Since the pandemic, nearly 56% of US workers have a job that is remote-friendly. But, today, more and more workers are being called back into the office. If you’re one of them, you’re probably saying but, “I want to work from home!”

And, you’re not alone. Roughly 26% of workers now work remotely, and enjoy the many benefits that come with it.

Money Saved

Remote workers save money. The average worker spends a whopping $8,466 each year on common commuting costs or about 19% of take home pay, according to Bankrate. By working remotely, those costs are slashed if not entirely eliminated.

Time Saved

Remote workers save a ton of time by not commuting. The average commute in America is about 27.5 minutes one way for a total of 55 minutes spent commuting every work day. That comes out to 275 minutes per week or 13,750 minutes each year!

By working remotely full time, you can save nearly 230 hours annually.

What would you do with all that extra time? Sleep in? Relax? Help get your family out the door in the morning? Exercise?

The State of Remote Work

In Buffer’s Annual State of Remote Work Report, 98% of respondents would prefer to work from home (at least partially) for the rest of their careers! Since you’re here, we’re going to guess you too want to work from home.

Keep in mind, just because everyone wants to work from home doesn’t mean everyone should work from home.

If you’re ready to call your home your office and your office your home, there’s some important steps you should take to turn your work from home dreams into reality.

Question 1: What Kind of Work from Home Job Makes Sense for You?

I get a lot of emails and Facebook messages that say, near verbatim:

“I want to work from home, please help.”

And, if you’ve ever taken the time to email me, you know I always respond and give the best advice I can — if I don’t know the answer, I’ll point you in the right direction.

The problem with the general statement, “I want to work from home,” is it’s just too broad. Working from home is not a one-size-fits-all position. There are seemingly endless ways to make a living from home.

Know Your WFH Type

Once you know you’d like to work from home, the very next thing you need to do is decide which kind of work from home job is right for you:

• Do you need the stability and security of an employee position with benefits?
• Would you rather work part-time around your day job?
• Are you looking to start a scaleable side hustle?
• Have you been bitten by the freelancing bug?
• Do you just want to make a little extra money here and there?

Your answers to those questions will go a long way in helping you have a more successful remote job search. As a reminder, work from home jobs can usually be divided up into six main types:

1. Full-Time Employee

You’re hired on as an employee who just happens to work remotely. Most times, this entitles you to benefits and stable pay. Taxes are taken out of your paycheck for you.

2. Part-Time Employee

Also gives you “employee” status which means you can count on greater stability. You may not be benefits eligible as a part-time telecommuter but you will have taxes taken out of your paycheck.

3. Independent Contractor

As an independent contractor (IC), you provide your services to a company on a per-contract basis. This means, once your contract is up, you might not have any more work. Similarly, your contract may end without warning. There’s no guarantee of work and you’re responsible for your own taxes and fill out a 1099.

4. Freelance

Freelancers offer their services for sale and choose which projects they work on and when. You’re in charge of finding your own work, setting your rates, and collecting payments. Freelancers are also in charge of paying their own taxes on money earned. Writing, virtual assistant, graphic design, and typist are all common work from home freelance careers.

5. Side Hustler

Not everyone wants to work full-time or even part-time to make money from home — I get that. So, if you’re looking for a way to earn a few bucks here or there, you should look at extra-money making gigs. These typically don’t require a resume or application to fill out. Instead, you sign up on a site to earn extra money — surveys and usability testing are two popular examples of ways to earn extra money from home.

6. Home Business

Anything you do from home — whether it’s a daycare business, flipping products for profit on Amazon, or launching a profitable blog are considered a home-based business. You’re completely in charge of running your home business as you see fit and your success will depend on how much you put into it.

Apply to the Right Positions

There’s no sense in applying to jobs that aren’t right for you. Save your time, energy and efforts going after the right kinds of jobs — not every and any work from home job or opportunity out there.

If you need benefits, go for full time employee positions over contract roles. But, for those that need just a little extra here or there, try side hustles. Really, it all depends on what your ultimate career goal is.

Question 2: Do you have a home office?

Now that you (hopefully) know the type of remote employment you’re looking for, it’s time to take an honest look at your ability to actually work remotely.

If you’re not properly equipped to work from home, you’re gonna have a hard time finding a job. Period. But, depending on the type of employment you’re after, your home office requirements will vary.

Home Offices for Employee Jobs

Let’s say you’re looking for full-time employment from home with a company that offers benefits. Great! There are a number of companies that actually want you to work from home and will pay you a competitive wage and offer some pretty amazing benefits. 

But, to land these jobs, you’re going to need a home office setup.

Home Office Basics

This doesn’t necessarily mean you need a full-size copier, fax machine, and laminator — but you should have the basic makings of a home office:

• High-speed internet (typically hardwired to your computer — no WiFi or satellite connections most of the time!)
• Well-maintained computer
• Quiet, distraction-free place to work
• Desk
• Comfy chair
• Basic office supplies — pens, paper, printer, etc.

