Many job seekers and career advisors use Monster.com, but aren’t sure how to find work-at-home jobs. Here’s a brief guide.

 

Start a Profile

First, take advantage of Monster’s new profile tool. By completing a simple but comprehensive profile, you lay the groundwork for results tailored to your background and objectives. When you’re finished, the Monster home page and other pages will contain information specific to your needs.

 

Now, when you click on the “jobs” link, you’ll see a customized page that lists your recommended jobs, tracks your applications, saves job leads for you, and archives the searches you’ve saved.

 

Choose the Right Search Terms

Before you begin your search, take a moment to think about the best search phrases to find your preferred jobs. As a first step, put yourself in the shoes of a human resources specialist, and consider how he or she would describe the job you seek.

 

For home-based jobs, the phrase "work from home" would normally be a poor search term due to its frequent use in scams. (For a list of “good” search terms, click here.) However, Monster’s advanced features let users search in targeted occupations, which increases the likelihood that the phrase will turn up relevant leads. (To illustrate, we’ll use it in our test search below.)  

 

As you assess your own search results, be sure to use common sense. Look twice at promises of high pay for short hours or simple tasks, or leads that don’t explain up front what you’ll be doing. The latter are often sales positions, which may be fine if that’s what you’re looking for, but if not, you’ll waste your time and perhaps money as well. (For more pointers on spotting dubious leads or scams, click here.)

 

Conducting your search

At the top of the Monster job search page, you’ll see two search fields, one for “keywords” and the other for “location.” This is where you’ll begin your job search.

 

1. Start by entering one of your “best” search phrases in the “keyword” field. As mentioned, we’ll enter the phrase work from home for our test search. (No need for quotation marks -- we’ll use the “exact phrase” option, as we explain in step 4.)

 

2. Leave the “location” field blank. Why? Because one of the many benefits of virtual or offsite jobs is that employers may be located almost anywhere.

 

3. Click on the “More Search Options” button (below the orange “Search” button), and new search options will appear.

 

4. Check the box labeled “This exact phrase.” This eliminates the need to place quotes around your phrase, as it directs the search engine to search for this phrase only rather than the words individually.

 

5. You can also use the other advanced search options to search for leads by company, industry, occupation, or job type. For our test search, we used the “occupation” option, selected “Customer Service / Client Care,” and checked “Call Center.” (Many companies hire home-based customer service agents.)

 

6. Click “Search.”

 

In our test search, Monster scours its database looking for those “call center” job leads that contain the exact phrase “work from home.” (Our search yields 34 leads, many of them clearly worthwhile.)

 

Experiment with Monster’s search tools to see what works best for you. Try a variety of search phrases, and add or subtract search options to refine your search.

 

When you find a search that works well, click the “Save search” button in the right column to (1) save it to the site for future visits, and (2) set up an email alert to have similar leads sent directly to your inbox.

 

If you combine these search tools with a solid resume and diligent networking, you’ll optimize your job hunt and work from home in a much shorter time.