We spend up to 35 percent of our productive time at work. Shouldn’t we at least make it, so it doesn’t suck? But wait, there’s more – the vast majority of people still commute (more than 70 percent), wasting even more of their time and putting unnecessary pressure on the environment in the process.
The easiest solution to all of this? Go remote!
That is, of course, easier said than done. It’s also worth mentioning that by solving the commute and office-related pain points, you will inevitably create new ones linked to your new shiny remote lifestyle – but we will get to that later.
With this mini-series, I will guide you through the most common situations people looking for a remote job typically find themselves in.
You don’t have the necessary skills to work remotely.
Although remote work has seen a slow but steady rise in the last couple of years, it’s still uncharted territory for most people.
The good news is that it’s not a reserved privilege just for coders or online entrepreneurs anymore. You don’t need to spend 1-year studying books, webinars, or buy expensive online courses.
That being said, your journey towards a location independent career will still require a lot of effort. You just can’t cheat this.
Let’s get specific.
We have thoroughly analyzed the remote work marketplace, and here’s what we’ve learned.
- There are over 90 remote job boards.
- The majority of them offer non-tech jobs as well.
- Over 10% of open remote positions are available across the globe (the rest is region or country-specific – but still remote)
- Roughly 32,000 new remote jobs open each month, not counting self-employed folks and entrepreneurs!
- Job boards contain only something around 50% of all remote positions. The rest is kind of hidden on companies’ career pages.
Now you have some basic understanding of the remote scene. But that doesn’t immediately help you much, does it? Let’s go through something more actionable.
We made a list of top positions employers are furiously looking candidates for. Neat, right?
What can you realistically do?
We built a similar resource some time ago, so allow me to get inspired a bit in here.
Engineering
This is obviously the category with the biggest number of choices and demand. IT systems and coding tools are designed by nature to allow remote access and management. IT professionals could go remote (as some did) a decade ago.
| Position | Difficulty to master |
| Technical documentation writer | Fair |
| Support Engineer | Fair |
| Frontend Coder | Medium |
| Backend Developer | Medium |
| See all 14 positions |
(Online) Marketing
An excellent choice for creative folks who are not afraid to get a bit technical from time to time. Excellent English skills are a must-have this time.
| Position | Difficulty to master |
| Copywriter | Fair |
| PPC Specialist | Fair |
| Social Media Curator | Easy |
| Customer Support | Easy |
| See all 8 positions |
Design and photography
With the shift towards SaaS business models in the last decade or so, you don’t have to invest a big chunk of money into obtaining professional tools.
Open source tools like Gimp or Blender are free, Canva is free in the basic version as well, Adobe Creative Suite starts at $9.99/mo. What a time to be alive (and have an eye for UI, UX, design, and details).
| Position | Difficulty to master |
| Graphic Designer | Medium |
| Stock Photographer | Fair |
| 3D Artist | Hard |
| UX/UI Designer | Hard |
| See all 9 positions |
Desk & Administrative Jobs
Probably the most interesting area for remote work newcomers.
Built on top of your pre-existing computer software skills. Add some sauce in the form of remote tools knowledge. Play around with Slack, Jira, Asana, Trello, Google Docs/Suite, and Microsoft Office Online.
| Position | Difficulty to master |
| Virtual Assistant | Fair |
| Product Tester | Easy |
| Accountant | Hard |
| English Teacher | Medium |
| See all 7 positions |
Entrepreneurship
Don’t get along with superiors? Annoyed by the constant meetings about nothing? I get it. Starting an online business is easier than ever. Most of the tools you will need are priced very reasonably or free for solo founders.
| Position | Difficulty to master |
| Web Developer | Medium |
| Dev for Hire | Hard |
| Indie Maker | Hard |
| Freelance Marketer | Medium |
Other options
Be creative! What are you good at? What do you enjoy doing? Think of ways how to possibly use your skill set online.
Nothing will be effortless. Remember, the amount of knowledge you gain before applying for a job will be inversely proportional to your competition.
Let’s be honest here. MS Office and E-mail skills are not gonna cut it for you. People with these skills are everywhere. There is no reason for companies to hire and trust someone remotely if they can get another 50 candidates literally around the block.
Homework for next time
We will be rolling out the next chapter of our little tutorial in no time. In the meantime, I want you to:
- Make a list of things you enjoy doing (at least 10)
- For each item; identify all the positions you could realistically contribute to
(Go nuts and creative with this) - Order the positions by the number of occurrences
- Get as much information about the first three positions as you possibly can:
- Follow thought leaders in this area.
- How does the typical workload look like?
- Get some knowledge about the industry.
- What are the most used tools by professionals in this area?
All finished? Congratulations! Come back in a few days for the next part of this series, where we’ll get more specific about actual job hunting.
Wanna get more involved? Follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our newsletter with remote job offers.
Alois
Will there be a part 2?