In some cases, you may need a landline. This is especially true for popular at-home customer service jobs. Does this mean you should run out and install a landline? No! But, it means you should be receptive to getting one and know ahead of time if you can actually have one installed in your home or apartment.

It’s defeating, to say the least, to go through the application process, land an interview, and a soft job offer only to find you don’t meet the tech requirements or are otherwise incapable of maintaining a proper home office.

Home Office Requirements Examples

Most work from home companies are pretty good about listing their home office requirements before you even start the application process.

For example, Sitel has an entire section devoted to their home office requirements:

U-Haul provides similar information upfront before you apply too:

So, when you come across an at-home position that sounds perfect, remember to check the home office requirements first.

Home Offices for Non-Employees

If you’re looking for a non-employee position, i.e., freelance, contract, or home business, you don’t have to worry about your home office as much.

Remember, if freelancing is more your thing or you’re thinking of starting a blog, you probably won’t need anything more than a computer and internet connection.

Similarly, if you want to start a side hustle as an Amazon FBA seller, you can get by with a computer, smartphone, internet and printer and make some pretty good money with this minimal setup.

Again, it all goes back to the type of work you’re looking for. What you’ll need as an employee versus home office requirements as a freelancer/self-employed/home business owner are very different things!

Question 3: Can You Handle Distractions?

I’ve been working remotely for a decade. And, I’ll be the first to tell you, distractions are going to happen. You’ll hit your stride on an assignment and, boom, the doorbell rings. Or, you’ll get frequent calls from friends and family who ask for a ton of favors during the workday because, hey, you work from home and must not be doing anything more than watching Netflix, right?

Oh, and then there’s kids, pets, significant others, neighbors, and about a million other things that can make working from home difficult.

Remote Work is Not a Substitute for Childcare

My point is, you may not be able to devote the time and attention required to work from home, at least not full-time anyway.

Let’s pretend you have kids (maybe you do) — they may or may not be in school (unless it’s summer, then they’re home).

You’ll find it downright difficult to find a full-time work from home job if you have kids in your care during the day — I don’t care how great you are at multitasking — if you can’t provide a distraction-free, quiet home environment, you’re going to find it difficult to land a full-time employment. Impossible? No. But very, very, very difficult.

Now, don’t get discouraged if you’re not in the ideal place to work from home — you just have to get creative.

Help, My House is a Circus

I hear you. I’ve got a homeschooled child, two golden retrievers, three cats, and a lot of Amazon deliveries. Yet, I still manage to work remotely in a variety of roles over the last decade.

Don’t let a busy household stop you from making money from home — just figure out a way to work around your already busy schedule.

This will likely mean freelancing from home, starting a side hustle, or working as an independent contractor. Transcription, proofreading, virtual assisting, and writing all are great options to explore — but really, you’re only limited by what services you’re willing to offer as a freelancer.

Question 4: Will You Miss Working Outside the Home?

I’m an introvert. And most introverts love working from home. But, if you’ve ever worked an office job, you know that office politics are just a part of going to work. And while working from home means you miss the bad stuff, it also means you miss out on all the good stuff, too.

The camaraderie of coworkers, lunches out, impromptu happy hours, and other perks that come with a traditional office job don’t happen as easily when you work from home.

If you hate the rat race but love interacting with coworkers, enjoy break room banter, and count your officemates as some of your best buds, you might find that working from home is lonely for you. Yes, it’s easier than ever to stay connected with chats and video hangouts, but it’s just not the same as being in person.

I’ve heard of too many enthusiastic people start a work from home journey only to find they didn’t like it — and nine times out of ten, it was because they missed the daily human interaction an office job brings.

You know working from home has its perks, and for some people it equals work happiness but it’s not for everyone. Seriously consider how much importance you place on working alongside others in an office environment — if you can’t imagine working alone (save for an office cat), you may want to reevaluate your work from home ambitions

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The post I Want to Work from Home. Now What? Four Important Questions to Ask Yourself appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

The curse comes in when working to make ends meet comes at the cost of  missed family time. Long days in the office = less time at home. And that arrangement doesn’t always make sense for the single mother. The average cost of childcare for non-school age kids is $11,666 a year — enough reason for many to find an alternative to a standard office job.

How do I know, you ask? Well, you see, I am a single mother!  It’s not something I frequently broadcast or discuss — not for being ashamed but because it doesn’t define me as a person or blogger.

But recently, I’ve been getting a ton of emails from single mothers, like myself, who are desperate to earn a living from home so they can take care of their little ones, in every sense of the phrase. And that’s where the inspiration for this post came from.

So, if you’re a single parent and want to work from home or are curious about how it’s humanly possible to watch children all day, manage a household and make ends meet as a one-woman show — read on. I’m sharing some not-so-secret secrets with you today.

