Pretty much everyone knows I’ve been job searching for about a month and a half now. Things were not going well. I wasn’t hearing back from 99% of the jobs I applied for, and only had two interviews in that time. I started to get desperate. But you know what? It was worth all of the time and effort – and the long wait – because I just landed an AMAZING remote (more commonly known as work-from-home) job as well as a few side freelance writing positions.
A lot of work went into my job search. I started with a basic resume and cover letter template in which I just changed the name of the company to which I was applying. But I wasn’t hearing back from anyone. That obviously wasn’t working. I really wanted a remote job with flexible hours so that I could take my son to school and pick him up. A work-life balance was extremely important to me. I did a lot of research on remote positions and how to find the best ones and came across some great resources along the way. But I was running into dead-ends and started getting desperate, applying to anything and everything.
FlexJobs was my go-to source for remote positions. For a low monthly fee, they provide dozens – even more depending on your experience and what type of job you’re looking for – of remote and flexible work positions. Not only that, but ALL of the companies and positions are vetted to ensure they are legitimate positions and NOT scams. This was extremely important to me ’cause “ain’t nobody got time for that.” I ultimately landed my remote position through Flexjobs and couldn’t be more happy about it. More on that later.
I also joined The Muse‘s email list and checked their website daily. This is a FREE resource with tons of job listings that include remote positions – they also have a lot of regular positions as well, so you have to pay attention to the location details. They have great articles on finding jobs, top companies, and other job-related subjects. It was a great resource and I will continue reading their articles.
While I was job searching, I happened upon an article about a “real-life dream boss.” Obviously I was curious and read the article. This guy seemed amazing and created an amazing company culture for his employees and I wanted in! I couldn’t find any job openings on his website, but I had read in another article somewhere that if you are really interested in a particular company, to email the hiring manager or even CEO to let them know you are interested in future positions. So I did. And he replied that they were hiring and would get me in touch with the team lead for the area in which they were hiring. I was PUMPED. This job had great pay, unbelievable benefits and was a remote position.
I went through the hiring process, but didn’t get the position. I literally cried over not getting this job. But obviously, it just wasn’t meant to be. What I did learn from this experience, though, is that I needed to amp up my resume, my skills and my cover letter. I created an online cover letter thanks to an article I read on The Muse, tailored each cover letter and resume to the specific company and position I was applying for, and put more detail on my LinkedIn profile.
Finally, I joined UpWork, an online workplace for freelancers to post and bid for jobs, and for companies to hire freelancers. Again, the jobs posted here are vetted and legitimate and UpWork provides a secure way to be paid and ensure payment. I recently got a freelance writing job where I will be able to write several articles per month for a website and make some extra money on the side. There aren’t just writing jobs on UpWork though, there are also customer service, programming, developing, and coding jobs, along with many others.
As I said before, I ultimately got hired through FlexJobs. I will be working as an Independent Contractor, so I won’t get benefits, however the flexibility and ability to work from home far outweigh that one downfall of the position. I am doing technical and customer support for a company located in New Zealand called SMTP2GO. This company provides outgoing SMTP – email – service that is secure, reliable, efficient, and has a great reputation. They provide a service with the purpose of keeping emails and IP addresses from being blacklisted, bounced and marked as SPAM. And they do this by having incredibly high standards, a strict Terms of Service, and consistency in ensuring all customers are adhering to those Terms of Service.
I now have the ability to take my son to school, pick him up, spend quality time with my family, write and pursue whatever makes me happy. I have found the work-life balance that I so desperately wanted and needed after working 70+ hours a week and never seeing my family. It takes a lot of work to get to this point, but it IS possible!
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