In the past, most Filipina mothers were only engaged in household care. They were expected to tend to their children while the husband worked to financially support the family. Today, they are more empowered; they take care of the home but also work outside of it to provide for their families. They are more independent and confident and many of them work in companies as tech-savvy professionals. With more moms learning to use tech gadgets, it might be a good idea to see if she can earn extra income by harnessing such a skill.
In this article, to celebrate the end of May, the month of mothers, we’ll talk about how tech-savvy your mom is according to three levels: level 1, level 2, and level 3.
Level 1: Does Your Mom Know How to Use Her Phone?
Does she talk on it, text and take photos with it? Does she use apps like Facebook or Instagram? What kind of apps does she use in general? Is she one of those who discovered the joys of online shopping during the pandemic?
According to online statistics, Filipino spend a lot of time in social media apps, especially Facebook and Instagram. Furthermore, in the last two years, Filipinos have certainly come to depend on mobile phone apps that enabled them to shop at their utmost convenience. With thousands of sellers going online though, educating your mother on how to navigate through these online shopping apps can help her spot and avoid scams.
If she is a level 1 techy mom, you may also help your mother do the following:
- Familiarize and navigate through the settings of her phone
- Identify what each app on her phone is for
- Use instant-messaging apps for day-to-day communication
Mobile phones are now one of the basic necessities that your mother should know how to use. A lot of important things can be done using our phones, including bills payment, online banking, reading the news, and many more!
Level 2: Does Your Mom Know How to Use a Laptop or Desktop Computer?
Many Filipina moms, especially those who finished a degree, must already have some knowledge and skills tucked away that might just be the ticket for entry into a remote IT job. For example, some moms may have decent typewriting speed for data encoding jobs. Others are natural sellers and could go for online sales or marketing jobs. Others may write very well and could pass for web copywriting.
For moms with these skills, getting DIY tutorials on how to use Microsoft Office applications could do just the trick. There are employers that hire moms who can use MS Office or online platforms, even if they had no prior relevant experience. Level 2 techy moms are those that HR personnel usually categorize as highly trainable.
Level 3: Does Your Mom Work From Home Using Her Laptop or Computer?
Suppose your mom already works from home? A work from home mom is a level 3 tech-savvy mom. She will not just to know how to use her laptop or computer but also masterfully navigate through the applications used in her online job.
Ever since the pandemic hit, most people now work from home, including moms, and they actually find this set-up beneficial. Aside from having less stress from commuting to work, they can also be with their families and spend more time with their children.
The following are three of the most common work from home jobs for moms:
- Writing
- Tutoring
- Customer Service
These work from home jobs leverage the existing knowledge and experience of Filipino moms. Because our educational system values teaching in the English language, many moms in their 30s to 40s speak very good English. Their experience in dealing with children also means that they have the patience to tutor in English young Korean, Japanese or Chinese kids. Or do sales pitches to US or EU customers.
There are lots of other work from home options for moms in the Philippines. Because these jobs can be done anywhere and at any time—it is perfectly feasible for Filipina moms to work from home.
What You Can Do Further
If your mom can be categorized into any level above, she’s a bona fide techy mama. If not, your mother is in level 0, which means she isn’t tech-savvy at all. But don’t lose hope because you can surely help her to get to Level 1 or even 3, with some effort!
So how to level up from zero? For starters, help her set up her social media accounts. Schedule a short walkthrough. Encourage her to explore. Soon enough, she will be asking you questions. Be patient—remember that not everyone grew up on gadgets.
So there you go. Who knows, you might be able to allow your mom to find fulfillment in a long-awaited career. There are many platforms that advertise remote online jobs. Check out Upwork, Virtual Worker, Jobstreet and the most popular right now, LinkedIn. Here at LegalMatch PH, we’re also very open to recruiting work-from-home moms for IT-related jobs. So if you have a level 2 or 3 tech-savvy mom looking for a work-from-home IT-related job, check out our open positions here.