3 Secrets to Landing a Home-Based Position
3 Secrets to Landing a Home-Based Position ' Copyright 2002 Sharon Davis.
Landing a telecommute position isn't easy. Finding them in the first place is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Then, when you finally do find one that looks promising, it's filled before you can even click on 'apply for this job'.
Why are they so few and far between anyway' Don't employers
5 Secrets To Growing Beautiful RosesA rose is a rose is rose - and there are few things in the garden more beautiful. There are 5 secrets I want to share that will help you to grow healthy roses. 1. ..... realize the benefits of allowing their employees to telecommute; less sick time, increased productivity, lower overhead, and so forth'
The truth is that you'd be surprised to know just how many companies do hire telecommuters. Most of them simply don't want to advertise those openings on the Internet.
But it's not all bad news. There are three very important rules that you should follow when pursuing a telecommute job. If you do, your chances of getting hired will be much greater. If you break them, your chances are about as good as winning the lottery.
Rule #1: Don't apply to positions that you aren't qualified for.
As the owner of 2Work-At-Home.com, I spend a great deal of my time trying to convince employers to post their telecommute job openings on our site. That's no easy feat either, and I'll tell you why: Most of them have to be convinced that there are quality applicants visiting our site.
One of the most common reasons employers give for not posting their telecommute listings on the Internet is that people who are not at all qualified for the opening apply for them.
Put yourself in the recruiter's shoes. You need to hire a person that can translate a company's training manual into German. So, you post your listing for a German Translator and specify that you're looking for someone who is fluent in English and German.
Your listing goes up and BAM! You're immediately flooded with responses. As 237 messages are downloading, you marvel at the number of people who are fluent in German. As you start opening the messages, your excitement turns to annoyance when you see your first three responses:
'I can't speak German, but I'm a fast learner.'
'Dear Recruiter, A solid background in Widget Sales makes me the perfect candidate for your position.'
'Send Info'
Nobody likes to waste their time, and when a recruiter posts a listing and only gets 1 in 100 responses that are worth looking at, it's counterproductive for them.
I know for a fact that some of our site visitors go through the job listings and methodically apply to every listing in the database, no matter what the position is.
This 'throw your resume at every employer and hope one sticks' approach not only makes the applicant look desperate, but it gives the entire telecommute job-seeking community a bad name. It also brings us to the next Rule'..
Rule #2: Follow the application instructions.
One company had posted a listing with us that contained specific application instructions. Recently, their listing expired. When she chose not to renew, I asked her why and this was her response:
'You really, really need to instruct these folks on how to follow directions, write cover letters, apply for jobs. They're lost. So, please, don't bring any more my way.'
Now, that's unfortunate. Here is a company that has telecommute openings, but you won't see them advertised because it's easier for them to just hit the pavement and do their recruiting the old fashioned way.
If a listing has specific instructions on how to apply, follow them. If you don't, then the first impression you are giving to your prospective employer is that you don't follow directions.
Even if there are no specific instructions, you should always apply in a professional manner, which brings me to Rule #3'.
Rule #3: Always behave in a professional, courteous manner.
Believe it or not, I recently had a complaint from both a company ......
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