly rates your articles and gives feedback, so you can improve your writing skills and earning potential. Payment is issued each week, and income varies based on the quality of your work.

Verblio

Verblio hires talented content writers who can work from home. Ideal writers have great research skills and knowledge of content marketing and search engine optimization.

Work is always available, and the more you work and build up your client base, the more chances for income you’ll create. You can be paid weekly or monthly. Applicants must be U.S. citizens.

Skyword

Skyword connects freelance writers with brands that need content services. There are many opportunities to create content, and you can choose the number of projects you’d like to take on.

Applicants from all over the world are invited to apply. The work is consistent, and Skyword pays on time twice a month.

7. Virtual Assistant

Becoming a VA is one of the hottest work-at-home trends. If you have an administrative assistant background (or even if you’re just super organized — right, moms?), you may want to consider becoming a virtual assistant.

In this position, you help small businesses and “solo-preneurs” handle their day-to-day tasks, which may include providing customer service, being a social media manager, coordinating travel arrangements, being a virtual bookkeeper and more.

The variety of job opportunities available as a VA is huge! Just from running this blog, I can tell you that there are bloggers out there looking to fill freelance virtual assistant roles like content writer, proofreader, Pinterest manager, and even graphic designer. And that’s just for work related to blogging — check out my mega list of 68 in-demand virtual services you can offer from home.

Companies Hiring Virtual Assistants

Not ready to go freelance? A number of virtual assistant firms allow you to get your feet wet before venturing out on your own (if you want to venture out on your own, that is). These companies pay anywhere from $10 to $20 or more per hour, depending on the skills needed.

Worldwide101

Worldwide101 offers opportunities for experienced administrative assistants to work full time from home. A minimum of seven years in an administrative role or the equivalent is required.

Pay starts at $20 an hour, and schedules are flexible. Worldwide101 offers paid vacation and parental leave. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and reside in states in which they are currently hiring.

Time Etc

Time Etc hires at-home virtual assistants who are able to work at least three hours each week. The peak days are Monday through Friday.

At least two years of experience in a similar position is required. A virtual personal assistant must supply his or her own computer and Microsoft Office software suite.

Belay

Belay offers flexible at-home virtual assistant jobs. The company connects you to different contractors for varied work. Some positions are part-time, while others require a 40-hour-per-week commitment.

Belay provides training upon hiring, with ongoing training throughout your career. A bachelor’s degree is preferred but not necessary.

Equivity

Equivity hires U.S.-based virtual assistants to work from home. Virtual assistants must be organized and detail-oriented. An applicant must have a bachelor’s degree, a computer and a smartphone with internet access. Hours are flexible.

Vicky Virtual

Vicky Virtual matches at-home virtual assistants with clients for various administrative needs. Virtual assistants must be located in the U.S. and have their own computer, phone and a quiet work space for taking calls.

Compensation starts at $10 per hour. Virtual assistants should be excellent multitaskers because the work is always different.

8. Tutoring

If you’re skilled at something others want to learn – from playing the piano or speaking a foreign language to basic high school geometry – you can start tutoring from home (or near home) and make a great hourly rate.

There’s nothing stopping you from putting up fliers and contacting the local schools, PTAs or college departments to advertise your tutoring services. You can also post an ad on Craigslist or community websites and publications for a tutoring job.

These days, tutoring is also something you can easily do online. Quite a few online tutoring companies hire at-home teachers to give lessons using a computer with video or chat.

You need reliable, high-speed internet service to tutor from home, and most (but not all) companies have a minimum education requirement.

Where to Find Jobs for Online Tutors

These are just some of the companies that hire online tutors:

Aim-for-A

Aim-for-A provides tutors with an opportunity to teach a variety of subjects, including science, language arts and test preparation, to children in grades 1-12.

Tutoring is done completely from home using Skype. Applicants from all over the world can apply, but most hours accommodate students who live in the U.S, Europe and Australia. Tutors’ hours vary, but you must be able to work weekends.

No teaching qualifications are necessary to apply. Online tutors can expect to earn $10 to 15 per hour.

Chegg

Chegg hires work-from-home tutors to help students in a variety of subjects. Whether you want to teach astrophysics, computer science, zoology or anything in-between, Chegg will match you with a student.

You can work with students of all ages, including business professionals. Chegg pays weekly, and you can work from anywhere with stable internet service!

Kaplan

Kaplan hires tutors for a wide variety of subjects. With more than a million students, online teaching work is always available. Qualifications for an online teaching job include a college degree and experience in the position you’re applying for.

Support and training are provided to tutors. Kaplan offers reliable pay, which ranges from $17 to $38 per hour, depending on the subject.

TutaPoint

TutaPoint is an online tutoring company that hires remote tutors to work with students via video calling. The company caters specifically to high school students. TutaPoint offers instant live tutoring from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. EST and requires a minimum of five teaching hours per week.

Applicants must be college graduates and U.S. citizens. Payment is $14 per hour and is issued twice monthly.

Tutor.com

Tutor.com assigns passionate teachers, professionals and PhD candidates to students who are eager to learn. Students range from kindergartners to adults, who share feedback so you can grow as an online tutor.

Hours are very flexible; log in whenever you’re available and work remotely from anywhere! Payment is made on a regular schedule, with the average tutoring rate being about $11 per hour.

9. Teaching English Online

Even if you don’t have a teaching degree, you can still make money tutoring online by teaching English as a second language (ESL). These jobs may require a bachelor’s degree, but it can often be in any subject.

Many online language-learning companies cater to Chinese students. Therefore, the shifts are often very early in the morning in the U.S., plus weekends. That being said, many people in my community love the flexibility these jobs offer. And the pay is good in many cases!

