Virginia Telework Day was a huge success

As an experiment, the state of Virginia held a one-day Telework Day on August 3.  That day, 4,267 employees teleworked.  This was the first teleworking experience for 22% of the participants.

According to a report by Telework Exchange, the following benefits were realized by teleworking one day:

• Participants realized $124,000 in savings across the U.S., and$113,000 in savings in Virginia.
• Teleworking one day per weeks saves the participant $2000 annually.
• Participants would gain 46 hours per year.
• In one day participants avoided driving more than 155,782 miles and removed 82.77 pollutants from the air.
• 69% of participants said they accomplished more at home than a typical day at the office, with 30% of these participants stating they accomplished significantly more.

I continue to beat the telecommute/telework drum in hopes the trend spreads further in Tucson.  Here are links to my past related posts:

Advice to Rio Nuevo:  Wake up and smell the telecommuters

Adirondack region luring telecommuters.  Should Tucson copy?

Do you know a teacher trying to get some extra money?  Today I’m highlighting a job opening that is well suited for teachers.

Work from home scoring the SAT essay

Scoring the SAT essay is a unique professional development opportunity for educators. The College Board has partnered with Pearson Educational Measurement to recruit experienced teachers to read and score the essay. Readers work from their homes or offices with a user-friendly online scoring system to allow accurate and effective essay scoring. Pearson provides comprehensive training, competitive pay, and flexible hours.

Qualifications

Readers must meet the following qualifications:

• Hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
• Teach or have taught a high school or college-level course that requires writing
• Have taught for at least a three-year period
• Reside in the continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii
• Be a U.S. citizen, resident alien, or authorized to work in the U.S.
• Have not worked for a test preparation company that offers SAT test preparation in the past 12 months. (This does not include working for Pearson Educational Measurement or The College Board)
• Have not received pay from students or individuals to assist with SAT test preparation within the past 12 months. (This does not include receiving pay from your school as part of your job responsibilities)

Technical requirements

Readers must satisfy the following technical requirements:

• Be able to score essays from a home or office location
• Have the required computer (PC only – MAC is not supported) and Internet connection.

Important exclusions

For security reasons, scorers

• May not use shared office computers
• May not work from institutional computer labs
• May not use public computer kiosks

For more information on this job and more from CollegeBoard.com:  http://professionals.collegeboard.com/prof-dev/opportunities/become-sat-reader

I try to select jobs from reputable companies to highlight.  Remember to be on the lookout for scams.  I cannot guarantee that this job is legitimate.  Make sure it is a reputable company and check them and the position out thoroughly.

Best Work Places is a program that recognizes qualified employers who volunteer to participate and provide their employees outstanding commuter benefits.

The employer must meet the National Standard of Excellence, a standard set by the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

To get on the Best Workplaces for Commuters list, the employer must provide certain benefits to their employees.  First they need to offer employer-paid tax-free transit or vanpool passes, a strong teleworking program, or parking cash-out.  Most companies need to offer three secondary benefits such as shuttles, ridesharing, carpool matching, preferred or reduced-cost parking for carpools and vanpools, compressed work schedules and more.  They also need to provide access to an emergency ride home at little or no cost if emergency transportation home is needed.

According to the Pima Assocation of Governments , who joined forces with CUTR to help carry out the program , the list might not be totally representative of all great Tucson workplaces that offer commuter benefits, as some participants have been put off by new annual dues to be included on the list.

