FlexJobs, is it worth the $$.$$?
VirtForce wanted to know if FlexJobs was worth the monthly membership fee to get access to flexible remote work!
Since so many VirtForce members were asking, we decided to take a deeper look. We gave two Brand Ambassadors FlexJobs memberships and asked for objective reviews. Here’s what we liked and didn’t like.
What we liked about FlexJobs
- FlexJobs has a completely automated onboarding system ready to guide you through setting up your profile and explaining why it is important.
- You get to select your top three areas of interest and you are fed jobs from those categories in your personal dashboard every day. Within a week of having a membership, I had 48 job leads.
- We also thought it was cool that FlexJobs displays partial remote and 100% remote jobs and they appear in your dashboard color coordinated.
- FlexJobs lists jobs from different countries so if you’re OCONUS, it can be a great value to you. The variety of career fields is extensive and includes Health Care opportunities!
- The user has the ability to create multiple profiles (resumes) for different arenas of their experience AND you can mark them as searchable by employers.
- There are 26 skills tests available for the user to take, and if the user passes, they are listed on their profile for them.
- Tons of articles and information on a multitude of job search and application topics (some are totally free).
- There is a military discount on the membership price.
What we didn’t like about FlexJobs
- You’ve got to put a lot of work into building out your profile if you want to attract employers there.
- We think the site may try to cast an image that it is the final destination for virtual job seekers, but you’re better off using it as an extra tool.
- As with many job postings, just because the job is posted on the website, does not mean the company is actively hiring for that position. So it may be more of a research tool for you than an active job sourcing mechanism.
- On your dashboard, you can’t filter and sort the new jobs by interest category, instead they are listed in chronological order that they were sent to you.
- The skills tests show skills that you score a 70% or higher on and we aren’t sure we would want anything lower than 90% showing. It may convey you’re skilled in areas you’re not quite comfortable with.
Our Final Thoughts
- Don’t expect FlexJobs to do all the heavy lifting for you.
- You have to be ready and willing to take a hard look at yourself, your job hunt plan, and what you want to get the most out of this tool.
- FlexJobs is a great resource to add to your job search plan. Understand that FlexJobs is not the only thing you should be using to locate and apply to remote work. Consider it an augmentation to your job hunt plan.
- Remain consistent in your strategy.
- Regardless of what your job hunt strategy is, and whether or not you choose to incorporate the FlexJobs resource, we encourage you to remain consistent.
Article By: Phyllis Vance