This guest post has been submitted by Brie.
Working from home can be a fantastic option for moms, especially those hoping to wade back into the workforce without completely disrupting their time with their kids. Rather than going back to an office, working from home can offer the opportunity to still spend time with family and keep up with household responsibilities while getting back into the professional world.
Here are five tips for how to start looking for a work-at-home job.
How To Start Looking For A Work-At-Home Job
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Figure out what you might like to do
This one seems obvious, but it’s probably the hardest step. Take some time to survey yourself with these questions: Do you want to stay in your same career field or try something new? Will you be looking for an entry level job or one that requires more experience? Do you want to work for a small, medium, or large company, or perhaps a nonprofit? Is the location of the office important? (Even if you’re working from home, you may find yourself wanting some face-time with colleagues, or not!)
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Decide if you want to go part-time or full-time
For a working mom, this one is a big decision. Luckily, work-from-home jobs can be found with either type of schedule so choose what is best for you and your family.
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Carve out a home office space
Almost all employers who hire for work from home jobs will ask you about your office space. It doesn’t have to be large, but it should provide you with some privacy so you can focus on your work. Having a fast Internet connection, a reliable computer and telephone (landlines are sometimes required), and knowing some back-up options (like the local coffee shop or bookstore) are a good idea as well.
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Begin your search
The search for a work from home job is much like that for a regular job. Use special keywords like telecommute, remote work, and home-based job to find opportunities. Sites like FlexJobs can help you pinpoint jobs that offer telecommuting options, and you can also target specific companies you’re interested in working for.
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Be cautious about work from home scams
When searching for a work from home job, it’s important to be wary of the many scam jobs out there. If a job promises you lots of money for little work, is offered to you out of the blue, or asks you for personal information right up front, it’s almost definitely a scam. Use your best judgment and educate yourself on common job search scams.
Working from home is increasingly common and a fantastic way for busy mothers to balance their work and family needs. As long as you prepare yourself before beginning your search, you’re sure to find a great work from home job!
For more work at home information, be sure to check out our WAHM Strategy Hour posts with tons of tips and tricks for working at home.
You can get on our free work-at-home resource email list here.
Brie Weiler Reynolds is the Director of Content and Community at FlexJobs, the award-winning site for telecommuting and flexible job listings. FlexJobs lists thousands of pre-screened, legitimate, and professional-level work-from-home jobs and other types of flexibility like part-time positions, freelancing, and flexible schedules. Brie provides career and job search advice through the FlexJobs Blog and social media. Learn more at www.FlexJobs.com.
Nice tips with a lot of inspiration. I Work part time in my community and part time from my home with blogging. I have 4 children and it combines my responsibilities in the Family with the opportunity to earn som necessary Money.
Great tips but certainly not for this new stage of my mommy-life…. new one home from China and just starting the long journey of medical care for her!
I love this article. Working at home is awesome!
Here is my big tip:
If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. I’ve tried a couple of things that I thought would be fun and they turned out to be scams. Find an honest company that is willing to talk to you first. Never put any money into it, you shouldn’t have to pay to work!
Thanks for the awesome info as I have been thinking about working from home so I dont have to put the baby in daycare.
I don’t think I would be happy working at home; however, I do see lots of positives when you are able to!
The scams scare me! It’s hard to find opportunities I really trust…
tutoring or consulting for an educational service is a great thing for teachers who want to work from home. There are some online teachers needed for the virtual academies opening up.
Thanks for the information. There are far too many illegitimate “work from home” sites out there.
I’ve tried to do at home programs before…Thanks for your info, look forward to trying again.
A few years ago I looked into working from home; however, every lead/suggestion that was offered turned out to be surveys or scams. I would love to be able to as I am in school and the extra income would be great. I will definitely be looking through your WAHM strategy post and flexjobs. Thanks for the info!
I wish i had a home office and a landline to do this kind of work. I have nor privacy so work at home sounds tough
So I am a consultant with Flourish and not doing well. I don’t devote time to it at all. I need to crack down and get it done!
Through necessity I am the Queen of Easy To Make Recipes 🙂 and your article resonates completely, Brie. So, when health issues presented in my life, I had to give up the only way I knew how to make a living and had to learn a whole new skill – learning about websites and web marketing. …And I came from such a spoilt background I didn’t even know how to use WORD…seriously…The journey I’ve been on this last year has been beyond amazing.
What I found in my initial research was exactly as you describe – the web is just full of scammers trawling around for someone to take up their $5000 offer, or $20k, or whatever…It always seems to cost, doesn’t it. So, I wholeheartedly agree with your approach of caution.
OK back to the Queen of easy to make recipes… Anyhow, there I was a specialist tax advisor with an international firm, who now had to fall back on her only other skill – cooking tasty but very easy recipes. That is exactly what I did – I learned how to share my cooking skills…and people from all over the world actually come visit and spend ages on my site!
I write this to let you Moms out there know, if you’re going down the web-marketing route as a WAHM, it is possible and it will be rewarding. But, it takes effort, discipline and determination to learn a whole new skill. Like any business, it will take consistent persistence – in other words, perseverance. What I learned early on was the easiest part is creating the site, the hard part is the SEO, the traffic, your voice, understanding your visitors, all the rules Google puts up.
Frankly, the rules are just like an off-line business – would you set up a coffee shop where there are already loads of similar stores? No? Well, its the same with your niche – if the street/niche is overcrowded, go elsewhere.
In any offline business, you’d see business associates who are reliable and have a good reputation – it’s the same online – stay away from bad neighborhoods, and cultivate relationships with businesses you respect.
Thank you for this excellent article, Brie.
Good luck everyone!
It’s so hard to truly know what is a SCAM..thanks for the link to the article!
Good ideas for when you need some extra money coming in.
some really good tips an info,thanks
good info, I had to do that many times while a military wife
Thanks for the info. Our family just moved into a new house. With that we have extra expenses and things to get paid off. To put us in a more stable position. Also to have money to do some fun activities. I am a sahm and a homeschooling mom so to work at home would be ideal. Hoping this info will help me find something to do at home.
great info, thanks