Why Is It So Hard to Find a Remote Job?

Прочети на Български ==> Read in English (US)

We all know that working from home is the reality for many people nowadays. A decade ago, it was an almost impossible dream to follow.

Nowadays, with the improvements in the workforce, everyone with access to the Internet and good English communication skills can search for jobs on remote work platforms and apply to find one. 

Why Is It So Hard to Find a Remote Job?

1. Awareness of How to Search
2. How to Solve "Awareness of How to Search"?
3. Competition
4. How to Solve the Issue of Competition
5. Virtual Communication
6. How to Solve the Issue of Virtual Communication
7. Employers Are still Deciding whether to Move Their Teams Full-Time Remotely
8. How to Solve Employers Not Ready to Move Their Teams Full-Time Remotely
9. Final Thoughts

Some people are incredibly successful at getting high-paying clients in a short time. However, most people experience difficulties landing a good opportunity and are moving from application to application without any meaningful achievement.

In this article, we will discuss the main reasons remote jobs are not an easy catch and how to deal with the new challenges we face as remote job candidates.

Let's start!

Awareness of How to Search

When I first began my job search for a work-from-home position, my knowledge of what to type in a search engine to get the needed results could be better.

And I naively believed typing work from home or doing remote jobs would be enough to do the work. This proved to be wrong over time.

Searching for something generic would land me one of the two possibilities:

 

            1. A scam website offering jobs that they never pay you for

            2. A job board with many options, most of which are unavailable in my country.

 

If you are from the USA and English is your native language, what I am explaining here might not apply to you.

However, the job search would require much more effort if English is not your primary language (even if you are fluent).

The reason is that your country can't offer the variety you will get on the global market with international jobs.

You will want to choose among many offers and select the one that best fits your preferences and qualifications.

 

Why is it so hard? One of the reasons is that you will need to make additional filters for your searches to get results only for people from your region and international jobs.

This is further complicated by the searches only sometimes showing the correct parameters you set and need. Knowing the methods to search for online work is essential to landing your desired job.

How to Solve "Awareness of How to Search"?

It might sound obvious, but this is solved with practice. Performing a general search on Google is a good move.

However, it is only the beginning and a small step toward your goal. You can continue researching the particular website from the results on the first two or three pages on Google.

If the result is a job board or a platform with many offers, set the filters to display what you are looking for, then choose a job you like and do additional research on the position name or company that offers it.

I understand how this can quickly become boring or even frustrating. But the truth is that you need to read, check, examine, and be curious and eager to learn the valuable information you need to start working.

 

Once you have gained information about a particular job board and learned how to navigate and find its features and settings quickly, it's time to move on to another one.

Feel free to explore, read, click, and investigate. This is the mindset you need to get things moving. The next step is to check out work-from-home-related forums.

People who are on the lookout for online work would participate actively and ask questions in such places.

Others would go to forums to share their knowledge or experience with famous companies for remote offers.

Forums are a valuable and necessary part of creating a picture in your mind about types of remote jobs, requirements, the application process, challenges in the job, and much other related information.

 

When searching for remote jobs, I used other options besides social media. Currently, social networks are becoming a big player in providing information about legitimate companies and their processes.

Groups related to finding work from home are especially helpful in learning about what's on offer and how to participate. The best bet here is to start looking for such groups in the social account you use most often.

That way, you will know how to quickly navigate and won't have to learn a new interface from scratch. The last step is to focus on reading some blogs on the topic.

You will be surprised by how knowledgeable bloggers are about finding different opportunities to work online.

It's their job to be proactive in their research, gaining knowledge in their area and sharing it in an easy-to-understand way.

Most of them try the opportunities they write about, so they will have the experience you still need to gain. Read, educate yourself, and learn from other people's mistakes. That's how you do your search.

Competition

It is no secret that remote jobs are appealing. We all know that. We all know why. "Doing what you want when you want and from wherever you want" is the perfect lifestyle. And that same idea brings many people on board.

Who would refuse to have the dream job on his or her terms? As competition grows with the years, so do requirements and qualifications. Demand defines the price. In our case, the entry-level requirements.

 

Although many companies would claim that they don't require specific experience, which is true, it just means they would choose from over 1000 candidates for the same spot.

It's easy to understand why remote job providers hire people with the best qualifications and communication skills. They want the job done in the best possible way and their business to grow.

How to Solve the Issue of Competition

The approach to dealing with this is improving your skills and knowledge required for online work. This could be learning what proposal to send to the clients, improving your English level, or improving your ability to keep up with deadlines.

Knowing how to use different software, especially in your field, would give you a significant advantage over other applicants, and you can emphasize it in your resume.

The more value you offer, the better your chances are. It might not be easy to go through rejection after rejection to find a job, but once you start creating your reputation as a qualified freelancer, you will see that it was all worth it.

Virtual Communication

Another challenge many people encounter is that they can't have real-life communication with their customers.

The channels you will usually use will be a messaging app, email, chat, or, on some rare occasions, your phone.

The issue here is that such methods cut off the quality of the conversations. You could be less effective and persuasive online than you are in person.

Although it is much easier to text or send some information over email, it lacks the clarity and intention you can only present through facial expressions, gestures, and behavior in a real-life situation.

How to Solve the Issue of Virtual Communication

Put some effort into preparing proposals for potential customers using a grammar tool that checks your tone.

You want to sound confident and express your desire to solve a particular problem for your client using your skills and experience.

You might need to apply to more jobs than you are used to when applying for an offline job. Accepting this as reality and having fun while preparing your documents can ease these tasks and help you succeed.

Employers Are still Deciding whether to Move Their Teams Full-Time Remotely

While work-from-home options prove to be a winning strategy for many teams and employers, shifting entirely to this lifestyle can cause stress for employers. The main fears they have are:

 

                 ✔ Tracking Productivity

                 ✔ Reduced communication channels

                 ✔ Virtual teams that contribute less to solid relations between employees

 

Due to the concerns above, employers need to find a way to overcome the issues with remote work. An option they have is to go hybrid: the workers are at home completing their tasks part of the time, and another part is going to an office and collaborating with their colleagues directly.

It is a convenient way for the employer to have the time to adapt to the changing work environment, but it limits the opportunities to find their employees globally.

How to Solve Employers Not Ready to Move Their Teams Full-Time Remotely

As part of a hybrid team, it is an opportunity for the worker to point out the benefits that working from home offers.

By presenting results and productivity reports that favor remote work, managers can be convinced that it's in the best interest of their company to go entirely online.

It depends on the team's ability and desire to take that step. But if you are in such a situation, showing the facts and the numbers to the employer is the best way to reduce his or her fears.

Final Thoughts

Finding a remote position will be quick and easy for some of us, while others will struggle for years. Once you have a clear idea of what job you are looking for and find your way online to connect with the right people to help you, you will be on the right track in the online work market.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!

〜 Henry David Thoreau

Perseverance, hard work, a goal-oriented personality, and pure luck are the main reasons people find their dream jobs. If you never give up, nothing or no one can stop you.

 

Good luck in your job search!