Best Workplaces for Commuters, June 8, 2009

Abrams Airborne Manufacturing, Inc.
American Airlines
Bombardier Aerospace
City of Tucson
Defense Contract Management Agency Raytheon
Devon Gables Health Care Center
Downtown Tucson Partnership
Federal Building
Federal Correctional Institution
Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort
Holmes Tuttle Ford
Honeywell Engines, Systems & Services
IBM
Indian Health Services
Intuit
Jim Click Automotive-22nd Street
Jim Click Automotive-Auto Mall
JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa
Loews Ventana Canyon Resort
Marshall Foundation
Northern Trust Bank, N.A.
Pima Association of Governments
Pima County
Quarles & Brady Streich Lang, L.L.P.
R&R Products, Inc.
Raytheon Missile Systems
Sargent Controls & Aerospace
SCF of Arizona, Southern Account Services
Securaplane Technologies, Inc.
Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System
Sun Tran
Town of Marana
Tucson Airport Authority
Tucson Electric Power Company
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
University Medical Center
University of Arizona
Ventana Medical Systems,
Viscount Suite Hotel
Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa

Does your company or workplace have an outstanding commuter or telework plan?

Their latest Twitter message as I write this post is:  “Satellite Telework Center in Felton open for free to lockheedfire evacuees who need a place to work or get wifi.”

Further down another tweet says:  “We’re offering free videoconferencing for Santa Cruz County military families.”

These messages are from a company called The Satellite Telework Centers, a 3-month-old start-up company based in Felton, CA.

Other tweets, of course, are self-promotion and media alerts common for commercial tweeters.  However, there are also alerts for free classes and resources.

This appears to be a company not only supporting it’s clients by offering information and resources to help them succeed, but offering connectivity support to the community as well.

Although some telework centers have been around for more than a decade, more are popping up all over the U.S. lately.  The Washington Metropolitan Telework Centers is a great example .  It is the result of a cooperative effort between the United States General Services Administration and local managing partners.

Basically, these centers offer working space that ranges from the floor, couch, table, desk, cubicle, office or conference room.  They offer the usual office amenities such as  printer, copier, fax.  Sometimes they offer basic supplies and even coffee.

Of course a substantial benefit for both self, environment and community is to work closer to home – maybe even within biking or walking distance.

According to a March 2006 Telework Center Survey performed by the Washington Metropolitan Telework Center directors, federal telework clients were asked why they chose to work from a telework center rather than at home.  Most commonly received responses included better equipment, less distractions, on-site technical staff and high-speed Internet.  High-end office equipment was not available to 43% of clients at home.  Of those who had a choice between a telework center and home, 42% said they prefer to work from a telework center.

It is interesting to note many of these clients said their employer supported the center as the primary work location.  A few stated their employer would only allow them to work from the center, and not from home.  Some employers even picked up the cost.

This would make sense considering the potential savings to the employer.  Office space for the average worker costs the employer about $10,000 per year.  This is just one of many expenses an employer pays to have an in-house employee.  According to the rates listed on the The Satellite Telework Centers’ site, a full-out 24/7 private office with all the bells and whistles would cost $8940 per year.  A simple workstation with 5 day/week access would cost $5388 per year.  That could mean a $4000 yearly savings per employee in just real estate cost alone.

These centers could also provide great connectivity to communities.  Clients could work among others in their neighborhood.  The place would be a public point of virtual connection.  Would it be safe to admit if my Internet goes down, I feel lost?  I suddenly lose fast rapid communication with friends and family.  I miss my connection to resources, be it research, movie times or recipe searches.  If there were an emergency such as the Lockheed fires in California, I would be very thankful to have a place to get out messages and print out fire insurance forms.

So the question is, do we have government or privately-owned telework centers here in Tucson?  Honestly I do not know.  That will have to be answered in a future post.

Do you know of telework centers here in Tucson?  Or planned ones?

Setting sail for the virtual sea

On August 3, Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tennessee tested the telecommuting waters.  They allowed 91 employees to telework to test out ability and new technologies.

A primary reason for the test, is the goal to become an attractive employer of choice by offering more flexibility.

The next goal is to maintain service in case of another hurricane Katrina or other disaster.

Currently they have 1500 employees, and hope to have 5% of them capable of teleworking this year.

More:  http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=47421

This isn’t the first time the Navy has turned to the virtual super highway to aid with recruitment and hiring.  They have dabbled with Internet social networking sites such as MySpace and FaceBook with mixed results.

