• Work Your Way Through
• Your Way Home Montgomery County Pa
• Work Your Way Home Program Program
• Work Your Way Up

• Find out how to make money without ever leaving your house with these telecommuting job opportunities and work from home jobs. Way to make money on the side. Set your own rates and choose.
• Now that I’ve shared my take on the best work-from-home jobs for 2019 – I want to know what you think! Leave a comment and let me know: What’s your favorite way to make money from home? Or what type of business do you run?
• Whether you work from home, or in a traditional office environment, there comes a time when there's a yearning for the opposite scenario to apply! When I’m Not Freelancing Like all creative mavericks everywhere, I’m not content with doing the one thing called “The Day Job”.
• Your road to employment through the Ticket program is a two-way street: You receive free assistance from your service provider to prepare for, find and keep a job, while you work your way towards financial independence.

Work Your Way Through

The “Work Your Way Home Program,” has helped 117 people find their way back home. “I’ve sent people as far as Delaware,” said Kelly Knight, homeless outreach coordinator for the program.

When former stay-at-home mom Lori Hill decided to return to work after 22 years, she knew it would be a challenge. But she wasn’t prepared for just how hard it would be. On job interviews, most of the hiring managers she found herself sitting across from were men half her age.

“I would walk into some interviews and I would get the impression [of], ‘Oh, what’s my mom doing here?’” says Hill, who worked as a software developer for 10 years before taking a career break.

Hill felt a double stigma around being both female and older in an industry with few women, and which seemed to prefer younger employees.

“The interviewers didn’t know what to do with me,” Hill told NBC News BETTER.

After she explained to one interviewer that she left the workforce to raise her kids, he responded, “Are you sure you want to work full time?” The question angered Hill.

“If I wasn’t looking for a full-time job I wouldn’t be putting myself through all that pain of interviewing,” she says.

Explaining the Resume Gap

Hill’s job search started in 2011 and lasted a frustrating four years. She became self-conscious about the long gap on her resume, and left out specifics like dates and the names of employers that would reveal her age.

“I was really sensitive to my age being the disqualifier,” she says.

Resume gaps are damaging even if a job seeker has only been out of work for a year, according to New York City executive recruiter Rick Aronstein, who heads product recruitment at AC Lion.

“The lower the technology threshold is for the job, the easier it will be to reenter,” Aronstein says. “The more qualified your skill set is, it should be easier, but technology skill sets can atrophy if you’re not using them all the time.”

But concealing a resume gap can be self-sabotaging, explains Aronstein. He says candidates are better off using the gap to explain why they left work, especially if they had a good reason for it. “[Recruiters] are always looking for a narrative that is understandable that doesn’t raise a lot of eyebrows,” he says.

Skill Sets Change, But Aptitude Stays the Same

Employers worry that return-to-work employees don’t have the latest technical skills, according to Carol Fishman Cohen, CEO of career reentry firm iRelaunch.

“I argue that it’s a temporary condition,” Fishman Cohen says. “It’s just a matter of updating yourself, and once you learn it, you’re caught up and you’re using these technologies just like everyone else.”

In Hill’s case, the technical skill set required in her industry had transformed greatly from when she left in 1993, but she knew her aptitude hadn’t changed. She took courses at a local college to learn mobile app development and picked up freelance projects to apply her skills. But working alone kept her out of the loop on the industry’s ever-changing lingo, which made interviews challenging.

'Quite often someone would ask me a question during an interview and I would be like, 'I don’t really know what that is' Hill remembers. 'And then I’d go home and Google it and I’d be like, ‘Oh, not only do I know what that is, but I actually used it.'

The interview process had also changed from when Hill was right out of college. For example, many of her interviews involved solving formulas on a whiteboard.

“You never can predict what the problem will be,” Hill says. “It’s kind of nerve-racking.'

Catching up With a Fast-Changing Industry

In 2015, Hill landed a job at NBC News in Seattle after a friend who worked there advocated for her to get an interview. The mother of three was faced with a new work environment that tested her confidence. She was older than most of her co-workers, including her boss. Email and instant messaging made the pace of communication much faster. Even the out-dated tradition of putting two spaces after a period — a rule she learned in high school — seemed to reveal her age.

'People judge you...It's not necessarily being a mom and being female, but it's being older and not with the times.'

“The engineer I was working with, he was really, really specific about how everything needed to be formatted in the code,” Hill says. When the engineer was reviewing a comment she put in her code, he saw two spaces after a period and wrote “not necessary.”

“I feel like people judge you on that,” Hill says. “It’s not necessarily being a mom and being female, but it’s being older and not with the times.”

Hill acknowledged that returning to work took “a big dose of humility.”

“If you don’t have that big dose of humility, I don’t think you can do it, because it’s quite humbling,” she says.

Seeing Return-to-Work Employees as Assets

Some companies are beginning to offer ‘returnships’ — internship programs to attract talented job seekers who have taken career breaks and need to revamp their skills. In 2016, IBM launched a 12-week reentry program that helped the company source 17 interns, according to IBM executive Jennifer Howland, who oversees the program. Like Hill, many were women who had been out of the workforce for up to 20 years.

