Creating job search goals is an important first step before launching any job search — especially for remote job seekers.

As a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC), I work with a lot of job seekers who have all but given up on finding remote work. They insist they’ve submitted dozens of online applications and an equal number of resumes with no luck.

When I hear this, it’s definitely cause for concern. Sure, the average job search takes approximately 5 months. But, in that time, there should be some kind of positive response in the form of callbacks, interviews, skills test, etc.

A total lack of response from recruiters and hiring managers is a problem, and it’s my job to figure out why it happens and how to solve it.

The first question I always ask is, “What are you ultimate job search goals?”

And, the majority of responses are a generic statement like:

“I want to find a remote job.”

The problem with this type of goal is it’s far too broad. It offers no sense of urgency and lacks specificity.

Instead, I always recommend you create SMART job search goals.

What Is A SMART Goal?

The SMART system is an acronym that stands for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time Bound

According to CareerOneStep, setting job search goals helps you decide where you want to go in your career and establishes the steps needed to get there.

The SMART system is recommended to help you create meaningful goals that you can actually achieve in a timely manner. Let’s take a look at each part of the SMART system and then look at some common job search goals.

Make Job Search Goals Specific

Remember how I mentioned that most job seekers create goals that are too broad? Well, when following the SMART system, you’ve got to be more specific.

Specificity helps a generic goal, like “find a remote job,” become much more refined like “find a full-time remote job in customer service.”

See the difference?

The specific goal lays out the type of employment and the nature of work.

Make Your Goals Measurable

It’s important to track your goals and note your progress. When you have clear parameters, you know when you actually have met your goal.

For example, if you set a weight-loss goal, how would you know when you reached it? Chances are, you’d set a goal weight or a specific number, i.e., lose 45 pounds or reach my goal weight of 150.

You should also set job search goals that are measurable. That way you have milestones to hit along the way that allows you to see progress and you work toward your ultimate goal.

Are Your Goals Achievable?

In the beginning of goal setting, it’s easy to get ahead of ourselves and aim a little too high. This can lead to lofty goals that simply are not achievable.

As a remote job seeker, you’re not going to find your dream job overnight — so don’t even try. Setting a goal that cannot be achieved is counterproductive. When you don’t reach it, it leads to feelings of failure and frustration.

Don’t create impossible job search goals. That brings us to our next goal-setting principle…

Is Your Goal Realistic?

In a perfect world, you would have unlimited time and resources to help you achieve your goals. But, we lead busy lives with responsibilities and limitations — make sure your goals reflect this.

Maybe you want to become a world famous actress. But, to get there, you’ll need to take acting lessons, get an agent, and audition for roles. All these things require a lot of time and money. If you lack these resources, your goal of becoming a world famous actress just isn’t realistic.

Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t have big dreams or shoot for the stars. Instead, you need to tailor your goals to fit in with your current situation. You can still be an actress, but perhaps you start small and take one lesson a week in hopes of getting a role in your community theatre.

Give Your Job Search Goals A Timeframe

Open-ended goals don’t offer a whole lot of motivation. That’s why it’s important to create goals with a timeframe in mind.

When you give yourself a timeline, you’re suddenly working against the clock. This creates a sense of urgency that can motivate you to work more quickly towards your goal.

Let’s say you have your ten year reunion coming up next year and you want to be the same size you were in when you graduate high school. You realize you’ve got six dress sizes to lose in a year. That means, to stay on track, you need to lose on dress size every two months.

If you have a longterm goal in mind, it’s a good idea to break it into milestones. Short-term goals set you up for success, keep you motivated and on track to hit your broader goals.

Example Job Search Goals

We know SMART goals are important. But, if you’re new to the system it can be a little overwhelming. And, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re likely to abandon this whole goal-setting thing before you even get started.

So, to keep you motivated and give a little inspiration here are some example job search goals to help you launch your remote job search. Remember, job search goals can range from simple tasks that can be completed in a day to lengthier objectives that can take a year (or more).

• By the end of the month, create a target list of at least 15 remote-friendly companies I would like to work for.
• Update my LinkedIn profile this weekend to include a new professional profile picture.
• Sign up for a Twitter account this week and follow 10 professionals in my industry.
• On my next day off, review my current resume and add new experience and skills that highlight my abilities to work remotely.
• Enroll in an online program that teaches me a remote-friendly skill within one year.
• Next month, reach out to three professionals on LinkedIn and ask them for a 15-minute informational interview.
• Over the summer, apply to a minimum of three jobs each week that fit my career ideals.
• Work with a career coach for six weeks to help me create a career action plan that sets me up for long-term success.

Goal Setting Help

It’s not always easy to set goals for yourself. But, that doesn’t mean you should skip it!

As Tony Robbins says, “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible visible.”

So, sit down and take some time to truly think about your current career and where you want to go. Sure, you want to find a remote job but what else?

