What do the Remote Job Opportunity Prospects Look Like Currently?

All day every day, I receive emails, DMs, and texts...Hey Steve I want to work for Verizon, but it has to be remote ??...Have you really thought that requirement through?

I know there are advocates on SM that push the remote narrative and I am not against it either, but if you logically look at actual data, only 28% of roles advertised nationally and only 13.2% of postings?advertised on LinkedIn are remote and often in very specific career fields as reported in the Wall Street Journal and Yahoo News. The lion's share of job openings are Hybrid and Onsite.

Statistically, If we look at just transitioning military alone, roughly 200K people get out of the service every year you have to compete with before we even bring external and internal civilian talent competition into the equation. If we simplify it, that is 50K competitors a quarter that oftentimes is also gunning for many of the same types of positions...like program and project management.

Just because you know someone that got remote, does not mean you will. Maybe they had just the right relevant experience, education, and networking and used it to their advantage as well as being a stellar interviewee.

For transitioning servicemembers, these companies do not have a hard time finding applicants out in the civilian populace, especially the good companies. If all you are targeting is remote, you may want to rethink and make yourself marketable to 100% of roles posted instead of just 28%.

While I can agree that working from home has its positives, it also has negatives too. Let me lend this perspective...Remember those folks that worked at HQ that ALWAYS won awards because they worked in the same building, office, and floor as the commander and other senior leaders and every little thing they did was visible all the time? These awards often gave them an upswing for promotions.

I know in military recruiting this happens a lot because we are all geographically separated and leadership sees us like once a quarter vs the HQ staff. It is a similar concept in the corporate world. Some companies do a better job than others with staying engaged with remote employees, but you will still not have the same level of interactions, training, and relationship-building remote as you would if you came into the office and had face-to-face conversations once or twice a week with those same people.

If you are looking for serious career growth moving forward, it may be to your benefit to take a hybrid role and get that extra face-to-face time for mentorship, engagement, and networking.

The more flexible you are, the more marketable post-transition you may be.