Howland sees that as an asset: “They’re not out trying to find themselves like you might find with a university student who’s in their late teens and early 20s. They know what they want to do.”

According to Howland, returnees have fewer job relocations because many already own a home, are less likely to go on maternity leave or have special childcare needs and have years of professional experience. She says they are typically enthusiastic about getting back to work.

“It’s humbling to see that this small program could have so much impact on the women who go through it, and they’re visibly in tears when they leave,” says Howland.

Few companies have formal reentry programs as part of their diversity initiatives, but those that do often expand them once they realize how effective they are at attracting skilled employees, according to Fishman Cohen. Currently, 30 companies participate in the program.

“In the STEM programs, 60-100 percent of the interns are converting to full-time employees,” Fishman Cohen says. “Those numbers are stunning.”

Returnships: The Key to Easing Back into the Workforce

Haritha Choudhary was one of the women who found employment at IBM after taking a seven-year career break to raise her son. Formerly an electronics engineer at Motorola, Choudhary was apprehensive about returning to work. Through the IBM reentry program, she received training in data science, a field much different from the one she left behind.

“During my internship I had to use new programs, new tools, new applications...so it was a bit of a learning curve,” she says.

The program included a number of on-boarding programs that introduced Choudhary to the corporate culture, resources and people at IBM. She said the program boosted her confidence and helped her transition into the workplace. It also gave her a chance to put her training into practice without a lot of pressure.

“The realization that my engineer brain was still functioning along with my mommy brain was such a relief for me,” says Choudhary, who is now a full-time employee with the company in Westchester, New York.

The returnship was the first and only job Choudhary applied for when she decided to rejoin the workforce. The engineer doubted she would have found work without it, despite her 10 years of professional experience.

“I definitely don’t think [I would have been able to find work],” Choudhary says. “It was the reentry program that was the key to being able to return successfully.”

Julie Compton is a freelance journalist in Brooklyn, New York. Follow her @julieallmighty

Exciting New Job Opportunities That Will Leave You Hanging...
Despite exciting promises, work at home offers are notorious for leaving potential workers high and dry. They promise large sums of money for various enterprises like filling out online surveys, home craft assembly, internet consulting, and home typing offers. Many of these offers even claim that you can earn a sustainable regular income, often exceeding the salaries of average full time workers. Advertisements can be found everywhere from newspaper ads to telephone poles.

With increasing popularity, the Internet has made it much easier for scam artists advertising work-at-home offers to get their message across. They usually make themselves known through web sites and by sending emails to various individuals. It is important to keep in mind that although a web site may look professional, if it offers a quick and easy way to make money, it is most likely a scam. Since the Internet is largely unregulated, it is easy for the average person to make their own professional web site in a matter of days while claiming to be a legitimate company. These sites are usually put up long enough to lure unsuspecting consumers and then vanish once they rip people off of their money.

Your Way Home Montgomery County Pa

Below you will find a list of general things to keep in mind if you are considering a work at home offer. In addition, we have provided some examples of the most popular work at home scams.

THINKING ABOUT WORKING AT HOME?
Some things you should consider first

• Check out the company. Learn how long it has been in business and if it has received any complaints. Contact the Attorney General, local consumer protection agencies, the Better Business Bureau, and the Secretary of State in the state where the company is headquartered.
  
• Get all earnings claims in writing. Be sure it includes the number and percentage of others who have earned as much as the promoter claims. If the promoter hesitates or refuses, walk away from the deal.
  
• Be skeptical of past success stories. Ask the promoter to give you the names of previous consumers so you can pick and choose whom to call. When speaking to references, ask them for the names of their clients and details of their operations. You may also consider meeting references in person. Again, at any sign of hesitation on the part of the promoter or references, walk away.
  
• Check out the refund and cancellation policies. A company will often offer to refund your money only if you have operated according to their instructions or if your products meet their standards, which are usually very high. Ask to get their refund and cancellation policies in writing.
  
• Consult an attorney, accountant, or other business advisor before you sign any agreement or make any payments. If the company requires a deposit, you may want your attorney to establish an escrow account where the money will be maintained by a neutral third party.
  

QUESTIONS TO ASK
Legitimate job opportunities require a contract - in writing – outlining what's involved in the work you are providing or the program they are selling to you. Here are some questions you might ask a potential work-at-home employer:

• What tasks will I have to perform? (The employer should give you a step by step training about the process)
  
• Will I be paid a salary or will my pay be based on commission?
  
• Who will pay me?
  
• When will I get my first paycheck?
  
• What is the total cost of the work-at-home program, including supplies, equipment and membership fees? What will I get for my money?

TYPICAL WORK-AT-HOME SCHEMES

Work Your Way Home Program Program

YOUR OPINION DOESN’T MATTER
The online survey scheme

This scheme offers you money for signing up and filling out surveys online. The promoters sell you on the idea that marketers are desperate to hear your opinion and that millions of people have already taken advantage of this opportunity. Then, they charge you a fee to get access to the marketing companies. The fees are often scaled so that, supposedly, the more you pay, the more surveys you will receive. Often different survey sites will use “testimonials” with or without accompanying pictures from consumers who have used their service. However, many of these testimonials are fake. For example, part or all of the following testimonial appeared on six different survey websites.

