WAHM Forums

We are taking a bold step and looking at growing our company virtually rather than growing our inside staff at this time. We have identified stay at home professionals as a good target for this role. I'm not here advertising but rather to understand first.

Here is a brief description of what we do so you understand our role. Then I will ask a few questions to get any comments.

We are a Staffing Agency (Headhunters-direct hire only) that places mid to senior level candidates in engineering positions around the country. We specialize in the Architectural/Engineering/Construction, Energy & Utilities Industries. However we will be growing into other niches soon.

My questions:
What are the top three considerations a WAHM looks for in a work at home position?

What has been missing?

What motivates you? financial, cause, service, culture,etc...

Any other advice, comments or suggestions?

We are taking a bold step and looking at growing our company virtually rather than growing our inside staff at this time. We have identified stay at home professionals as a good target for this role. I'm not here advertising but rather to understand first.

Here is a brief description of what we do so you understand our role. Then I will ask a few questions to get any comments.

We are a Staffing Agency (Headhunters-direct hire only) that places mid to senior level candidates in engineering positions around the country. We specialize in the Architectural/Engineering/Construction, Energy & Utilities Industries. However we will be growing into other niches soon.

My questions:
What are the top three considerations a WAHM looks for in a work at home position?

What has been missing?

What motivates you? financial, cause, service, culture,etc...

Any other advice, comments or suggestions?

Personally for me when I look into a work at home position the top three considerations are as follows:

1. Flexibility with hours and making my own schedule of the hours I can work.
2. The type of company that I am looking into work for I do extensive research to make sure I will not only fit the company, but the company will fit me.
3. The amount of pay whether it be through talk time, hourly, or commission. I then narrow that down on how often the company pays as well as their method of payment.

What I find lacking with certain companies is that a majority of them hire us an independent contractors rather than employees. There are some that hire as employees and provide benefits to those of us working from home, but I do not believe there are enough out there.

What motivates me would be that the position I am applying for has all of the attributes I described above in the of what I look for when applying for a company. I am a strong believer of being up front with employers about my skills and how I will be able to use those skills while working for them. In turn I would like employers to be up front with me as well about what exactly the position I am applying for entails so that together we can make the best decision on whether the position would work out for the both of us.

I am curious as to what other responses there will be in this thread, and I thank you for asking these questions because it helps our members to not only get to know one another, but also in our job searches. Have a great day!!

Personally for me when I look into a work at home position the top three considerations are as follows:

1. Flexibility with hours and making my own schedule of the hours I can work.
2. The type of company that I am looking into work for I do extensive research to make sure I will not only fit the company, but the company will fit me.
3. The amount of pay whether it be through talk time, hourly, or commission. I then narrow that down on how often the company pays as well as their method of payment.

What I find lacking with certain companies is that a majority of them hire us an independent contractors rather than employees. There are some that hire as employees and provide benefits to those of us working from home, but I do not believe there are enough out there.

What motivates me would be that the position I am applying for has all of the attributes I described above in the of what I look for when applying for a company. I am a strong believer of being up front with employers about my skills and how I will be able to use those skills while working for them. In turn I would like employers to be up front with me as well about what exactly the position I am applying for entails so that together we can make the best decision on whether the position would work out for the both of us.

I am curious as to what other responses there will be in this thread, and I thank you for asking these questions because it helps our members to not only get to know one another, but also in our job searches. Have a great day!!

She covers it quite well here!

1. Flexibility 2. Hourly pay and Benefits 3. Employee status and NOT IC

Have a great day

I think Mel covered most of it and I agree with her completely, but I would also say:

* Flexibility with hours and being able to make our own schedules.
* Hourly pay with benefits and the opportunity for advancement within the company.
* Employee status instead of IC, however, I wouldn't mind independent contractor status, because there are perks and pros and cons to both.
* Method and frequency of payment (i.e. paypal, check, etc., weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.)
* Hourly or commission. I personally prefer hourly status myself, because I have never cared for a commission position, because in a commission position you can sit there and work hours on end and NOT make a dime and then people start getting discouraged and won't be with you long-term, whereas if it is an hourly position, they will stick with you for the long-term in most cases, especially if they like the position and it is rewarding.
* I would also have to say entry level positions for newbies and people who have never done the particular type of work before or staffing placement, with the ability to train for a position.