Other branches of the military have tried out these sites as well.  In fact, the Pentagon is studying how to use these sites .

More:  http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-pentagon-facebook5-2009aug05,0,3998956.story

These sites and others such as Twitter have also been used to track public sentiment and backlash over issues from the New York Statue of Liberty flyover to swine flu.  I usually don’t harp over Big Brother issues – but this one makes me realize we better be careful what we reveal on these sites.  I knew in the back of my mind that my communications would become fodder for advertisers, but I was in denial about our government.

It also appears the Navy has a desire to find a safe way to allow access to social networking sites from computers on the navy network – because young recruits, who are often active on the internet, would like access.

More:  http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20090811/UPDATES01/90810073/Navy+secretary+says+Facebook++Twitter+are+valuable

I can understand recruiting and even having some teleworking employees, especially if they proceed with caution for security reasons.   I can’t really protest the government monitoring public sites.  They are, after all, public – and we have to remember that.

However…is it just me, or do other people my age bristle at the thought of the social networks being available on government work computers just because they are desired by young internet-savvy recruits or employees?

My main issue isn’t that it’s on government computers.  It’s the fact that when I was younger, there was no WAY I would be able to make a social call, text, IM or play on the computer in any way, shape or form at work.

Today I can be at a supermarket and the employees are gabbing on the phone or texting while stocking shelves or ringing up my groceries.  I have witnessed the IT department being called to the scene because FaceBook couldn’t be accessed by an employee – at a state office.  No, they didn’t need it for their job.   To my shock,  a friend recently complained about his young doctor texting during his visit!

I remember my own parents and grandparents lamenting over how lax the world had become on work-ethic issues like this.  I thought they were such old farts about that – yet here I am proudly wearing my Old Fart badge.

Okay, that’s from the old fart voice in my head.  From the younger, hipper voice feebly attempting to maintain a hold in my brain among all the other new voices, I know access to these sites can make life a little easier or make break-time more relaxing.

For instance, on the site I run for moms with diabetes, many of the moms are accessing the site during work time from state computers.  For many, it’s the only time they can post.  They get valuable support and information for managing their diabetes.  Yet someone down the hall might be on their 230th IM message about how much they threw up at the party last night or in the middle of watching the Evolution of Dance for the 20th time on their computer outside of break time.   Should they all be banned from the Internet for non-work purposes?  Should government networks allow any of this?

What do you think?

There are many types of teleworkers from entry to executive level in many different fields.  Today I’m focusing on two non-medical transcription jobs.

FOCUS FORWARD – Transcriptionists

The first job I am focusing on is a freelance online telecommute job for transcribers at a company called Focus Forward.

Their site says they recommend a minimum typing speed of 50 wpm – so I’m assuming they are not requiring a lot of experience as this is a pretty low speed for an experienced transcriber.

This job does not have set hours, but you have to transcribe at least four recorded audio hours per week.  On average, it takes an hour to transcribe 15 minutes of recording or roughly about four times the recorded audio time.  So it should take about 16 hours to do the minimum.

I have transcribed in the past, and in order to meet production demands for the places I’ve worked, I had to be able to type at least 75 wpm.  Their site mentions if you type slow, you may get frustrated with how long it takes you to get the job done, but with practice your speed should increase eventually.  So if you type less than this, expect it to take longer to do the job.  Don’t know your speed?  There are many sites online where you can test your speed for free, like this one: http://www.typingtest.com/

Focus Forward has information on their site about how to do the  jobs with a sample completed job.  They provide a link to a free transcription program as well as the test audio.  You can try it out and see how long it takes for you to complete.  You do not need a foot pedal to use the program, you can set up keyboard hot keys – but it is usually always faster with a foot pedal.

It pays $10 per 15 minutes of sound, so four recorded hours (about 16 hours of transcribing) would translate to $160 if you are able to transcribe at the average rate.

