Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work — Thomas Edison
I am coming up on my 2nd anniversary as a full-time telecommuter.
While telecommuting has become a normal, everyday part of my life, my response to the ice -breaker “so, what do you do….” usually leads to a great deal of discussion. The typical day at the office for me is considered quite unusual to others.
When I tell people who I work for (a major healthcare corporation), where I work (home) and how I do it (Internet, email, phone, home office…), I get one of two responses -
Blank Stare - What in the world are you talking about? They pay you for that? You need to get a real job.
Flurry of questions – How did you get a job like that? Are there any openings? How much do they pay? I want to know because I want work at home too.
The first response makes me think of my father-in-law. From another generation and spending his work life at U.S. Steele, the thought of working from a home office is kind of “out there” for him. Never mind that his son has done that – by being self-employed – for several years. I’ll save that for another post.
The second response is the more typical gut-reaction. Who wouldn’t want to work from home? I must sit around all day in my pajamas. I should have plenty of time to do laundry and housework during the day – how busy can I be, really? Think of all the money I’m saving on daycare.
And with gas at $4++ a gallon, telecommuting sounds pretty good when most people in my rural community travel 30- 60 miles one way for good paying jobs.
Like a lot of other jobs, I have slow times and busy times. Yes, sometimes I can sneak in a load of laundry. Sometimes I can’t find time to go to the bathroom. Even though I’m at home, I am still accountable for getting things done. I’m working here!
A lot of people who want to know how I got such a cushy telecommuting position think any Joe off the street could just as easily do what I do. That train of thought is only mildly insulting. The truth is
I paid my dues….
My telecommuting position as a Business Analyst for a major healthcare corporation is not an entry level job. While there are some entry level positions available for telecommuters, for the most part – with my employer at least – you need tenure to telecommute.
I have a decade plus of relevant experience to my current position. I did some part-time, occasional telecommuting with my previous employer, who just happens to be a business partner with my current employer. Getting to telecommute was more like taking a lateral move within different departments rather than totally changing jobs.
With my previous employer I worked in a small regional office, not at corporate headquarters. So, taking meetings by phone, working independently, being separate from my coworkers was nothing new.
And…here’s the biggie….I applied for other telecommuting positions only to be REJECTED before landing this one. Competition is stiff for telecommuting opportunities.
A conscious choice….
I didn’t just stumble into a new job that let me work from home. When I became ready to make a job change I targeted telecommuting opportunities. If I couldn’t telecommute it wasn’t going to be worth it for me to switch jobs. Even so, I still had a lot to consider.
First, before I left a company where I had seniority and tons of vacation time, I explored telecommuting options with my previous employer with mixed results. For a time I was able to telecommute on Fridays and when weather made traveling to the office difficult. Through reorganizations, new managers and the usual corporate chaos, my telecommuting options, which were limited to begin with, were being reduced all the time. Still, if someone asks me about how to go about telecommuting, I tell them to start with their current employer first, where you’ve already proven your skills, work ethic and commitment. It can be a good deal for both employee and employer.
With the decision to change jobs in order to telecommute, I took a slight step backwards on the corporate ladder. Luckily, I was able to stay close to the same level of pay and with gas savings, it has worked out.
Looking ahead, I believe once this current economic storm is weathered, I am with a company where I can find career advancement potential, something I didn’t have previously. A promotion with telecommuting will be difficult to find, but not impossible. As I said, competition is stiff for telecommuting opportunities.
As with any job change, vacation, benefits, stability and work culture were all things to consider. With my husband self-employed my paycheck is the backbone of our family economy. Telecommuting won’t work if I don’t have health insurance.
It’s mostly good….
Telecommuting really works for me. I’ve gotten hours of my life back that I previously spent in my car. I am available to put my daughter on the bus in the morning, and I am there when she comes home at night. Without the commute, it’s much easier for me to attend her sporting events and other activities. I love that I’m not putting 100 miles a day on my car.
