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Finding
Home-Based
Jobs and Freelance Projects on Craigslist
By Christine Durst and
Michael Haaren
There are many resources online for finding home-based jobs
and freelance projects, and Craigslist carries
numerous leads. However, jobseekers often avoid it because they aren't
sure how
to use it. Here are some easy-to-use tips on how to find home-based job
leads
and freelance projects quickly using Craigslist.
Searching Craigslist
Directly
Before you start searching for jobs on Craigslist, have a
look around the site generally. One of the first things you'll notice
is that
content is separated geographically, so you'll need to select a region
to get
started. (The list of cities, states, provinces, and countries is on
the
right-hand side of the page.)
Once you've picked your geographical area, move to the left
column and you'll see a drop-down menu under "search craigslist."
Select "jobs," then click on the button to the right. You should now
have a list of jobs for the location you selected.
To drill down and isolate the "telecommuting"
posts, move to the rectangular options bar at the top of the page, and
check
the box immediately to the left of the word "telecommute." Now, click
the "search" button.
At this point you'll have a list of job leads in which the
poster has indicated that "telecommuting is OK." (You'll find this
phrase by clicking on one of the ads and scrolling down to the bottom
of the
page. In the lower left corner is a list of particulars about the job
and,
among them, you should see "telecommuting is OK.")
As you search Craigslist directly, remember to look in a
number of geographical areas, particularly the larger cities. Many
telecommuting positions have no geographical restrictions, and you may
apply
for them wherever you live.
Using Google to
Search Craigslist
Since Google regularly scans and catalogues posts made to
Craigslist, you can use it to accelerate your search for telecommuting
jobs.
As an example, to find all of the "OK for telecommuting"
job ads posted to Craigslist in 2007, simply go to Google and enter ["telecommuting is OK"
site:craigslist.org 2007] (without the brackets) in the search field.
Be sure
to enter this phrase exactly, including the quotation marks.
Similarly, to find telecommuting jobs that were posted on a
specific day, change the search phrase to include the date. For
example, the
query ["telecommuting is OK" site:craigslist.org 2007-02-16] (without
the brackets) will retrieve only
those telecommuting job leads posted on February 16, 2007.
Using Crazedlist to
Search Craigslist
Another way to accelerate your Craigslist search is by using Crazedlist.
(Their slogan is "Search
craigslist like a madman.")
Simply start at the Crazedlist home page, and check off all
of the geographical areas you'd like to search. Alternatively, you can
use the
drop-down menu located just above "Alaska,"
and select "ALL."
Next, in the "search for" field, enter
"telecommuting" (without the quotes).
From the drop-down menu marked "select category,"
choose "jobs." This should open a few more search options in the form
of check boxes to the right of the fields you've been using. Check the
box
immediately to the left of the word "telecommute," and click on the
search button.
Voila! You are searching Craigslist "like a
madman," and should retrieve hundreds (or thousands, depending on the
geographic scope of your search) of job postings, sorted by location.
But Don’t Forget the
Due Diligence
As effective as these tools are, however, remember that job
leads at Craigslist are not screened, and you'll need to do your own
"due
diligence" to separate the wheat from the chaff. (We'll cover how to
spot
scams in home-based job ads in a separate article soon, so stay tuned!)
On the positive side, more and more companies are offering
telecommuting arrangements and hiring workers directly from home, so
your
chances of finding something that fits your needs are better now than
ever, and
we expect this trend to continue for quite some time.
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- Gordon F. Shea and Adolf
Haasen 
Freebies & Cheapies!