Do you feel like you are losing
struggle to balance work and family? Have you decided that one hour round trip commute in rush hour traffic, choking exhaust fumes, and testy drivers with their salutes are WAY overrated? If so, perhaps you're considering joining ranks of ever increasing work from home elecommuters. Why has telecommuting become so popular? For one, it provides parents with much more flexibility than conventional employment. Parents can stay home and still work when a child is home sick, are able to be home waiting when children return from school, and can be available for many of conferences, plays, games, and events that many parents are forced to miss because of demanding work schedules. So how does one prepare for a work from home job search? The answer is - with great care and even more patience. "It takes much longer to secure a work from home position than a traditional job" says Pat W. a home-based working Mom of 3, who works as a Medical Transcriptionist. "It took me 14 months to find my current job, but it was well worth wait. Now I am 100% sure of how they (the kids) are being taken care of, since I am now one taking care of them. We’re all much happier."
Pat is right. It takes average person looking for a telecommuting position a good year before they find a position that suits their needs; and that's typical in a good economy. But having a resume geared towards your work from home employment search is a sure fire way of positioning yourself ahead of competition. Here are 10 tips to make your telecommuting job search more successful.
1. Make sure that you provide all of documents that your job ad calls for. Provide your resume and cover letter and make sure that you abide by all submission instructions. Use snail mail, fax, e-mail, or phone calls only when asked to. If one of above submission options are not listed, then it is safe to assume that your prospective employer will not look upon your ad-libbing kindly.
2. Have a resume all ready to be sent in .txt format. Many employers have databases set up to receive scanned resumes and .txt format is format that makes it easiest for employer. I know that it's not as pretty as your regular formatted one, but having it ready to go when it is requested will make things much easier for you, and will help keep your resume out of rejected pile.
3. If you have multiple interests in multiple fields, do not try to list them all on one resume. The result could make you look like proverbial "jack of all trades and master of none." Use multiple resumes that are tailored to specific fields and detail experience that you have.
4. Write a short descriptive objective. The objective is what compels your prospective employer to continue reading. If it does not match what he or she is looking for, or is so vague that they do not know what you are looking for, your resume will probably make it to shredder. The rule of thumb is that an objective should be ten words or less.
5. Write a resume that highlights any equipment, software, or services that you currently have that make you "work from home ready". If it comes down to you, and another person who still needs to set up a home office, then guess what, job is probably yours.
