Six Tricks Professional Women Know to Work From Home On A Flexible Schedule

Who doesn’t want to work from home…

Especially if you’re a parent. You CAN have it all. With a little guidance on a fast growing trend, you too can live the life you’ve always dreamed of. No, it’s not a “get rich quick” scheme, so if you think you can put in a little effort and then sneeze out a 6-figure income by next week then you’re in the wrong place. But if you’re looking for the right methodology to build a balanced lifestyle with the flexibility to from home, then it just take some dedication and a few key tips to make it happen. In this article, we’ll discuss:

1. The New Media Resume
2. The Home Office
3. The Skill Set
4. The Connections
5. The Attention
6. The Attitude

The New Media Resume

What? How is this different from any other resume? I wonder if this is what Steve Jobs said in 2007 when someone asked him how the iPhone was different from any other phone. Resume’s change with the times too. After working for over a decade in Corporate Marketing, in 2006 I started my search for a “work from home” job; I was pregnant with my first child, my mom was sick, and I needed some flexibility. I simply updated my resume and then applied to every job I found online that I thought I were qualified for.

Big mistake.

I spent countless hours of wasted time searching job boards online, only to receive automated replies saying that they’ve decided to pursue another candidate who’s qualifications more closely matched the role they were seeking to fill.

WHAT? What are you taking about? My qualifications are perfect for the job you are trying to fill! I have every single qualification and more, and 10 years of corporate experience to boot!

A lot has happened since those days, but I finally discovered the secrets about the ‘new media’ resume; it needs to follow a certain pattern. If you’re looking to work for a company in a remote capacity, here are some tips for you:

1. Make sure you use the job title in the position you are applying to in your resume text…this is how the algorithms of job match automated intelligence pick up your resume out of thousands. Not to mention, use these keywords in your LinkedIn Profile too. You need to include the words that match the type of job you’re applying for.
2. Tailor your resume to each position. Changing it that many times may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. It will be worth the extra time it takes for you to showcase the skills you have which are DIRECTLY related to the position for which you are applying.
3. Change your “objective” statement to center around what you will do for the employer…in other words, the value that you will offer. Job openings are a way for businesses to say they have a “problem” and your resume should showcase how you will solve that problem.
4. Formatting is a representation of you, so make sure you complete spell check for punctuation and grammatical errors, then take a step back and make sure your formatting is visually appealing. Is your resume too cluttered? If so, you’ll come across as unorganized. Did you use a resume template, but left some fields blank because they didn’t apply to you? You’ll seem lazy. How about your font styles and sizes; are they consistent throughout? If not, a hiring manager could view this as a sign you don’t take pride in your work. While you shouldn’t use fonts that are overly fancy, your formatting should still feel fresh and modern. If you feel as though your resume is mediocre or boring, I can help!

The “Home” Office

The right type of “Home Office” can be an instant deal breaker when it comes to landing a Remote job, as well as showcasing your credibility when you take online or video conference calls. When you’re a career professional searching for a high-paying professional position (one in which you can work from home) you’ve got to be able to showcase that you are ready to take on that challenge. Remember the old saying “walk the walk?” This is the time to show the interviewer that you know you’ll be a good candidate for a work-from-home position. If you’re interviewing via Zoom, Skype, or Uberconference, pay very close attention to what your background looks like. Is it well lit? Do you have a messy desk, computer wires, or a bulky printer in the background? What about your volume? Are there children or pets who can be heard while you’re on the phone? All of these factors make a big difference on how you’re perceived on the other end of the interview. Make sure your home office reflects the impression you want to give. Turn on the video prompt on your computer to see what your background looks like. You can easily do this on a mac by opening up your FaceTime App (press command and space at the same time, then start typing FaceTime). Open up the app and take a look at your background. What do you see? Is it tidy? This is what the interviewer will see and your potential clients, so make sure it looks fabulous.

The Skill Set

Focusing on your top two (2) work history entries that are most important in terms of your qualifications for the position for which you are applying is the most critical. Remember, the hiring manger is only glancing at your resume, so to land the job, you’ve first got to land the interview. Be as clear as possible in spelling out how the duties in these two jobs will be relevant to the job for which you are applying. Nobody wants to page through a resume, and despite what you think…there is no hiring manager who is going on to page two. If you have more than 10 years of work experience, condense it to just one page. No really, one page. If you’re trying to land a job where you can work from home and get paid a big salary…the hiring manager doesn’t care that you were a waitress in 1995.

