Why do more and more moms decide to work from home?
You can deny it! Becoming a mom means being on call 24/7. Basically it’s a bigger commitment than a full-time job but paid ZERO (for what concerns money). But before having your baby you had a job. Maybe, if you’re part of those lucky ones, you also liked your job. And if you’re a golden unicorn, you also have paid maternity leave. But we both know that for the big majority of new moms things don’t go exactly like that. We barely have the right to go to the bathroom alone, leave alone paid maternity, right?
If we’re lucky we have a boss who recognizes our skills and will give us our job back when (and if) we’ll be ready to go back to work. But that “if” thrown out between parenthesis is what makes the difference. More likely he already found someone else to replace you because he can’t afford to risk or wait.
And this is not the only issue. We also have to consider that maybe (I mean.. MAYBE), we couldn’t care less about going back to work because we have other things on our minds. And that’s when the idea to work from home pops up in your head…
Here comes the dilemma
Feel free to check out one or more of the following options that you feel you can relate to:
For how satisfying your job was, you know your little one needs you more than anyone else and you just don’t want to leave her in childcare when she’s only few months old
Post-partum recovery is taking longer than expected and you’re still physically worn out
Breastfeeding is consuming your soul and waking up every 2 hours to feed the baby-dinosaur really doesn’t match with the idea of going to work
For how much getting out seems tempting, after few days at work you realize that you’d rather be home with your baby because you can’t focus if she hasn’t eaten, slept, burped, pooped and all that.
At the same time though, you’d like to keep that feeling of financial independence that you worked so hard for… The reason why you spent so many years in school and invested so much time to learn and grow.
You need to focus, even if only for few hours a day, on something that is not diapers or burps.
Etc etc etc… We both know I could go on and on for hours.
So what can you do to avoid complete madness? Well, the thought that started tickling the back of your neck, is slowly crawling up in your head, isn’t it? Pretty much like the voice of your conscience that whispers.. Work from home…Work from hooome…. Work from HOOOOOME!!
Why should I work from home?
The reason is very simple: it’s the only type of job that allows you to stay home with your baby, put your potential at use, earn your well deserved money and avoid to go crazy.
A lot of remote jobs are flexible, meaning that you decide when you want to work throughout the day and choose those hours that work better for you (basically when Gozer the destroyer is napping). Plus, I mean… Slippers on and no traffic: what else?
But is it really possible to work from home?
Well, it’d be very irresponsible of me to suggest to trust every single online job you find, but the answer to that question is YES!
Unfortunately in the world wide web there are a lot of scams, so I strongly advice to do your research deeply and thoroughly before accepting a proposal or before sending any kind of personal information. Even online jobs for which you don’t have to work hard to make good money, so don’t trust big titles that promise you golden caves in exchange of 2 hours of work.
This being said, I can assure you that there are very serious companies that offer great opportunities to work from home. They exist for real. For example I started working from home when my son Ethan was 4 months old. Before making this choice, I went back my old job as a restaurant manager. Even if I returned only part-time, the hours were crazy and Ethan, who had pretty awful baby colic, missed me a lot (not to mention my husband who had to deal with it all by himself). So I quit.. There you go!
How to find reliable work from home jobs
1. Search better
If you limit your research to those few free job websites, the chances to stumble upon scams are pretty high. You can find something, but it’ll require a lot of time and patience. Lately indeed.com got better, but up to a year ago it was pretty awful. Glassdoor.com is another good free source of remote jobs. I’d suggest to leave alone Facebook groups for what concerns work from home opportunities. If you want to laugh, try to get into one of these groups. The things you’ll read are clearly ridiculous so run until you can.
The kind of research I’m talking about are something else. I, for example, searched on Google the following: “legitimate work from home jobs” and one of the results was an article from Forbes. Now, if Forbes says so, I kinda trust it. The article was a pretty good insight of how to work from home both for yourself and for companies. I didn’t have neither the time nor the patience to start an online business (back then), so I focused on the part that explained how to find reliable companies.
Finally, when you find an offer, search separately articles and reviews both on the company and the job. If everything seems clean then you can proceed.
