With your kids in school all day long, you’ve gotten the itch to return to the workforce. But you’d still like to be there when the kids get home from school, and occasionally volunteer for some school events as well. So you’ve determined that the best of both worlds would be to find a flexible job. Finding a telecommuting job isn’t all that different from a typical job search, with some minor exceptions. Here’s how to find the companies that will let you work from home—and find your work-life balance, too.
Research the company
Let’s say that you have your heart set on working for a specific organization. But you have no idea if that company has a job opening that matches what you’d like to do, and that could be done from your home office, too. So flex some of your research skills and do a little digging on the company. For starters, you can check out the company’s website to see if you can find out if it has a workplace flexibility program in place. You can even look through its social media channels to determine if it lets employees work remotely. (A good starting point to finding companies that have posted the largest number of remote jobs is to check out FlexJobs’ article: 100 Top Companies with Remote Jobs in 2015!) If you still can’t find out the facts, there’s nothing wrong with reaching out to the Human Resources department directly to ask what their stance is on flexible schedules.
Be specific in your search
If you haven’t done a job search in a while, it can be quite daunting. Simplify your search by being as specific as possible. Instead of scrolling through dozens (if not hundreds) of random job postings, use keywords to help edit your search. For example, if you’re looking for a part-time marketing position, use those words to search. After all, you may find the perfect position for you—and then discover that the job is in-office only. And remember: if a job description doesn’t directly state that it is work from home, chances are it probably isn’t.
Use niche job boards
If you’re in the market for a job with a flexible schedule, then you need to position yourself where those types of jobs are. Instead of using any old job search board, you should look for niche job boards (such as FlexJobs), which only list jobs that have some level of flexibility to them. That way, you won’t spend hours scrolling through job postings just to find one or two that will allow you to work from home.
Once you find a position that piques your interest (and has the potential for flexible work options to boot), it’s important to keep in mind the types of telecommuting that might be offered. For example, you may find a position that allows for full-time telecommuting, where you’ll be able to work a full-time schedule from home. Part-time telecommuting may mean that you’ll work partially in the office, and the other half of the time at home, or simply work a part-time schedule from home. You may find a job that offers a compressed workweek, where you may work four longer days in the office and have one day (usually a Friday) off. Determining what type of flex would work best for you will help expedite your job search and get you one step closer to finding a flexible job that allows you to work from home and take care of your family, too.
