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
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 and an applicant when a correspondence over a job
opening had escalated into threats and mud slinging.

It all started when the applicant sent an email to the employer
that stated, “Send Info” and nothing more.

This is a common occurrence. While it may seem perfectly
acceptable to ask for details, usually those “details” are in
the job listing itself. A response to a listing should be an
application. If you want to ask for more information, the
interview would be the appropriate time. Chances are, if you
can’t apply without getting more information it’s due to one of
two scenarios:
-The listing is really, really vague (and so most likely a scam).
-You’re not qualified for this position (if you’re not sure if
you’re qualified, then you probably aren’t).

Unless an employer states that they don’t want you to submit a
resume, you should always send your resume with a cover letter.

The cover letter should be tailored to the position, not a
generic version. This may mean that you have to do a little
digging, call the company, etc. but it really does make an
impression. It shows that you are really interested in their
company, that you’re resourceful and that you are professional.

Your resume should be up to date, thorough and professional.
Have it done by a resume service if possible. It should not
contain personal information such as height, weight or a health
history. These things have nothing to do with your
qualifications and don’t belong on a resume.

Another thing to leave out of a resume is an explanation of why
you want to work at home. This is something I see in many of
the resumes posted in our database. Not only is it
unprofessional to include this type of information, but more
importantly- employers don’t care.

What they do care about is whether or not you have the skills
and experience needed to do the job and why they should hire you.

Home-based positions are rare indeed. Competition is very high,
so you must present yourself as the best possible candidate
right from the start. Following these basic rules will give you
a much greater chance of snagging that much coveted telecommute
position.