VirtualVocations.com and Finding Work Leads

I ran across Virtual Vocations today. It’s another resource you might find handy while you’re looking for legitimate work at home jobs so I thought I’d see for myself and share what they have to offer.

VirtualVocations has been online for nearly 2 years now (Feb of 2007) and is touting a total of X job listings. Here’s their background:

VirtualVocations is owned by two siblings, one that handles all of the programming and technical support, the other, a stay-at-home mom, provides the customer service, resume’ services and daily job updates. The site was started because of the need we saw for a compilation of diverse telecommuting positions for all areas of employment, found in one area. We also recognized that most of the major job sites on the Internet have been overrun by scammers, making it difficult to distinguish what positions are legitimate. Our desire was to create a site that would be able to offer all kinds of legitimate virtual positions to those who are interested in working from home.

We also wanted to provide a site that offered specifically hourly paid positions or per project pay, along with salary. In other words, we wanted to make sure you would be applying for positions that will pay you for your time, not start-your-own business information, or commission based employment.

They don’t allow employers to post their own jobs in an effort to eliminate all of the “ad-typing” and “start your own business” types of job postings. They compile their listings themselves from scouring the major job boards, blogs, and other online resources, though they also accept email submissions from employers looking to hire telecommuters.

Is it FREE?
Technically, yes, it’s free to register and receive email updates that include their newest job listings. Free membership also gives you unlimited access to the forum as well as a periodic newsletter full of helpful resources and tips on working at home.

However, your free membership doesn’t give you the means to apply for any jobs you see. when you click on the “Apply” button you’re taken to their Services page, which includes testimonials and subscription rates.

While I hate when job sites tell me that membership is free when it’s really not, since the key information is being withheld, I’m not disappointed by Virtual Vocations and think they offer a pretty decent deal. You can view all of the job information to see if you’re even interested in something that’s there before you subscribe. And, the subscription rates aren’t too bad. You can spend $6.99 for a week’s subscription (go ahead and apply for everything you may have found on your recent visit) – or you can subscribe and test the perks of the paid subscription for a month for $15.99.

They also offer a personalized resume’ creation for $29.99 which seems like a fairly reasonable fee for resume’ help if you’re struggling with that.

Beyond that – let me also show you how looking at the listings they compile here can help you in your search for solid work at home leads.

When you look at job listings where the application information is not given, you can often find the source of the job opening on your own. This is true for Virtual Vocations as well as any other job listings you may find around the ‘Net.

For example, here’s a job postings for an Offsite Customer Service Representative. Notice that most of the pertinent information is there. You can see what the job entails, what compensation is being offered, etc–everything you really need to know if this is something you’d be interested in pursuing. The only thing missing is where to apply.

When you run across listings like this one, make use of another browser window and find the job opening yourself. In this case, under compensation, you see that it notes Voice Applied Customer Service is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer, Drug Free Work Place. Search for Voice Applied Customer Service and voila, you’ll find their Career Opportunities are listed and can apply that way. That’s not to say there isn’t a different application method being offered via specific job posting sites, but it’s definitely better than not subscribing and doing nothing.

There are several jobs on Virtual Vocations and other subscription-based job posting sites that don’t give you enough information about the listing to go after it yourself, but there are also several that do. The beauty is, if you sign up for a free account on Virtual Vocations you can still search through their listings, do your own research on postings that look interesting or promising, and decide whether to pay a subscription price based on what you actually see.

5 comments

  1. I’m curious if you actually subscribed to the pay service. Are the job leads that you can’t figure out on your own actually worth paying for? Are they just a collection of job leads found elsewhere?

    And on the weekly subscription, can you subscribe for a single week? Or do you have to subscribe on an ongoing basis and then cancel? Probably, that’s the case, and so I worry about the difficulty in canceling.

    I’d be curious for more information.

    Laureen

    Laureen Miles Brunelli
    About.com Guide to Work-at-Home Moms

    http://workathomemoms.about.com/
    About.com is part of the New York Times Company.

  2. Laureen – No, I didn’t subscribe. You can view their listings (all but the link to apply) without subscribing which is a nice way to determine if you’d want to subscribe or not. But the point of my post is that you can often do a little research on your own, no matter where you first see the lead, and discover the application process without using any subscription service.

    The jobs they post on Virtual Vocations are a combination of what they find from scouring the major job boards, blogs, and other online resources along with job listings they accept via email submissions from employers looking to hire telecommuters.

    Because they don’t let employers directly enter job postings to their site, and because an employer must email the ladies directly, I’d expect the job postings they list on their own there to be far less inundated with “junk” postings. Still, you can look at the postings before you determine if you’d like to pay a subscription to view the application details for any specific job you might see there.

    And yes, it looks like you can subscribe for a single week if you like. See their Services Page for subscription rates. But I’ve never subscribed, so can’t speak to how well the cancellation goes. It would be best if the charge were made once in return for one week of access. Their subscription Terms of Service only speak directly to monthly subscriptions:

    Users agree when entering into a subscription through our website that they will be responsible for the payment of their subscription fee each month on the date it is due. Users will also be responsible for the cancellation of their subscription before the due date to avoid further charges. Cancellation must be completed through their PayPal account. VirtualVocations does not offer refunds for late subscription cancellations. VirtualVocations does not accept subscription cancellations through general email. VirtualVocations is not responsible for charges received in users’ bank accounts that result from insufficient funds due to subscription charges that were charged on the correct due date.

    If I were looking for a job, I’d stick to the method of finding appropriate listings and doing the research myself to find the application process for the listing elsewhere. If I found a really, really good job posting there that I wasn’t able to find more detail about on my own, I’d definitely give them a call before I subscribed since they’ve got a number listed on their Contact page. (1-866-745-1265)

  3. I registered at Vitual Vocations about 2 months ago and have yet to pay the cost needed to apply for the jobs. I receive the weekly email of job listings on the site and have seem some really interesting and great paying jobs. I am still a little on the fence about paying for being able to apply for the jobs. I am currently registered with oDesk and Freelancers which is free for contractors to apply for jobs. I may decide to eventually pay the $15.99 and apply for a few jobs and see how it goes.
    .-= Danielle´s last blog ..Affiliate Marketing =-.

  4. I am eagerly and thirstily searched and find a part time job. but they do asking some money to deposit before they let me to start. I too ready to pay, but may I trust this, any body please advice me, I would be feel greatful for your words. thanks in advance.

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