I think that a lot of WAHM's that have babies and small children are looking for a position where they are able to work around their children's schedules and such, so this is why flexibility would rank high up there. :)

What motivates me is financial, benefits and advancement rewards within a company, as well as flexibility, as well as cause, service and culture. :)

I also thank you for posting this as well and would love to take a look at your opportunity when you and your company have unveiled the work at home plan and are ready to hire virtual candidates.

If I think of any more, I will be sure to post them here. :D

*NOTE: By the way, I'm NOT a newbie, since I've been working from home for the last 18 years. :)

We are taking a bold step and looking at growing our company virtually rather than growing our inside staff at this time. We have identified stay at home professionals as a good target for this role. I'm not here advertising but rather to understand first.

Here is a brief description of what we do so you understand our role. Then I will ask a few questions to get any comments.

We are a Staffing Agency (Headhunters-direct hire only) that places mid to senior level candidates in engineering positions around the country. We specialize in the Architectural/Engineering/Construction, Energy & Utilities Industries. However we will be growing into other niches soon.

My questions:
What are the top three considerations a WAHM looks for in a work at home position?

What has been missing?

What motivates you? financial, cause, service, culture,etc...

Any other advice, comments or suggestions?

Great topic and great questions Teksun.

What has been missing?

I see a lot of postings, especially lately, where people are looking for non-phone jobs. Jobs other than the typical customer service/call center work at home jobs that seem to be pretty popular.


What motivates you? financial, cause, service, culture,etc...

Doing a job I enjoy. I'm currently working at home and I love the additional time it gives me with my family. I'd rather have 2+ extra hours a day with them then sitting in a car driving back and forth to work. And if you enjoy what you're doing and work in a positive organization without a lot of negative politics, that is always a blessing.


Any other advice, comments or suggestions?

If you can find stable positions that pay decently, you're totally on the right track with your site.

I also agree with what danasurvey says regarding the non-phone jobs, as that is what I had wanted to include in my post, so thank you danasurvey for noting that. :) I also agree with her regarding loving the position that you are working. :D

Good luck w/your business expansion. My husband is a civil engineer, so I know that is a promising and one of the few rapidly expanding fields.

I switched to wah for the balance of career and family. I''ve been doing this for 6 years. Melstarz covers the important topics, and I agree with her. I will just add:

Having worked in WAH recruiting, I think you will find higher levels of candidate if you go this route. Your applicants are more likely to have higher education, more professional, and with the flexibility factor, your wah staff are more productive.

Best wishes to you.

I agree with most on the flixibility part. It is extremely important that I am able to schedule my own hours and time. I don't mind being and IC over an employee as I feel that does allow some of the flexibility, although some kind of benefits would really be nice.
I also agree that a flat hourly rate, or "piece" rate would be much preferred over commission. I do a lot of phone work, customer service. And it is irritating to be tied down to the phones for 3 hours and find the call volume is low so I made $3 per hour when I could have done something else and earned substantially more.
Motivation: Of course money is always good motivation! But, I as well would like to find a company I could grow with. Potential raises, promotions, bonuses and/or other little perks would be very nice.

As to things that are missing, I feel that there is not enough communication through the application and post application process. There are times I have applied and applied and you never hear a thing. Not a thank you we got your application, not a no thank you, the position is filled or you don't qualify. Nothing! Even if you write and ask you often don't get a response.
Also please have a firm training program in place. It is amazing how many work at home employers basically say, "Okay, get to it" and there is little or no support and/or training.
Most of the people here are in one area or another professionals. We know what we are doing or we are willing to put the time and effort into learning with a good training program. With that in mind we are still trying to make a living and we count on the income. A lot of WAH businesses seem to think we don't have expenses and, frankly, think we should be able to work for a couple dollars an hour. Most of us rely on our WAH to raise families or, at the very least, substantially supplement the household income.

Thank you for asking such great questions!!

