Women, want a job? Go online

New Delhi: There is a whole generation of women who quit working when they start a family. Most of these women are upper middle class well qualified women who were on their way up the corporate ladder. Are you one of them?

The times - they are a changing:

You quit because you had the economic choice to do so and you wanted to spend those precious years with your little one to bring her up right. But now, the kiddo is off to school looking so cute in her uniform, you have spare hours on your hand.

Maybe not enough to go out and brave the traffic and do a full day work but definitely anywhere between 3-6 hours free in a day. So you are on the prowl again?

Internet – the great liberator:

In the last few years the internet has become an intrinsic part of our lives. And for women wanting to work from home, it is the lifeline that they can hang on to. Internet offers plenty of choice for women right from basic graduates to highly skilled software engineers or MBAs.

Here's a look at an indicative list.

1) Transcriptions: Business Processing Outfits (BPOs) hire medical transcribers by the dozens. There is option to work at the BPO office or right out of your own home using earphones and a computer.

A short medical transcription course can help you along as well as get you faster jobs. There are also other transcriptions like legal and business transcriptions which are catching on fast.

2) Content writing and editing: Thanks to BPO again there are home based content writing jobs in plenty. The content providers’ career to every imaginable website so you can find one of your area of specialization. The Indian publishing and online media industry is also in a boom. Plenty of jobs there too.

3) Online instructors: Did you graduate with Mathematics as your specialization or Economics? Well here is your chance to use your skills. Several companies are looking for online instructors to answer queries of students from around the world.

“The work involved is tutoring the US students through the internet as well as writing content for school programs. It varies from one hour to five hours a day” says Meenakshi Chatta, HR and Corporate Communication Manager, Top Careers and You, one such firm which employs online tutors. So you maybe explaining logarithms to Lillian in Utah before you know.

4) Translators: Hey are you a whiz at languages? Here is your chance to translate the latest bestseller from English to German. Firms specializing in translation work are always on the look out for fresh talent.

5) Data Processing: There are several companies like Datamatics which hire an army of home based women for data processing jobs.

“The kind of work varies from simple data processing to data abstraction and indexing, handling of financial statements, selective data capture, HTML, XML and SGML coding, abstraction/indexing of legal data, etc.” says Prashant Prabhu, Head Marketing and Communications, Datamatics Technologies Limited. Datamatics currently employs 1400 women across the country.

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6) Software professional: Web designing and writing software is also opened out avenues for women wanting to work from home. Being a specialized field it pays well too.

Where are the opportunities?

The best place to find internet based work is on the internet itself.

• The first place to look is the online job site. There are plenty of jobs sites and if you type in search words like ‘freelance’, ‘home based’ or words specific to the job you are looking for then the sites will throw up a range of jobs available.
• If you know what is the work you are looking for then you can directly approach the company that specializes in the work. Prepare your resume and be ready to answers about your time commitment. For instance if you are looking for translation work then approach those companies which provide the services of translations.
• Know of someone else who was in the same boat as you and has managed to sail along? Call her up and find out how. Most women are keen to help out their fellow job seeker by giving them contacts and tips.

This is the first in a series of three articles on career options for women. Inviting all women who work from home to gives us your comments, suggestions and ideas. Use the input box below to share your experiences with us.

(Shalini Amarnani, a freelancer)