Define Your Goals

It’s one thing to say you want to work from home. It’s another to actually do something about it. The first important to step to take after you decide you want to make this work from home, stay at home, single mom thing work is to define your goals!

There is no right or wrong answer.

For me, my goal was to stay home with my infant son as long as possible. After he was diagnosed with autism, my goal evolved to include being ever present to provide the support he needed — doctors visits, therapy and hands-on care. Your goals may be similar — or on the complete opposite end of the spectrum!

So, what are your goals?

• Homeschool children?
• Save on daycare costs?
• Help with special needs and disabilities?
• Be readily available for your kids?
• Supplement income received from child support?

Defining your work from home goals as a single parent will give you something to shoot for as you wade through the sometimes murky work-from-home waters.

Assess Your Skills

As a single mom, you’re probably great at a lot of things — improvising meals, settling sibling disputes, maintaining peace, and restoring order are all things that come to mind. And while these are great parenting skills to have, you’ll also want to identify the hard and soft skills in your repertoire that make you an equally awesome job candidate.

As a reminder, hard skills are those that are learned like mathematics, finance, and programming. Hard skills are easy to measure — you can take tests and other assessments to prove your knowledge. Soft skills are not as easily measured and include things like networking, self management, and organization.

Taking an honest assessment of your skills will help you narrow down your job search and keep you from wasting valuable time on gigs that aren’t the right fit. Terrible typist? You’ll want to rule out transcription work. Grammar goddess? Perhaps writing, editing or proofreading are more your speed.

So, before you start applying, assess your skills first so you can find the right gig that puts your existing skills to work.

Be Realistic About Remote Working

With your goals in mind and skills assessed, you’re probably ready to start applying. But, not so fast. It’s important to head into the job search with your expectations in check. And I say this, not to discourage you but to help you remain realistic about the entire process. As I said before, it’s easy to say you want to work from home. It’s a much different ballgame to actually secure work as a (single parent) telecommuter.

Time Constraints

As a single parent, you probably have limited time during the day. This is especially true if you have an infant or non-school-aged kids in your care. What’s your availability like? You may have daytime hours available or you may only be able to work nights. If you’re a new mother, squeezing in work during naptimes is a likely scenario you’ll face. It’s tough. I know. But it’s totally manageable. You need to honestly look at the time you have available and commit to finding work that fits into your busy life — not the other way around.

Chaos

In any household with children, chaos at some point in time is pretty much a guarantee. If your life as a single parent is anything like mine, chaos is an everyday occurrence. Really, I wouldn’t have it any other way. But when it comes to working, chaos can be defeating.

Keep in mind, some of the most readily available work from home jobs are in customer service. And, nine times out of ten, these positions require dead silence, private workspace, and the ability to be tethered to your desk during your shift. I’m going to bet, for most single moms, this is next to impossible — so before looking for work, know that, life in general, may limit your ability to work a number of popular at-home jobs.

Remain Open-Minded

You know you’re going to have limitations when it comes to working from home as a single parent. And that’s okay if you remain open minded about remote working possibilities. Don’t rule out anything just because you’re not familiar with it or could never have imagined yourself as (fill in the blank here).

The truth is, you may very well land on something that works perfectly into your busy schedule even though it’s something you would never have considered.

The Search is On

If you made it this far, you’re probably pretty eager to start your job search. The best place to start depends on your goals, skills, and work-from-home restraints. That’s why I asked you to figure out those things out beforehand. So, keeping those things in mind, let’s look at the types of at-home jobs.

Employee

When you work from home as an employee, there are benefits you’ll likely receive. This may include paid time off, health insurance, 401k, and other job-related perks. As an employee, you’ll also have taxes taken out of your check for you. And if you’re laid off or injured, you may be eligible for unemployment or workers’ compensation.

While employee jobs come with some pretty great perks and stability, they’re often the least flexible. You may be required to stick to a rigid schedule, maintain a proper home office, and provide a distraction-free, noise-free environment to do your work — not always possible as a single mom.

Independent Contractor

As an independent contractor (IC), you have greater control over how you work and when than you do as an employee. When my son was born, I was already working from home. But I soon found, with an infant in my care, I needed something that offered a little stability with a ton of flexibility. That’s when I opted to become a legal transcriptionist. This worked out great. I was assigned work twice a week with specified due dates. As an IC, it didn’t matter when I worked as long as I turned my assignments in on time.

When you work as an independent contractor, you are not eligible for employee benefits and you are responsible for your own taxes. There is no guarantee of work and your contract could end at any time with or without warning. While the possibility of losing income, having to pay your own taxes, and securing health insurance can be a little scary, being an IC comes with a lot of flexibility for single moms who can’t stick to a set schedule.

Plus, there are plenty of opportunities to work from home as an IC and, with it, the chance to work when you have free moments. I know it’s not ideal — when my son was an infant, I worked tirelessly while he napped and often kept odd hours just to get work done. But it paid off — we never went without and as he got older, I was able to explore different options.

