If you are looking for remote work so that you can work from wherever you want, and possibly whenever you want to as well, then you may have come across the FlexJobs website, which claims to provide the best flexible remote jobs around.
Sounds like a no-brainer to sign up then, right?
Well, the deterring factor, and probably one of the reasons you are looking for more information and wondering if this might be a scam, is because a membership here is not free--and of course you have to be careful with online job sites since there are so many scams online.
So anyways... is FlexJobs a scam? What do they have to offer? Will they really provide you with the best job opportunities? Is it worth the money?
Let's find out in this review...
What Is FlexJobs?
FlexJobs is an online job board whose focus is on helping people find flexible jobs, often remote positions.
What makes this job board different from many of the others out there is that it is specifically focused on flexible type jobs and all of their jobs are vetted by real people--so you won't encounter those opportunities that sound too good to be true.
*What they consider 'flexible' might not be what you consider flexible. I'll go over some of the varying job opportunities they list.
The site was started way back in 2007 by Sara Sutton--who at the time was an entrepreneur who helped co-found another entry-level employment service. After noticing that there was no good way for people to find flexible work, and that many flexible job opportunities were scams, she decided to create FlexJobs. In addition to helping people find flexible work with this site, Sara also founded another site called Remote.co that helps companies see the opportunity that offering flexible remote work positions offers.
Since it's founding it has made quite a presence in the online world, and has even been noticed by Forbes, The Washington Post, CNN and other big media outlets.
Overall the platform is great for those seeking flexible work and could be well worth the price of a membership (emphasis on 'could'--it depends on what you are looking for).
As I'm writing this they have close to 30k job listings for 'flexible' jobs, over 5k companies hiring, 50+ job categories, and their staff spends well over 100 hours each day (total) researching new job opportunities.
Now of course these statistics will fluctuate, but the point is that they are doing a lot. As you will see in this review, they provide more than just a job search tool and hand picked job postings--they also help job-seekers land positions by providing other help.
But You Have to Pay for a Membership--Is FlexJobs a Scam?
If you are the type of person that thinks it might be a scam just because you are required to pay for a membership--I understand where you are coming from but let me take a minute to explain why it costs money.
All of the job boards out there make money in one way or another, even the free ones. Many of the free job boards are making money through paid advertisements for job opportunities, meaning that they could feature a lousy job opportunity just because someone is paying them to do so. Additionally, many of the free job boards don't have people vetting their postings, and this often leads to a bunch of scammy opportunities.
FlexJobs doesn't allow jobs to be advertised on their platform and they vet every single listing--and this is why they require payment for their memberships--because they have to make money some way and they aren't making it from ads.
How FlexJobs Works
There are a variety of different ways to search for jobs on the platform and it can be a bit overwhelming at first.
You can search for the newest job postings, you can search for jobs by location, by different categories (over 50 of them), through an advanced search and so on.
And when you search for jobs in any of these areas you can further filter your results.
For example: below I checked out all the new job listings that were posted--but that includes a lot and no one is really going to want to see every single job posted--so what you can do is click on the drop-down menu and filter the results for "only remote jobs", "only part-time jobs", and so on...
Now if you really want to filter the heck out of your results you can use the advanced search feature. This will allow you to narrow in on a job using various filters such as:
- Keywords
- Words you want excluded in your search
- US location or international country
- Job type (Employee, freelance, etc)
- Work schedule (Full-time, part-time, etc)
- Job category
- Remote work level (Fully remote, partially remote, etc.)
- Career level (Entry level, experienced, etc.)
- Whether or not you are willing to travel
- And you can filter only featured and award winning employers if you want to
*Note: If you are in the US you can filter your search more by selecting a state whereas in other countries you can only filter by whole countries--not that it matters that much since most people using this platform are looking for completely remote work.
Types of Jobs You Can Find
Remote jobs are becoming more and more common, so it's becoming easier and easier for people of all backgrounds to find flexible remote positions that fit their experience... or lack of experience.
