Working remotely, or “from home” can feel like a dream opportunity, especially for Military Spouses. With the looming uncertainty that a PCS or deployment could occur literally at any given time, having a flexible career allows the stress of moving and the uncertainty to be slightly less overwhelming.
Being a Military Spouse, and one who works from home, the questions I hear most often are: How do I find a remote job? How do I know it is a legit job or company and not a scam? To put it simply there are a few places that you can locate remote, work from home, opportunities, they are just a bit less known about.
LinkedIn Jobs
LinkedIn Jobs allows you to search for position’s by title and location. You can choose ‘Remote” or even “Worldwide” and in turn see many remote opportunities.
FlexJobs
FlexJobs came onto the scene in 2007, but has increased in popularity over the past 5 years. FlexJobs is a site that allows a member (with a paid membership), to explore a variety of jobs, similarly to many other job boards. BUT what makes FlexJobs stand out is that the jobs on the site, in one way or another, offer flexible work. Flexible work does not necessarily mean 100% remote, but that is a search parameter on the site. What they also provide, for free, is blog posts and articles relevant to employment. They even go one step further and provide a list of 100 companies who hire remote workers, and they update it every year. If you want to check out this year’s list, click here.
Being a Military Spouse, and one who works from home, the questions I hear most often are: How do I find a remote job? How do I know it is a legit job or company and not a scam? To put it simply there are a few places that you can locate remote, work from home, opportunities, they are just a bit less known about.
LinkedIn Jobs
LinkedIn Jobs allows you to search for position’s by title and location. You can choose ‘Remote” or even “Worldwide” and in turn see many remote opportunities.
FlexJobs
FlexJobs came onto the scene in 2007, but has increased in popularity over the past 5 years. FlexJobs is a site that allows a member (with a paid membership), to explore a variety of jobs, similarly to many other job boards. BUT what makes FlexJobs stand out is that the jobs on the site, in one way or another, offer flexible work. Flexible work does not necessarily mean 100% remote, but that is a search parameter on the site. What they also provide, for free, is blog posts and articles relevant to employment. They even go one step further and provide a list of 100 companies who hire remote workers, and they update it every year. If you want to check out this year’s list, click here.
Melanie Grantham, CASY & MSCCN Recruiter Connect Specialist, has WAH opportunities for you! CASY/MSCCN Recruiter Connect
CASY and MSCCN have a variety of work from home positions as well. To view these positions, simply navigate to our job board and search by “Job Category”. You’ll want to search keywords as well by including “WAH” or “Work From Home” in the keyword search bar. We have a great group of Recruiters involved directly in the screening and hiring of their candidates through the Recruiter Connect Program. You can reach out directly to Melanie Grantham for more information on Recruiter Connect, and our current openings at m_grantham@msccn.org.
Networking
Networking within social media can also aid in your search for remote work. This works especially well for both LinkedIn and Facebook. There are multiple Facebook and LinkedIn groups aimed solely at Military Spouse employment, and can even be broken down into what type of work being searched for. Groups like Career Military Spouses, Military Spouse HR Professionals, VirtForce, and Military Spouse Networking can help you not only locate employment opportunities, but can also help you network with other spouses looking for the same or similar things.
Now that you have an idea of where to start your remote search, let's talk limiting search parameters.
How to sort through remote work opportunities:
You will have filtering options on LinkedIn Jobs, just like in any search engine. I suggest filtering by title first, then experience level. Not all platforms have the option to sort by date, if they do, I suggest that you use that as well. Try to apply to jobs that are more recent and leave the ones that have been posted 30+days until later. The reason I suggest this is, just because a position is posted does NOT mean that the company is ready to hire that position. Often companies will put out response feelers for a position before it is needed, they tend to stay active on job boards longer. With FlexJobs the parameters can be filtered even further down to include remote work type.
When searching for remote or work from home positions on any other site, be sure to search for key words: remote, work from home, virtual, WFH, and WAH etc. The term used by the company can vary, but all these terms mean the same thing.
What to do before you apply:
The key to reviewing the remote positions announcements, is that you MUST read the entire job announcement before deciding if the position is something you are interested in. Not all remote positions are 100% remote, and not all positions labeled as remote are in fact remote, mistakes happen even when posting jobs.
If you are on LinkedIn, make sure that your profile is updated and professional. If you are using a resume, proofread the document and ensure that the information is both accurate and grammatically correct.
Remember that just because a position is posted, does not mean it is available, read the job descriptions thoroughly before applying, and set yourself up for the best possible outcome by reviewing your resume and LinkedIn profile. Remote work is out there and readily available, if you know where to look and how to apply.
Lastly, after you've found your perfect WAH opportunity, take advantage of our free training on how to work from home! Our next one is January 25, 2019.
Written By: Phylicia Vallier
CASY and MSCCN have a variety of work from home positions as well. To view these positions, simply navigate to our job board and search by “Job Category”. You’ll want to search keywords as well by including “WAH” or “Work From Home” in the keyword search bar. We have a great group of Recruiters involved directly in the screening and hiring of their candidates through the Recruiter Connect Program. You can reach out directly to Melanie Grantham for more information on Recruiter Connect, and our current openings at m_grantham@msccn.org.
Networking
Networking within social media can also aid in your search for remote work. This works especially well for both LinkedIn and Facebook. There are multiple Facebook and LinkedIn groups aimed solely at Military Spouse employment, and can even be broken down into what type of work being searched for. Groups like Career Military Spouses, Military Spouse HR Professionals, VirtForce, and Military Spouse Networking can help you not only locate employment opportunities, but can also help you network with other spouses looking for the same or similar things.
Now that you have an idea of where to start your remote search, let's talk limiting search parameters.
How to sort through remote work opportunities:
You will have filtering options on LinkedIn Jobs, just like in any search engine. I suggest filtering by title first, then experience level. Not all platforms have the option to sort by date, if they do, I suggest that you use that as well. Try to apply to jobs that are more recent and leave the ones that have been posted 30+days until later. The reason I suggest this is, just because a position is posted does NOT mean that the company is ready to hire that position. Often companies will put out response feelers for a position before it is needed, they tend to stay active on job boards longer. With FlexJobs the parameters can be filtered even further down to include remote work type.
When searching for remote or work from home positions on any other site, be sure to search for key words: remote, work from home, virtual, WFH, and WAH etc. The term used by the company can vary, but all these terms mean the same thing.
What to do before you apply:
The key to reviewing the remote positions announcements, is that you MUST read the entire job announcement before deciding if the position is something you are interested in. Not all remote positions are 100% remote, and not all positions labeled as remote are in fact remote, mistakes happen even when posting jobs.
If you are on LinkedIn, make sure that your profile is updated and professional. If you are using a resume, proofread the document and ensure that the information is both accurate and grammatically correct.
Remember that just because a position is posted, does not mean it is available, read the job descriptions thoroughly before applying, and set yourself up for the best possible outcome by reviewing your resume and LinkedIn profile. Remote work is out there and readily available, if you know where to look and how to apply.
Lastly, after you've found your perfect WAH opportunity, take advantage of our free training on how to work from home! Our next one is January 25, 2019.
Written By: Phylicia Vallier
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