亲爱的安妮：您写过一篇专栏文章，内容是多年在家相夫教子的全职妈妈如何重返职场。我对这个话题很感兴趣，因为我已经做了四年全职妈妈，现在希望能重操旧业，或者至少能有个好的开始。由于我的孩子都还小，所以我很想知道，现在有没有可能在家工作。不过，我经常听说大部分关于在家工作的招聘广告都是骗人的。我怎么才能避免上当受骗？我以前做过的基本都是客户服务工作。能否在这个领域找一份可在家办公的正规工作？——玛丽•卢

    亲爱的玛丽•卢：自从有了互联网，美国在家办公的人数大幅增加，已经超过400万人。纽约市科技咨询公司Nemertes Research 称，1998年至2008年期间，美国“虚拟劳动人口”增加了800%。

    当然，你能对开出丰厚条件的招聘广告保持警惕，无疑是明智之举。因为，正如其他快速增长且难以监管的领域一样，在家办公的招聘已经沦为骗子们的目标。

    求职者如何才能明辨真伪，避免上当受骗呢？RetirementJobs.com是一家针对50岁以上群体的就业网站，近期，该网站的研究人员总结了一则在家工作指南，供会员在线浏览。该指南中列出了10个警告信号，帮助人们识别潜在的骗局。如果“雇主”存在以下问题，求职者就得当心：

    •未明确说明求职者的具体工作内容

    •要求提前支付“新人工具包”或“手册”的费用

    •拒绝为求职者提供当面沟通交流的机会

    •仅要求求职者承担少量的工作，却承诺支付高额薪酬

    •利用公众人物、幸福个人或家庭的感言吸引求职者

    •描绘奢华公寓、汽车和游艇

    •在求职广告中，突出强调公司拥有大量资金

    •有欺诈投诉记录（可查看美国联邦贸易委员会（Federal Trade Commission）网站，或各州贸易委员会网站）

    •承诺会帮求职者解决经济困境

    •无法确定所有人或负责人

    RetirementJobs.com的报告称：“这些看起来都属于常识，但如果一个人陷入绝望或容易轻信他人，这时，任何常识都会被抛到脑后。所有在家办公的工作机会中，正当合法的仅有约1%。”

    换句话说，如果广告说得天花乱坠，好到让人难以置信，十有八九就是骗局。

    不过，RetirementJobs网站从近500个在家办公的热门招聘岗位中，筛选出了111家公司。这些公司可以提供真实的工作机会，共涉及18个领域，包括医疗保健、IT、销售助理和私人护理等。其中包括雅芳（Avon）、特百惠（Tupperware）和玫琳凯（Mary Kay）等知名公司，但大部分都是名不见经传的小公司。

    你提到的客户服务领域中，指南列出了8家正规公司。按字母顺序排名，分别是客户服务外包公司AlpineAccess.com、虚拟商业服务公司Arise.com、客户关系维护公司Convergys.com、虚拟客户服务提供商CustomLoyal.com、医疗文件转录软件技术与服务提供商MedQuist.com、虚拟客户服务提供商VIPDesk.com、客户服务提供商WestAtHome.com，以及客户服务提供商WorkingSolutions.com。

    帕梅拉•拉•吉雅指出，与坐班工作的求职步骤类似，在家办公工作岗位的求职也要经历申请、筛选和面试过程（通常为在线或电话面试），并需要填写必要的纳税申请表。

    拉•吉雅于1999年成立了TeleworkRecruiting.com，该网站为在家办公人士和通过事先审查的1,800多家公司牵线搭桥。

    她说：“正规的工作不会让求职者为培训或工作必需的材料，以及关于工作岗位的信息等掏腰包。应该是公司向员工付钱，而不是相反。”在选择求职岗位时，只要始终坚持这一原则，就不会上当受骗。

    你提到找一份在家办公的工作，是为了能多花时间照顾孩子，关于这种说法，拉•吉雅提出了警告：许多人不切实际地以为，照看孩子，同时兼顾工作，这种一举两得的好事轻而易举。

