Where are all the WFH/Remote jobs?

Scrumptious67

Has anyone had any success in finding decent WFH jobs that don't require travel to an office?

I can no longer travel/drive for more than about 10-20 minutes and after extensive searching, I'm beginning to think those roles don't really exist.

Where are the best places to look? Maybe I'm not looking in the right places. The employers that claim to be disability confident/friendly, only seem to have office based roles or roles with travel required.

Rosie_Scope

Hi @Scrumptious67, I did find from my last job-hunting experience that fully remote roles aren't all that common which can be really frustrating. But I'm sure there are some out there somewhere!

Scope have a list of disability friendly employers and job boards that might be worth investigating.

If you manage to find anything that would be suitable but still requires some travel, perhaps you could also try chatting to the person in charge of the recruitment to see if they can make some reasonable adjustments for you. Always worth asking!

Hope you're able to find something suitable soon 😊

Scrumptious67

Thank you @Rosie_Scope. I have been keeping an eye on the job boards, just not found much so far. I'll keep looking.

Yes It's always worth an ask, I just haven't had much of a positive response so far. I guess I'll keep plugging away for now. Thanks for responding, I'll let you know how it goes. :)

Rosie_Scope

It's not easy at all @Scrumptious67, it can get very draining searching for opportunities, so look after yourself!

I really hope you manage to find something soon, keep us posted!

Geoark

Hi @scrumptious67 they are around, but most will have something about some time in the office. At present we need to be in the office twice a month, one for the team meeting, and one when the wider team goes in and work. Because of current health conditions I am not expected to attend either, but will try and make an appearance at least twice a year.

If you find a job that interests you and is hybrid working it is worth researching to see if they are disability friendly. As the capacity is there to work remotely they may be willing to consider reducing their expectations to see you in the office. though it is not uncommon for new starters to be required to go into the office for training purposes for a short period - 1 or 2 weeks for example. Most of our training and support is done online.

As I work in the finance section of the company I work for there is no need to meet customers in person and just the occasional phone call. The majority of my work is on spreadsheets ensuring the accounts are correct, or identifying and understanding why mistakes have been made, then sending letters or emails to customers explaining my findings as well as doing any adjustments required on the system. I also need some general knowledge in the field I'm working in terms of the legal and regulatory frameworks, but often these can be picked up as you go along.

What I would recommend is to consider upgrading your Word and Excel skills if you have not used them much. You can sign up for a free account at microsoft365.com There are plenty of courses on youtube, my favourite is Simon Sez IT. Experienced trainers and on the courses the files are available to download to work along with, or watch a section and then try to replicate what was done. There have been a lot of changes in Excel in particular and so worth looking for more recent courses rather than ones that have been around for a few years.

The free version have most options, but once you start getting to the more advanced stuff there may be functions you will not be able to use, but in general this level of knowledge is not needed.

Good luck in your search.

Scrumptious67

Hi @Geoark, thanks for replying. It sounds like you are working for an understanding company in a role that enables you to wfh as needed which is brilliant. It must take a weight off your mind to know you have that support, they obviously value you.

Funny you should mention updating my skills; though I used word and excel a lot in my previous roles I wasn't very knowledgeable about excel and only needed it for basic things. I am currently doing an online course to update myself in Microsoft Office skills so hopefully that will help. I used Microsoft 365 in my previous role so I'm fairly proficient in that.

I will check out Simon Sez IT on You Tube as suggested as I do find it easier to learn from watching then doing it myself. Thank you for passing that tip on. :)