The Telecommuting Mom

What’s the difference?

I consider myself to be a work-from-home mom, but when I began researching the term I started to change my mind! Google “work from home” and what appears are countless money-making opportunities that have pyramid scheme written all over them. Any job in which you have to pay fees to be exposed to opportunities is not legitimate.

But the difference between work-from-home and telecommute is not black and white. Strictly based on definitions work-from-homecan incorporate both independent consultants (from business to fashion and beauty) as well as full- and part-time corporate employees who work from home a couple days per week or month. Telecommuting on the other hand is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as “To work at home using a computer connected to the network of one’s employer.”

By that last definition I am not a telecommuter. I work as an independent contractor for various non-profit organizations using my home office, my own computer and my own network. Yet what I do, on a day-to-day basis, is the same as telecommuting (though I foot the bills for my internet and phone). I have conference calls, LOTS of email communication, and the same frustrations corporate employees have trying to accomplish a project within a group. I check-in with the president of each organization and they keep tabs on me. So, is work-from-home really different than telecommuting?

Filed under: defintions