Freelancing

The difference between freelancing and working as an IC boils down to how you get work. When you’re an IC, the work comes to you via the company you contract with. As a freelancer, you’re entirely in charge of securing work. But it’s not as daunting as it sounds.

With marketplace sites like Upwork and good ol’ fashion cold emailing, you really can get a good roster of clients built up. And what’s great about freelancing, my preferred method of working as a single mom, is that your career is completely in your hands. From what you charge to who you work with and when, you get a say in it all — and that to me cannot compare to any other way of working.

There are so many ways to get started as a freelancer — and, really, you can sell just about any freelance service you can think of from the obscure to the in-demand. Whatever it is you’re good at — writing, bookkeeping, proofreading, typing, assisting — you can freelance it.

Online Entrepreneur

There are no shortages of ways for single moms to become online entrepreneurs. Of the at-home options, this is probably the most flexible and has the possibility of earning really well. However, it will take some time to start seeing real money com in — you may even need to take a course to help guide you from single mom to online mompreneur.

So, if you have the time and resources out the gate — great! You can dive right in. If not, you may want to consider this a side hustle before you go all in. That’s exactly what I did. I was working as a freelance writer and also doing some transcription work and even a little virtual assisting, but on the side, I was building this blog.

If this sounds like something you’d like to pursue — now is a good time to get into the online entrepreneur landscape. And you can turn whatever it is you’re passionate about into a legitimate revenue stream — write an ebook, become a blogger, sell on Etsy, flip thrift store finds for profit — you can earn well when you put your passions to work or sell your knowledge online.

Putting it All Together

You know your goals, assessed your skills, are receptive to all remote jobs and have a handle on the ways to earn. Great! So how exactly do you piece that all together into a legitimate income? That’s up to you!

If you have enough time during the day to secure full-time employment with benefits — go for it! For flexibility seekers, freelancing may be your thing. And if you’ve got an untamable mompreneur spirit, starting an online business may be your best bet.

And know this: It may not be easy — from the job search to actually managing life as a stay-at-home, work-at-home, single mother, things can get rough. But the good often outweighs the bad and, if you’re determined, you can make this work and gain valuable family time while still earning a living.

If you’re open to the idea of piecing together a living online, sign up below to receive my guide of 50+ ways to work whenever you want. These gigs may not all offer full-time income but when put together, can make ends meet week after week!

And last but not least, I’m here to help. I was once in the same spot you are (and still am!). If you have a question, need to chat, or are at a loss of what to do — please, feel free to email me: ashlee@workfromhomehappienss.com You can also keep in touch on Twitter where I’m known to hang out under the handle @AshleeWrites.

The post The Single Mom’s Guide to Working from Home appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

Even though there’s plenty of legitimate home-based jobs to be had, there’s still some unscrupulous people out there preying on would-be remote workers. As a work from home job seeker, you’ve got to be on the lookout for potential scams and be hyper-vigilant about researching unfamiliar companies before you apply — making the application process that much longer.

And then, once you find what seems to be the perfect remote job from a reputable company, guess what? They’re not hiring in your state.  And now you’re back to square one.

See what I mean? It’s exhausting. I get it. And that’s probably why I get so many messages from weary job seekers who are all but ready to give up on their search.

It’s an all too familiar story I hear again and again: “I’ve applied to hundreds of work from home job leads but haven’t been hired yet. What gives?”

The truth is, you’re probably committing one or more mistakes that are sabotaging your work from home job search. But, don’t worry, once you know the problem, you can take the right steps to correct it. Ready to figure out what it is that’s keeping you from work from home happiness? Let’s go! 

You’re Only Applying to the Most Popular Work from Home Jobs

You probably follow popular work from home bloggers on social media. And, that’s great! You get a daily dose of helpful work from home advice and stay up-to-date on the latest job leads by doing so.

The problem is, when a popular position is hiring, a dozen or more bloggers share it with their thousands and thousands of followers. This one ad is then re-shared and seen by so many people and gets hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants. When so many job seekers are all competing for a limited number of openings, it’s really tough to stand out in the crowd — even if you are perfect for the job.

While you definitely should apply for the job leads that show up in your Facebook and Twitter feed, if you want to, you shouldn’t limit yourself to only these positions.

Try This Instead

Take it upon yourself to find work from home job leads on your own. It’s easier than you think. In fact, at the end of this post, you’ll have the chance to opt-in to my mailing list and, as a big thank you, I’ll share a guide with you that demonstrates how you can easily find 100s of (legitimate) work from home job leads on your own.

In the meantime, think about regional work from home jobs instead of national or even international ones. A good place to start is your local Craigslist. Before you even ask, I’m gonna come right out and say it: No, Craigslist isn’t just a sea of scams. In fact, quite a few well-known and legitimate companies post their openings on Craigslist (Amazon is one of them!).

