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Finding a work at home job is not difficult; it’s just a little different! Don't search at random - instead, take a logical and organised approach to finding a work from home job that's right for you.
Finding a work at home job is not difficult; it’s just a little different! Don’t search at random – instead, take a logical and organised approach to finding a work from home job that’s right for you.
A woman working from home isn’t something new. Back in the 80’s and the 90’s, women conducted tuition classes and classes for kids in music, art, dance or languages. Sari business was another popular passion of several women then. Let’s not forget tailoring; it used to be a big sought-after skill for an 80’s woman.
A few decades have rolled since then. Technology has leaped beyond our imagination. Sadly yet, there are several women out there, confined within their homes, yearning for a meaningful career and decent income, but unable to give up their priorities of home and children.
Finding a work-at-home job is not difficult; it’s just a little different!
Whether you are on a career break to look after your baby, or you moved to another city after marriage where you don’t find a suitable office work, or you need additional part-time income, or you have retired from work and need a job to earn and be engaged, or you simply want to try your hands and luck in a work-at-home job – irrespective of what kind of life situation you are going through, you can always try looking for remote work.
Some of you might keep hearing how women make lakhs of rupees from being at home. But perhaps, every time you type ‘work from home jobs’ in Google, you end up wasting a couple of hours, getting nowhere close to finding one.
Finding a work to do from home isn’t as simple as a Google search. Nevertheless, it isn’t difficult either; it’s just a little different. And there’s no one way to do this; you can be as creative as you can.
Here are a few tips to get you into the action mode:
If you visualize working-from-home to be being in your soiled tee all day long, taking as many breaks as you want, and do shopping on Monday with the idea of postponing Monday’s work to Tuesday, you may be only partly right. Not all work-from-home jobs are flexible jobs. Understand the different kinds of employment possible with remote jobs, like the ones listed below:
Depending on the availability of your time and support, decide on what kind will fit into your lifestyle. If you have a newborn to look after and you absent-mindedly or over-confidently applied to a full-time job and got employed, you’ll be put to a difficult situation. That’s why I see this step as a priority because it will give you the first level of clarity on what type of jobs to look for.
Believe it or not, there are at least a hundred sorts of jobs that can be done from home. And not everything is for you. In order to get a broader sense of what kind of industry you are to look into, answer to yourself, the questions below:
This is as important as the previous point. For example, you may come across a lot of openings for writing opportunities, but if it is impossible for you to connect with words, get that straight on your mind. In my case, speaking on the phone can never be my cup of tea. I was clear not to look for roles that involved verbal interactions like voice process, recruitment services or customer support. Getting clear on your ‘No’s can help you rightly filter your preferences.
It may so happen that you hardly have a skill to call yourself good at. Many women give up the idea of finding a work-at-home job at this very thought. Know that free and funded resources like Coursera, edX and Udemy are available online. Explore the various courses available and their potential to help you compete for a remote job. Sign-up for the relevant ones, make sufficient efforts to master them and see how it adds to your bio and confidence.
As a remote job seeker, you need to be more creative with your resume. What does it mean? Listing out your education and experience in the reverse chronological order can do you no good. At the first glance, the skills relevant to the position you are applying for, must get highlighted. Cut short down anything that is not helpful in the scenario. That means you might need to create an altered resume every time you send it to a potential employer.
Conventionally, one would begin a job search from Naukri, Monster, Indeed and similar sites. While it is not a bad idea to have your profile updated in these sites, you must be aware of platforms which offer exclusive work-at-home jobs. There are a plenty of them out there; one may work for you and the other may not.
Search and research the sources
I suggest you to begin a general search for sites, companies or consultants which offer remote jobs. When you do the search, remember to use a combination of various keywords like ‘remote jobs’, ‘flexible jobs’ and ‘work-from-home jobs’. Also, make sure to include your location (Ex. India) in your search. Make a list of such platforms and look into each in detail.
The popular ones you might come across are:
As a beginner, it might take some time to understand how the bidding system and work allocation works in these sites. You might be spending several hours a day with none accepting your proposal; it happens. It takes time at these places but could add value to your learning experience. Of these popular ones, freelancer.com works for me.
I like to mention two sample places, for the benefit of women who are stuck not knowing where to start. There are many others like these ones and you will have to figure it out.
It can be frustrating to keep checking the various online resources randomly with no gain. Instead, when you set a job alert, you will receive in your email, openings that match your criteria. Again, setting too many alerts in multiple sites can only clutter your inbox. To begin with, I recommend LinkedIn job alert and perhaps, one or two in Naukri or Indeed.
You don’t need to be a social butterfly to find work-from-home opportunities; but just that, some resources on social media are greatly helpful. If you like using Facebook, look out for groups or pages which provide information on part-time jobs for women.
You might have heard about scams time and again when we talk about home-based work. I suggest you not to sign-up for a work which requires you to pay a registration fee. Many copy-paste, typing and form-filling jobs work this way. Of course, not everyone who take money from you is a cheat, but be aware that these are the common areas of scam.
Working-from-home for a woman need not always be about an employer providing you a job. You can create your own job and in fact, offer jobs to other women. Women home entrepreneurs who sell a variety of products and services are on the rise now. If your interest lies here, you shouldn’t ignore your calling.
This article certainly isn’t a comprehensive one. It’s intended to give you a kick-start and as mentioned, it’s up to you to be creative in your search. If you like to add helpful tips to find work-at-home jobs, please write them in the comments below. It might inspire someone reading it.
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Work-from-Home Mom of Two under Six I Blogger I Writer I Erstwhile Biotechnologist read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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