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Has your diagnosis of MS interfered with your ability to work? Do you have MS and feel that you can still be productive for a company, but would prefer to not to leave the house? The good news is that remote, work-from-home, positions are becoming more and more available. In this article, we will explore different options for working from home and also discuss how to set up a home office.

What kind of work from home jobs are available?

For most work-from-home jobs, you’ll need a computer, Internet access, and some general computer skills. Computer skills include familiarity with Microsoft office products like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Many work-from-home positions will require you to log onto a secure, remote site to access email. Don’t worry about tech support or setting up your email with work-from-home positions, companies that offer these positions also offer remote support. 

The most common jobs that are work-from-home include customer and tech support, call center, transcriptionist, survey taker, writer, editor, translator, and phone sales. There are also other telehealth opportunities for people with a nursing background. 

Where to find work from home jobs online

Top employers like UnitedHealth, Dell, ADP, and American Express are just some of companies that are turning to remote workers. There are also many opportunities to use your experience as an MS patient in remote healthcare-related positions. But how can you find these work-from-home opportunities? Here are some resources that can help:

1. Flexjobs.com is the leading job-search site specializing in professional telecommuting: part-time, freelance, and flexible jobs. Flexjobs also publishes a list of the Top 20 companies that offer work-from-home opportunities.
a. Tip – Other job search engines, like Indeed.com, have a work-from-home opportunity search, but you must put “work from home” in the “Where” section of the search criteria. Here is an example: https://www.indeed.com/l-Work-at-Home-jobs.html

2. WEGO Health Experts is the first digital matching platform that connects healthcare organizations with patient experts on demand, which would allow you to use your MS experience to help make a difference in healthcare. 

3. Baha Enterprises is a great way to be compensated for your thoughts on healthcare technology that matters to you. This is a great way to provide feedback to healthcare vendors and health systems based on your MS experience and be compensated for it. 

How to Stand Out from Other Resumes Online

There is a lot of competition for work-from-home positions. To make yourself stand out from the rest, here are some tips:

1. Make sure you have a current LinkedIn profile with a high-resolution, professional photo. LinkedIn is the social network for professionals. Make sure you follow companies that you are interested in working for.

2. Have your resume evaluated by a professional. There are resume services that help you organize your experience, education, skills, achievements, and accomplishments into powerful resume content that clearly demonstrates your value to a company. This will help you secure more interviews to get your dream job.

3. When applying to jobs online make sure that you write a cover letter. HR professionals receive thousands of applications and often use computer programs to sort these applications by key words. Cover letters should include key words from the job description so that way the computer algorithm will more easily find you.

Setting up your home office

If you are going to work from home, it is critical to set up office space like what you would expect in a traditional office.

1. Get a comfortable, yet supportive business chair. Wireless technology allows us to work from our couch, recliner, or even, bed but working long hours from these positions can lead to bad work habits and posture.

2. Avoid home distractions. When you are on the clock, do not watch TV, take personal calls, surf social media or play Sudoku or Words with Friends. Your employer will likely have some kind of productivity metric to evaluate you and distractions can take you away from your productive time. Your productivity is the key to ongoing employment.

3. Stay disciplined. Many people can be productive working from home in short spurts, but it requires discipline to work-from-home consistently. Once you get an at-home work routine, stick to it. If you start to fall out of that discipline, then your work will slip.