Working remotely is getting popular these days. In fact, 8 million people have already worked from home in 2017. This figure means there is a growing market for professionals who wish to exercise their expertise in the comfort of their own homes. Fortunately, there are a lot of platforms and companies that offer these home-based opportunities waiting to be tapped.
Finding a home-based job opportunity in this digital age where telecommuting has become a norm should not be hard. You will just have to check your resources and search through a few job portals—voila, you could be hired in an instant!
Perks of home-based job opportunities
More professionals have started to transition with working from home because it offers several rewarding benefits that you cannot get from working in an office setting. Here are some of those:
- Total control over your schedule
- No commute
- Reduced cost
- More time for personal matters
- Pure independence
- No designated uniform
- No boss around
Steps to find home-based job opportunities
Before you jump into scouring through several job portals offering such career opportunities, have some warm-up first. Get to know how it fits you before hitting the “apply” button to avoid impulsive decisions. To help you with this career exploration, we break down the steps you need to do in finding home-based job opportunities.
1. Assess what you can offer in the job market.
Just like any career pursuit, you will have to evaluate first what you can do and match it with the job market. Not all careers are available for remote work; that’s why you have to align first your skills with the demand of the job market.
Break down your expertise, skills, knowledge, and all other assets that are valuable in the remote job market. Then, find out how these skillsets fare in the industry by looking up the availability and demand in various job search platforms.
2. Know just how flexible you are.
If you’re looking for the most flexibility, consider enrolling in our online courses for freelance training. Home-based job opportunities allow you to work according to your flexibility. But how flexible can you be in working at your convenience? Remote jobs come in many forms—part-time, full-time, contractual, or freelance. It is up to you which kind of work arrangement will work for you; you can even juggle two at once!
Knowing your capacity to accommodate such setups will help you ease the process of finding the right job. Don’t fall into the deathtrap of getting a career where you can’t meet its time requirements.
3. Check the job positions that match your skill set.
Once you have evaluated your assets, it’s time to match that expertise to the available jobs in the industry. Some of the most common jobs include the following:
- Virtual Assistant
- Translator
- Freelance Writer
- Medical Transcriptionist
- Social media manager
- Web developer
- Travel agent
- Blogger
- Affiliate marketer
- Graphic designer
- Video editor
- Online teacher
- Survey taker
You have tons of options, really! The market is dominated by those coming from the sales and marketing industry. So if you are from that field, you are quite lucky! Here’s a guide you can take with you in starting to work remotely for sales and marketing.
4. Search on the right job platforms.
There are several specialized niche job platforms catering to freelancers and work from home professionals. You surely won’t have a hard time looking for a job that fits your career goals and needs.
Check out this list of freelance job websites you can use in this career venture:
- Upwork
- Fiverr
- FlexJobs
- CloudPeeps
- PeoplePerHour
- Toptal
- SolidGigs
- SimplyHired
- Aquent
- Crowded
- TaskRabbit
- Paperell
5. Verify desired companies that offer remote work.
If you are passionate about working for particular companies in your field, verify if they offer flexible work arrangements. Some companies offer such so read their job postings carefully. Companies are taking this opportunity to provide convenience for professionals who strive hard to serve them.
Check out this list of companies who offer work from home setup for their employees which consist of:
- Amazon
- Apple
- American Express
- ABC Financial
- Appen
- Dell
- Abbott
- CVS Health
- Sanofi
- Johnson & Johnson
- Lenovo
- Xerox
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6. Treat it just like a regular office job.
When you are finally decided to get on with this career, don’t take it for granted by thinking the application process is laid-back. That’s not how it goes. It still requires you to prepare an impressive resume and cover letter, ace the interview, and pass the assessment. Even more, it makes you double up your effort in displaying your adeptness over your specialization as there will be a sea of competition vying for the same role.
So don’t be too relaxed in your job application. Instead, prove prospective employers that you are worthy of the spot and that you can deliver expectations while at home.
7. Steer clear of the red flags.
The tendency of finding jobs online is that you are bound to encounter “too good to be true” offers. As a beginner looking to transition to this kind of setup, you need to know your way around to avoid scams. As you tread your way to a series of home-based opportunities opening their doors for you, remember to be careful. Look them up online, see how stable their company is, and find out how reliable their job posting is.
Here are some helpful tips to easily find the red flags of a job posting:
- Always read the job description carefully.
- Check if the company information is complete which includes the company name, contact number, office address, and even the name of the HR manager or specialist.
- Do not fall for “too good to be true” claims such as getting rich instantly.
- You never have to shell out money prior to getting a job.
- Research any reviews about the company on various platforms like Glassdoor.
- Keep track of the legitimacy by checking out their official website, LinkedIn profile, and social media pages.
- Do not pursue a job that doesn’t offer non-monetary benefits like health insurance, leaves, and more.
- Avoid applying for a position with a vague job description.
- Evaluate the professionalism by the way the job posting was written—any errors are a no-brainer.
- Verify with job scam lists like the Federal Trade Commission and Better Business Bureau.
To sum it all up, this career venture is just as crucial as finding a job in an office setting. You have the resources, the platforms, and all, but it all differs from the stimulating rewards this work arrangement offers, which an office-based job cannot compete with. To help you ease the process of this career exploration, here’s a comprehensive online course recommended for aspiring digital nomads like yourself.
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