Where can you find a legitimate, work from home (virtual) position?

This is a common question. Once you realize the majority of "Work From Home" job postings and websites are scams, it leaves you wondering.... Where do you find the legitimate work from home (virtual) positions?

Below each job description you'll find some websites that hire for that position. I do not guarantee these companies, nor do I guarantee that you'll get a project. I'm just trying to provide some links to help your search.

Below are the most common virtual positions today:

Mystery Shopping: Yes, this is for real. I have completed a few projects and it is completely legitimate. You can make a decent amount from Mystery Shopping if you're with a reputable company and near a larger city. (The majority of the shops/projects are in the metro/highly populated area). The Mystery Shopper is asked to contact the business by phone, or visit in person, as a regular customer (you are not to reveal your status as a Mystery Shopper) and provide detailed evaluations of your experience. Its not consistent, they contact you when they have shops available in your area, however you can be registered with more than one company to increase your chance of getting projects. I do recommend working with a service that is a member of the MSPA (Mystery Shopping Providers Association.

NSS: http://www.nationalshoppingservice.com/
BMA: http://www.mystery-shopping.com/
Shoppers' Critique: http://www.shopperscritique.com/services/index.asp

Call Center/Customer Service and/or Home Agent: This is an extremely popular position. Thousands of companies hire Home Based Customer Service representatives. This position requires you to take incoming calls to assist customers with their accounts (providing assistance with billing issues/disputes, taking payments, answering questions, etc). This is a highly sought after position because it is where a large majority of those looking for virtual employment start, however there are a lot of companies out there that are constantly hiring for Customer Service reps. Your best bet is to apply to as many as possible, complete their application process (this may involve a typing test, some questions as to how you would deal with specific customer service situations, etc).

Cloud 10: http://www.cloud10corp.com/careercenter/
Alpine Access: http://www.alpineaccess.com/external/index.html
West at Home: http://www.westathome.com/

Administrative/Virtual Assistant: Now, this is the tricky one. There are legit Data Entry, Word Processing, Virtual Assistant and other administrative support positions and projects out there. However, there are only a few places to find these positions (other than the Freelance sites -- see my earlier post). The following sites are membership sites, meaning they do require a membership fee, but they are completely legit. I have been a member of these sites for 2 years now and have found a number of positions from them. Every now and then a scam sneaks by, however they are QUICK to remove it from their site.

These sites lists a WIDE variety of virtual positions including but not limited to: Web Design/Computer programming, Virtual Assistant, Data Entry, Transcription, Customer Service, Writing/Editing/Proofreading, Blogging, etc.

And, no.... I do not get anything from recommending these sites:

Virtual Vocations: www.virtualvocations.com
Telecommuting Jobs: http://www.tjobs.com/index.shtml

The following is a free site. This site is like the others above, they gather virtual positions from all over the web (including CraigsList, Career Builder, Monster.com, etc.)

WAHM: http://www.wahm.com/jobs.html

Keep in mind, working from home is INCREDIBLY competitive. It took me nearly 8 months to get my first virtual project. After that, they came pretty quickly. In the meantime, consider upgrading your home office setup to make it stand out to employers (Virtual Fax, MS Office 2007, Voicemail, private office space in your home, etc) and consider learning some new skills -- it will keep you busy, and will make you more valuable in the end!