Work from home job sites genuine??

[Nina Binde]

Hi,

I am a java developer and would like to take up work from home opportunities. Any suggestions on which is the best way to go about looking for such jobs? Are sites like programmingfromhome.com, etc. good reliable resources. It charges 40$ for subscription and I am thinking of going ahead with that. What opinions do you guys have on that?

Thanks!

Nina

[Joe Ess]

I am automatically suspicious of subscription sites. They've made their money up front and have no vested interest in getting me a job. Not to mention the folks who own programmingfromhome.com aren't sharp enough to update their copyright notice on the bottom of each page (2005? come on).
I've had good luck negotiating with my employers to get time from home (as we speak I'm sitting in my home office taking a break from work). Once I've proven that I can produce without constant supervision and am quick to respond when working remotely, my bosses have no problem with me working at home.
dice.com has an advanced search that will show only telecommute jobs and they're free.
[ February 20, 2008: Message edited by: Joe Ess ]

[Nina Binde]

Thank you Joe. I took your suggestion not to apply on those online sites. I am about to land an interview sometime next week. The job would be quite a bit of travel for me like 1 hr in the morning and 1 hr in the evening. Is it a good idea for me to ask for telecommuting options right away in the interview or should I wait until they make me an offer and then negotiate the telecommuting option?
Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

[arulk pillai]

Probably you need to wait till you get an offer or even better is to wait for 1-3 months until you settle into the new environment and prove your ability.

[Tony Cagle]

I think the best suggestion is to wait until they make an offer to you, then talk about telecommuting in the negotiation process.

I have worked at several companies, many of which claim that they have telecommuting options (at managers discression). Depending on the work environment when I get there, many managers will say no to telecommuting for political reasons. Its always better when the manager to set expectations up front (1 or 2 days a week, for example) rather than having to ask permission for each occurrence (which has been my case too many times). While I would be hesitant to say "get it in writing", thats the only way to be sure you will have the options once you get there.

Also, I was on a contract with Motorola some time back and telecommuting was the norm - coming into the office was the exception! Though I don't know if they are hiring a lot now given their poor performance last year.

Cheers,
Tony