Remote Jobs: Are They Right for You and How To Find Them?
In an August 2021 Pulse Survey conducted by PWC, flexibility, including working from home, was the 4th most important reason employees want to leave their current jobs. That is in line with a majority of my clients that are currently looking for a new role. They would prefer to work in a remote capacity, all or part of the time.
So if you want to work remotely and your profession and industry allow for it, what should you think about before pursuing a remote work role.
And if remote work is the right move for you, where should you look to find remote opportunities?
Are You Suited For Remote Work?
Many professionals had the opportunity to first work remotely in March 2020 when, due to the pandemic, a lot of employers moved from in-person to remote work. It was a significant change for those that had only worked at an office. Many thrived in this environment; others struggled.
Some employers could not or did not want to move to remote work. Employees in these organizations have seen how others could work from home and may wish to explore these opportunities, even if it involves a career change.
Whether you have had the experience of working remotely or would like to try it, there are things you must take into consideration. If you have worked remotely before, remember that your experience at a new company will be different from what you may have experienced before, especially when you already know your boss, your team, and your job expectations.
Distractions at Home
Is the Netflix call too much for you? Will having a spouse or partner be too distracting? Know thyself first—no sense in setting yourself up for failure working remotely if you need an environment with fewer distractions.
Loneliness
Working from home can be lonely. If you get your energy from people, and you will be sitting by yourself all day with no one to talk with, a remote job may not be the best for you. An extrovert friend of mine could not wait to get back to the office after working remotely. She greatly missed the “water cooler” conversations that made her day more enjoyable.
Motivation
Some people are self-motivated, and others need a watchful eye to get them going. Know which camp you are in. You may get your energy from being a part of a group that interacts with each other to achieve a common goal. That could be a part of your work motivation. If remote work does not offer this or in a way that works for you, you may not want to pursue this type of setup.
Productivity
One of the worries that employers had when first going to remote work was the productivity of their workforce. While overall, it does not seem that having employees go remote necessarily hurt productivity, there are undoubtedly individual cases where it did. The CliftonStrengths assessment has 34 themes, and they fall into four categories. One of those categories is called “Executing.” People with higher-ranked themes that fall into this category have no problem getting results. Whether they work in an office or at home, they are wired to get things done. Many others, though, are not wired that way. Your strengths may fall in other areas, such as either relationship or persuasion-focused. If that is the case, your environment must be organized in a way to help you get results. Remote work, which makes it more challenging to have those interactions, may not be your optimal environment.
Work-Life Balance
One issue with remote work is the blurred lines between your work life and home life. Working in an office could provide a separation between work and home. Many people have struggled with that separation. We have seen that the average workweek of all employees increased over the pandemic years. Microsoft reported that they had seen a 10% increase in the workweek of their employees that have gone remote. Think about your situation and whether you may ditch the commute but find your work-life balance deteriorates if you work remotely.
Where To Find Remote Jobs?
If you feel that remote working continues to be the best option for you after doing some self-evaluation, then where can you find work-from-home jobs?
Here is a list of sites offering remote work opportunities.
FlexJobs says it is the #1 job search site for “hand-screened” remote and flexible work opportunities. You can search for jobs by keywords, location, and remote work level (hybrid, remote option, etc.). It has been in business since 2007.
Categories of jobs include Programming, Design, DevOps and System Administration, Management and Finance, Product, Customer Support, Sales and Marketing, as well as Full-Time and Contract.
You can browse openings in Accounting, Customer Service, Data Entry, Design, Developer, Editing, Healthcare, HR, IT, Legal, Marketing, Project Manager, Q&A, Sales, Teaching, Virtual Assistant, and Writing. They also have a resource area that includes articles and Q&A.
This site has opportunities over many industries and even features Entry Level opportunities. I saw some well-known employers on this job board. They also have a blog with articles that feature employers that are hiring remotely.
Are you looking for a remote position that allows you to work anywhere in the world? This site specifies where you have to be located, with many jobs listed as being able to be done anywhere on the globe. Some jobs will list continents or even specific countries, though. This site skews toward IT, but there are many other types of roles, including marketing and sales.
This site features jobs from well-known companies like Yelp, Indeed, and Spotify. It skews toward opportunities as developers and engineers.
You need to register, and the free version gives you access to a partial list of jobs. You can get a paid subscription which provides you with full access to their database and other features.
This job board features the option for remote job seekers to post their resumes. This site also skews toward Designers, Developers, DevOps, but also has categories for Marketing, Product Management, Sales, and Writing.
For those looking to make an impact in the world, Idealist has always been the go-to job board for the not-for-profit world. A recent search using the keyword “remote” produced 5,008 jobs, some permanently remote and some only temporarily.
Working Nomads has open positions available in many categories, including Customer Success, Health Care, and Management. You can also set up job alerts.
Larger Job Boards With Remote Jobs
Don’t forget the more prominent job boards as well. The following allows you to look for remote jobs.
Indeed: Enter “remote” in the “Where” field.
LinkedIn: In the location field enter “Remote.”
ZipRecruiter: Enter “Remote” in the location field.
CareerBuilder: Check the box that says “Work from Home/Remote.”
Glassdoor: Enter “remote” in the location field.
Google for Jobs: You can put the search term “Google for Jobs remote” into Google to show remote jobs. You can also search “Google for Jobs” and select the “remote” filter.
Is a Remote Job Really Remote?
Some job seekers find that the job advertised as a remote/work-from-home opportunity may not be a permanent remote job. Some employers are advertising remote work but with the plan to bring all jobs in-office at a later date, or it could be a hybrid role (some in-office and some remote). If you want to have a permanent remote role, make sure you clarify exactly the expectations so you are not surprised that it turns out to be something different than you expected.
Conclusion
Many people are looking for remote work. It can be an ideal work situation for many people. Make sure that it will work for your strengths, values, and motivations. If they are aligned, use these resources to find a great opportunity!
If you are looking for additional ways to find targeted employers, you may be interested in 17 Resources to Develop a Targeted Employer List.
Shelley Piedmont is a job search coach. She wants to help job seekers put their best foot forward by providing the tools for a successful job search. If you need career coaching, resume preparation, interview skills assessment, or LinkedIn profile assistance, she can help. Schedule a 15-minute no-obligation consultation.