As mentioned, there are over 50 job categories that you can use to search for specific types of jobs--all of which will bring up flexible jobs that have been curated by the FJ staff.
If you lack experience and education you can always filter your results to show 'entry level' jobs--and if you have experience and education in a certain field and would like to only see jobs that related to this, you can search for such.
Writing jobs, online customer service positions, remote careers in management--you can find it all. There are a lot of specialist jobs on this platform so don't think just because you are looking for something very specific you won't find it--you might and you can still search for jobs without paying for the membership, which might be worth a try.
Applying For Jobs
Not only does this place make it easy to find jobs, but they also work with 1000's of companies that they list jobs for to make the application process easier on you.
When you find a job you would like to apply for there are two ways to apply, and this depends on the company: you either apply right through FJ or you apply directly through the company.
Below each job posting you will either see a button you can click that reads "Apply for This Job", which will allow you to apply through FJ...
..or you will see "To apply or learn more, go to original job post", which will take you to the company website where you can apply for the job...
Other Features
Resume Profile
Of course they give you the ability to create an online resume profile, in which you can also attach work samples.
The purpose of this is to speed up the application process because, as I just went over, many of the jobs listed you can apply to right through FJ.
In addition to this, within your resume profile you will be able to select job categories you are interested in and the system will automatically alert you via email of new positions that are a good match for you.
Career Coaching
Members can also pay extra for things like coaching and resume review where FJ's career coaches will work directly with you.
Coaching - What you would do here is fill out a questionnaire about yourself and what type of job you are looking for--then you will be able to schedule a 30 minute live coaching session with one of their career coaches. The goal of the coaching sessions is to ultimately help you find a job faster, and during a session you might go over things about your resume/cover letter, practice interviews, set up an action plan, etc.
Resume Review - During a coaching session you could talk about your resume and get feedback, but with a full-blown resume review you can get a career coach to spend up to 2 hours optimizing your resume as best they can for your situation.
Membership Savings
As a member you will be able to get discounts and deals on a variety of different products/services that could be useful in your flexible job venture. These discounts range from 10% - 50% off and on the website they show discounts for products with:
- Dell
- Audible
- Sittercity
- Grammarly
- Carbonite
- skillcrush
- QuickBooks and TurboTax
- and even discounts for places like Costco
FlexJobs Membership Cost
As someone without a paid membership you still have access to the platform and can search for jobs, but the information that you will be able to see will be limited.
For example, below you can see much of the details for a job a clicked on, such as it being a full-time employee position, what education level is required, etc., but there isn't enough info to actually be able to apply or move forward if interested.
There is no company information or anything. So pretty much if you are using the platform for free you will be left wanting and needing more--which you can only get if you pay.
The cost to join depends on how long you subscribe...
- 1 year subscription for $49.95
- 3 month subscription for $29.95
- 1 month subscription for $14.95
The year-long subscription is obviously the best price, but it's not really something I'd suggest--since hopefully you will be able to find a job much sooner than in a year's time.
The 1 month subscription is good if you are hesitant to join, since it is the cheapest, but in only 1 month there is a good chance you won't land a job--so the 3 month option might be the way to go--but the choice is yours.
Add-ons
- Resume Review - $109
- Career Coaching - $54
- Resume Review & Career Coaching Bundle - $139
What I Like
Lots of Ways to Search for Jobs - I know the fact that there are quite a few options for searching for jobs may make things a bit more overwhelming, but I think FlexJobs does a good job keeping things simple while still allowing you to do some pretty detailed job searches.
There are plenty of remote jobs out there, finding the right one is the hard part.
Applying Is Easy - Using this platform also makes the application process a good bit easier than if you were to go out and do everything on your own.
Privacy - Privacy is always a concern when dealing with personal information and fortunately this place takes this seriously. You will be able to set your resume profile to "inactive" whenever you want to so that no one can see it. That said, there really isn't much reason to do this since the only people that will be able to see it are companies that have been vetted and are legitimate--but nonetheless you can do this for privacy reasons.
