What is the best way find another full time (IT related) job that allows me to work from home?

June 22, 2012 1:32 PM

I work from home doing IT support/project management for a large non profit. I think it might be time for me to find another job. What is the best way find another full time (IT related) job that allows me to work from home?

The terms "work from home" or "telecommute" are such loaded phrases. Try searching for either of these terms via google or a large job site and you will not get very legitimate answers.

Even on ask MeFi, searching for previous questions regarding work from home situations all seem to stem from scam job postings or the like. It has been a chore wading through all previous questions. I gathered some info but I need to know more.

I'm a professional with a decent amount of experience in the IT / data management / analytic world. Where can I go to find legitimate job offerings? At this point I would even be willing to consider contract employment.

posted by remthewanderer to Work & Money (4 answers total)

You've probably heard of Flexjobs -- it's worth checking out with the caveat that there's a membership fee involved.

After a frustrating plod through Monster, Career Builder and Craigslist, I landed a telecommuting, salary-with-benefits job for a research firm out East after finding it posted on Flexjobs (I'm based in the Midwest). They post openings for a variety of disciplines -- I applied for an editorial position, but waded through plenty of IT postings before I found it.

And while I'm not positive on the dynamics of their "gathering" process, I'm fairly certain that they find job postings through company websites and industry-specific job boards. My position had only been posted on my company's site, for example, and would have never seen the light of a Monster or Career Builder.

Anyways, it worked for me. Your mileage may, of course, vary. And remember, there's a fee (something like $15 a month, I think).
posted by shiggins at 2:13 PM on June 22, 2012

Best answer: IMX, it's a matter of sheer luck. Either you stumble into another job that lets you work from home (I've had two in seven years) or you take a job in which you can "earn" the right to work at home after some given period of proving yourself trustworthy by coming to the office every day.

Neither of my telecommuting jobs advertised the job as such. It just came up in the interview, after I mentioned my previous experience working from home. Actually, in my current job I have a choice. It was as though they wanted to let me know telecommuting was an option once they decided they liked me, but they didn't advertise it in order to weed out people who think working from home means the opportunity to goof off.

My advice would be to apply for the jobs that interest you and think about working form home as a nice perk that may or may not be initially available. On the positive side, I do believe these jobs are becoming more common.
posted by caryatid at 5:27 PM on June 22, 2012

My last job and my current job (both academic IT) had a few remote workers. Especially in the era of virtualization, a system administrator doesn't often need direct access to the hardware. I think in all cases the worker is a trusted and known quantity; either they worked a number of months on site first, or worked for the hiring manager in the past and maintained a good relationship.
posted by pwnguin at 9:20 PM on June 22, 2012

I've worked full-time for Support.Com - in my case providing tech support to Comcast internet customers via remote control and soft-phone over the web - for about a year now. They offer pretty decent paid training, great health coverage, paid vacation time, etc. They actually provide support for many other companies including Office Max, Office Depot, Staples, Time-Warner, and a number of others. You might check out their web site for job openings; they seem to hire pretty much continually, and they recently created a group that provides computer support for small business as well. Might be worth a check.
posted by Death by Ugabooga at 9:40 PM on June 23, 2012