When a remote job is only hiring in your area, the applicant pool goes down quite a bit and your chances of getting hired increases. And, since more and more companies, large and small, embrace remote work options, you may actually be surprised to see that there are some telecommute positions available exclusively in your area.

State-Specific Job Search

Remember, a lot of work from home jobs aren’t available in every state. You can use this to your advantage by figuring out which companies hire where you live. Again, think about how much the competition goes down when a job is only available in select states versus nationwide.

The Work at Home Woman put together a mega list of home-based jobs available by location — make sure to see which companies hire in your state, visit their career page, and apply if there’s any openings that fit your skills/experience/interests.

If you focus on jobs that aren’t as heavily advertised, have less competition, and are only available in certain areas, I bet you start seeing an increase in the number of interviews and callbacks you receive.

You’re Applying to Too Many Job Openings

Just because you really want to work from home doesn’t mean you should apply for every opening you come across. For one, that’s exhausting. And two, you’re probably not qualified for every job nor would you really be happy in every home-based position out there.

When it comes to job searching, your time is best spent putting effort into applying for the positions you’re qualified for and those that fit your ideal job criteria.

As far as home-based jobs, there’s everything from full-time positions with employee benefits to online gigs that are only good for earning extra money here and there.

If you have your heart set on a full-time remote job, you’re simply wasting time, energy, and effort by applying to contract, freelance or part-time jobs. Similarly, if you only have free time at night once your little ones go to sleep, it doesn’t make much sense to apply to full-time day jobs.

Try This Instead

Narrow the playing field by figuring out which kind of work from home job you’re looking for. If you need something with a set schedule that comes complete with health insurance, check out companies that offer full-time remote jobs with benefits.

If you want to try working from home but aren’t quite ready to quit your day job, perhaps moonlighting is the best bet for you.

There’s no sense in wasting time applying for every work from home job under the sun. First, figure out what kinds of jobs you’re qualified for and then be realistic about your availability as a remote worker.

Even though you’ll be applying to fewer positions when you narrow your job search, you’re actually increasing your chances of getting hired because you’re only focusing on those jobs which, one, you’re qualified for and, two, meet your job needs.

You’re Not Set Up to Work from Home

When you work outside the home, your place of employment has pretty much everything you need to get the job done. They supply your office, desk, chair, computer, supplies, telephone and anything else you might need to perform your job duties.

When you make the switch to working from home, you’re often in charge of making sure you’ve got the right setup to be a successful remote worker. Depending on the job and the company, this can include everything from a dedicated office space in your home to a landline for making and receiving calls. It really just depends on the individual job.

In addition to equipment and space, you’ll have to run your home office like an actual place of work. If you have caretaker responsibilities during the day, a dog who barks nonstop, noisy neighbors, or other things that interfere with your ability to work, you’re going to find it difficult to find a work from home job.

Try This Instead

While you shouldn’t install a landline just in case you might need one to work from home, you should make sure you have the basic necessities that make up a home office. For starters, high-speed internet and a good working computer are a definite must.

In fact, a lot of work from home companies will ask you what your internet speed is and the type of computer you have during the application process. They just want to make sure you’ve got the basic workings of a home office before they consider you as a contender for a job.

You also need to be realistic about your ability to work from home. If you have kids in your care during the day, this will limit the jobs available to you. Similarly, if you don’t have a quiet, distraction-free place to work, you might find it difficult to get work done or a company that will even hire you.

But just because you have some obstacles, doesn’t mean you won’t be able to find home-based employment. This just means you need to get creative and find something that fits into your already busy schedule or makes use of your home office capabilities.

So, if you’re booked during the day, consider late night or overnight work from home jobs. If there’s no way you can come up with a quiet space to do work, consider chat agent jobs, freelance writing, or other home jobs that don’t require being on the phone.

Make Your Work from Home Job Search Work for You

Looking for work from home job leads really can be a lot of work — especially, if you’re not really sure where to start. Fortunately, there are some valuable job search tools, tips and tricks you can use to make your job search much easier.

To find out how you can make your work from home job search work for you, sign up below to get my free beginner’s guide to finding hundreds of legitimate work from home job leads (with as little effort as possible!).

And if you’re on the hunt for a work from home career — you know, a job that challenges you, offers benefits, and advancement opportunities, check out The 10-Second Commute! Isn’t it about time you kicked your cubicle to the curb?

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The post Why You’re Having a Hard Time Finding a Work from Home Job (and What to Do About it) appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

Work from home jobs for moms can give the best of both worlds — career & family. It used to be that moms had to choose between the two — each decision having both its pros and cons. Nowadays, parents can have their cake and eat it too when they land a flexible job that allows them to work from home while watching little ones.

The benefits are numerous — money saved on childcare, extra income coming into the household, and being readily available for your family. This is especially helpful when littles ones come down with a nasty bug, your car won’t start or the weather is just absolutely atrocious.

