INSIDE: Finding permanent remote work is certainly easier these days than it used to be, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Try these tips to help you land the perfect position.
Whether you finally got your first taste of working from home and want it to continue or you are looking for an opportunity to replace your full-time income outside of the home for the first time, you may be wondering how to find permanent remote work. To many newcomers’ surprise, a lot of work-from-home positions are only temporary or even very part-time in some cases. It can be a struggle to find a position that can provide a long-term income.
Best Tips for How to Find Permanent Remote Work
In today’s post, we are sharing a few tips to finding permanent remote work. You’re still going to have to do some legwork, but these cues may help narrow down your search. And remember. Diligence pays off when you’re looking for an online job. Make the commitment to spend time on your job search each week.
Use the Right Search Terms
If you have ever landed on Indeed when looking for work, you know there can be thousands and thousands of openings to dig through. You could literally spend hours and hours every day looking for jobs that meet your needs. It can get frustrating fast!
Luckily, modifying what you are searching for can quickly whittle down your results. A few general phrases to use when searching for a work-at-home job:
- Telecommuting
- Work-at-home job
- Work-from-home job
- Home-based
- Freelance
- At-home job
- Virtual job
- Remote work
Different companies may use different terms for permanent remote work. A search for each of these phrases may bring up different opportunities.
To start whittling down those results, you can add one or more of the following modifications to help identify those offering permanent work as opposed to something temporary, seasonal or project-based.
- Full-time
- Permanent
- Employee
- Annual salary
- Long-term
An example of what you would type into your search bar for one of the above would be, “work-at-home job” + “full-time.”
Now, some of these permanent positions may not be full-time and some full-time work from home positions may not be permanent. A single phrase may not be the golden ticket you are looking for, but they may help you get closer to the bullseye.
If you are picky about the type of job you are looking for, you can go a step further and add titles to your search. Example:
- Customer service
- Writer
- Bookkeeper
- Administrative assistant
You can also look into some of the companies who have stated that they will extend their remote work policies even after the pandemic has ended. A few of those:
- Capital One
- Nationwide Insurance
- Upwork
- Zillow
- Ancestry.com
- Amazon
There are also some companies that have long had a fully remote workforce that occasionally have openings:
- TaxJar
- Shopify
- Square
- Buffer
- And more
There are also a few legit job boards, through paid memberships, that do some of the legwork for you. For example, if you are a FlexJobs member, you can also use their Advanced Search feature to seek out “100% Remote” “Full-time” positions to find that permanent remote work.
Don’t Pass Up Seasonal Opportunities
Almost every season of the year can denote an uptick in remote jobs in one industry or another. For example, at the first of the year we often see a hiring blitz for remote tax preparers. In the spring, it’s often the travel industry hiring. In the fall, we see so many companies hiring customer service agents.
Just because these roles are listed as temporary or seasonal work from home jobs, you may not want to overlook them. As with traditional employment opportunities, some temporary positions become permanent. Also, when it comes to remote work, temporary workers can often be offered first dibs when the next season or project rolls around.
Now, you probably already know that competition can be fierce when it comes to work-at-home positions. Therefore, if you are hoping to be asked to stay on, you need to commit to the role you were hired for. That means showing up for your shifts and meeting any service metrics outlined by the company. Only the top performers are often extended future offers.
Final Thoughts
There is no fast track to permanent remote work. You still need to make any stay at home job search a priority. But, the above tips may help cut down some time and focus in on what you are ideally looking for.