“I am a first timer to your wonderful website. I must admit that it had kickstarted my interest in earning a second income stream once I saw it. You have definitely opened up a whole new world for me.”

Be skeptical. The better it sounds, the more likely it is a scam. Some marketers do offer to pay for online surveys, but often you have to fit into a very specific demographic, making it unlikely that you could fill out enough surveys in a week, or even a month, to provide even a small amount of money. Also, if marketers are so desperate for your opinion, why would you have to pay them before filling out a survey? The answer: you don’t. Legitimate marketers do not charge a fee for you to use their service.

INDEPENDENT?
The independent review scam

A related scam involves independent review sites for online surveys and other work-at-home opportunities. In response to the abundance of scams in the work-at-home industries, they offer “independent” research on which survey sites or other work-at-home opportunities are legitimate. Based on their research, these organizations recommend opportunities they have found to be legitimate. However, often the reviewers operate the sites they are supposedly reviewing. The sites they recommend are basically advertisements for their scams.

DON’T GET STUFFED
The envelope stuffing scheme

One of the older work-at-home schemes involves envelope stuffing or mailing. Usually, the company charges a fee, from $15 to $40, to send you instructions. Unfortunately, what most people get is either nothing at all, or information on how they can place their own work-at-home advertisements. Thus, if you place one of these ads, not only would you mislead others about legitimate employment, you may also be breaking the law. Many people who run these schemes are eventually put out of business by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED
The product assembly scheme

In these schemes, you spend hundreds of dollars for instructions and materials, as well as many hours of your time, to produce items for a company that has promised to buy them. However, once you have purchased the supplies and have done the work, the company may decide not to pay you because the work you send back is not “up to standard.” In fact, no matter how well you have assembled the products, your work will never be “up to standard.” As a result you are left with useless supplies, and the unwanted items you have already made, while the company profits on the fees you paid. Some companies may never send you supplies, even though you had paid for them.

BILLED TO LAST
The medical billing scheme

The promoters of these scams promise that you can earn a substantial income working full or part-time, providing services such as billing, accounts receivable, electronic insurance claim processing, and practice management to doctors and dentists. They will send you promotional materials that typically include a brochure, application, sample diskettes, a contract (licensing agreement), disclosure document, and in some cases, testimonial letters, video cassettes, and reference lists. According to the Federal Trade Commission, for your investment of $2,000 to $8,000, most companies promise software, training, and technical support.

Few consumers who purchase these programs are able to find clients and generate revenue, let alone earn enough income to recover their investment. Promoters rarely provide experienced sales staff or contacts within the medical community. This is important because competition in the medical billing market is very strong among a number of large and well-established firms. The glowing references that a company provides may have been bought from “singers” or “shills” – people hired by the promoter to give a favorable report on the business.

PSYCH OUT
The psychic hotline/900 number scheme

Another work-at-home “opportunity” claims that simply by setting up a 900 number from your home you can earn good money as a psychic or tarot reader. Startup fees range from about $50 to $500 to setup a 900 number, after which you get paid every time you receive a call. Employers in the psychic reader business often require that you purchase special cards, training books, and other materials. Employers pressure you to keep callers on the phone for as long as possible, sometimes imposing requirements on the length of calls, even though most calls only last 5 minutes. And, you only get paid for the time you spend on the phone, not for the time you spend waiting for callers. In addition, some employers pressure you into getting the clients’ name, address or other personal information so that they can send clients advertising and junk mail.

Some psychic hotlines do generate a lot of money, however, many of them do so by aggressive advertising which can cost thousands of dollars a month, hardly something an individual work-at-home operator can manage. While a select few make good money in the psychic reader business, if you fall for a psychic hotline scam requiring investments and personal advertising, you are likely to lose out.

NOT YOUR TYPE
The home typing scheme

In this scheme, a company claims to need home-based workers to help with clerical tasks, such as typing or data entry. Some claim that you can make over $500 a week. The company requires you to pay processing fees either as an application fee or for special software, ranging from $25 to $250, often in the form of cash or money orders. Often you are not employed by these companies, but instead, they send you a booklet of information about how to start your career as a typist, where you do all the legwork. Others send you lists of companies that outsource typing or data entry work. After you call the companies on the list, they will tell you they have never heard of the list and do not hire work-at-home typists. Legitimate clerical outsourcing firms do not require application fees and do not require that you pay for special software. Do not be fooled into thinking that you need to pay a fee to get a job. Also, very few companies outsource clerical work.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Work Your Way Up

Visit BBB to view a business profile or to search for Accredited Businesses and Charities.

You can also file a complaint with the following agencies:

US Postal Inspection Service
P.O. Box 555 New York, NY 10116-0555
(800) 372-8347
www.usps.gov

Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20580
NYC Consumer Line: (212) 264-1207
www.ftc.gov

Bureau of Consumer Frauds & Protection
New York State Attorney General’s Office
120 Broadway
New York, NY 10271
(212) 416-8345
www.oag.state.ny.us