Work from Home. Really.

Work from Home. Really. FlexJobs (www.flexjobs.com) has recently launched a new and improved version of its website. Its an online job site dedicated to legitimate, flexible telecommuting jobs.  The jobs are hand-screened, so there are no junk jobs, and there are almost 100 job categories: entry level  to executive, full-time to freelance.   The site offers a great variety of home and commute balance lifestyles.   You can elect short-term contracts or periodic work or consider full time jobs that require some or almost no travel from your home. The idea of working for home is very attractive, but its hard to find jobs that pay well and arent multi-level marketing plans.   For $14.95 a month or $49.95 a year, FlexJobs claims to save you the time and energy spent digging for the real jobs buried below scams and ads.   The terms of use are easy to understand and you can end your contract with little effort at any time.   The site offers helpful articles on starting or managing a telecommuting career.   It also provides reviews of the companies that post jobs; it appears that the staff really makes contact and does research to weed out companies that don’t provide actual jobs. You start by setting up an online profile (or more than one; you can name your various profiles and set up different   job preferences for each.) You can attach a resume and choose up to five categories of jobs you’re interested in.   You can also choose jobs by location (some jobs do require regional knowledge or occasional travel to clients or an office.) You list equipment you have in your home office (important for telecommuting) such as Mac / PC computers, your online connection speed, and certifications you have that may be helpful. As I browsed jobs, I found everything from online customer service to education (teaching online classes or tutoring) to business analyst jobs and scientific research.   Creative jobs included everything from full time online content writing to freelance graphic design.   Some jobs are merely home based because they don’t require relocation to a specific city; there might be extensive travel involved. In other words, you’d be working “from home” but not “at home.”   Business jobs included  executive management of national territories accounting sales finance, credit and mortgage    Nonprofits were well represented as well.   If you’re research-oriented, you can browse product development, technical writing or project management opportunities.      Bilingual customer service and translation jobs were plentiful, as are medical coding and transcription jobs. Job postings usually contained helpful information about required equipment, certifications or insurance you might need for the job.   If you’ve been looking for a way to sort through the scams and misleading offers of work from home, FlexJobs may be the tool you need.