Transparency - FJ is very transparent with who they are and what they do, which is nice to see. On the website you can take a look at the management team and their staff. You can see that they are real people and are not afraid to show their faces, which means a lot since with online scams and lousy programs the owners often hide behind their computer screens.
Satisfaction Guaranteed - It's always nice to see a refund policy that allows you to get your money back if you are not happy. If you aren't satisfied you have 30 days to request a refund (some complaints about this however--which I'll go over).
Membership Savings - What they provide for the price is already enough in my opinion, so the membership savings is a nice little bonus that isn't really expected when you sign up for something like this.
What I Don't Like
Could Use a Filter for Job Requirements - There is no good way on the platform to search for jobs based on education level or experience level.
For example, you can search for 'entry level' jobs in certain categories, but some of these jobs may require that you have a bachelor's degree and experience--and if you have neither then seeing results that require such isn't going to make sense.
So it would be nice if you could filter your search results for jobs that have 'no experience required' and what not.
That said, there is a workaround that I figured out.
What you can do is exclude certain words in the advanced search tool that would exclude certain requirements. For example you can see that I excluded the words "bachelor" and "experience"--so this will exclude all the jobs that say you must have a bachelor's degree and experience...
However there are some problems with this work-around because it will exclude ANY job listings that mention "bachelor" and/or "experience", even if they would say that "you don't need a bachelor's degree" or "no experience required".
That said, I tested it out and got some decent results so it might be worth a try.
Application Processes Can Require a Lot - The companies that FJ posts job listings for get to choose how they want people to apply (as mentioned). Some companies work with FJ to make things easier and allow people to apply directly through the platform while others require you to apply through the company website, and may require a lot.
I guess you could say that this is something "I don't like" but I know it is out of FJ's control and I know that they try to make things easy for us job seekers.
Addressing Scam Concerns
I already mentioned that this place is not a scam and I talked about how they have even been featured in articles by big media outlets like CNN & Forbes, but if you still have some concerns it may be somewhat of a relief to see that they have an A+ rating with the BBB and are accredited, which is as good as it gets (not that what the BBB thinks is always the best opinion though)...
In addition to being accredited and having a very good rating, they also have quite a few positive reviews left from members who are more than happy with the service provided.
For example, this person wrote that they were able to find a job within a month of becoming a member...
And this woman (below) had a similar experience. She claims to have been looking (maybe not all that actively though) for a remote work position for 2 years and finally came across a great match within a month as well--a job match that was in the particular field she was looking for...
And here is another great review that I came across--from someone who was able to find a job that fit perfectly with their education and experience...
... and another claiming to have found the perfect position...
In addition to the loads of good reviews with the BBB, other sites that allow people to easily leave independent reviews, like SiteJabber for example, are filled with positive feedback...
HOWEVER, how can we be so sure that all of these reviews are truthful?
Fake reviews are a big problem, especially when it comes to the online world. It's easy to leave fake positive reviews on many of these sites, or to simply incentivize customers to leave positive reviews. I review different potential scams all the time and see this happening all the time.
In my semi-professional fake review spotting opinion, it does appear that some of these reviews are likely fake or that people have been encouraged in one way or another by FlexJobs to leave positive reviews.
*This is just my opinion having a fair amount of experience filtering through reviews when reviewing programs.
There are too many reviews that are basically saying the same thing, as if they are based on a script, and overall they just seem a bit too positive to be realistic.
That said, even if the positive reviews can't be trusted 100% it definitely does not make Flex Jobs a scam or anything like that--and the fact that there are very few complaints and negative reviews says a lot.
Complaints
One thing that I noticed, which is a good sign, is that the number of complaints over the years has decreased. For example, I was just reading all of the low 1 & 2 star reviews on SiteJabber and found that none of them were written within the last couple years--all were old.