Where to Find Jobs Teaching English Online

VIPKid

VIPKid is a Chinese online education company that lets you teach English from the comfort of your home. The company offers fully immersive one-on-one English language instruction to children ages 4 to 12, and no Chinese language skills are required for tutors!

You can choose your own working schedule, but all hours are based on the time in Beijing. The pay scale is $14 to $22 an hour.

A bachelor’s degree is required to work for VIPKid, and an educational background is preferred but not necessary. VIPKid provides all lesson materials, but you can add props, games or whatever you want to make your classes special! Here’s everything you need to know about VIPKid jobs.

Cambly

Cambly offers an opportunity for native English speakers to tutor from home and chat with people around the world. You can set your own hours and work as much or as little as you want.

If you find yourself with free time and want to earn a bit of money, you can log online and start taking calls within minutes! Cambly classes are conversation-based. Students want to practice both practical and fun conversations with native speakers.

Cambly offers tutoring sessions of different lengths and pays 17 cents per minute, equaling $10.20 per hour. The company delivers payment each Monday via PayPal. No previous tutoring experience is required. See what you need to know to work for Cambly.

Qkids

Qkids is another Chinese education company providing 30-minute interactive gaming-based English classes. Class size ranges from one to four students, and all learning material is provided for you before class.

You may choose your own schedule, but hours are based on the time in Beijing. There is a six-hour minimum time commitment each week. Pay ranges from $16 to $20 per hour.

Teachers must be based in the U.S. or Canada. A bachelor’s degree and prior education experience are required.

Magic Ears

Get paid to tutor kids ages 4 to 12 with Beijing-based Magic Ears. As is typical with this type of online job, you will need to have a bachelor’s degree. Applicants must also be native English speakers from the U.S. or Canada.

Pay rates are based on a combination of base rate, performance, peak times and participation. You will be rewarded for your hard work here (up to $26/hour). Check out our review of working for Magic Ears.

10. Online Test Grader

Grading tests from home is a favorite gig in the work-from-home community. In this position, you may be scoring tests, essays and more. Most of this work is seasonal in the spring and fall, when standardized testing is in full swing, though there are occasional opportunities at other times, too.

Where to Find Stay at Home Jobs for Online Test Scoring

Measurement Incorporated

Measurement Incorporated lets you work from home earning money scoring tests. This opportunity allows you to set your own schedule and projects, but most hours are available Monday through Friday.

You must be a U.S. citizen and have a bachelor’s degree. Most projects last about four weeks, and the average pay is about $11 per hour.

Write Score

Work at home scoring student essays for Write Score! Grading includes essays from elementary, middle and high school students. You must be a U.S. resident with a two-year degree or higher to be hired.

The company provides unpaid training. The work at Write Score is flexible, so you can choose your own hours.

Literably

Literably hires work-at-home independent contractors to transcribe and score audio of elementary-school students reading aloud. As a Literably scorer, all you need to do is transcribe the audio of a student reading and find the errors the student makes.

Anyone from around the world can apply, and you can make upward of $10 an hour, depending on your scoring speed.

11. Bookkeeping and Accounting

If you have an accounting or bookkeeping background, those skills easily transfer to remote work. You can find virtual bookkeeping jobs with a number of companies. You might even consider starting your own bookkeeping company from home.

Where to Find At-Home Bookkeeping and Accounting Jobs

Accountingdepartment.com

Accountingdepartment.com provides full-time at-home work for credentialed finance professionals. The company only hires U.S. citizens who reside in the U.S.

This bookkeeping job includes benefits, such as health coverage, a 401(k) plan and paid holidays. Potential employees must pass a Quickbooks and bookkeeping test.

Bateman & Co.

Bateman & Co. hires work-at-home accountants on a permanent part-time basis. Applicants should have at least three years’ experience in public accounting. U.S. citizens living in Texas are preferred, but accountants living anywhere in the U.S. can apply.

Bateman accountants prepare corporate, partnership and individual tax returns.

Bookminders

Bookminders provides bookkeeping service jobs, both part time and full time. Candidates must be licensed and have at least two years of bookkeeping experience.

Bookminders employees are offered great training and career development programs. The income is incentive-based, with many opportunities for wage increases for good performance.

ClickAccounts

ClickAccounts is always looking for talented CPAs to join its team in providing BPO (business process outsourcer) services. Potential contractors must be honest and transparent in their work. These remote workers should be U.S. citizens currently residing in the U.S., but you can work from home or anywhere with a computer.

Good Stay at Home Jobs for Moms

Many women want a stay at home mom job that can flex along with the family schedule. To truly make the most of your working (waking?!) hours, it’s important to understand what your schedule actually is.

Do you only ever have 10-30 minutes together at a time? Consider jobs where you can pick up small tasks for short chunks of time, such as transcription, being a virtual assistant, and teaching English online.

If you can tackle a bigger job where it doesn’t matter how it gets done as long as you make your deadlines, you might try a freelance writing job or proofreading.

Or if your work schedule can accommodate regular, set hours, think about customer service or being a search engine evaluator.

For more ideas, see my post on Work from Home Jobs for Moms: Opportunities That Are Flexible & Fun.

Which Stay at Home Job Will You Choose?

All of these ideas will help you get your feet wet in the work-at-home world. Depending on your skillset and your situation, one of them is bound to work for you.

So, what’s it going to be? I’d love to hear about your first home job!

• Want even more stay at home jobs? Check out my list of 100 Legit Work From Home Companies.

Originally published in December 2015. Updated May 2021.