But, if you’ve never worked from home before, you probably have a lot of questions:  Are there legitimate work from home jobs for moms? Will I be able to find something that works for me? Can I really earn a living with kids at home?

Yes. Yes. And, yes.

But, be warned, it’s not always easy or convenient — but if you’re willing to make it work, it can. And nine times out of ten, the benefits of being a stay-at-home working parent far outweigh the rough patches.

Be Realistic

While there are legitimate work from home jobs for moms, you also have to be realistic about what might be available. If your availability is a short four-hour window that falls between the time you drop off your oldest at school and pick up your youngest from daycare, expect your options to be limited.

Similarly, if you have an infant requiring constant care, there will likely be even fewer options available to you.

I’m not saying these things to discourage you — I just want to make sure you go into the work-from-home job search with realistic expectations and an open mind.

Assess Your Work from Home Skills

You’ve probably got a number of skills that translate well to popular home-based job options. Think about what it is you can do and that will give you a good indication of where you should start looking.

• Can you write well?
• Are you a natural salesperson?
• Fast typist?
• Grammar aficionado?
• Social butterfly?

It’s always a good idea to play to your strengths no matter what kind of job you’re looking for, but especially so when looking for a work from home job. Why? Because when you’re working from home and raising a family, you can get burned out pretty easily. If you’re doing something you don’t mind or actually enjoy, you’ll be more likely to keep going, even when the going gets tough.

What’s Out There?

Remember, when I said you’ve got to go into the stay-at-home, work-from-home job search with an open mind? Well, now’s the time to implement that!

In terms of work-from-jobs, you can usually expect them to fall into one of four categories:

• Employee position
• Freelance
• Home-business
• Independent Contractor

As with anything, each employment type has its pros and cons.

Employee

Employee-based positions come with stability like benefits, set schedules, and an hourly rate. However, they offer the least flexibility and aren’t always accommodating to schedule requests.

Freelance

Freelancing is great for flexibility since you can choose which projects you work on and when. But the freelance world usually goes in an endless cycle of feast or famine — totally unpredictable in terms of work and pay.

Home-business

Home-businesses are wonderful for the entrepreneurial spirited stay-at-home parents. This can include everything from direct sales to starting a business entirely from scratch. Keep in mind, businesses require a lot of your attention to thrive which may not lend itself well with kids around.

Independent Contractor

As an independent contractor you get a little more predictability than freelancing but less stability than an employee position. Independent contractor (IC) positions allow you to work on your own terms, as long as you meet your contract requirements.

Often, stay-at-home moms and dads are most likely to find home-based success as a freelancer, independent contractor, or direct sales rep. Why? Because these types of employment offer flexibility, autonomy, and can work around a busy family schedule — not the other way around!

Where to Find Work at Home Jobs for Moms

Now that you’ve narrowed down your search by establishing what you’re good at and the types of positions out there, you can start looking for work at home jobs for moms. So, where exactly do you look?

Where you look depends on what you’re looking for.

Employee Positions

Indeed Jobs can lead to some work from home jobs for moms. Openings for companies like American Express, U-Haul, and Hilton Hotels will regularly show up here. I mention these because they are familiar brands that offer remote positions, but there are tons of lesser-known companies listed, too.

The best way to find them is to type Remote or Work at Home in the box labeled “Where”

what	where
job title, keywords or company	city, state or zip jobs by

Make sure you read the requirements carefully — many companies offering employee positions expect you to have availability during normal business hours. And since you’ve got little ones in your care, this probably isn’t practical. A growing number of companies, mostly startups, are embracing a non-traditional work-whenever-makes-sense-for-you mantra. These forward-thinking companies recognize that talent comes from all sorts of places, including stay-at-home parents.

Another option is FlexJobs. They hand screen all job postings to ensure they are 100% legitimate — guaranteed! But FlexJobs does cost money to access their job leads:

If you’re concerned about scams and like the idea of only pre-screened ads, FlexJobs may be worth it — even for just a month to see what’s out there!

Freelance

Stay-at-home parents truly are some of the most untapped business talent out there — instead of letting all that talent go unused, consider launching a freelance career. What can you offer as a freelancer? Just about anything! Some in-demand freelance services include:

• Writing
• Web design
• Social media management
• Virtual assistant
• Business consultant
• Life coach
• Proofreader

This is just a small sample of freelance services but, really, you’re only limited by what you’re willing to offer. One of the easiest ways to get started as a freelancer is to sign up with a popular marketplace, like Upwork. You’ll find thousands of jobs posted at any given time ranging from graphic designer to article writer.

Once you get your footing as a freelancer, you can step outside of marketplaces and set up shop on your own. With an online portfolio and a business plan in place, you can start landing your own clients. Freelancing offers plenty of flexibility and the freedom to work as much or little as you’d like.

Home Business

Home business is such a broad term. It can include everything from flipping clearance products for profit to blogging — and everything in between.

