If you’re like many of the GeekMoms, you probably don’t have just one job. You have many, and they range from run-of-the-mill to mommy time multitasking. And like those of us with a multitude of responsibilities, chances are you may work from home. The idea of permanent employment might not be an option, but flexible options (especially with littler ones) is definitely appealing.
As someone who’s worked as a freelancer for the better part of the last decade, I know how frustrating it can be to parse out the legit jobs from the, shall we say, shadier deals. While plenty of reputable companies offer work-from-home contract jobs, especially for freelance writers and designers, there’s still many out there that prey on folks who can’t tell the difference.
Now, I’ve tried quite a few outlets while scoping new jobs, including some of the bigger names out there. And I’m sorry to say most of the leads I get fall into the shady category: vaguely international companies looking for “social media expertise” and the like, or folks looking for sub-$5/hr contractors (I wish I was joking). Besides being pretty depressing, it’s a bear to set up and navigate, and for what they charge, basically not worth the digital space its printed on.
I ran into a fellow mom during a press junket in New York, and she told me about FlexJobs, which I hadn’t heard about, and offered to set me up with a trial membership. I figured I’d give it a whirl considering it was up my alley, and report back on my findings.
First off: Everything is easy when it comes to setup. Basically, you do what you do on most career sites–use your resume as a springboard to set your profile. But there are extras. Because this is catered toward people who work from home, and in many cases work project-by-project, there’s far more flexibility as far as what kind of jobs are available. It’s particularly nice for the bloggers out there, as it’s got its own subset (I particularly like just how many different categories there are–while you can use the suggested jobs, you can also search individually).
One of the unfortunate side-effects of the big-name career sites it that they are full of ads, are confusing, and often are just a jumbled mess. I like how easy FlexJobs is, both from a user experience perspective and a design perspective. I suppose the bar isn’t set too high when you compare it to other career behemoths, but in just a short time I found quite a few leads that were actually promising. And I didn’t have to dig around or siphon through shady posts. It’s not full of people asking for something for nothing, but real, reputable companies with extensive job listing requirements (none of which are vague, badly spelled, or hard to even grasp). It’s nice that certain companies even come with the FlexJobs seal of approval, which makes a difference, too. Not to mention, you can also take skills tests, watch webinars and videos, and set up all sorts of alerts for jobs you’re looking for.
The price is also great. A one month membership is only $14.95, and the price goes down if you buy in bulk. If you’re an independent contractor or freelancer looking for work, I can’t imagine you’d do better without FlexJobs. I know I wish I’d had it far earlier in my freelance-seeking days.
And, hey, as a bonus, FlexJobs is offering one free year subscription to a lucky reader. Just tell us what you love most about flexible work in the comments below, and we’ll select a winner at random.
I was provided a free membership to FlexJobs.com for the purpose of this review.