Sometimes I do grab a cup of coffee and check my email while still in my pajamas. That same flexibility works for my employer, too. Telecommuting reduces the time zone challenge my company faces – it is easier for me, in the Central time zone, to grab an 8:00 a.m. Eastern meeting than it would be if I had to commute. My employer certainly expects telecommuters to be more flexible in this way. Putting in extra or unusual hours is an accommodation telecommuters are expected to make.
But it’s not for everyone….
As much as telecommuting has become a part of my lifestyle, it’s not for everybody. There are many things to consider when moving towards a work at home situation.
If you need or want a lot of face to face time with your coworkers, full-time telecommuting is not for you. Except for a couple of business trips, I have not met the majority of my coworkers in person. I wouldn’t know what my boss looks like except for pictures posted on our team SharePoint site. I would actually love a few more business trips, so I could meet more of the people I work for and with in real life.
Mastery of email and instant messaging is a must for full-time telecommuting. My primary interaction with my coworkers and clients is through email and instant messaging. Even though it’s become our primary mode of conversation, corporate email rules and etiquette definitely still apply. Don’t assume instant messaging is less permanent than email. Don’t assume an email is ‘casual’.
Having meetings through conference call rather than face to face is a learned skill. Conference calls can be very effective at keeping meetings on track and to the point. But, without the visual cues that are part of face to face meetings, subtle nuances are lost.
It can be like an inside joke you never get.
Seriously consider your technical skills before undertaking telecommuting. When I took this position, UPS (eventually) delivered a laptop with docking station, color printer and phone to my door. It was up to me to set everything up, arrange for phone service and high speed Internet. (Don’t even attempt to telecommute using dial-up!) There is no friendly IT guy down the hall ready to help you. You are your own Helpdesk. And it’s not just during the initial set up. I recently had to troubleshoot a nagging connectivity issue myself and have a new router installed (Yes, I could have installed a new router for myself, but my ISP technician brought it right to my door). Having the technical skills to take care of yourself and your workspace can be a huge advantage for your employer or a huge disadvantage if you can’t handle it on your own.
Don’t give up your child care arrangements or your housekeeper just because you will be at home. Even though my daughter is past the need for daycare, I make sure she has plenty of stuff to keep her busy. If she’s pulling the “Mom, I am bored” routine, I’m not going to get my work done.
Same with housework. You may have occasion to sneak a few chores in, but don’t plan on becoming Martha Stewart or Super Nanny just because you’re at home.
Finally, you need a separate, somewhat isolated area in your house for work. You’ll also need enough space to store all your work paraphernalia so that you are not tripping over it in your non-work life. You can’t just plop down on the bedroom floor next to Fido with the stereo blaring in the next room to do a teleconference presentation to your boss. I work in healthcare, meaning confidential data – I can’t leave someone’s claim for the little blue pill out where a neighbor could drop by and see.
Telecommuting will only work if your employer supports it. In my previous job, my telecommuting options became nonexistent without support of management. Instead of seeing the positives for both the employee and the employer, telecommuting was seen as a special accommodation that wasn’t necessary.
Keep in mind, employer expectations about a telecommuter’s work load are often times higher than for those employees in the office.
In my present role, I work on a virtual team where everyone works from home at locations all across the country. You occasionally hear someone’s doorbell, or dog barking, or kids talking in the background – it just comes with the territory. Telecommuting is an accepted part of the work culture, and while it isn’t available to everyone or every department, where it can work, it does.
All in all, telecommuting has improved both my home and my work life. Not without its own challenges and not without some difficulties. I miss having office mates at times. I would occasionally like to drop into an office and ‘do lunch’ or even put on some of the work cloths that have been relegated to the back of my closet. But the freedom and flexibility telecommuting has given back to me has more than made up for anything I occasionally miss.
Remember: Amateurs wait for inspiration. The rest of us get up and go to work.