And, remember, write your goals down! Research shows you’re nearly 40% more likely to reach a goal just by putting it in writing.

For a little extra goal setting help, sign up for my newsletter below. I’ll send you a free job search goals worksheet to help you define SMART goals and put them in writing.

And, as always, I’m here to help. You can leave your questions in the comments below or check out my career coaching services for one-on-one help.

Happily,

Ashlee

P.S. This post may contain affiliate links. Learn more about them in my disclosure statement.

The post Job Search Goals: A SMART Guide For Remote Job Seekers appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

Although the new year starts out a bit slowly thanks to the holidays, hiring quickly picks up. So, while many of us choose personal resolutions to ring in the new year, it’s also a great idea to make a professional goal too. And, if you’ve been contemplating a career change that involves ditching your commute, this is your year to make it happen.

1. Work From Home Is On The Rise 

Yes, IBM recently made headlines by calling their remote workers back into the office. But this does not indicate an overall decline in remote work. In fact, remote work is on the rise — a trend that shows no signs of slowing. 

A recent study finds that approximately 50% of the workforce will soon be remote. And, you could be part part of this group, you just have to make the determination that, one, you want to work from home and, two, you have what it takes to work remotely. 

2. Working Remotely Makes You Happier 

Self-improvement is often the theme in the new year. “How can I be happier,” is a question frequently raised as we seek a fresh start.

The good news is you don’t have to look very far — you can find happiness in the way you work.

A recent study found that nearly three-fourths of working adults were unhappy in their careers. Those same workers were actively seeking new employment. 

Remote work, on the other hand, tends to create happy workers. 

So, if you’ve been struggling with work satisfaction and overall happiness, now’s the perfect time to launch a remote job search.

3. You Save Money Without The Commute

Getting to work is expensive. 

The average commute to work is 16 miles, each way, in the U.S. That means we log 32 miles a day, 160 miles a week, and a whopping 8,000 miles each year just to get back and forth to work. 

Crazy, right? 

Given the price of gas, at roughly $2.50 a gallon, those 8,000 miles can hit hard in the bank account. 

When you hang up your car keys in favor of telecommuting, you instantly save money. Plus, car maintenance costs go way down and your insurance may reward you with lower rates for driving your vehicle less. 

The bottom line, telecommuting saves you money every day you don’t have to drive to work! Give yourself a work from home goal this year and save money when you reach it.

4. You Get Some Time Back 

We’re busy. It’s almost a badge of honor to fill your calendar with appointments, to-dos, events, and plans. No wonder we all feel so strapped for time! And, unfortunately, no matter how rich you are, you cannot buy more time. In the end, there are only 24 hours in a day to get everything done. 

While you won’t add more hours to a day with remote work, you will save time without a commute. 

Think about this: The average commute to work in the U.S. takes 26 minutes — one way. That’s 52 minutes every day spent behind the wheel. It ends up coming out to a little over 208 hours annually on average just to get to and from work. 

Imagine if you park your car and skip the commute — what would you do with that extra time? 

Maybe you’d get your kids off to school in the morning. Perhaps you’d sleep in or start exercising more. Honestly, you can do whatever you want, it’s your time! 

So, go ahead and give yourself a work from home goal this year, and claim some extra time for Y-O-U. 

How To Reach Your Work From Home Goals

It’s one thing to want to work from home. It’s another entirely to give yourself a work from home goal. Once the dream of remote work becomes a concrete goal it instantly becomes more attainable. And, if you write it down the likelihood of reaching it goes up by a whopping 40%! 

So, what are you waiting for? Stop thinking to yourself, “Man, I’d love to work from home,” and instead make a real goal that you can actually go after. 

My favorite way to set goals? I use the S.M.A.R.T. system. 

What Are S.M.A.R.T Goals? 

SMART is a popular system to help you set and achieve realistic goals. 

It stands for: 

• Specific 
• Measurable 
• Attainable
• Realistic
• Timely

If you’re new to goal setting or feel like you set goals but never get ahead, SMART goals are a game changer. 

Let’s look at each of the components individually: 

Specific 

Goals should be narrowly focused. When you have a super broad goal, it becomes hard to achieve. For example, a general “I want to work from home goal” is too expansive. Instead, think about what you want to gain and why it’s important to you. 

A specific work from home goal might be, “I want to work from home full-time as a sales representative for a well-known tech company.” 

Don’t be afraid of being too specific. Remember, goals are more easily reached when they’re concise! 

Measurable 

We lose motivation when we don’t see progress. That’s why it’s helpful to set goals that are measurable. For example, let’s say you want to quit your office job in favor of freelancing. To get there, you need to replace your salary with freelance wages. Your goal may be: 

Earn at least $4,000 a month freelancing so I can replace my day job. 

