One of the few important things the pandemic has taught everyone is that it’s possible to be productive and earn a living from home. In fact, some companies have seen the benefits of remote working options and continue to offer them as part of their flexible working arrangements.

Moreover, the so-called great resignation that’s still ongoing shows people’s preference for working from home.

If you’re keen to join the work-from-home (WFH) bandwagon but don’t know if you have what it takes to do it successfully, worry no more. Here, we share possible career paths and opportunities you can take to get started on your WFH journey.

1. Administrative

If you have great communication, organisational and time management skills, you could build a career in the following roles:

• Virtual assistant (VA): In this role, you may be tasked to work as the assistant of an executive, setting up phone, virtual and in-person meetings, making travel arrangements, handling data entry, etc. 
• Remote airline ticketing agent: Although this position may involve a variety of duties, tickets and exchanges will be its main focus. When necessary, you’ll make reservations for flights and other travel-related services and give estimates for suggested routes and itineraries.
• HR assistant: To ensure company service standards and targets are reached, you will provide managers and employees with policy-driven HR advice and guidance on a wide range of operational employment-related issues.
• Transcriptionist: As a transcriptionist, your job is to transcribe audio recordings into text. Since some companies require transcriptionists to edit their output to ensure it is grammatically correct, a good command of the language used may be necessary.

2. Writing and editing

If you have a flair for writing or experience in editing and proofreading, you can work remotely as a:

• Content writer: As a content writer, you’ll be working on sales-driven or marketing materials that may be search engine optimisation or SEO-focused. These include ads, press releases, product descriptions, advertorials, web page copy, etc.
• Writing reviewer: Some educational institutions hire writing reviewers to provide constructive feedback on college writing projects, such as essays, research papers and other similar academic forms of writing.
• Ghost writer: There are companies that hire ghost writers to work on e-book projects and other types of ghost-writing work for their clients.
• Content editor: If you have a solid journalism or editing background, or have advanced writing skills, content editing may be a great fit. As a content editor, you’ll be proofreading and restructuring digital copy written by content writers.

3. Teaching

Former teachers and educators, or anyone who’s an expert in the craft, can teach online. You can work as any of the following depending on your area of expertise.

• English teacher or tutor: This can mean working with children, teenagers or adults, or handling mixed-age classes. Some companies also hire business English teachers for adult clients wishing to acquire advanced English mastery.
• Music teacher: You may teach others how to play the piano, guitar, violin, flute or some other musical instrument. You can also offer voice lessons online.
• Maths or science teacher: If mathematics or science is your forte, there are also jobs for those who want to share their expertise in these fields.

These are just examples of what you can teach online. However, you may be good at something else and, as long as it’s something you can share with others, you can make a career out of it, too.

4. Entrepreneurship

A lot of successful businesses today are run from or initially started at home. You can sell your products or provide services too without the need to get a commercial space or office.

Some businesses that can be operated from home include:

• Catering
• Handyman services
• Baking or any food business
• Arts and crafts
• Video editing and animation
• Photography
• Dressmaking or tailoring

There are many other jobs that are being done online, and you can start earning a living this way.

Start by assessing your skills, experience and things you’re good at, and you should be on your way to building a WFH career or business.

If this article has inspired you to think about your own unique situation and, more importantly, what you and your family are going through right now, please contact your advice professional.

(Feedsy Exclusive)