Here is the job description from their site:

Transcriber, experienced, to work from home. We would prefer someone familiar with ftp sound file downloads and Express Scribe. You must also have an excellent grasp of grammar and punctuation rules. This is a virtual position. Must be able to complete at least 4 hours of sound a week. Sound files are 60 minutes or longer. Compensation is $10 per 15 minutes of sound.

Requirements:

• Excellent grammar and punctuation
• Transcription experience
• Familiarity with accessing an FTP site
• Broadband internet access
• Available to transcribe at least 4 hours of sound per week

Their site:  http://www.focusfwd.com/joinourteam.php

PIMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE – Transcriptionist

This is a local job at Pima Community College for a temporary part-time transcriptionist.  This is more a mobile position than work-at-home.  The job entails transcribing classes for hearing-impaired students.  You’ll have to hurry if you are interested in this one, the closing date is Wednesday, 08/12/09 at 11:59 p.m.

This is from their site:

Job Requirements:

• Two years experience using word processing software
• Type 60 wpm net – a typing test will be given
• Excellent listening and concentration skills to accurately transcribe discussions
• Excellent writing skills
• Preferred: Two years of coursework at the post-secondary level

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Excellent listening skills and demonstrated ability to identify essential components of orally presented information
• Excellent knowledge of English grammar, spelling and academic vocabulary
• Ability to operate a PC/laptop computer
• Comfortable working in an academic setting with diverse populations

You can find more information on their site here.

NOTE:

Unfortunately, I will not be able to guarantee that the jobs I focus on are legitimate.  I’ll try to get them from reputable sites and find testimonials from people who claim to work for them.  So please be careful and beware of scams.  Do not pay for anything and be careful giving personal information.

Questions for you, dear readers:

• Is there a specific area or job type  you would like me to focus on in the future?
• Do you know of telework openings?

What if there was no city hall?

I found this interesting news report and video of yet ANOTHER city looking at the benefits of telecommuting.  It appears the city of Charlottesville is exploring whether or not the city government can be run from home.

The city feels that aside from saving money, telecommuting is a good idea for environmental and security reasons.

For the past year, different scenarios have been evaluated to see how they would be handled from home or mobile worker: power outage, disease, natural disaster.

This is turning out to be an unexpected series of posts.  This week I wrote one called Advice to Rio Nuevo: Wake up and smell the telecommuters.  I explained how I felt downtown Tucson might benefit from reaching out to telecommuters.

Yesterday I wrote Adirondack region luring telecommuters: Should Tucson Copy? This post reported on a plan to reach out and accommodate telecommuters in the wilds of the Adirondack region of northern New York.

Check out the article and video about Charlottesville here:

http://www.nbc29.com/Global/story.asp?S=10840122

What you think?

Is this is going too far?

Do you think it’s a good idea?

If you could live and work anywhere, where would you choose?

Earlier this week I wrote a post called Advice to Rio Nuevo:  Wake up and smell the telecommuters.  So when I read about plans for the Adirondack Park region in northeastern New York state to reach out to telecommuters, I knew I had to mention it here.

The mountainous Adirondack region is described by their official travel information website (visitadirondacks.com) as:

Wild and civilized…and close-by!

The Adirondacks are an immense blue and green (white in winter) space in which to relax, play, and plot an adventure. This region in northern New York State contains over 3,000 lakes and ponds, 2,000 miles of hiking trails, more four-diamond resorts than any other destination in the state, nearly 100 campgrounds, and of course, the Adirondack mountains.

Sounds like a wonderful wild pristine paradise doesn’t it?

Question: How can you have economic growth and development without bulldozing, massive business construction, and hurting the environment? How do you do this amid challenging regulatory practices, increased job losses, and recession?

Answer:  Why you aggressively lure telecommuters, entrepreneurs and mobile professionals to come live in the Adirondacks silly.  You do what you can to help them work at home.