Because you have a measurable number — $4,000 a month — you can gauge your progress along the way. As you see your earnings increase month after month, it gives you motivation to push onto the next month. Until, finally, you reach your end goal. 

Attainable 

It’s pretty self-defeating to set a goal that you’re never going to reach in the first place. Now, this doesn’t mean you should go easy on yourself with a simple goal. 

Goals should be challenging, but they also need to be attainable. 

Realistic 

Don’t forget to make your goals realistic. Now this is where you probably wonder, “How do I know if a goal is realistic or not?” 

Good question. A great way to figure that out is to decide whether your goal is something you’re actually willing to work for. 

Let’s say you want to become a remote web developer. But, after some research, you learn that it takes a good deal of schooling and requires practical experience before you can actually get hired. In all, you’ll end up having to take at least a year before you’re ready to even consider web developer jobs. 

If you can’t or won’t put in the effort to achieve a goal, it’s unrealistic. Forget it and come up with a goal that you can actually go after. 

Timely 

A deadline is a great way to get yourself motivated. And this holds true for goals too. When you give yourself a time limit, suddenly there’s a sense of urgency to complete it. 

So, instead of an open-ended goal of “I want to work from home,” consider a time specific goal of “I want to work from home within six months.” 

You’ll find when a goal is time sensitive, you’ll figure out a way to get it done no matter what. 

Give Yourself A Work From Home Goal 

Ready to finally go after your work from home goal this year? That’s the spirit! I’ve created a free worksheet to help you put your goal into words. Use it to your advantage. Remember, you’re more than 40% more likely to reach a goal just by writing it down. 

So, go ahead and snag your free copy by signing up to my newsletter below. You’ve got this! 

Happily, 

Ashlee 

P.S. This post may contain affiliate links. What are they? Check out my disclosure statement to learn more.

The post 4 Reasons To Give Yourself A Work From Home Goal This Year appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

But, I know, what you’re thinking, “Easier said than done!”

True, it can be a little tedious to break away from an office job in favor of telecommuting, but it certainly isn’t impossible.

In fact, about 1 in 4 workers telecommute at least some of the time. And that number is expected to rise year after year. So, if 25% of the workforce can make a go of at-home employment, you can too!

Before You Get Started

Getting started is seriously the hardest part of your at-home job search. There are so many options to earn remotely — employee, freelance, entrepreneur — and an equal amount of ‘noise’ out there about remote jobs that it can lead to full-blown information overload.

I’m here to prevent that. When you’re in the throes of information overload, you simply cannot make a move. Instead, you sit daydreaming about working from home but can’t actually make sense of it enough to take the necessary steps to realize your own work from home dreams.

I know — been there, done that. And it wasn’t until I was applying to a remote sales job that I was both uninterested in and unqualified for that it hit me — I didn’t just want to work from home! I wanted a remote gig that gave me #girlboss status, flexibility, and tapped into my creative side.

So, my advice to you, no matter where you’re at in your remote work journey is to hit the pause button now. Seriously, right now. Don’t look at a single listing or submit your resume to another remote job. Take a minute to stop and think about what type of at-home employment you’re after. Sure, you’re working from home, but what else?

• What industry are you working in?
• What’s your likely job title?
• How’s your schedule? Set? Flexible?
• Are you working for a company? Yourself?

The answers to these questions will give clarity to your job search. And once you know what you’re looking for, you can set a realistic goal for yourself.

Setting Work From Home Goals The S.M.A.R.T Way

So, what’s your goal? Are you wanting to become a freelance writer in six months? Did you decide to start a blog and go full-time within a year? Do you have your mind set on landing an employee position with a remote-friendly company in two months’ time?

Before you can hold yourself accountable in your work from home job search, you need to set a goal that you can work towards. That’s why it’s important to figure out which type of work from home job is right for you first. You see, simply stating you want to work from home is not a goal. Instead, you need to be S.M.A.R.T.

What is a S.M.A.R.T Goal?

The S.M.A.R.T system for goal setting stands for:

S – Specific

M – Measurable

A – Attainable

R – Realistic

T – Timely

Setting a goal that hits all the S.M.A.R.T. marks, sets you up for success in your remote job search. Here’s how.

Specific

The more specific your work from home goal, the better. All too often, remote job seekers simply say, “I want to work from home.” But, remember, not all work from home jobs are created equal, and there are huge differences between freelancing and employee positions. One type of employment likely makes more sense for you and your current situation than the others.

That’s why you need to figure out what kind of remote worker you are, and then set a super specific, down to minute details goal.

To do this, include what you want to accomplish, set a time limit, identify requirements, state a benefit/purpose of achieving that goal.

For example, when I decided I wanted to quit my 9 to 5 in favor of freelance writing, I set this goal:

I want to become a freelance copywriter and earn enough income to replace my day job within 6 months so I can have a flexible career that allows me to work when and where I want.