The Connections

Landing a new media job that allows you the flexibility to work from home means that you’ve got to know how to leverage your connections online. That definitely doesn’t mean you should start connecting with people cold, in fact, this may seem counter-intuitive to a sales person’s mentality, but I personally believe you should never connect with someone that you don’t know. Following someone on an open platform is one thing, but sending a “cold” message to someone you don’t know on LinkedIn is just plain creepy. In modern society, trying to email or contact someone who does not specifically want to be contacted is just spam. I once worked with an old-fashioned sales guy who was very interested in growing his business with modern digital marketing. The problem was…he didn’t understand modern marketing. He was only familiar with how sales was done for over 40 years.

While the fundamentals of sales and marketing alignment haven’t changed, this particular client wasn’t familiar with how to use modern techniques to connect with people online. Each day he would post on LinkedIn with 10 hashtags and a long-winded paragraph that nobody actually read. Instead of following best practices and the proven digital techniques that would grow and scale his business online, he ended up looking for what he thought would be a quick solution, and hired a company to “cold-email” thousands of people to try to set appointments for him. He paid this company $7,000 per month. He was mistakenly convinced that this was going to bring in actual “leads” for his business. This type of spammy prospecting is what causes real business owners frustration. The reality is, there was a lot of time and effort wasted trying to convert leads that were not qualified into revenue.

The bottom line…it’s important to foster connections with people who you’ve done business with, or whom you know personally. You simply cannot cheat the system anymore. Automated Intelligence has become so advanced that if you don’t already know how to pick out the spammers, then it won’t be long before you do. Trust me, there is no shortcut to success. Spend time fostering real and meaningful connections and that will build credibility for your brand and ultimately success for your business.

The Attention.

With all the distractions from emails to social media and advertisements, what are you paying attention to? The French call it “deformation professionnelle” or the tendency to observe reality through the distorting lens of one’s job or training. It’s a bias we all carry to some extent, we judge and perceive based on what we’ve been trained for. In order to overcome that bias, it’s important to question what perspective actually drives your attention, and what you might be missing out on as a result. If you think the only way to make a good income is by showing up before everyone else at the office and staying until everyone leaves then you’re just going to work yourself silly and always be under valued and under appreciated. I know, I’ve been there. I’m a classic Type-A perfectionist.

For 14 years, I arrived at least a half hour before everyone else at the office and stayed until almost everyone had left for the day. On the one hand, it made me productive because I got a lot done before other people came in, and it made me feel committed because people knew I was a hard worker. But at the end of the day, my family suffered. When I would walk in the door and everyone was hungry but I didn’t have a plan for dinner, it was my kids who were silently suffering. When their grandparents took them to sports practice and I showed up after my meeting, and we all didn’t get home and eat dinner until 8:30pm, I knew it was time. Something had to give. I needed to pay attention to what was most important in my life. I stopped giving my full and complete attention to the people at work who never seemed to appreciate all the time, effort, loyalty and attention to detail that I put in to my work for the sake of growing their company, and I started to pay more attention to how I could put my own expertise and attention to detail into growing a company of my own. That’s when the magic started to happen.

It started with a vision. Despite my sheer exhaustion from the regular activities of the day, managing kids, pets, a household and a full-time job outside of the home, I would lay awake at night searching for answers about how I was going to keep my shit together. But then as I visualized how I wished my life would be, my attitude changed. I started seeking out more positive affirmations, connecting with other like-minded women, and began recognizing my own accomplishments. I was educated, I was logical, I was managing a household and working full time, volunteering, and putting in a lot of effort…for everyone else. Why? Why am I using my talents to benefit everyone except myself and my own family? I’m smart, I’m a do-er, and if this man that I work for can make $3 million dollars a year and get away with treating people the way he does, then I sure as hell can build a business that will serve my family, my community, and anyone else I wished to serve. By setting aside your preconceptions, you are able to observe what people say and do with more precision. I became laser focused on building a business so that I could enjoy a vacation with my family and freedom from paying bills…and you can too!

The Attitude

Having the right attitude seems like something so small, but it’s really one of the most important components of building the life of your dreams. You’ve got to believe in yourself. You can do this!

If you’re sick and tired of reading about 22 year old internet millionaires who are giving advice on how to “scale your business to 7 and 8 figures” while showing photos of their Ferraris, then it’s time to get real.

Most people just want to be able to pay their bills, have the flexibility to pay for their children’s extra-curricular activities, go on vacation, and have a little left over to donate to their favorite cause. This life is not something reserved for others, it’s something you can achieve, you just need to make the decision to get started!

What if you don’t want to work for anyone else…but instead start blogging to make money or start your own online business selling your knowledge expertise, coaching, or a product that you make? Maybe you have an idea or maybe you want to start a business but you don’t know what you could do.

Starting a blog has allowed people to build multi-million dollar businesses starting from scratch with just a small investment. Want to find out what your Blogger Personality is? Take this quiz!