While it’s obvious that the world's employment landscape is vastly different from what it was like just two years ago, the new normal hasn’t really set in yet. With employment benefits having lapsed in most of the U.S., the pool of job applicants is bigger. But a lot of workers don’t want to go back to the same rigid and highly unbalanced schedules they had before. While some employers and employees embraced remote work more than others, everyone now knows that productivity can be achieved on a flexible schedule. So if you want something a little different, as I do, let me tell you about FlexJobs.

Ahead of the Curve

FlexJobs was created way back in 2007 specifically to list jobs for people who wanted something other than typical 9-to-5. No one was thinking much of this demographic back then, even though the remote workforce was already quite sizable and growing.

Flexible Scheduling

There are parents who would like to work around their children’s needs, freelancers like me who would just prefer to have more clients and a varied selection of projects, students who have classes to adjust for, and many more examples of people who could use flexible work schedules. Some people just want to craft a better work/life balance by fitting their work around their life instead of their life around their work.

Part-Timers

People who only want to work part-time are often considered not very serious about their work, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. There are a lot of retirees who would prefer to stay professionally active, while others might want to generate a second income by using their education and skills in a professional manner.

Location Independent

People with physical issues, or their caretakers, often find it much easier to work from home or on schedules adaptable to their needs. Military spouses who move often, people who live in rural areas but don’t want to move for a job, anyone who'd rather not spend hours commuting, folks aren't into the increasingly bizarre office scene, and those (again, like me) who want to travel would love to be able to work from anywhere at all.

Smart Platform Growth

I’ve actually subscribed to FlexJobs on and off since they first came on the scene, depending upon my circumstances at any given time. So I can tell you that the company has not wasted its time during the intervening years. In 2007, my experience was that 99% of work from home jobs were either scams or very low paying. So, it was well worth the small subscription fee not to have to wade through those when searching the hand-screened remote jobs on the FlexJobs Platform.

However, as grateful as I was, the platform has matured and developed into much more than just a searchable database of job listings. It’s now an entire career incubator, so you get a great deal more for what you pay.

Not that the search tools are anything to sneeze at. You can filter for nine different fields and save several types of searches. Most important to me was the ability to narrow my results to 100% remote, U.S. National, Freelance, and Part-Time. I prefer to have multiple clients instead of working for just one company, and I don’t want to be required to be physically present in any one state, because I actually spend most of my time traveling internationally.

FlexJobs also goes far beyond job listings, with offerings such as:

  • Job Alerts: It’s not even necessary to visit the site every day. When positions are listed with criteria that match your profile, you will receive an alert via email.
  • Newsletters: You get job search motivation, articles full of actionable tips, even comic relief like career advice from The Onion.
  • Webinars: Really useful topics like, “Preparing for Remote Job Interviews” and “Cover Letters Best Practices” are covered and recorded, so you can watch them at any time.
  • Downloadable Guides: These are amazing resources, with titles like, “Understand the remote job market, including common jobs and companies hiring.”
  • Financial Wellness Center: Articles, tools, webinars, and planning advice to help you manage your money.
  • Membership Perks: FlexJobs’ Member Perks include discounts on products and services, some overlapping with financial wellness, such as TurboTax and Acorns.
  • Skills Testing: There are over 200 free tests across a wide range of careers. Only good results are automatically added to your profile and you can retake them with only your best scores showing.

Industry Respect

It’s really no wonder that FlexJobs has grown so satisfactorily, the company’s decisions are based on hard data. Well-known publications such as The Motley Fool and Fast Company feature information from FlexJobs because they know it will be valuable to their readers.

Priceless, Yet Affordable

I genuinely don’t know of any other platform like FlexJobs, one that not only gives you access to job opportunities you might not find elsewhere but also provides so many tools to help you create exactly the kind of life and career you prefer. During my current membership, I’ve gotten a series of helpful emails which were interesting enough and far enough apart that they were never irritating. I took skills tests that I thought were difficult enough for the scores to be meaningful to employers or, in my case, potential clients.

I am still very grateful for a resource that specializes in exactly the type of job listings I want to see. What has impressed me most though, is the depth of practical information available on the website. I really do consider it priceless, not only the knowledge but almost even more so the convenience of having it all at my fingertips in one place. The fact that you can have access to so much for under $50 a year is already a worthwhile investment, so I’m really happy to share that you can currently get a one-year subscription to FlexJobs for only $24.95, a full 50% off the normal price. It's a perfect time to flex your professional muscles.

Prices subject to change.

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