5 Reasons to Offer Remote Jobs to College Students

By Elise Nelson on August 20, 2017

Being able to work from home is a dream for many Americans. In recent years, the dream has become a reality. Remote jobs are developing all over the world, allowing employees to conduct business from the comfort of their couch.

These positions aren’t for everyone — remote workers need to be organized, patient, communicative, and manage time well. The best candidates are the ones who need flexibility in their work schedules. If you’d like to start hiring remote employees for your business, seek out students as your applicants. Here’s why.

1. Your company will find a bigger talent pool — in both employees and clientele

When you work in an office, there’s always a chance that the best employees are just out of your reach. Why should your company’s talent be limited by geographical boundaries?

The best part about a remote position is that you can find talent anywhere. Your headquarters might be in New York City, but you’ve got the best accounting intern in the country crunching numbers for you from their living room in Los Angeles.

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According to a guest author at FlexJobs, remote jobs can help a company reach its full potential.

“If you hire right, you get to work with people who are both skilled and passionate about making remote work successful,” they said.

Remote positions can also prove to be useful in communicating with clients from other states, especially if they’re in another time zone. It’s more convenient for both you and your clients if they can speak to someone in their own state rather than across the country. Plus, your remote representative will be able to find you more clients in their area this way.

2. Students can work around their class schedule

There’s not enough time in the day — especially not for a 9-5 job combined with full-time college courses.

While students are studying for their career, they should be able to apply their knowledge to real-life job experience. Unfortunately, classes come first, so “big” job opportunities need to wait until school breaks.

If you offer remote positions, students can work around their classes. It might not seem like they’re getting as many hours as they would in a typical 9-5 office setting, but think about it being broken into shifts. If they work in the morning, between classes, and in the evening, they’re going to end up putting more time in than someone in a day job.

Image via Pixabay.com

“By hiring remotely, you’re offering a viable option to these candidates who may have all the right skills but for whom a traditional office-based job isn’t viable,” according to FlexJobs.

3. Less stress + less distractions = more efficiency

Studies have shown that, when companies offer flexible positions, they’ll see an increase in overall productivity. One reason for this is a lack of usual office distractions such as ringing phones or chatty coworkers. Concentration is easily lost, and it’s hard to find again when you can’t leave the office.

“In statistics compiled by Global Workplace Analytics, JD Edwards teleworkers were shown to be 20-25 percent more productive than their office colleagues,” said a Work Flexibility blogger.

A remote position allows employees to work in whatever environment they need to be productive, whether it’s in a library or a crowded café. Having this control over your work life can lead to a decrease in stress and better health.

“People who work from home have an easier time eating healthy and striking a manageable work-life balance. Eating healthier and having more time to spend with your family can help you feel less stressed, which will make for a happier, more productive workday,” said Sarah White of Monster Jobs.

Image via Pixabay.com

4. Today’s students are more technologically savvy

Remote work primarily requires time management skills. However, your employees won’t really get far if they don’t know their way around a computer, so that’s an essential skill as well. Who can work technology better than the students who grew up with it?

A study conducted by the Pew Research Center shows that:

“When it comes to general internet access, young adults of all stripes are much more likely than the general population to go online. Fully 92 percent of 18-24 year-olds who do not attend college are internet users, comparable to the rate for community college students and just slightly lower than the rate for undergraduate and graduate students (nearly 100 percent of whom access the internet).”

Emails, spreadsheets, calendars, and online orders are going to keep your remote employees pretty much glued to their laptops. This is why college students are such viable assets in remote positions — they’re already spending most of their time on laptops anyway.

5. Remote jobs are becoming more popular

The world’s future is digital, which makes remote online-based positions easier to obtain each year. FlexJobs offers an annually updated list of over 100 large businesses hiring remote employees, including Dell, Amazon, Xerox, and CVS Health. Your company can keep up with the competition by following in their footsteps.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics observed that “the percentage of workers doing all or some of their work at home increased from 19 percent in 2003 to 24 percent in 2015.”

Image via Pixabay.com

“Industries that are most likely to offer remote work include the computer and information technology fields, medical and health, and government and finance. Customer service, education, and training and sales also feature a number of telecommuting jobs,” according to Forbes.

Will your company be on the list next year?

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