I have been quite ambitious in my pursuits of employment after high school and community college and believe it or not, I have experience in both onsite jobs and work from home opportunities. I am someone who has had a lot of job titles and duties so I am here to tell you that onsite jobs and work from home opportunities each have their own positives as well as their drawbacks. My purpose for this article is to give you some valuable information, especially you the undergraduate or the fresh out of high school student, on which type of employment suits you best.

First of all, onsite jobs have always been the choice out there for humanity for years. Everyone has to leave their home to work for wages at a different location other than your home with a supervisor, superior, manager, chief, etc. looking over your shoulder and making sure you are doing a good job and being paid for it. Well, now that we have the Internet (yay!) and all of its accessories, companies and employers are opting to employ individuals in the comfort of their homes because it saves them money and they deem it best for mental wellness—you know, less stress and anxiety paves the way for more productivity..

At the moment, I am a book reviewer which I consider a work from home opportunity because I get paid for reviewing books that my employer supplies me with and I read them in the comfort of my home. It is an ideal, convenient way for me because I struggle from stress and anxiety that occurs when I am working with other people at an onsite job. So that’s one point for teleworking (another term for work from home jobs). This is not my first work from home job though, I have been a Social Media Evaluator for an Australian company called Appen and I was also an online Editorial Associate for a health and wellness magazine whose headquarters are located in Florida. They were all great positions and ones ideal for stay-at-home folks, they just ended because they were contractual or short-term. But the book reviewing has lasted a year now and I am forever grateful to the Lord for it.

The advantages of remote work (still another synonym for work from home jobs) are that you do not have to be in the annoying atmosphere of other people around you if you are an introvert. You are in front of your computer in the safety of your home, in your pajamas, with a steaming cup of coffee or tea, very peaceful and private. Another positive is that you will be saving money rather than spending a whopping fifty to a hundred plus dollars per month going out to commuting fares. Also, let’s not forget the money that goes into your business wardrobe where you have to spend lots on buying suits, pants, ties, shoes, etc. You don’t even have to go through the hassle of shopping for them anyway as you will be working in homey clothes like your tank top, a t-shirt, shorts, underwear, etc. And lastly, you won’t be forking out some of your money in purchasing expensive lunches from nearby cafés or your company’s cafeteria as you will probably be nibbling on a buttered toast or a bologna sandwich all made from ingredients found in your kitchen at home (at least that’s true for me).

Other plusses for remote work include independence and staying clear of office politics. You don’t have a manager or a supervisor looking over your shoulder as you will be learning and/or getting used to being on your own. What you will be using when you’re working from home is email messaging or phone calls to your boss or meetings via skype or zoom. This avoidance of office politics is a great aspect of telework. You won’t be in the middle of favoritism, nepotism, competition, hostility, sexual harassment, etc. with an unfair boss and other co-workers when you work from home.

However, the drawbacks of working from home are numerous as well. As much as it seems flawless and very ideal, some of the negatives of working remotely are: 1) No office interaction. If you are an extrovert, you will be craving the company of others around you. And there is also the thing called teamwork where you learn how to collaborate with other people around you in on work-related projects and in completing job tasks. Also, what I have learned from work from home jobs is the lack of hours and that you will be paid minimum wage. There was never a chance for growth in the work at home positions that I have held plus these jobs are always on a temporary basis. As for those who are looking to land their dream job working from home? Good luck because there is a limit to the kinds of jobs that are available. Sure there are tons of tech and administrative jobs but there is a lack of legal, medical, and engineering opportunities as those kinds usually require, I think, the employee to be onsite. I should know because I have been searching for openings in the library and legal fields but to my disappointment, there is not a lot of them out there that are remote or online.

As for my time with onsite jobs, they are very much the same in that they do have their perks and their downsides and I will tell you now about them. My first job out of high school was as a paid intern for a local newspaper in my hometown and what I liked about it was the presence of a manager. She showed me how to handle bank deposits for the company, how to type up invoices for other companies to pay their bills that they owe us. She also instructed senior workers to mentor me and oversee my articles to look for errors. They would also show me how to go about authoring the right drafts ready for publication. This was the advantage of onsite jobs. The presence of these co-workers that will tutor and mold you into being the best employee you can be. In other words, this is perfect for fresh out of high school and/or college workers.

Another all-time benefit of onsite jobs is the sought after benefits that they come with. You know, the medical, dental, social security, bonuses, company parties, company gifts, etc. When I worked as a temperature taker at tuna giant, Star-Kist, I was lavished with free turkeys for Thanksgiving, cuts for social security and overtime payments. When I worked as a receptionist for another onsite job at a financial institution, I had the privilege of attending their annual Christmas party and it was awesome because I won a ceiling fan from a raffle held there! When I worked as a data entry clerk for a research company here in Rockville, Maryland called Westat, I got to go out with a group of my co-workers there to restaurants and I also got medical, dental, and vacation benefits. And let me add that I also got employee perks like free membership to the company’s gymnasium. Aren’t those all awesome? And when I was laid off due to Westat’s lack of assignments, I was eligible for unemployment insurance and was paid a lump sum for the vacation pay that I never got to use… Yes! These onsite jobs were blessings indeed. Other usual rewards of onsite jobs are pay raises, job advancements, and retirement/social security/401K investments.

Now after all that rainbow and glitter, I do have some negatives to share about onsite jobs. As much as I enjoyed all those incentives and goods, I could not escape the same workplace politics that I mentioned above for the work from home side. There is also competition and hostility. There is also sexual harassment and assault if you are a woman (men rarely go through this but it does happen as well). And then there is stress and anxiety of working in a shared environment. Aside from those, onsite jobs do cost you money in the way it dents your wallet from having to buy your office wardrobe. Also, you have to pay for commuting fares like bus fare, train fare, gas for your car, carpooling fares, and the list goes on.

So after all the pros and cons of work from home opportunities and onsite employment, which one do you seem to gravitate towards? I personally think it all depends on the personal situation of the individual him or herself. I have discovered that those who are extroverts and who love to socialize with others are suited for the onsite arrangement. Also, I think those who are inexperienced (who have just gotten out of high school or college/university) should go for onsite too in order to know the ins and outs of employment. For telework and telecommuting, those should be reserved for the disabled and/or introverted. I also think that those who are at the senior level tend to be more self-sufficient thus making remote work ideal for them. So that’s my final verdict on this battle between these two ways of working and earning money. Have a productive day!