    她认为：“不论是在公司还是在家工作，如果小孩子无人照料，工作就无法正常进行。”拉•吉雅建议，即便在家工作，也应该像去办公室上班一样，找人帮忙照顾孩子。她强调，试图同时兼顾工作和孩子，“必然会导致工作质量下降，而雇主很快就会发现这一点。”

    反馈：你是否有过在家办公的经历？你对此有何感想？欢迎评论。

    译者：刘进龙/乔树静

    Dear Annie: I was interested in your column about how to get back into the workforce after a long time-out to raise kids. I've been a full-time mom for four years and would like to pick up my career where it left off, or at least try to get my foot in the door somewhere. I've been wondering whether it would be possible to work from home for now, since my children are still pretty small, but I keep hearing that most work-at-home jobs you see advertised are frauds. How can I avoid getting stung? Most of my work experience is in customer service. Can I find a legitimate at-home job in this field? — Mary Lou

    Dear Mary Lou: Thanks largely to the Internet, the number of people working from home in the U.S. has skyrocketed to over 4 million. Between 1998 and 2008, according to New York City tech advisory firm Nemertes Research, the "virtual workforce" grew by 800%.

    Still, you're right to cast a skeptical eye on job ads that make lavish promises since, as with any fast-growing and hard-to-regulate field, this one has attracted its share of con artists.

    So how can you tell the good guys from the bad? Researchers at RetirementJobs.com, a job site specializing in employment opportunities for people over 50, recently put together a guide to working from home, available online to its members, that includes 10 warning signs of a possible scam. Beware of "employers" who:

    • Don't clearly describe the work you would do.

    • Require advance payment for a "starter kit" or "handbook"

    • Won't allow you to speak with an actual person

    • Promise high earnings for little work

    • Rely on testimonials depicting attractive, happy people or families

    • Depict lavish homes, cars, and boats

    • Feature large quantities of money in their ads

    • Have a record of complaints for fraud (Check the Federal Trade Commission's web site, as well as state counterparts.)

    • Promise to eliminate your financial problems

    • Where the owners or principals can't be identified

    "It all seems like common sense," the RetirementJobs.com report notes, "but common sense often goes out the window when you're desperate or just a trusting person…. Only about 1 in 100 work-at-home opportunities is legitimate."

    In other words, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

    Nevertheless, starting with a list of about 500 widely advertised work-at-home positions, RetirementJobs winnowed 111 companies offering bona fide opportunities in 18 areas, including health care, IT, sales support, and personal care. Some are well-known, like Avon (AVP), Tupperware (TUP), and Mary Kay, but most are less familiar.

    In the customer service category, since you asked, the guide lists 8 legitimate employers. In alphabetical order, they are AlpineAccess.com, Arise.com, Convergys.com, CustomLoyal.com, MedQuist.com, VIPDesk.com, WestAtHome.com, and WorkingSolutions.com.

    The steps involved in starting a real home-based job are similar to those you'd take for an in-person position, notes Pamela La Gioia, including undergoing an application, screening, and interviewing process (usually online or by phone) and filling out the necessary tax paperwork.

    La Gioia runs TeleworkRecruiting.com, a site she started in 1999 that matches virtual workers with more than 1,800 employers that have been vetted in advance.

    "A real job does not ask you to pay them to train you, or for the materials you'll need to do the job, or for information about the position," she adds. "You don't pay them. They pay you." If you stick to that rule when considering possible jobs, you can't go too far wrong.

    One word of caution about seeking home-based work in order to spend more time with your kids: La Gioia says that many people harbor unrealistic notions of how easy it will be to combine child care with job duties.

    "Small unattended children do not mix well in a work setting, whether on site or at home," she says. La Gioia recommends lining up babysitting help just as if you were going out to an office. Trying to concentrate on work and on kids simultaneously "inevitably causes work to be of lower quality, which quickly becomes apparent to employers." Noted.

    Talkback: Have you ever taken a home-based job? How did it work out for you? Leave a comment below.