Share this
Note: Job details and offers can change at any time. Please refer to the companies’ websites and current job listings for the most up-to-date info and offerings.
When you are looking to find jobs that allow you to work from home but don’t have the necessary equipment, don’t despair. There are plenty of companies that will provide you with the various types of equipment that you will need to get the job done. The problem though is – who does this?
A search on the internet will give you tons of results, almost too many to sort through. Lists of work-from-home jobs have been compiled and, as you pore through these, you start to see the same sources for work being listed over and over again. This could be good, in that the compiled lists will give you an idea of the types of jobs that can be done remotely. From tech support to customer service agents and beyond, the possibilities are endless. However, the downfall is that you and every other person out there that wants to work from home and needs help outfitting their home office are looking at the same lists – meaning you have tons and tons of competition. So, what do you do?
For starters, it’s best to know what kind of work you like and are willing to do from home. Without narrowing that down, you can spend countless hours searching, reading through various sources that list a job as a work-from-home opportunity that really isn’t, or not even finding the actual jobs that are listed. Instead, you should first get to know the basic categories of remote work opportunities. Stay-at-home jobs most often fall under some of the following types of work:
- Customer Service/Call Center
- Technical Support
- Interpreters
- Teaching/Tutoring
- Medical Coding
- Website Testing
- Search Engine Evaluation
- Bookkeeping/Accounting
- Travel Planning/Support
Once you’ve researched these job areas and decided which interests you, it’s time to start your search. You can do this two ways – either search on the major job posting sites or do a lookup for the top companies that have the type of job you want.
Searching on the Major Job Posting Sites
If you start by using large job posting sites such as Indeed, SimplyHired, Glassdoor, or FlexJobs, you will need to structure your search to narrow down the results. Take, for example, Indeed.com. Now known as the biggest source for nearly all jobs, the site can be overwhelming if you just search for “work from home.” You’ll have to pore through listing after listing until you come up with a company that offers the equipment needed for the work. However, refine that search! Try “work from home equipment provided” and you’ll see the number of results is greatly reduced. From there, hit Ctrl-F and enter “equipment” and see which listings have that word showing up. Your search just got a whole lot easier.
By doing exactly this daily, you will find newly posted positions to choose from remote workers that will provide you with what you need. The best part is that while they may be jobs for the same type of work as seen on so many of the list sites, these listings are the most current as they are updated continually.
Here’s a sampling:
According to the listing, you would be working from home providing telephonic encounters centered around chronic care management to patients. Further, the company listing says the job operates from the worker’s home and uses standard office equipment like computer equipment and headsets. They provide all the equipment and the employee only needs to provide a high-speed internet connection.
Virtual Travel Assitant with American Express
If you are a well-seasoned traveler or somebody who was once an agent in a brick-and-mortar travel business, then this job may be right up your alley. With the only provision being that you live in an area that falls within the west region of the United States (Pacific, Mountain, or Hawaii–Aleutian time zone), everything is outfitted for you. Per this job posting, consultants will be working for the American Express call center to help premium card members with all things travel-related. You provide the space, and American Express will install both business class high-speed internet and a landline phone which is to be used exclusively for business purposes. This job opens up frequently in other time zones so keep an eye on their job postings if you live outside of this specific area.
Alliance is looking to fill positions for collections account representatives who can work from a home-based office. As a worker with Alliance, you will be handling calls, both inbound and outbound, aimed at negotiating settlements or securing payment arrangements on past-due credit card accounts. To facilitate this work, Alliance Data states that they will provide all business equipment needed for the job, the exception being that the work-at-home employee needs to self-provide internet service.
Bilingual Member Service Representative with BroadPath Healthcare Solutions
If you have the ability to speak and read both Spanish and English, this fluency can land you a remote work position with BroadPath. This job also requires a current working knowledge of Medicaid and/or Medicare health plans as the employee will be dealing with accounts related to these. BroadPath’s job listing states that work-from-home talent is typically hired during seasonal “surges” but getting your foot in the door often leads to a long-term position with the company. They will provide you with a home office set-up except for an internet connection. BroadPath Healthcare Solutions has several other work-at-home job categories (not all are bilingual) so be sure to check out their list of current positions.
AppleCare College Program Advisor for Apple
Apple has many work-from-home opportunities with this being just one of them. As an AppleCare At Home Advisor, it would be your job to work as a customer care representative using your knowledge and love of Apple technology and products to field questions from Apple customers. What’s unique about this particular position is that it is open only to students who are currently enrolled at a state-funded university (i.e.: Arizona State, Penn State, University of Alabama) that is designated as a partner in this program. So, if you are a student, love Apple products, and are looking to make some extra money to help with your educational costs, this might be a great fit. Apple only requires that you have a high-speed internet connection, as they will provide you with an iMac and a headset for the work you will be doing.
Work-From-Home Jobs Known for Providing Equipment
There are a few work-from-home jobs known for providing a computer, headset, or other equipment necessary to complete the job remotely. I’ve already mentioned Apple and American Express. Here are a few more:
ABC Financial – this company offers remote customer service positions in addition to administration, account management, and more. They not only provide all equipment and hardware needed to their at-home customer service reps, but benefits are also available to full-time employees.