2. Never give personal information
Not on the first date at least. A serious company will never ask for your bank info or any other kind of personal data before discussing the terms of the agreement and verified your work experience. Ultimately, expect some interviews via Skype or other apps, or at least some email exchange before getting “closer”.
3. Do not pay money in order to get a job
Whether you’re a Scrooge like me or not, keep your wallet in your purse, Mama. No professional company will EVER ask you to pay anything in order to get or perform a job.
4. Become a member of specialized websites
After reading the Forbes article mentioned above, I decided to invest a small amount of money in order to have someone else skim the real job opportunities out of the land of scams. I know you’re thinking that this goes against what I just said about not paying to get a job, but let me explain to you the huge difference: I paid for a service, not for a job. The best example of this kind of service provider is flexjobs.com. The very low cost of 50 dollars a year doesn’t guarantee a specific job position, only the intermediary service they offer. It’s definitely the most reliable website to get in touch with real and serious companies all over the world who seek people who want to work from home.
For more info, you can read my article “17 amazing online jobs for moms”, where you’ll find a comprehensive list of jobs ideal for any kind of mama needs and links on where to apply.
They also offer consulting services, the chance to create a very detailed online profile (I used it also to update my resume many times), and more interesting options. Thanks to this website I found 3 different job positions, all absolutely reliable. One of which with Appen, one of the biggest remote jobs companies and I worked with them for a year an a half. Besides, the hours are flexible, which brings us back to our mama needs.
5. Be honest with yourself
If you can’t make it, you just can’t. Trying to commit to something that doesn’t match with your real availability doesn’t do any good. Keep in mind that I used to work with a touch screen laptop, mostly while I was breastfeeding the little soul sucker, or during his nap. I started part time for 20 hours a week and, later on when Ethan (yes, sometimes I call him with his real name) settled on a more predictable schedule, I could increase my availability. And it worked great. I got more hours assigned and after few months, I also got a pretty substantial promotion.
6. Do not expect salary or benefits
Don’t get me wrong. It is possible to work from home on a salary and also have benefits, but it’s a small percentage and they often have high requirements. If you meet the requirements, I say go for it now! Otherwise, I suggest to put your heart at ease and work as a freelance, consultant or independent contractor. But don’t despair my dear, you’ll have the chance to take advantage on other topics such as taxes and zero expenses, besides the internet bill which you’re probably already paying anyway. And some also pay pretty good money.
But it’s not over yet!
There are also other solutions more focused on making some extra money on the side (which is always good) rather than steady jobs. I’m talking about selling unused things online, taking paid surveys and more.
For more ideas you can also read this article which will give you tips and ideas on how to get started.
If you’re a more dynamic kind of person and you feel like you’d like to invest this time at home to create your own business, I’m totally with you. There are several options such as e-commerce websites or starting a blog, which is clearly my favorite. I wish I started it back then because as everyone knows by now, a blog can be a pretty huge source of income. We’re talking about tens of thousands of dollars per months. But better later than never, right mama?
But I’ll go deeper on this topic in another post. For now let me say that, if you’re looking for a job that allows you to be a mom without guilt, the options are all out there. Remember that we can adjust to (almost) everything, so don’t give up just yet, ok? With a little bit of patience you’ll be able to find a work from home opportunity that fits you and your family needs. Happy mama = happy family. Right?
One last advice
If I step over the line I beg you to ignore this: a work from home job is after all still a job, even with all its pros. Treat it as such. Don’t consider yourself (or let others consider you) a housewife just because you’re at home. With this I’m most definitely not diminishing housewives, quite the opposite actually. It’s because I know how much work it requires that I suggest to separate the two. You won’t always have time to do the laundry or wash the dishes and, over all, you also have your baby to take care of. Whenever you have the chance, use some help. Just my humble advice.
It’s also true though, that another great pro of working from home is ZERO commuting time, so you’ll have more time to do other things whether is taking care of the house or go to the park with your child.
This being said, good luck and let me know how it goes ok? 😉
P.S.= if you like this article or think that it could be useful for anyone, don’t forget to share it! 🙂
