Every live and digital course or book I offer on working at home jobs has a statement about how difficult it is to get hired to work-at-home. Tough economy or not, employers with telecommuting jobs have lots of potential hires, which means you have stiff competition. It’s not unusual to never hear back regarding your submission. There are many reasons for this, such as your application got lost in cyberspace. While you can’t control what employers do, you can control what you do and increase your chances of getting hired. Here are typical reasons you may not be getting hired to a work-at-home job and what you can do about it.
1. You’re applying late in the game. Job announcements have a tendency to remain online for a long time, even after the company has hired or at least received enough applications from which to make a decision. The best way to make sure your application gets seen is to apply as soon as the announcement is posted. That means you need to do a job search at least once a day.
2. You didn’t follow directions. Not following directions is a top complaint of employers looking to hire. Whether applicants are trying to be clever or just aren’t paying attention, employers are annoyed when they spell out what they need to consider a potential employee, but the applicant delivers too much or too little. Not following directions is the fastest way to get your application deleted. After all, if you can’t follow directions when applying, what does that say for the type of employee you’ll be? Read the job announcement carefully and deliver everything it asks, no less and no more.
3. Your resume is boring. Most people think of a resume as a list of accomplishments; however, a resume is actually a marketing document. I wrote an article about this for Personal Branding Blog, that you might want to check out. Basically, you want to tailor your resume to the employer. What industry is he in? What does he need someone to do? Then you write a resume that shows him you’re the person he’s looking for by matching what you can do with what he needs. Use strong active verbs and put some punch in your resume.
4. You’re not qualified for the job. You may not have every skill the employer is looking for, but you should have the important ones. If an employer is looking for a writer who knows SEO and WordPress, you need more skill than simply writing. Makes sure you have the skills and experience meet the basics of the job. If you don’t, consider getting the skills.
5. You don’t want to work-at-home bad enough. People who are serious about finding a work-at-home job, search and apply every day. Haphazard efforts to work-at-home will deliver haphazard results. Applying for jobs on days your boss angers you or your child is sick and you have skip work isn’t going to work. Finding home-based employment requires treating your search like a job by working on it every day.
I get email often from people frustrated and discouraged that they aren’t getting hired to work at home. I wish there was a secret I could tell them that would have them hired instantly. The truth is that finding a job takes time. It also requires that you apply as soon as jobs are posted, you follow directions, you submit a professional resume tailored to the job you’re qualified to do and you keep searching and applying until hired.
For tips and resources to getting hired, check out WAHS University’s course on getting a work-at-home job or get the Jobs Online book.
