Great Pajama Jobs

CHAPTER 4Work from Home Myths

Working remotely for an incredible company, clad in your stretchy yoga apparel or sweatpants, with your pooch nestled at your feet or your cat sauntering around your desktop, is appealing to many of us. The reality of a great pajama job, however, can be different than you visualize.

Here are eight myths I want to debunk straightaway:

1. You can choose to work from anywhere in the world. For starters, when you search for remote job openings, you will quickly discover that many work-from-home employees don't live anywhere they desire. The bulk of work-from-home positions have some geographic parameters—a country, state, or city.

   There are a few reasons for this requirement. Some companies want or need to see you in person from time to time. These in-office meetings might be to connect with clients, or take a training workshop, or launch a new initiative or project with co-workers.

   There can also be accounting, legal, licensing, and tax particulars that require a firm to hire employees who live in specific states or countries.

2. You set your own hours. Another common fallacy is that you can get rolling when you want and wrap up your day at your discretion. While you certainly can flip on your computer at dawn, if that's your desire, most remote employers have fixed schedules for your working hours. Of course, some employers may be open to negotiating for a flexible schedule that you adjust according to what works best for your duties (as long as you get ...