Even prior to the pandemic, work from home jobs, or remote work positions, were very desirable, but often times required a specific skillset. Now there are many more positions open as companies and workers alike realize the benefits to the work from home arrangement. However, as this style of work gains in popularity, so do the amount of scams. This article is about increasing your success in finding a remote work position and avoiding scams and hassle along the way. Before you start the remote job search, please be aware of the signs of a scam!
Work from home scams often have many of the same phrasing or wording such as no skills necessary, be your own boss, make unlimited money, all are signs that something is too good to be true. Anything offering no training necessary, anything offering below minimum wage or commission based, anything requiring you to pay any fees or pay for your own equipment, should be throwing up red flags. Please be sure to check the company through the BBB, Glassdoor, or other websites if you are unsure about their legitimacy.
With this in mind, here are 3 of the best ways to find remote work:
1. Free Job Listing Sites - Indeed, Monster, LinkedIn, Career One Stop, etc. - Most people conduct their job search online using job posting websites such as indeed. The easiest way to search for work for home positions is to actually utilize the search filter function, searching remote work. However, even on websites like these, scam positions can pop up.
2. Subscription to a job board - Some sites, such as Flexjobs, allow you to pay a small subscription fee to access purely remote job postings that have already been vetted to prevent scams. These websites filter out posts that are scams so you do not have to worry as much.
3. Direct Company Postings - Some companies such as Amazon, Google, etc. will post directly to their website about remote openings available. If you have a specific skill set such as customer service, web development, childhood education, etc., you can go directly to the business website and see if they have listings for remote work in your field. Oftentimes, these companies don’t post to job boards as remote work can be a competitive job market, so it can be to your advantage to find the postings directly from the company itself.
Good luck in your job search, and remember, your career center is here to provide free career services so take full advantage to give yourself the edge!