In May 2009, a study was published called the Adirondack Park Regional Assessment Project.  It described the area as, “diverse communities amid abundant state-owned lands constitutionally protected as ‘forever wild.’”  It also stated “Adirondack communities share in the challenge of providing services for their residents and visitors, while simultaneously serving as gateways to the park’s public lands.” It stated the median age of residents made it one of the oldest population regions in the country with an out-migration of young families and in-migration of semi-retired and retired persons.

To establish and maintain a healthy, economically viable community, young professional residents would be needed.  In response to this, Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York started The Adirondack Initiative for Wired Work .  It includes  regional leaders and working professionals who encourage  economic growth with emphasis on sustainability and green tech commerce.  The goal is to add 2019 of these types of workers by the year 2019.

They are accomplishing this by conducting surveys to evaluate the needs of these young professionals and they started a business center to provide people with Internet access,  phones, fax , and meeting room.

Kelly O. Chezum, Clarkson’s vice president for external relations at the university has said, “The opportunities to tap into the knowledge economy are going to be huge, probably more so than the technology sector going forward. The Internet now is almost like a roadway as infrastructure.”

Yes the Adirondack region is green, sometimes snowy, and surrounded by water.  We are a dry valley town surrounded by desert with sparse rainfall and rare snow.  In spite of these differences, this writer cannot help but see the similarities in the situation and how something like this could be beneficial to Tucson as well.

Read more about the Adirondack Initiative for Wired Work:

http://www.clarkson.edu/adk

Read a personal opinion I found interesting:

http://www.townsandtrails.com/adirondack-telecommuting/

Author's interpretation of downtown Tucson

We hear so much about downtown redevelopment, Rio Nuevo, blah, blah, blah.  To tell you the truth…the politics are a major turnoff and make me want to ignore downtown.

Hard to do since I love Tucson.

In May 2009 the Downtown Tucson Partnership put out a draft report called “Revitalizing Downtown Tucson: Building the New Pueblo.”

Yes!  A New Pueblo of new ideas and technologies based on our Old Pueblo. I liked it!

I totally agreed with their goal “to attract young, in-demand, skilled workers who enjoy urban living, active entertainment options and are known to select the community in which they want to live even before they select a job.”

Then when I read the rest of the report, I was disappointed.  It was well-researched and had a good traditional long-range plan.  However, I didn’t see any real meat (or veggies since it’s a good chance they are vegetarian) to lure these in-demand, skilled workers anytime soon.

The report stated an important goal was to get more people living downtown.  This would create more activity and, in turn, encourage more retail establishments to flower in order to cater to them.

Downtown Tucson doesn’t have a lot of office space with the majority used by government offices.  So at the moment there is not a lot of room for businesses that that have the type of workers they are hoping to attract.  Or is there?

What if the small amount of housing space counted as working space as well?  What if office space could be shared?  What if businesses could increase the number of employees based out of the office?

The report listed the following as target markets for downtown living:

• Employees who work downtown and at the U of A
• Young professionals
• Empty Nesters
• Senior citizens
• University students

They should have included telecommuters or teleworkers who might enjoy having an urban social life, coffee shops, and office services right outside their door.  Especially high-tech workers who work at places that are expensive to live (like San Francisco) and would find the cost of living much better here.

They should also target employers that allow employees to telecommute and share desk space, getting more use out of square footage.  How about the government offices hiring more telecommuters that would enjoy that life as well, or would need to occasionally check into the office.

After a March 2009 survey by Microsoft, Michael Park, corporate vice president of the U.S. Small and Midmarket Solutions & Partners Group at Microsoft  said, “Strategic use of a remote work force and supporting technologies can be a competitive game-changer in this down economy, especially for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) that have historically trailed large enterprise companies in adopting remote working practices,” He added, “After surveying those areas where SMBs employ a large percentage of the local work force, our findings suggest that businesses that currently leverage remote workers are enjoying an advantage over their competitors.”

