Can someone help me find a legitimate site that provides a database of
computer programming jobs that can be done via telecommute? There
seems to be so many sites that are just outright scams that it's
frustrating!

I am a computer programmer, specializing in Windows
languages/applications, particularly C# and DotNet programming. I'm
based in LA and can work for any employer. I'd love to find a database
where I can search for programming jobs that allow working from home.

What I'm NOT looking for:
-A site that gives "tips & tricks" to finding jobs
-A company with call-center type jobs; I'm a computer programmer and
want to stay within that field.
-A database of programming jobs to bid on (like elance.com). I'm not
looking for contract work, I want a full-time position
-A telecommute page for a particular employer; I hope to find a
database of various employers and opportunities.

Hello jimbeam-ga,

I think you might find it useful to experiment with a new class of job
search tools called job search aggregators. These specialized job
search sites harvest job postings from all over the Web and provide
you with a means of searching in one place instead of having to go to
multiple job boards.

I?ve provided you with sample searches from some of the bigger ones,
including: SimplyHired, Indeed, Jobster, Oodle and PageBites. I think
it also might be worthwhile to review what Craigslist offers for your
types of jobs.

I experimented with searching for the following requirements you mentioned:
 -- programmer
 -- C OR dotnet OR .Net
 -- telecommute
 -- Los Angeles

You will have to experiment with the Advance Search options for each
of these search sites to see what combination of search terms gives
you the best results. The problem with these search tools is that some
of them cannot differentiate between the word ?telecommute? used alone
and the phrase ?telecommute: no? that appears in many of the results.
Also note that with some of them you have to enter in the variations
for your ?dotnet? search term if you want ?.NET? to be included. One
of them also included the stand-alone word ?net? so the results
included inappropriate results like ?Health Net.? Some of these search
engines automatically recognize the synonyms while others don?t.

The results are mixed. You will have to experiment with a variety of
searches with each search engine to determine what combination of
skills, job titles, geographic limits and other qualifiers bring you
the best results. I suggest that you start with broad searches and
then narrow them down. Browsing the results will give you keywords you
might not have considered, employment agencies that you might want to
register with and possible employers you might want to contact
directly even if they don?t have your targeted job posted.

Wishing you well for your job search.

~ czh ~



============
SIMPLY HIRED
============

http://www.simplyhired.com/
http://www.simplyhired.com/index.php?ds=asf&

Search A: (C OR dotnet) title:programmer
Search B: (C OR dotnet OR .Net) title:programmer
Result A: jobs 1 - 50 of 2420 matches
Result B: jobs 1 - 50 of 5366 matches

Search: (C OR dotnet) title:programmer - Los Angeles, CA 90093 (within 50 miles)
Result: jobs 1 - 50 of 102 matches

Search: telecommute (C OR dotnet) title:programmer - Los Angeles, CA
90093 (within 50 miles)
Result: jobs 1 - 1 of 1 matches

Search: telecommute (C OR dotnet) title:programmer
Result: jobs 1 - 1 of 1 matches

Search: telecommute title:programmer
Result: jobs 1 - 32 of 32 matches


======
INDEED
======

http://www.indeed.com
http://www.indeed.com/advanced_search

Search: (C or dotnet) title:programmer jobs
Results: Jobs 1 to 50 of 3,161 

Search: (C or dotnet) title:programmer jobs in Los Angeles (within 100 miles)
Results: Jobs 1 to 50 of 243   

Search: telecommute (C or dotnet) title:programmer jobs in Los Angeles
(within 100 miles)
Results: Jobs 1 to 43 of 45   

Search: telecommute (C or dotnet) title:programmer jobs
Results: Jobs 1 to 50 of 594 

Search: telecommute title:programmer jobs
Results: Jobs 1 to 50 of 4,397 


=======
JOBSTER
=======

http://www.jobster.com
http://www.jobster.com/z/advanced_jobsearch?q=&l=&d=7&r=25&s=b&bdims=

