Find Work-Life Balance with Flexible Jobs: Interview with Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of FlexJobs

In the attempt to create work life balance, more and more people are looking for jobs with the option to work from home.  Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of FlexJobs experienced that issue herself before she decided to do something and help others encountering this problem.  Today we interviewed Sara Sutton Fell to see how she is helping people find job opportunities that offer flexibility.

1. To start, tell us a little of your background and what lead you to create FlexJobs.

Well, I started out by co-founding my first company, JobDirect, as a 21-year-old junior in college. JobDirect was a job search website geared towards entry-level jobs and we were able to grow our team to 100 people in four years before selling to Korn|Ferry International in 2000. It was an amazing, challenging and hugely rewarding experience, and I realized how much I enjoyed helping to create an idea in which I truly believed. Which leads me to FlexJobs…

In 2007 I was pregnant with my first child and searching for a job that would provide a flexible schedule and the ability to work from home but still allow me to pursue my career. I was overwhelmed at the number of scams in the work from home job niche and this experience gave me the idea for FlexJobs, a place where job seekers could find pre-screened, legitimate, and professional-level telecommuting jobs that offer work-life balance. I knew these types of jobs existed and thought that other job seekers would appreciate being able to find them in one place, with no scams or junk mixed in.

Largely in part of my previous experience in the online employment industry, and as an entrepreneur, starting a company to help solve this job search problem seemed to be within my reach.  I’m thrilled to say that five years later and FlexJobs is the leading job service of its kind!

2. What kinds of job seekers does FlexJobs cater to?  Who are your most predominant users?

Really, FlexJobs caters to any job seeker who wants flexible work options in their career;  some of the most common reasons are work-life balance, reduced commutes, economic and/or environmental reasons, among many others.  People who want jobs that offer flexible schedules, part-time schedules, freelance contracts, and telecommuting options are the ones coming to FlexJobs. Specifically, we often see working moms (and dads!), people who live in rural areas or economically depressed areas, retirees, military spouses, people with health issues, and people looking for supplementary income.  Our job-seekers really come from all different walks of life though, and people want work flexibility for all kinds of reasons.

3. Telecommuting and having a flexible schedule seem like a dream for many people, but it can be a big transition from a traditional office environment. What are some of the challenges you faced in transitioning to a flexible work arrangement? What advice would you give to someone looking to make this change?

Absolutely – some of the biggest challenges I found myself grappling with included time management, creating a clear line between work and home, not staying too isolated, and communicating with my team. Luckily, technology makes it incredibly easy to deal with most of these challenges. To set boundaries between my work life and home life, I actually created a home office above my garage so that I “go to work” every day. And when I leave the office at the end of the day, I really do leave the office. I would recommend that people who work from home set up an office that is away from the busy parts of the house – a spare bedroom, for example.

Communicating with coworkers just means setting up a variety of ways to chat, meet, and talk – message boards, instant messenger, email, phone, Skype, the possibilities are endless! And to get your people fix, try working from a coffee shop or library every once and a while, or scheduling lunch with a friend or coworker (if you live in the same area) regularly. Or, if you have a flexible schedule, schedule an activity in the middle of the day that gets you up, out of the office, and interacting with other people like a gym class or volunteering.

4. Many of our readers are struggling with long term unemployment and having difficulty finding work near where they live. How could they use FlexJobs to improve their career prospects?

With so many pockets of the country dealing with poor employment prospects, FlexJobs is able to offer job seekers a way to find employment that isn’t being offered in their geographic area. For example, we had one job seeker who didn’t want to leave her small town in Idaho, but couldn’t find work. Through FlexJobs, she was able to find work with a company based in Florida. (http://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/found-a-job-telecommuting-from-small-town/)

Telecommuting opens up economic opportunity for sure. In our job search section, job seekers can narrow their search results by state, region, or country. They can also select “US National Jobs” which can be done from anywhere in the US, or “Anywhere Jobs” which can be done from anywhere around the world. These are the easiest ways to locate employers who are willing to hire people outside of their physical location, and they can certainly help people who are unemployed and living in a place still reeling from the recession.