Homeworking?

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Hey guys,

With the ever increasing tabloid press about more and more people working from home, and the life benefits from such, I was wondering if anyone actually knew anyone that did, or knows of anywhere specific to look for jobs in IT that are work from home.

I have a couple of things that would make that an absolutely excellent prospect for me, but is it all just a pipedream?

Any advice would be most thankfully accepted.

 

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I worked from home for about a year and a half. I loved the commute (about 50 feet)... but I *really* felt disconnected from my co-workers and the overall process. I wouldn't mind being able to work from home a day or two a week... but I actually prefer being in the office. My only complaint is that it takes, at a minimum, 37 minutes to get to work... which is time I could be spending doing something productive. However, the co-worker interaction is irreplaceable.

 

Was that with a technical based IT role and not authoring?

 

Some of the workers that I support (civil servants) work from home - I know one woman who only comes into the office 1 day out of every 3 weeks! But she didn't do a technical role.

Other than that, I don't know anyone specifically in the IT industry

 

With the big push for work/life balance, greener working and businesses 'consolidating' the space they pay for (closing offices), then I can personally see home working, at least for a good proprtion of the week, taking off for certain types of worker.

You can have a staff member who is mobile, with laptop and 3G card (or wireless access using hotspot facilities when 'out and about'), visiting customers. That staff member then goes home, and works over Broadband, updating backend databases, holding voice conferences with colleagues. They probably, if ever, go into the main office for a team meeting maybe once a month at most.

I do a lot of work from home, out of necessity. I don't say I enjoy it much; indeed, I tend to find I work longer hours. In fact, I am still working now at 19:00 (or just before). I started work at 7:00 this morning.

Not seeing people during the day is a bit weird, and I do think the way you handle situations with 'real' people face to face does change. I try to make a few calls througout the day, just so I am talking to other people.

 

I work from my home all the time. It takes a special kind of discipline to do it though as it's really easy to just kind of blow things off. It's not for everyone.

The other negative to it is that work is always there in front of you. You can't go home at the end of the day. You're still at your workplace. And, if you're a workaholic as I am your significant other better be very understanding about the times you run into a problem and it takes you 12 or 14 hours to solve it. My wife is pretty good about things, but even then she gets upset when I work until 1 or 2 in the morning and I don't spend any time with her in the evenings. It's hard on her.

That said working from home has some pretty distinct advantages too. I'm not tied to a phone line so if I need to take off and do something I can when I need/want to. I can dress comfortably for me rather than to make an impression on someone else. I don't have to buy lunch or pack one. The kitchen is right here. Or, if I want to go to lunch with my wife we can just go at her convenience, around her schedule at work, which is very nice for both of us.

The biggest plus is the lack of a gas bill. Not having a commute to and from work saves a lot on gas and wear-and-tear on the car. I figure I make a couple of hundred dollars a month in just those savings.

Edit:

If you're a social person, and need interaction with your fellow employees, telecommuting can be hard on you. I call and talk to the boss man once a day just to keep in touch and hear what's happening. You're 'home alone" all day when you work at home, so you better be satisfied with yourself for company or it can be pretty depressing.

 

I like the structure you get having to get up and go to the office, the interaction with the team and the nice feeling when I swipe out after a hard day.

 

Like Michael, I worked from home for about a year after Transcender was purchased by Kaplan. I really enjoyed it. It does take a unique discipline to be able to do it effectively and there's certainly a level of disconnect from the office, but that's one of the reasons I liked it so much. There were rarely any distractions or interruptions. And, with technology as advanced as it is, there's plenty of ways to interact with coworkers. It just takes a concerted effort to do so.

That being said, there is a certain level of overhead required in managing and participating in work-from-home programs. If the company's not committed to making it work, it probably won't. Also, there are some advantages to being in an office and being able to quickly ask a coworker a question without the overhead of making a call or waiting on an e-mail or IM response.

If I had a choice between working from home or coming into an office, I'd likely choose working from home. I just think that I got more actual work done when I was working from home. But, I do enjoy being able to get to know my coworkers, which I didn't really get a chance to do working for Self Test/Kaplan IT.

 

I think working from home would be quite a no-go for me, as others have pointed out it requires a discipline and i think one which i am yet to posess i.e. currently I am trying to plan out a write up to best cover my time on a job because i couldnt get it done while i was at work, and yet im on this forum seeing if any posts ive been reading have been updated in the last 30 mins

 

I have collegues that regularly work from home twice a week. Personally I average once a week. Our manager is felxible with this so long as it's consistent. I can't work from home on Frdiay one week and then Tuesday of the next.

Saying that, I have to agree with some of the earlier comments. I appreciate work being seperate from home and having the distinction works for me. Also, I get more done (and understood) with office interaction. The only thing I do on my 'home days' is documentation; and conference calls.

 

I work with the public sector and quite a few of our users work from home as we support them using RAS connection via Citrix.

I do like the idea but like someone else mentioned has its plus and also having to motivate yourself to work and not play PC games

 

Authoring, but I suspect it would be the same with a technical-based role... working from home, it's hard to learn from those above you, and hard to teach those below you, without that face-to-face interaction.

 

Oooh, this was a bad one for me, too. I couldn't leave the work alone... it was too easy to go do more work when I should have been spending time with the family.

You should see how we dress here. Currently wearing shorts and running shoes. Although I have a polo shirt on today, I usually wear a T-shirt.

That's one of the main reasons why I'd consider working from home again. It'd save me at least that much.

 

Ah, yes, another good benefit. But the distractions are usually to help others out... at least, here.

Yeah, but the effort can't all come from one side. You had an excellent relationship with Bill. Since I wasn't on his team, I was left out on an island.

 

Hi
could u tell me how can i work from home or start working from home well i m not employed and wants to do something from home any sort of computer work with decent money.