Some of the older complaints were that FJ didn't provide much more than the free job board sites when it comes to flexible job positions, but now they definitely do and the lack of recent complaints about this reflects that.
Other than that there really isn't much to talk about in this section.
There are some complaints I came across that are still relevant from people who think that:
- The website is too hard to navigate
- I agree it might be a big overwhelming at first, but I think they do a pretty good job at making it as simple as possible.
- It is outrageous to have to pay for a service like this
- Already went over why it costs money--they have to make money somehow
- Listings are old
- Yes, you can find old job listings here that already may be filled... It may be frustrating and it does happen, but the FlexJobs team does hand-clean and delete filled positions on a daily basis (so they say)
- Getting a job through them is too difficult
- Refund refusal
- There was only one complaint I found about this--apparently someone was refused a refund for not liking what they were provided with. That said, since it is only one complaint and I don't know all the details, I'm not concerned by it.
... and maybe a few other types of complaints--but nothing major that I'm seen that I'd consider to be concerning.
I've Applied To a Bunch of Places & Still Haven't Got a Job--Scam!
The last complaint that I mentioned above, which is that "getting a job through them is too difficult" is something I want to talk more about.
The fact of the matter is that FJ will NOT get you a job. All they do is find you good quality flexible jobs and make the application process easier. For the most part that's it.
So when you go to apply for a job you found, you definitely aren't guaranteed the position. I've seen some people complaining that they applied to over a dozen positions and didn't land a job yet--well, unfortunately that can happen and the real problem in such a scenario might be that you are lacking the qualifications for the jobs you are applying to.
They provide a good curated list of jobs, but they don't work magic.
Pros v Cons
Pros
- Only provides flexible job positions
- No scams or commission based opportunities are listed
- No paid job ads are listed
- All listings are vetted by real people--the staff at FlexJobs
- All companies that have job listings have been vetted as well
- Lots of search filters to make searching for jobs easier
- They make the application process easier
- Resume help is provided
- Email updates on jobs you might be interested in
- Trusted company--very transparent
- Satisfaction guarantee or your money back
Cons
- It costs money
- Older job postings are sometimes filled
- Can be difficult to navigate
- Doesn't work magic
Who FlexJobs Is Best For
Obviously the platform is for people looking for to work and live a more flexible lifestyle. It's all about helping provide people with a way to take advantage of all the remote (and semi-remote) jobs that are out there.
But it's more than just that. If you want to find remote jobs you can use any job board, such as Monster, Indeed, etc. FlexJobs is for people that are looking for more--more quality job listings from legitimate companies and a simplified application process--and of course they offer the add-on purchases for coaching and resume review.
It's a great platform overall but some people will be able to getaway using the free job boards just fine. If you are worried about getting caught up in a scam opportunity or having trouble finding a job that fits you well then this is when it might be a good choice--or if you are just looking for an awesome platform that makes life easier and have some extra money to spend on a membership.
Final Thoughts - Worth The Price?
As you can guess after reading my review up until this point, I absolutely think that FlexJobs is worth the price, but this all comes down to how you use it.
You still have to put effort into the process of finding jobs. If you put in the work and really use the platform and all of it's capabilities to find some great jobs, then it is easily worth the price.
In the end it is up to you.
I hope you enjoyed this review and found it helpful. As always, I love to hear feedback from my readers so if you have any comments or questions just leave them down below 🙂
An Alternative Route
What you also may want to consider since you are looking for flexible work is working for yourself--online, which is how I make a living.
Now this isn't something where you get hired and start making a wage. What I'm talking about is 'building your own online business' so to speak, which has a heck of a lot of potential but isn't something you start making money with right away--so if you are in need of immediate income then this is not for you.
Interested? If so then I'd recommend taking a look at this program that I use to make my living online--which I joined back in 2015 and am still a member of. This program took me from nothing to over $6k/mo online and is great for beginners.
Alternatively you can check out my top income ideas or this massive list of 70+ ways to make money from home (not very detailed list though).