Some parents find direct sales to be a natural fit for them since they already have plenty of contacts that would be interested in the products they represent.

Another increasingly popular option is blogging. As a mom, you probably have genius childcare hacks and practical advice for managing the household — why not start a blog and share your wisdom? Outside of parenting how-tos, you can blog about many different things:

• DIY
• Food
• Photography
• Savings
• Health
• Fashion

While some people argue blogging isn’t a business — I’d say it’s a great way to build a business but not necessarily a business in and of itself.

As a blogger, I earn money a number of ways — some of it comes from affiliate sales and ad revenue, which I can attribute to the blog itself. A substantial portion of my earnings come from clients who approach me for work because they read my blog. So, while the act of blogging isn’t the main source of income, blogging does present a number of money-making opportunities!

If blogging isn’t your thing, perhaps a home business opportunity with one of several companies that lets you be your own boss is more your speed. These companies allow you to become an independent business owner while performing services for their clients like customer service and sales.

Remember, the success of a home business depends on how much you put into it. One great way to have a successful home business as a parent is to find something that is manageable and you enjoy doing. Head on over to The Work at Home Woman for plenty of great ideas and inspiration for parents contemplating a home business.

Independent Contractor

One of the frequent questions I get is, “What exactly is an independent contractor?” An independent contractor is a person who provides their services on a contractual basis. That is, if you work as an independent contractor you bill for your services and not your time.

In the eyes of the law, an independent contractor differs from an employee in that an independent contractor has the freedom to act autonomously to get a job done as they see fit — as long as you meet the contract requirements. As an independent contractor you’re not entitled to benefits like paid time off or health insurance. You will also be responsible for paying taxes on your earnings.

There are a lot of work from home jobs for moms as an IC:

• Most transcription
• Search engine evaluation
• Article writing (Scripted, BKA, HireWriters — to name a few!)
• Fancy Hands Virtual Assistant
• Wonder Researcher
• REV Video Captioner

I come across a lot of these opportunities on Craigslist. I know Craigslist doesn’t have the best reputation, but there are plenty of legitimate companies advertising their jobs here.  Look out for red flags like asking you to pay for opportunities or wanting you to deposit a check in your account and giving a portion of it back to the company.

It’s a good idea to check your local Craigslist market for home-based jobs. Sometimes, you’ll find a job that requires you to come into the office for orientation before you can work from home. For example, food delivery service company, DoorDash, hires contractors to key menus from home, but first they have to come into the Atlanta office for training.

Remember to check the largest Craigslist markets like Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Washington D.C.  When a company is hiring remote workers nationwide, they’ll typically post the ad to one or more of these larger markets.

To sort through all the other jobs, just make sure you select the “Telecommute” option:

More Work from Home Jobs for Moms

If you’ve been wanting to contribute financially to your household while also staying at home with your  kids, it can be difficult to know where to start! Remember, figure out what kind of employment makes sense for you and be realistic about the amount of time you can actually commit to. While it’s nice to have extra money coming in, you’re not good to anyone in the household if you’re run down from spreading yourself too thin!

If you’re not quite ready to commit to a home-based career or take on freelance assignments, try easing into the work from home scene by trying out these work from home extra money makers:

Usability testing

Surveys/Market Research/Product Tester

Phone Mystery Shopping

There’s also a number of hobbies that can make you money and work from home weekends jobs that might fit perfectly into your schedule.

Thanks to all the work from home jobs for moms, you can realistically make a financial contribution to your household while staying home with the kids. Have any questions? Need a little advice? Leave it in the comments below or send me an email: ashlee@workfromhomehappiness.com

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see the disclosure for more information.

The post Work from Home Jobs for Moms: Beginner’s Guide appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

And while a lot of information is a good thing (most of the time), sometimes it can make it that much more difficult to sort through everything and find the right job for you. And when you factor in all the work from home job scams out there, you can easily get overwhelmed and abandon your job search before it ever really gets going.

Fear not! Here are 6 essential tools of the work from home job seeker that will guide you to legit jobs and help you land the opportunity that’s right for you. Ready to get hired? Let’s go!

1. Google Alerts 

You can set a Google Alert for, well, anything. A lot of people use it to keep track of their online reputation but it’s also great for keeping up to date on all things work-from-home related.

And, it couldn’t be simpler.

When you’re signed into your Google account, simply navigate to https://www.google.com/alerts 

Type the phrase you want to be sent alerts for in the search box and hit “create alert.” That’s it.

You’ll be sent an email when new content is published that contains the alert phrase  you entered.

If you’re looking for a flexible home-based option, it’s a good idea to create alerts for:

• Remote job
• Work from Home
• Telecommute
• Online job
• Freelance

If you’re looking for a certain position, you could create an alert specifically for that too. Let’s say you’re a web developer seeking freelance projects — just type in “freelance web developer.”