Search: C OR dotnet OR programmer from job sites across the web.
Results: 193265 jobs found 

Search: title:C OR dotnet OR programmer in Los Angeles, CA (within 50 miles)
Results: 1218 jobs found 

Search: body:C OR dotnet OR programmer in Los Angeles, CA (within 50 miles)
Results: 7684 jobs found 

Search: telecommute programmer in Los Angeles, CA (within 50 miles)
Results: 4 jobs found 

Search: telecommute in Los Angeles, CA  (within 50 miles)
Results: 61 jobs found 

Search: telecommute
Results: 1661 jobs found 


=====
OODLE
=====

http://la.oodle.com/
http://la.oodle.com/job/

Search: programmer All Jobs
Results: 1 - 50 of 1471

Search: Telecommute All Jobs
Results: Results 1 - 50 of 7067

Search A: .Net   All Jobs
Search B: dotnet All Jobs
Results A: 1 - 50 of 3649
Results B: 1 - 6 of 6


=========
PAGEBITES
=========

http://www.pagebites.com/
http://www.pagebites.com/faq

Search: dotnet OR .Net OR C programmer  
Results: about 219802 

Search: dotnet OR .Net OR C programmer within 50 miles of Los Angeles, CA, USA  
Results: about 2965 

Search: telecommute dotnet OR .net OR C programmer within 50 miles of
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Results: about 2963 

Search: telecommute .net  
Results: about 179

Search: telecommute programmer  
Results: about 48 


======================
CRAIGSLIST LOS ANGELES
======================

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/

Search: telecommute All Jobs
Results: Found: 31 Displaying: 1 - 31

Search: telecommute All Gigs
Results: Found: 10 Displaying: 1 - 10

---

Clarification of Answer by czh-ga on 26 Apr 2006 11:37 PDT

Hello jimbeam-ga,

I'm sorry you're unhappy with my answer. It's unfortunate that you
didn't ask for clarification before rating and closing my answer. As a
new user of Google Answers I suggest that you review the following
links. As you can see, your question is priced quite low and the
resources I provided are well within the guidelines for what you
should expect.

http://answers.google.com/answers/faq.html
http://answers.google.com/answers/pricing.html

Now, to the specifics of finding online job search resources. As I
explained in my answer, finding legitimate telecommuting jobs is tough
and you have to do your own digging. There are no legitimate databases
of telecommuting jobs for programmers as you already  discovered for
yourself. I suggested to you that you should use the new tools of job
aggregator search sites to save you time and effort. I also explained
that you will have to experiement with them to find the right
combination of search terms. The samples I provided demonstrate the
difficulties.

I'm sorry that you're dissatisfied. Job search is hard and and what
you're looking for is extremely difficult to find. I hope you give the
tools I suggested another chance.

Best wishes for your job search.

~ czh ~

While I appreciate the effort of the researcher, I was disappointed in
this answer because its not in the vein of what I was looking for.
First off, a good number of the proposed queries have nothing to do
with telecommuting - a query with "(C OR dotnet) title:programmer" or
"(C OR dotnet OR .Net title:programmer" are not specific to
telecommuting. Also, doing a search for telecommuting at city-specific
CraigsList goes against the whole purpose of my question.

I priced this question at what I believed was a high-rate because it
was going to take more effort than just putting some queries together
- I've already done that, that's why I'm willing to pay for it. I'm
almost sorry that I posted this and surely regret paying.

I think jimbeam is absolutely right in this case.

researcher made just wild assumptions like "C or dotnet" and ran into
working delivering a very good answer but for a question not asked.

Dear recuireter-ga,

The examples I gave for how to use the tools were just that. Examples.
As with any tool, you have to experiment until you figure out its
quirks so that you can then avoid its pitfalls while maximizing its
benefits. Job seekers (and recruiters) are eternally looking for one
magic solution. There isn't one. The landscape is continually shifting
and new vendors and solution providers enter the field. If you're not
willing to try new approaches you'll get nowhere.

Best wishes for your endeavors.

~ czh ~