This is interesting information considering some of the Rio Nuevo plans may be stalled due to the recession.

Rich Karlgaard of Forbes.com wrote an article about the best places to telecommute.  This was his idea of telecommuting heaven:

“I would want reliable high-band Internet connections, nice weather of the western sunny and dry type, infinite hiking trails, a small airport close by with a mechanic named Ace or Wolfgang who knew every inch and hum of my airplane, spicy Mexican food and ice-cold beer with lime wedges…”

Hmmmm, wow.  I swear I know a place like that.

The work-from-home market is flooded with scam artists.  The jobs seem too good to be true.  They are.

Beware offers of Easy Money. Nobody is going to give their money away. Reputable jobs will expect to get their money's worth out of you.

According to the National Internet Fraud Watch Information Center, between January and September 2005, work-at-home fraud was listed as one of the top 10 Internet frauds in the country.  The average victim lost about $1,294 -  up from $120 in 2001.  The problem has gotten worse, fueled by the recession and high unemployment rate.  In January 2009, the FBI issued a warning about work-at-home scams on their website.

Some of the more common scams ask people to stuff envelopes, assemble items, process claims, type at home, process email/mail, twitter, post ads, send chain letters and more.

There are some things you need to watch out for:

• Beware of offers where you have to pay for lists, information, training, or to start a business.  You shouldn’t have to pay for anything.
• Watch out for multilevel marketing (MLM) businesses that are not legitimate.
• Don’t work for someone who doesn’t ever offer you a regular salary or pay.
• View ads that offer big money for part-time or almost no work with great suspicion.  Yes, you have a computer and can type, but millions of others fit the bill as well.
• If you are asked to call a 1-900 number – don’t! These numbers cost money.
• Walk the other way if testimonials are provided by people you cannot actually contact, or you cannot find information on the company.
• Be suspicious if you are personally sought out by an unfamiliar company or person via email, phone, whatever.

For some reason, people get suckered into feeling they are one of the lucky few who have discovered a lucrative work-from-home opportunity.  Mostly likely the opportunity was discovered in email, a web search, or an ad that was seen by the masses.

So what’s a person to do if they want to find work from home?  Give up?  Not necessarily.

More and more people are working from home.  The U.S. government has realized the benefits of teleworkers – reduced dependence on gas and oil, increased employee recruitment, retention and more.  In 2007 at a Telework Exchange Town Hall Meeting, the administrator for the General Services Administration announced their goal of making it possible for 50% of the GSA employees to telework at least one day a week by by 2010.  In 2007 it was found that 1/3 of National Science Foundation employees teleworked regularly and the arrangement was felt to be beneficial by both sides.

Private companies are taking strides as well.  Many well-known companies hire employees or freelancers to work from home such as Google, U-Haul, American Airlines, Hilton, 1-800-Flowers, Best Western Hotels, Dexcomm, GE, Intuit, Time Communications, just to name a few.

Locally, according to the Pima Association of Governments, in 2006, around 2050 people telecommuted for 64 employees.  Some employers that have telecommuting employees or freelancers are Cox, Tucson Medical Center, U of A, American Airlines, and many others.  There are certain skills that seem to be valuable for telecommuting in Tucson such as medical transcription, call center experience, programming, computer PC and software troubleshooting/repair skills, website creation skills, writing and graphic design.  Not surprisingly, these are the same skills national employers seek.

When you look for jobs online, go to  sites that have developed a reputation and aggressively work to screen job leads – like Rat Race Rebellion.  However, still proceed with caution and beware of scams nothing is fool-proof.

Here is great article on some of the more legitimate type of work-from-home jobs: 
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/best-real-work-home-jobs/

Future posts will look closely at some of these jobs/businesses and explain how you can gain some skills and experience on the Internet for free if you currently have no or low skills.

Do you have more tips?

Have you ever been the victim of a scam?