You have no doubt seen the changes that ‘work-from-home’ has made in your own practice.…
John Borrowman, CPC
Borrowman Baker, LLC
Gallatin, TN
It’s an ill wind that blows no one any good. And one result of coping with the pandemic is employers’ increased willingness to contemplate hiring remote workers. Whether this is a good thing for you as a BVFLS professional depends on your career aspirations.
Because so much of it is done by computer anyway, BVFLS work has always been more amenable to remote working arrangements. Historically, though, employers have been reluctant to consider hiring someone to work remotely from Day One. They preferred to have employees in the office (at least at the outset) to observe work habits and acclimate them to the engagement process.
This—hiring to work remotely from Day One—is the significant change. It’s happening differently for two different categories of professionals.
The DOER
If you are a “doer,” you will likely see more opportunities to work remotely from Day One. As a practical matter, however, employers are still reluctant to hire anyone into this role with less than four to five years’ work experience as evidence of the maturity necessary to handle remote work responsibilities. The downside of this role is that you will not likely advance to being a “doer/seller” and eventually hit a compensation ceiling so long as you are distant from the home office.
The DOER/SELLER
Surprisingly, perhaps, employers in some mid-size and smaller markets show more openness to hiring someone in a “doer/seller” role who is—and will remain—remote from the home office. This role can be a good opportunity for the professional who already has a small book of business and needs an execution team to grow. The downside can be that leveraging a distant and unknown company name can be challenging for business development.
The BVFLS profession may have arrived at this point sooner or later. The pandemic’s arrival, layered on top of ongoing demand for services and the talent to execute them, have made it sooner rather than later.
John Borrowman
