If you really want to work at home but have little to no prior experience with anything, it can sometimes be difficult to get the jobs you want. Fortunately, there are a few options. We all have to start somewhere! Today, we are talking about jobs from home for beginners.

Keep in mind that jobs from home for beginners also come with lower pay rates in most cases. In fact, sometimes you may even need to juggle two or three of these jobs at once to earn anything close to a living wage. This is something I had to do when I started!

Best of all, you get valuable experience that helps ensure that you can land higher paying jobs in the future!

Work From Home Jobs That Accept Beginners

Below are some different industries and companies in each industry that may be willing to work with you as a beginner:

Transcription

As a work from home transcriptionist, you will listen to audio files and write what you hear. While this may sound easy, there is a learning curve.

Also, most transcription companies have very specific formatting rules that you need to follow, and they won’t necessarily be the same from company to company.

Transcription can pay well, but the companies that pay the most usually want proof of past experience.

The companies I’ve linked below for you aren’t known for paying well, but they will consider beginners who pass their skills tests.

If you are interested in transcription training, I highly recommend General Transcription: Theory and Practice either Legal Transcription: Theory and Practice by Janet Shaugnessy.

Janet also offers a completely free mini-course (no strings attached) that you can review to help you determine if you would benefit from your training and to see if the transcript is something you would be ready for.

Translation

As a translator working from home, you will convert information (written or not) from one language to another. So if you’re fluent in more than one language, this could be a viable work-at-home option for you, as this work can be done remotely.

As with transcription, earn more as a work-at-home translator with prior experience. But if you’re just starting out, there are still a few options for you to start gaining that experience.

The following companies will consider workers with no prior translation experience, although you may be required to take a skills test prior to acceptance.

virtual assistance

As a virtual assistant, you are a jack or jill of all trades. What your job entails could change drastically from one day to the next, depending on what your clients ask of you.

Many companies that hire virtual assistants prefer workers with previous experience in administration or virtual assistance, but not all!

I’ve linked below some companies that are very open to virtual assistants who have never done the job before.

my ebook, Your quick guide to working from home as a virtual assistant, lists 50 companies that hire and some of them also accept beginners. It also explains how you can start your own business as a virtual assistant.

ESL Tutoring

ESL tutoring is teaching the English language to people who do not speak it.

While this was a booming industry for a while with companies in China hiring many people from English speaking countries to teach/tutor children in the English language, it has plateaued a bit. China has recently banned for-profit tutoring in their country.

Despite this, there are still some sites you can join as a tutor that are not based in China and still need workers.

Some of these companies only require you to speak English as your first language, but most want a language certification, such as TEFL or TESOL. You can get this training online fairly quickly and easily, but again, not all companies require it.

Below I have listed the few ESL tutoring opportunities I know of that you can still work on as a beginner.

academic tutoring

As an academic tutor, you will tutor elementary, middle, high school, or even college students in various subjects and/or offer homework help.

While most companies prefer to hire people who are in college or already have college degrees, you can often still get a job even if you’ve never tutored before.

The companies listed below are frequently looking for academic tutors online and are open to people with no experience.

independent writing

Freelance writing is what I did years ago to earn an income from home, and I managed to earn an income with no prior experience or even a degree!

Many companies will consider applicants based solely on their skills: your past experience won’t always matter if you can show that you’re an average to good writer.

The companies below don’t pay well, but you have a chance to get accepted with them if you can write.

Another option is of course to work for yourself as a freelancer and find high paying clients to write to them directly. You can do this if you’re a good writer, past experience or not, and you’ll earn more than previous content sites would pay you. But this takes time.

Carol Tice runs a very popular online community for writers called the Freelance Writers Den. It’s only open a few times a year, but you can get on the waiting list if you’re interested in joining.

As a member, you get access to a writing support forum, exclusive job board, responsible partners, helpful writing training, marketing, and more.

phone jobs

Phone jobs at home involve providing customer service, sales, tech support, and more for businesses in need. While many companies don’t like to hire people without proven experience, you can still find some that are open to entry-level workers.

Phone jobs are not ideal for everyone. Most companies you might work for don’t require background noise. This is almost impossible to guarantee if you have children or noisy pets.

If you think phone work might be for you, check out the following companies that might hire you, even if you’re totally new to it:

homework sites

Task sites are mostly good for a little extra money, and I often recommend them as something to do in between a higher paying job.

I used to do search evaluation and task work in between my freelance writing jobs in the past, and it helped me supplement my other income.

It’s pretty easy to get accepted to work on assignment sites, and the work you do will vary depending on what’s posted.

Below are the sites you should check out if this interests you.

Correction and Editing

If you’re good at proofreading and editing but have never done it professionally, it can be a bit difficult to find a company that will pay you for it. But all hope is not lost: after much research, I found a handful of companies that will hire you with no prior experience.

Keep in mind that they will test your skills before allowing you to correct and (usually) a college degree is required.

As with freelance writing, you can run your own business or a side job as a proofreader or editor. It takes time to build a high-paying client base that trusts you and your skills, but it will pay you more in the long run.

When people ask me about proofreading training on the side, I always refer them to Caitlin Pyle and her resources.

I’ve known Caitlin since 2014, when she first launched her Transcript Proofing eCourse after she managed to get rid of her day job and earn more than she ever did at her day job, just proofreading transcripts for court reporters!

He has since created an eCourse for proofreading as a general side business, and if that interests you, you can check out his 76 minute webinar which explains a lot about it.

In conclusion

So, as you can see, you have some work-from-home options as someone who is a beginner in most industries, although some of the above companies still won’t accept your application without proven skills.

As always, I wish you good luck in whatever you choose.