Your turn! Before you move onto the next step, use what you learned about the types of at-home jobs and what you’re looking for in your remote career to set a specific goal. And write it down! Studies show committing to goals in writing keeps you on track and increases your chance of success.

Measurable

Making a measurable goal is important. Otherwise, how will you ever know you’ve achieved it?

Think of your goal in terms of money, time, or another easily quantifiable measure.

For example, I want to earn $1,000 from my blog within six months of launching. This goal is measurable because, at the end of six months, you can go back and see whether or not you earned that first grand.

Attainable

Goals should be challenging, but not impossible. Setting a goal you have no chance of attaining sets you up for failure before you even start.

But it doesn’t mean you should sell yourself short and pick and easy peasy one either.

So go ahead and give yourself a challenge! You’ll quickly find that when you set a goal worth working towards, you’ll quickly learn how to take the necessary steps to achieve it. Don’t get caught up in the details just yet of what you’ll need to do to get from Point A to Point B. Once you set a goal worth going after, you’ll be motivated to fill in the details

Realistic

How do you know if a goal you set is realistic? One way to gauge is to decide whether or not your goal is something you are willing and able to work towards.

For example, let’s say you set a goal to become a remote developer. This is a great goal if you actually want to learn to code and can devote the time needed to learn a new skill. But, if you don’t have access to a computer or can’t commit to learning something new, this goal is no longer realistic because you aren’t willing or able to work towards it.

Don’t confuse realistic with attainable! You can set a lofty goal that is both attainable and realistic as long as you have the desire and ability to work towards it.

Timely

Always give your goals a time limit. Why? It gives your goal a sense of urgency.

When you set a time limit, you’ll be amazed how quickly you’ll spring into action. This quick progress can build momentum that carries you through to actually achieving your end goal.

Think of it like this, when you were in school and had a project due, how often did you get it done?  If you’re like most people, you almost always turned projects in on time even if it meant pulling an all-nighter to do it.

The same holds true for goals. Give yourself a deadline and you’ll find a way to get it done.

Now Go Get That Goal! And Learn Something New In The Process

While you probably have plenty of hard skills and soft skills that make you an awesome employee or freelance or entrepreneur, there’s still quite the learning curve when you’re new to telecommuting/freelancing/online entrepreneurship.

To help boost your chances of getting hired or landing clients or launching, you’ll need to educate yourself and put that knowledge to work.

The good news is, there are plenty of places and resources readily available to guide you every single step along the way.

My favorites include:

Skillshare

Skillshare is the place to go for bite-sized learning that packs a lot of punch! All courses are purposefully packaged into manageable chunks so you never feel overwhelmed or like you don’t have the time needed to complete it. And each course comes with a student project where you and your peers offer feedback and help each other grow. 

Udemy

Another self-paced learning platform that I often turn to to learn everything from how to code to social media marketing is Udemy. You too can use it to help you in your quest to launch a remote career! There are amazingly affordable courses for freelancers and online entrepreneurs, and even some great job search advice if you’re looking into at-home employee options.

Kindle Store

I love a good book. And while I prefer to spend Friday nights with the latest best-seller or an old-time favorite, it’s also nice to pick up a digital book to learn something new. That’s where Kindle comes in.

With the free Kindle Reading App and Kindle Unlimited, you can read as many how-to, career books, and self-help titles to help you reach your goals. You can even sign up for a free 30-day trial of Kindle Unlimited so you can start learning right away — at no cost!

Keep Making Progress!

Whatever you do, keep on keepin’ on. I know it’s easy to set a goal and start moving towards it with plenty of gusto only to stall out a few days later. Any progress you make towards your work from home goal is good progress, even if it’s the teeniest, tiniest of steps.

Remember, you don’t just make the decision to work from home and then, bam, start working remotely the very next second. It takes time. And patience! And don’t be afraid to set super small, realistic goals for yourself. Setting up a website. Sending your first email. Learning a new skills. These are all small ‘wins’ that eventually add up to the biggest win of working from home!

And if you’re ever feeling less than motivated, remind yourself why you want to work from home in the first place. Maybe you want the freedom to take care of your little ones while bringing home the bacon. Perhaps you have a disability that prevents you from entering a traditional workplace. Or you might be a stay-at-home parent looking to add to your family’s income. Whatever ‘it’ is, use it as motivation on days you’re feeling overwhelmed or pessimistic about your at-home prospects.

As always, if you need any help, please ask. That’s what I’m here for!

Happily,

Ashlee!

P.S. You’re 42% more likely to reach your goals if you write them down. Grab your free goal-setting worksheet below so you can immediately boost your chances of reaching your remote work goal!

P.S.S. This post contains affiliate links. What are they and how do I use them? Read my disclosure statement for more information.

The post How to Set Intentional Goals That’ll Help You Get a Remote Job appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.