A Place for Mom – this company hires at-home Senior Advisors. These are usually full-time positions paying a base rate plus uncapped bonuses. Per the latest job listing, “SLAs are provided with a laptop fully loaded with Microsoft Office, Outlook, access to our CRM and VOIP Phone system through VPN to enable connection to the Company.” A bachelor’s degree and three years of sales experience are preferred.
Buffer – this is a company that loves its remote workforce. Not only will you be supplied with a laptop to do your work, but you will also enjoy perks such as unlimited time off, a learning stipend, health insurance, and a “working smarter” stipend that can be used to create your ideal workspace office supplies, stock options, retreats and more. (Heck yeah!)
Care.com – this is a well-known company known for being “flex-friendly.” Past openings have included everything from accounting and art to editing and member care specialist. Their recent job opening for a Backup Care Specialist stated a laptop was provided. Positions may differ.
Enterprise – this company almost always has work-at-home positions available though they are usually location-specific. These are customer service and sales positions. You provide the computer, internet, and USB headset. They provide a VOIP headset and key fob.
World Travel Holdings – World Travel Holdings provides you a computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, phone, and headset upfront and then deducts the cost ($500 refundable deposit) from your first 5 paychecks. You do need a landline for this position. As you may have suspected, this is a travel-related gig. As an employee, you will also have access to benefits, paid time off, and travel discounts around the globe.
Zapier – this company is 100% remote. Their workforce resides in over 17 countries. Like Buffer, this is another one that strives to make its employees happy. Not only are you provided with computer and software setup, but also unlimited vacation, healthcare, retirement, profit sharing, and more. For those of you looking for employee positions, these are definitely two companies to try to get into if you have the experience and skills.
No Luck? 7 Ways to Get Money to Fund Your New Work-At-Home Career
If you have applied to the above and haven’t been accepted, I don’t want you to give up hope just because you don’t have the equipment needed to work from home. I’ve got a few ways you can fund these start-up costs for your work-at-home career! These should help get you started.
1. Put away savings from your day job.
My first method involves that staid, pragmatic advice that everyone always gives: save money from your day job. The difference here is that I’m advocating a short-term, reasonable savings schedule that lets you fund start-up costs for your new WAH life using income from the day job you want to ditch! Be honest about how much you can save each paycheck, and then be serious about saving that much. Put it in a savings account, withdraw it and shove it in a jar, whatever you need to do – just save it. Even if that means cutting out takeout or movies for a few months. (If you have trouble dealing with money, or being honest with yourself about your spending/saving habits, I highly recommend Beautiful Money: The 4-Week Total Wealth Makeover.)
2. Organize your saving schedule around sales.
Pretty much every kind of equipment you might need to purchase for starting your work-at-home career – from computers to home office equipment – has common sales periods. For example, computers regularly go on sale during the back-to-school period – generally between late June and August. This also tends to be the period that manufacturers like to release new computer models, so you can save big by purchasing the older models – if their specs match what you need for the WAH job you want.
3. Join points clubs like MyPoints and Swagbucks.
This strategy has a low impact on your time but could add up to some appreciable gift cards for your start-up costs. As a member of sites like MyPoints and Swagbucks, you can earn points just by clicking on emails or taking surveys – and, once you’ve accrued enough points, you can turn them in for gift cards from retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and more. Then use those gift cards to purchase supplies or equipment you need for your work-at-home position!
4. Pick up a side job.
Another tactic that can also have a low impact on your time is picking up little side jobs: you could drive part-time with Lyft or Uber, babysit or pet-sit, and so on. These jobs could even scale depending on how much time you want to dedicate to it – Diana C., who was laid off in July 2016, actually started pet-sitting while looking for a new full-time job. “My side hustle actually provided enough income to cover my COBRA medical insurance premium monthly until I found a new job,” she said. “After that, I continued to get clients and realized that the need for a good, reliable dog sitter is pretty high. A lot of dog owners don’t want to put their furry family member in a kennel and love the idea of their dog being in a private home where it can get special one-on-one attention.” She continued offering her services through Rover.com even after she found a new job.
5. Do small tasks for money.
Piggybacking on “pick up a side job” above, you can monetize any skills or extra time you have by offering to do tasks on places like mTurk or GigWalk. You can do many of these tasks from your smartphone or tablet.
6. Sell unwanted items.
If you have anything that’s worth a few bucks (or a lot more) and is just sitting around gathering dust, consider selling it online to subsidize your home-based business life! eBay, Etsy, Amazon, and other sites all offer ways to sell pretty much anything you might want to sell. Got an instrument you’re not playing? Sell it. Antiques you don’t really like? Sell them. Jewelry you’re not wearing? Give someone else a chance to sparkle – for a price, of course. Apps like Letgo, along with Facebook communities specializing in local communities’ online yard sales, make turning your unwanted items into cash even easier.
7. Do you make things? Consider selling those things.
If you are able to crochet, knit, make jewelry, or anything else creative and handmade, you can turn those skills into money. Even if you don’t want to make things as your primary business, you can still make limited items or offer commissions and save that money for WAH startup costs. You can do this either directly, among friends, and on referral, or you can set up a shop through a website like Etsy. There are plenty of people out there who can’t knit, but want someone to knit a certain pattern for them in certain colors, or enjoy ordering affordable custom jewelry.
I hope these methods and examples of work-from-home jobs that provide equipment have inspired you, and you’re ready to get started on preparing for your work-at-home life! And, for my readers who are already working at home, I’d love to hear from you – what tactics did you use to fund your start-up costs when you began?