Every one above has had great points. I don't mind being an IC because of the MAJOR tax benefits. However, as an employer if you are going to have IC's instead of employees, please do not lower the pay! It seems that if someone is an IC they receive a much lower pay than if they got a "normal" job. For me it is flexibility and pay. My family is worth more of my time than 8.00 an hour. I was just recently hired for a MAJOR world wide company and was very excited. There was promise of grow and I was able to use my skills. However after starting the job I realized that they expected me to work 20-30 a week in order to make my quota. It came out to less than $4.00 an hour. We as stay at home moms are not less valuable employees. If a company can respond in a way that shows respect and appreciation in pay/benefits they will find long term team players that will put there heart in to the company. It will become more than just a pay check and flexibility but a commitment to help the company to grow.

We as stay at home moms are not less valuable employees. If a company can respond in a way that shows respect and appreciation in pay/benefits they will find long term team players that will put there heart in to the company. It will become more than just a pay check and flexibility but a commitment to help the company to grow.

Perfect! You very eloquently said what I was trying to say!! :)

I definitely agree with everyone else. The main things I look for are flexibility, pay, and a job that I enjoy doing. I need something that I'm not tied to the computer, as I need to be able to get up when needed to break up a fight between the kids. :-) I also prefer non-phone work, as I just hate talking on the phone.

We are committed to building, “the world’s most extraordinary staffing company by building better companies and making a positive impact in the lives of our candidates.”

You feedback will greatly shape our commitment to growing our company virtually. We also understand that we will not win in the marketplace if we don't build a winning workplace.

Here are some of our thoughts on your feedback:

Flexibility- No problem, most professionals can be reached between 1pm to 5pm then at home 6-8pm daily with 1 hr of internet research anytime. 3-4 hrs daily is realistic. I personally do my computer research after 9:30pm once my kids go to bed.

IC -vs- employee - We want to build a community so its important that anybody who works with us gets tuned in to us. This job takes passion for making a difference. Idealy I would like an employee arrangement but state laws might dictate otherwise. It will be important for us to be able to offer benefits or perks to IC or employees or have the opportunity to contribute towards. Yes we would pay the same regardless. (I feel IC will win out though, legal, accounting, etc)

$$- Probably would not make sense to do hourly since are fees are contingent on finding the right people. However when a placement is made it can be worth it. We want to be able to show how a VR can make $3000 to $5000+ per month working about 25 hrs a week. More risk = more reward. This is realistic and the upside can be greater, but I'm very conservative when it comes to numbers. This is a pipeline business and will take time to develop. No easy money I promise, it will be earned.

Phone- that's our main vehicle of communications. This is definetely a people position, type A personality required. We are not social workers but we talk with 20-30 professionals daily. Engineers sometimes have an interesting personality.

Training- Absolutely, with todays technology that will be one of our key offereings is to train and mentor. This is not a "cross your fingers" kind of position. It take time and effort to develop the skills. That will be our biggest investment, our time in training and mentoring.

Thank you again and we are still listening but have learned so much already. We hope to have something more formal soon. We are very excited about or commitment in this direction.

Just wanted to say thank you for asking and keeping us updated. I didn't specify anything as it was pretty much covered by the others. For myself I don't mind IC.

I agree with all the above but this statement you made,

"We want to be able to show how a VR can make $3000 to $5000+ per month working about 25 hrs a week."

This will make us run away from any job ad. If it sounds to good to be true...IT IS! If the opportunity is really there to make $30 or $40 an hour, there is no reason that you cannot pay your staff a reasonable hourly wage and if you choose to ad a small percentage of commission to that for the lead or sale.

I agree with all the above but this statement you made,

"We want to be able to show how a VR can make $3000 to $5000+ per month working about 25 hrs a week."

This will make us run away from any job ad. If it sounds to good to be true...IT IS! If the opportunity is really there to make $30 or $40 an hour, there is no reason that you cannot pay your staff a reasonable hourly wage and if you choose to ad a small percentage of commission to that for the lead or sale.

I agree. When I see these statements being made..I run. If you can make this kind of money working those hours then you would have employees and pay them a wage and then add the rest to your bottom line..because that is business and that is realistic. So, when I see that..I know it is not what it says it is and I flip by it.