When I left my job in corporate America to work from home I was in the customer service/sales industry. So it was only natural that my job search focused in that field.
The thing was back then there weren’t many companies who offered work-from-home employment. But things have changed over the past 10 years.
According to an article on Forbes, at-home customer service jobs is among the top five most popular work-from-home jobs. And the opportunities to work with big companies keep coming!
What Does A Customer Service Rep Do?
You might think a customer service rep is just there to take calls, answer questions and deal with all customer-types. But the truth is customer service reps are the backbone to any organization. The type of service a CSR provides will depend on whether a customer will do business with a company. And that is why companies spend millions of dollars training their employees to be a top-notch customer service rep.
When I worked at AT&T, providing excellent customer service was (and still is) one of their main expectations of their reps. If a rep even so much as over talked a customer, that was grounds for a step of discipline or, depending on how bad the service was, dismissal.
That’s the same kind of service that’s expected of work-from-home reps, too. It’s easy to get comfortable working from home – trust me, I know, but an at-home customer service rep job is just as important as an on-site one.
Customer Service Rep Skills and Experience
Most companies require at least six months experience working in a call center or in customer service. You have to be able to communicate clearly, be able to handle a difficult customer and work in a fast paced environment in this case it means back to back calls during peak times.
Another thing employers and hiring managers look for in a candidate is a great tone of voice, patience, the all-important problem-solving skills and an ability to listen attentively.
CSR’s also need to have basic computer skills like being able to troubleshoot computer issues and perform functions like clearing cache, have the ability to talk and type, and able to work with minimal supervision. And being bilingual would be a plus.
Most companies will request applicants have a minimum 6 months experience, a high school diploma or equivalent.
For work-from-home setting, a quiet work space away from distractions is also required. You’ll notice that a quiet work space is almost always a part of the job requirements so make sure you work space is set up and ready to go.
Important Things You Should Know Before Applying For Remote Jobs
There are some other things you should know about work from home jobs that’s important to point out.
Most work-from-home customer service jobs includes working on weekends and holidays so make sure you know what your work schedule will be like before accepting a job and if you do that you have plans in place to accommodate your work schedule like having Thanksgiving meal before or after your shift.
There may also be out-of-pocket expenses like purchasing software or a headset. The good news is, all your purchases are tax deductible so keep your receipts and track all your work-related purchases! Some companies may even reimburse you for the expense.
Also, make sure you have the following equipment set up in your work area:
- Internet connection
- POTS (plain old telephone service)
- Computer
- Fax
- Printer
Updated Company List
Here’s a an updated list of companies that hire work-from-home customer service reps or at-home agents. Some companies may not be hiring at this time but check back with them often to check out their updated job listings.
- 1-800 Flowers
- Academy Sports & Outdoors – Texas only
- AccuTran Global
- ACD Direct
- ADP
- Admimsy
- Advanis Agents
- Allied Global Services
- Allstate Medical Transcription
- Alorica
- Amazon
- Amazon Mechanical Turk
- American Express
- American High Tech Transcription
- American Online Jobs
- AOL
- Appen
- Apple (search using keyword ‘work from home’)
- Applied Medical Services
- Arberdeen Captioning
- Armour Closed Captioning
- Ascend Group Healthcare Solutions
- Asurion
- Automobile Club of Southern California
- Aventus
- Best Buy (search using keyword ‘work from home’)
- Bid Ocean Network
- Boldly
- Broadpath Healthcare Solutions
- C3 (Customer Contact Channels)
- Cambridge Transcription
- Capital One
- Caption Advantage
- Care.net
- Cascade Virtual
- Castle Branch
- Century Link
- Citizens Bank
- Click N Work
- Conduent – use keyword ‘virtual’
- Convergys
- CrowdStrike
- CVS Health
- Cyber Dictate
- Deed Collectors
- Dell
- Dialog Direct
- Discover Life Enterprises, LLC
- Dish
- Easy Shift
- Edison Electric
- eJury.com
- Enchanted Global
- Enterprise Rent-a-Car
- eTranscription Solutions
- eTypist
- Everlane
- Experts123
- Fastly
- Find an Heir
- First National Acceptance Company
- First Rate Response
- Fiverr
- Hilton
- Hire My Mom
- HoneyLove
- Hopper App
- Hotel Tonight
- HSN (Home Shopping Network)
- Ibotta – Colorado residents only
- InfoCision
- Inovalon
- Integral Resources
- Intuit
- IT-Boss Research
- JBS Court Research Services
- Jury Talk
- LanguageLine Solutions
- Live Ops
- Logikcull
- M*Modal Transcription
- MailCo Productions
- Mercedes Transcription
- Mintel
- Nestle
- NexRep
- Nuance Transcription
- OneSpace
- OneSupport
- Online Verdict
- Paramount
- Pro Data Research
- Production Transcripts
- Progressive Insurance
- RemX (AZ only)
- Rev.com
- Reynolds & Reynolds
- Same Day Transcriptions
- ScheduleOnce
- SelectQuote
- Service 800 – FL, MN, TX, WI only.
- Sitel
- Speak Write
- Sunlark Research
- Sutherland Global Services
- SYKES Home Powered by Alpine Access – U.S. or Canada
- Talk2Rep
- Task Rabbit
- Telecare
- Telelanguage
- Teleperformance – Worldwide
- TeleTech (TTEC)
- The Hartford – use keyword ‘virtual’
- The SmartCrowd Lionbridge
- Tigerfish
- Transcom
- Trial Practices, Inc.
- Type at Home
- Uhaul
- UnitedHealth Group
- Valvoline
- Verafast
- VIPdesk Connect
- VIPKid
- Virtual Jury
- VITAC
- Weegy
- Westat
- William-Sonoma
- Wolfgang Research
- Wonder
- Working Solutions
- World Travel Holdings
- WRRK
- Xact TeleSolutions
- Xerox
- YouData
- Your Mechanic
- Zaarly
- Zulily
Search For More Remote Jobs
I hope you find something in this list. If not, you can always look on the job search page for more remote jobs.
If you know anyone who is looking for remote jobs, please share this post with them.
Good luck!