More money today is spent on college educations than your first home. Retirement savings are deferred so kids can go to the best college. But are recent grads prepared to find a job?

 

“Many of today’s new college graduates have never set foot in their school’s career guidance office or held an internship, nor do they know how to find employment,” says Ford R. Myers, award-winning career coach, speaker, author of several career advice books and president of Career Potential, LLC. He provides guidance about finding a job in today’s employment climate.

 

Myers suggests the following five job-seeking tips for parents of new college graduates:

 

The Most Qualified Job Candidate Does Not Necessarily Get the Job Offer. In today’s difficult job market, strong qualifications and accomplishments are necessary. However, the candidate who will get the job is the one who self-markets and demonstrates to the employer that she is the best fit for the company’s needs, problems and challenges.

 

Research Your Way to Success. Pay attention to local, regional and national sources of business intelligence. Study everything you can about the companies in which you’re most interested. Learn to frame your ideas and value in terms that are relevant to the current business and economic landscape.

 

Networking is More Important than You Think It Is. The best jobs are not obtained through websites or job postings. They are usually acquired through networking. Adopt the discipline of blocking out time on your calendar for networking activities - now and for the duration of your career.

 

An Employer’s Offer is Never Its Best Offer. You might be tempted to take any job offer in a tight economy. Yet employers expect that you've done your salary re - search, and they anticipate having dynamic negotiations with you. In fact, if you don't negotiate, then the employer will likely be disappointed in you as a candidate.

 

Graduating from School is the Beginning of Your Education, Not the End. No company wants to hire someone whose base of knowledge isn’t current. As a professional you should continuously build your credentials and knowledge.

This will make you more attractive and marketable as a candidate.

 

“Competition for top jobs is fiercer than ever as new college graduates compete with seasoned professionals for the best positions,” adds Myers. “It is important for these ‘up-and-comers’ to have 20/20 vision when it comes to seeing the truths about obtaining employment.”

 

For the third consecutive year, FlexJobs, a virtual company itself, has analyzed hundreds of companies to find those that operate with fully or heavily distributed workforces.

 

These 125 virtual companies allow all, or mostly all, of their team members to telecommute 100 percent of the time, with computer/IT, HR/ recruiting and education the most represented industries on the list. Virtual companies operate across many industries, though, such as accounting, health, law, marketing, nonprofit, news/media, sports, travel and others.

 

When, where and how people are working has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. Telecom muting has grown 103 percent during the last decade in the U.S. and estimates project that 50 percent of people will work remotely by 2020. While many companies have begun to integrate remote work options into their traditional on-site work environment, there is a growing trend of companies that fully embrace remote work as an integral part of their business models.

 

“Being able to choose where and when we work empowers us to be more productive, more engaged and more balanced in every aspect of our lives,” says Adam Schwartz, founder and CEO of Articulate, an e-learning software company that made the list.

 

“After 14 years as a fully remote company, we’re convinced a distributed environment isn’t just good for our employees. It’s also one of the key reasons we’ve been so successful as a company,” Schwartz concluded.

 

FlexJobs listed 26 virtual companies in 2014 and then 76 virtual companies in 2015. That list is now up to 125 virtual companies this year. This indicates more businesses are turning to remote work as a sustainable and legitimate workplace model. The diversity of companies represented also demonstrates the remote work model can be applied regardless of company size and/or industry.

 

For example, Greenback Expat Tax Services provides virtual tax services, Aha! is a product roadmapping software, LoveToKnow is an online media company, Collage.com provides software tools to make custom art pieces, Tropical Travelers provides travel concierge services, TeamSnap is the number one resource for sports team management and GitHub is the world’s largest code host. All are on this year’s list.

 

“The bottom line is that a virtual company can be just as viable, professional and successful as a traditional on-site company, and even more so,” says Sara Sutton Fell, FlexJobs founder and CEO. “Working outside the confines of the traditional brick-and-mortar environment can open doors to re-evaluate the fundamental ways work is viewed and done. In FlexJobs’ own virtual environment, we have built new and useful processes, learned how to collaborate creatively with each other, and grown a healthy, vibrant company culture, not in spite of our lack of headquarters, but largely because of it.”

 

A wide variety of professional roles can be performed remotely. A sample of positions these virtual companies are currently hiring include email marketing channel and campaign manager, vice president of finance, iOS developer, public relations professional, campaign director, director of business development, community support specialist and more.

 

Additional facts supporting the growing popularity of telecommuting include:

 

• Telecommuting grew 6.5 percent in 2014 alone, the largest year-over-year increase since before the recession.

 

• Half of American employees hold a job that is compatible with telework.

 

• More than two-thirds of employers report increased productivity among their telecommuters.

 

• In 2015 FlexJobs experienced a 36 percent increase in remote jobs posted.

 

To see the full list of the 125 companies, please visit https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/virtual-companies-that-embrace-remote-working/.