If there's one benefit employees seem to be clamoring for these days, it's a flexible work arrangement. Flexible work arrangements can run the gamut from telecommuting options to condensed workweeks, and they help employees achieve the ever-elusive goal of striking a reasonable work-life balance.
If you're hoping for a flexible job, you should know that there are certain professions that lend to more leeway. Flexjobs recently compiled a list of the most flexible job categories out there, and here's what they came up with.
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1. Editing
Editing is the sort of job you can easily do remotely, especially since it's generally non-collaborative in nature. In fact, editing is one of those jobs that's often easier to do from home, as opposed to a noisy, bustling office environment.
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2. Writing
Like editing, writing is typically a solo gig, which means it's easy to do outside an office setting. All you really need is a computer and an internet connection, and you're good to go.
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3. Data entry
Data entry is another job that's simple to pull off from a remote location. Best of all, you don't need a host of qualifications to do it. If you're an entry-level worker looking to get your foot in the door, data entry could be the key.
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4. Advertising and public relations
Advertising and PR folks often spend a lot of time talking with or visiting clients. So they're often allowed to do their creative work at home.
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5. Event planning
Event planners need to be extremely detail-oriented and organized. But if that sounds like you, event planning might offer not just a career opportunity but one that you can engage in on your own terms.
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6. Journalism
In some regards, journalism is actually the opposite of flexible, because when there's a breaking story or a lead to pursue, you'll have to drop what you're doing and go after it. On the other hand, the actual writing component can often be done from home or a non-office location.
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7. E-commerce
E-commerce professionals manage everything from websites to sales platforms to ad campaigns. There's also a strategic component in there that keeps the job interesting. And because you're dealing with goods or services being sold online, as opposed to in a store, you can do much of your work from the comfort of home.
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8. Account management
Like advertising and PR professionals, account managers tend to spend a chunk of their time talking to clients and traveling to visit them. But in between client meetings, a lot of that work can be done from home.
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9. Computers and IT
Information technology jobs can't always be performed remotely, especially if you're tasked with managing physical equipment. But if you're a software developer or database manager, and all you really need is the right equipment and an internet connection, then it's the sort of job you can easily pull off from home.
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10. Accounting and finance
On the one hand, you'd think accounting and finance would be the last category you'd see on a flexible jobs roundup. But actually, this field is growing increasingly adaptable to remote work. Financial analysts, for example, are often tasked with creating models and mapping out projections -- things that can be done from any old computer with spreadsheet capabilities. Similarly, there's a host of accounting software that lets number crunchers do their work remotely.
Though not every employee who works in the above fields gets to do so remotely or on a custom schedule, if there's one thing they have in common, it's the possibility for that sort of arrangement. And while you shouldn't choose a career based on whether you can work from home or set your own hours, there is something to be said for gravitating toward a notably flexible industry.
