For many across the Capital Region – and throughout America – the seemingly distant dream of remote work swiftly became a reality with the onset of the pandemic. While entire workforces are beginning to return to traditional work places with their assigned desks and prescribed working hours, many professionals are not, and many more are realizing they prefer working remotely. The unemployed may also find more opportunities for work by expanding their job search to include remote work. Below, BRAC offers tips and insights for local professionals to obtain quality remote jobs while living in Baton Rouge, no matter where their employer is located.
Why Baton Rouge?
Baton Rouge is a great place to live while working remotely. As Louisiana’s capital city, Baton Rouge has the friendliest people, a culture like nowhere else, exciting festivals, incredible cuisine, a wide variety of amazing parks and outdoor activities. The Red Stick offers fertile ground for putting down roots with its relatively affordable cost of living, abundant education choices for families, diverse neighborhoods, world-class healthcare, and close proximity to major travel hubs like New Orleans, Houston, and Atlanta. Opportunities for community involvement abound in Baton Rouge, ranging from arts non-profits and philanthropic endeavors to outdoor adventures and university sports. Remote workers have the power to choose a community, regardless of their jobs, and Baton Rouge offers amenities for all.
Remote Resume Tips
Before embarking on a search for remote work, consider crafting a resume and online presence that speak to your remote capabilities. According to Forbes, a single online job posting receives as many as 250 resumes, and many companies use technology that weed out 75% of resumes before a human even reviews them.
- Emphasize your ability to effectively communicate. List tools that show your familiarity with digital communications (Zoom, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Salesforce, Basecamp, etc.).
- Include self-directed projects that showcase your ability to be effective without supervision.
- Focus on results. Since remote work values results over hours on the job, use data to illustrate your accomplishments that pertain to the job opening.
- If you lack years of experience, show that you are a quick learner. Have you taught yourself a software system? Include this in the resume. If not, consider earning credentials through short-term training programs like the ones listed here.
- Where appropriate, create an online, digital portfolio. The more you can show what you are capable of, the better. Similarly, assess your social media presence for alignment with the professional image you wish to project.
Global giant Amazon recently hosted a virtual Career Day, filled with sessions on successfully landing a job (remote and traditional) at the company. You can view all the content here.
Remote Job Boards
If there is a specific company you’re interested in working for, visit Virtual Vocation’s Database of Remote-Enabled Companies to find out if they are hiring remote workers.
If you’re interested in a job, but unsure of what company you want to work for, below are a few sites focused exclusively on remote jobs. Some remote work experts recommend avoiding traditional job search sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Monster, in your search for remote jobs.
FlexJobs screens their jobs before posting, so you don’t have to dig through any less-than-reputable opportunities. The site currently hosts more than 20,000 work-at-home and digital nomad job postings.
This job board is a catch-all of remote, work from home jobs from customer service, to web design, to programming.
These listings include customer service positions, design opportunities, developer jobs, recruiter and HR roles, sales jobs, and other remote work (including writers, managers, and marketers).
PowerToFly focuses on matching women in tech with remote and work-from-home jobs.
This site is especially targeted at web developers, designers, and marketers.
AngelList is dedicated to the startup ecosystem. Their site allows you to apply privately to 130,000+ tech and startup jobs with one application, and to see salary and equity upfront.
Hubstaff connects employers around the globe with remote job seekers.
Pangian curates verified remote jobs at reputable companies and offers access to a worldwide community of remote workers, job seekers, and employers.
Jobspresso focuses on job postings in tech, marketing, and customer support.
Elizabeth Walker
As the Policy and Research Project Manager, Elizabeth Walker provides leadership on initiatives and policies, project management, research analysis and administration for initiatives that advance BRAC’s annual policy agenda.