You can even customize alerts — choose to get them once a day or as they happen — it’s entirely up to you.  When Hilton started offering work from home jobs and LiveOps announced they were adding thousands of home-based contractors to their workpool, I learned about them through Google Alerts.

2. Work from Home Resume

The resume has been, and probably always will be, one of the most powerful tools when it comes to finding a job. A great one can get you more interviews than you know what to do with. And a not so good one can leave you without a single callback.

If landing a work from home job is your goal, you’ll need to tailor your resume. Recruiters filling remote positions are looking for a certain kind of worker — someone who is self-sufficient, a go-getter, great communicator, and able to stay self-motivated in a home-office setting.

So, it’s important that your resume proves that you have what it takes to get the job done while working from home.

How?

The majority of resumes are never seen by human eyes. Applicant tracking software is used most of the time when submitting an application online. This software is scanning through your resume and looking for relevant keywords. The more of them you have, the better your chances are of getting your resume seen by an actual human.

This means you’ll have to make sure you pull the right keywords from the job description and strategically place them within your resume:

The above is a fake resume I created. But it shows that by creating sections like “skills” and “expertise” you can easily swap out keywords for each job you apply to and, in doing so, create a work from home resume that gets you hired!

3. FlexJobs

The great thing about FlexJobs is they hand screen every single work from home job on their site. This ensures that each and every job you see is legitimate.

If you’re a little uneasy about hunting for work from home jobs on your own, it might be worth giving FlexJobs a try. There are 55 job categories and hundreds of jobs posted at any given time.

Keep in mind, FlexJobs does cost money:

• $14.95 a month
• $29.95 billed every three months
• $49.95 for a year

If you’re not quite ready to invest in your work from home job search, still check out the FlexJobs Blog. There is plenty of helpful (and free!) information to be found.

4. Indeed Jobs

Indeed is a job search engine. They make it easy for you as a work from home job seeker to browse thousands of websites for current openings.

I search through Indeed almost every day and can come up with some pretty solid home-based job leads. Work from home jobs from popular companies, like American Express, frequently make their way onto Indeed.

The best way to find home-based jobs on Indeed?

Search terms! Use “work+from+home” or “remote” and you’ll have thousands of possible leads to go through.

And, if you live in a major metropolitan area and are thinking of joining the gig economy — Indeed has got you covered there too. Their newly launched IndeedFlex will show you a list of on-demand jobs in your area.

5. Scam Adviser

Sometimes, a work from home opportunity sounds too good to be true. Often times, it is. Jobs that offer high pay for little work can often be scammers after your personal information.

Even on reputable job sites, like Indeed, I’ve come across the occasional scam listing among all the legitimate ones. For example, there’s one listing that pops up every so often that advertises, “Get Paid to Read the News.” The ad goes on to say you can earn several hundred dollars a day just by reading news articles on websites. Sounds amazing, right? It would be, if it were real.

These sites are usually put up overnight, try to collect as much personal data as possible, before shutting down and running away with thousands of names, addresses, and dates of births.

How can you check whether or not a website offering an online money making opportunity is trustworthy?

Scam Adviser.

Now, keep in mind, this site isn’t going to tell you for sure whether or not a site is legitimate or not but it will clue you in on some important details about a site like how long it’s been around and where the country of origin is. It will also give you a scam advisory rating letting you know the likelihood of a site’s trustworthiness (or if you should proceed with caution!)

So, of course, when you type in a site like amazon.com, it lets you know that it’s safe to use and goes on to detail why. ScamAdviser provides information like:

• Domain Age
• Owner of the Site
• Owner Country
• Website Location

If you come across a website that looks suspect — put it into ScamAdviser to see what it turns up. Keep in mind, just because a website is new or from a certain country, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a scam. But if there are a whole bunch of red flags and ScamAdviser warns you to proceed with caution, it might be best to move onto the next opportunity!

6. Pinterest

Surprised to see Pinterest on the list? Don’t be! Your go-to spot for recipes, DIY design, and organizational hacks also happens to be an amazing source of remote jobs.

Some of the best work from home bloggers are actively pinning plenty of job leads and helpful advice every single day. Thanks to Pinterest, I’ve found out about work from home opportunities I otherwise wouldn’t have known about.

You can create a board where you pin all of your favorite job leads, advice, or helpful hints and refer to it any time you need a little work from home assistance.

There’s something for everyone on Pinterest — freelance, WAHM advice, location-independent jobs — finding a work from home job has never been so easy (or pretty!) when you turn to Pinterest.

What’s In Your Work from Home Toolbox?

If you’re tired of endlessly browsing Craigslist hoping to come across just one work from home job lead, try adding these six tools to your job seeker’s arsenal. They can lead you to hundreds of daily remote job leads and increase your chances of landing a (legitimate) remote job.

Have you tried any of these before? Is there something you swear by when it comes to finding jobs online? Sharing is caring — leave it in the comments below!

The post 6 Essential Tools of the Work from Home Job Seeker appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.