Get Hired to a Work-At-Home Job

Imagine not only having the steady, regular income of a job, but the ability to do that job from home! It’s not as far-fetched a situation as you might think. Virtual work has been growing and is expected to continue growing. But many people who want a work-at-home job struggle to find legitimate work and get hired. Part of the problem is they don’t understand work-at-home jobs. The scammers give the impression that you can sign up to type, do data entry, process email or lick envelops.  The reality is that work-at-home jobs are like traditional jobs. They require skills, experience and going through a hiring process.  Here are some tips to increase your chances of getting hired to a work-at-home job.

1. Start with your skills. When looking for a traditional job, most people read the help-wanted section of the paper. But they don’t read every job opening looking for the one thing they can sign up to do now. Instead they focus on the job types that fit their skills. You need to do the same when looking for a work-at-home job. You need to determine what skills you have and what job types can use them.
2. Search for jobs in places where jobs are posted and focus on your job skills. There are many great free and fee-based career sites to find jobs, but you have to learn to weed the legitimate jobs from the scams. This is especially so on the free sites. If you stick to your skill base and don’t get sidetracked with promises of easy money, you should be safe. Avoid jobs that are known scams such as “clerical,” “typing, “data entry, “email processing,” rebate processing” and any job asking you to use your personal bank account to help it do business (that includes overpaying you and asking you to send the portion of the overpayment to someone else).  Any job that asks for money is not a job. Don’t fall of any of the gimmicks such as the fee is to determine your interest or to offset expenses. You would think a traditional employer was nuts if he asked for money while taking your application.

Get my FREE tips for searching for jobs as well as job search sites that I like. Click here!

3. Write a resume that sells you for the job. Too many people view a resume as a list of accomplishments. While it does list education and job experience, it’s more accurately a sales document, like a brochure. As such it needs to sell you as THE person for the job. To achieve that, tailor your resume or application to fit the requirements of each job. Focus on your skills and experience that directly meet the requirements the employer is looking for.  You want an employer to read your resume and say, “This person has everything I’m looking for. She’s a perfect match!” Don’t lie or embellish. Simply highlight the skills and experience you have that the employer wants.
4. Apply, apply, apply…and then apply some more. One of the biggest mistakes that job hunters make is applying for a job or two and then sitting back and waiting to hear from the employer. In a work-at-home job you may never hear back from the employer.  During the wait time you may miss an even better job opportunity. And finally, applying and waiting makes the job hunt longer. A successful work-at-home job hunt includes searching for jobs everyday so that you can apply right away before the hordes of other applicants. While you can be disappointed and discouraged if the process is taking a long time, you can’t let that stop you from continuing to hunt for work and submit the best resumes that you can. The only way to get hired is to apply. So you need to apply, apply, apply!

Millions of people are currently working at home in a job.  They’re customer service agents, virtual assistants, nurses, teachers, writers, transcriptionists and so much more. Finding and getting hired to a work-at-home job is possible, but you need to treat it with the same dedication and professionalism as a traditional job search.

Check out my tips for searching for jobs as well as job search sites that I like!