LinkedIn for remote jobs?

November 6, 2015 2:58 AM

How does one search LinkedIn for WFH opportunities; also, how to present yourself as someone only interested in those types of jobs?

I read lots of similar "how do I find a telecommuting job" previouses, but mine specifically related to LinkedIn and for the life of me I am not seeing how it's possible to search only remote/telecommuting/work-from-home jobs on their interface other than using keywords which are NOT giving me what I want. Am I missing something?

posted by I_Love_Bananas to Technology (8 answers total)

Great question. I also don't know how to find these jobs, but as for presenting yourself: adding 'Freelance' to your job title gives off vibes in the right direction, I think, even if it doesn't mean WFH per se.
posted by Skyanth at 3:21 AM on November 6, 2015

I don't tend to use LinkedIn for job searching. I got my last job through indeed.com -- they have a search for "work from home". If I remember correctly, there is a website that specializes in work from home jobs, but I don't remember the URL at the moment.

Good luck with your job search!
posted by elmay at 5:41 AM on November 6, 2015

One way to see them.

There are two LinkIn groups to join that will be helpful - FlexJobs and Telecommute Jobs.

You can add text to the effect of "I am only interested in telecommuting" to your profile, though the spray and pray recruiters will still poke you to see if you're interested in places you have no interest to move to.
posted by Candleman at 5:48 AM on November 6, 2015

I don't know about your industry, but in tech, "Remote" or "Distributed" are useful keywords; they emphasize how work is done, not where you happen to sit. Plus, while many distributed teams have people sitting at home, others have team members in coffeeshops or coworking spaces.
posted by Tomorrowful at 6:02 AM on November 6, 2015

Yep, "work from home" mostly means "make money fast scam!" now. Remote is probably the most common term, along with distributed and telecommute.

And yes, recruiters mostly don't read your resume, so be ready to remind them half a dozen times or so that you are looking for a remote/telecommute position.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:54 AM on November 6, 2015

There's We Work Remotely.
posted by davejh at 4:55 PM on November 6, 2015

I should clarify, this is in the context of offering tips and pointers specifically about optimizing use of LinkedIn.

The goal of the question is not a general "how do I find a remote job regardless of the tool?" but a very specific, "how can LinkedIn most effectively return job search results for positions that are remote/virtual/telecommute opportunities?"

I want to be able to say one way or another, "doing ____ will accomplish that objective" or "right now, LinkedIn does not provide a definitive way to accomplish that objective."

It seems like so far signs point to the latter. There is not a box to check, etc. One must rely on keywords and hope for the best?
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 6:27 AM on November 7, 2015

Does https://www.linkedin.com/job/telecommute-jobs/ not meet your needs?
posted by Candleman at 12:29 PM on November 7, 2015