Make way for online jobs

Online jobs have a huge, growing potential in Pakistan where work is outsourced to tap into cheap labour. Salma Jafri, an online entrepreneur who offers training on starting online businesses on her website wordpl.net, says “There are now online work opportunities in just about any field that doesn't require your physical presence.”

In terms of remuneration, online employment is no less rewarding than regular jobs, says Jafri. “You can expect to replace your current 9-5 salary and add to it if you can manage to sell your skills well.”

In terms of payments, many freelance sites directly deposit money to the recipient’s bank account, while some give the option of using a Payoneer card through which money can be withdrawn from an ATM. Many others send a monthly check or use Western Union to transfer funds. Online jobs come in different shapes and sizes, each requiring a different form of skill set.

Content writing for websites

Nida Rasheed who runs Hamster Wheel Studios, an online media company, explains that every website has content in the form of articles, news stories, blogs and general text that is outsourced to the subcontinent. Content writing firms buy contracts from such websites and then hire people to do the task.

Rasheed maintains that on average, a content writer can end up writing 1,000-2,000 words a day and earn Rs 500 per 1,000 words.

However, Rasheed says that before starting her own company, she used to work as a content writer herself and says that one can earn up to Rs60,000 per month if he/she works for it.

Data entry

Data entry is perhaps the most popular form of online job and one that doesn’t require a vast skill set. The job description entails pretty much what the name suggests: data is provided to be inserted into relevant forms/fields.

Although, some may consider this task to be tedious and not conducive to self development, Jafri believes “data entry is a viable skill to leverage.

Industrial research

Industry research is a task that requires leg work away from the computer screen. Organisations based in other parts of the world hire locals to conduct market research for certain products. Syed Sair Ali, who has worked on eight projects with Euromonitor.com says he had an excellent experience with the projects he worked on adding that “You can’t earn like this from a regular job” in Pakistan. “At first the organisation was sceptical, but once I started delivering, I got more projects,” says Ali. An individual can earn up to £150 (Rs 20,700) per week, Ali claims. Ali started taking up these projects while he was in college and believes that it is a great opportunity for students .

Virtual assistants

Virtual assistants are assistants who are not physically present. Ali Zaki Mahomed, Chief Executive Officer of Timesvr.com explains “Think personal assistants, but online.”

Zaki says the job can entail tasks ranging from data entry, calendar management and making appointments to ordering food, booking tickets or even giving people wake up calls.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2010.