Finding remote work, working from home and enjoying a location independent lifestyle is the ultimate dream of many an employee these days. Thanks to advanced technology, many jobs can be done from anywhere on the planet, so long as you have an internet connection. And today you’ll learn everything you need about remote working, including the why, how and where to score jobs you can do from home.
What’s in it for you:
- The benefits of working from home
- Learn how to become a remote worker
- Find the best platforms to score location independent jobs
Note: This guide was specifically written for (wannabe) location independent employees looking for remote work. In case you want to run your own business from home or are already self-employed and looking for the next big gig, read Location Independent Jobs For Freelancers: How And Where To Get Them.
Remote Work 101: The Top 3 Benefits Of Working From Home
Why most people these days prefer remote work than commuting to a physical office every morning is pretty easy to understand. Since there can be hundreds of reasons, and everybody has a different motivation to work from home, we decided to only list the top three arguments. After all, you found this article because you are looking for remote work, which means you probably know your reasons why already. So we want to get on to the good stuff as quickly as possible.
Remote Work Saves Time
For one, you save the time, hassle and cost to commute. Especially that time-saving is a big one. It enables you to live a fulfilled life now – no need to wait for retirement.
Time is your most valuable asset in life. Don’t waste it.
Remote Work Can Be Done Anywhere In The World
Second, you can work from anywhere in the world. This can be your home, your favorite café or a co-working space on a tropical island. The only limitation is that you need to be connected to the internet (most of the time). A cell phone connection does come in handy as well.
Note: When traveling the world, please don’t forget to be a responsible location independent entrepreneur. You can help to change the world for the better.
Remote Working Hours Are (Usually) Flexible
Third, remote work often offers more flexibility regards your working hours. As long as you get the job done, most employers don’t care whether you answered emails at midnight or created reports before morning yoga. Sure, if you need to attend Skype meetings or call clients you shouldn’t do that at 2am (usually).
Apart from that you often are your own schedule creator. This comes in very handy when aiming for an optimal work-family-life-balance. Or simply when you know yourself and your most productive hours: Often, whatever tasks you completed during a 10-hour-office-shift can be completed in half that time (possibly less), if you are fully focused and work productively.
Why Do You Want To Work From Home?
As mentioned, there are certainly over 101 further reasons why people choose to work remotely. Please state your main motivation in the comments below to inspire fellow employees who are thinking about making the switch, or join our Facebook discusson on remote work!
Remote Work vs. Freelancing
As remote employee, you still have to follow certain rules and guidelines, depending on your employer, often including a certain number of work hours you need to log per month or a set number of holidays per year. Some might ask you to be available at certain hours of the day or even to live in a certain country. This might be seen as downfall by some, for others it is very valuable to have some kind of framework.
In case you hate guidelines and rules and need more freedom, you might want to think about becoming a location independent Freelancer instead of remaining an employee.
We hope you know yourself well enough to decide which option is best for you. In case you are unsure – feel free to try both. There is no harm in trying. As we always say:
In ten years’ time you’ll only regret the things you have not done. Click To Tweet
Remote Work 101: How To Become Location Independent
Becoming location independent and working remotely is a lot easier than you might think. Many a company has understood its employees’ needs for flexibility. Hence they created location independent jobs – and have done very well in doing so.
As home-working employee, you will work from a so-called virtual office. This can be located anywhere you like. Via internet you have access to programs and services you need, such as clients’ databases for example.
Note: In case you are fully set up as remote worker already, feel free to skip the following section and head right down to the web’s best remote work job sites.
Preparing For The Pitch
Whether you are thinking about introducing your current boss to the idea of working remotely or are looking for a change in career, virtual office work includes a lot of internet usage. To convince potential employers that you do have the knowledge required to make the most of the web, we highly recommend you to set up your own website first. It’s 2 simple steps, and instantly makes you look a lot more professional.
Related: 9 ways how to make money online – with nothing but a website.
Make that website your CV. Load it with your work experience, feedback from former employees, and of course personal touch as well, such as hobbies or travel tales and photos. As employer it’s always nice to know you’re working with real humans, even though you may only know each other from phone calls and emails.
In case you feel intimated by the thought of creating a website (honestly, it’s not rocket science!), go ahead and use the world’s best outsourcing websites to have a freelancer do the job for you. Better to invest a couple of dollars than being paralyzed by fear of getting started.
Asking For Remote Work
In case you are planning to change jobs, asking for remote work is as simple as sending applications to companies offering to work from home.
However, in case you prefer to stick with your current team, asking to work remotely can be daunting at first. After all, so far you worked in the company’s office, and everything went fine. So why should your boss change her opinion?
Reasons are as multitudinous as people’s motivations to become location independent in the first place. Your company may think about downsizing the office space anyway, since office space costs a lot of money. They might attempt to test new workforce solutions to keep up with the times and remain in the game when budding for young employees. It could be a myriad of other reasons.
Best reason of course would be for you to be indispensable enough to your team that your boss happily fulfills any of your requirements to not lose you.
Whichever reason it is – you will only find out once you ask. So please do go ahead and ask!
‘No’ is the answer to 100% of all questions you never asked.
Tinder
Applying For Remote Work
Whenever you apply for a location independent job, make sure to do so professionally. Since you will be hired to work in a virtual office via the internet, let your online expertise shine through. Polish up that website of yours, include skills, references and work samples. Turn it into your online CV.
Your second best bet is to have a LinkedIn profile, but your own website beats LinkedIn any day.
We got asked whether one needs a LinkedIn profile and an own website. The simple answer is: No, you don’t. As stated above, a website beats LinkedIn, mainly for the fact that most people have a LinkedIn profile these days, and most LinkedIn profiles look fairly similar. They sure do for a recruiter who’s been looking at LinkedIn profiles all day.
Should you already have a LinkedIn profile, keep it, update it, and put your website’s domain in your profile. Make it very visible. You will immediately grab attention. Now just make sure your website looks somewhat decent, to not disappoint that excited recruiter.
Be aware that, as with most offline applications these days, most employers will check your social media profiles. It’s nothing wrong with having fun on photos. Just don’t have too much fun on photos.
In case you are between jobs, take the liberty to state the job title you want to have on your website rather than the one you held last. Especially in case you want to switch career paths, and maybe go from being an HR professional to becoming a virtual assistant, make sure to always state what you want to be. This is what recruiters will look out for.
The Web’s Best Remote Work Job Sites
Now that you’re all set up and ready to rock, here they come: The web’s best remote work job sites.
We Work Remotely
We Work Remotely has the simplest and cleanest site layout for you. The main page shows you all the new jobs that are coming up in certain sectors, such as programming and marketing.
It’s easy to sign up as a location independent worker, and you can find something almost right away. All you have to do is specify the kind of job you want and you’ll get a list of roles.
If you’re looking for work that starts right away, then you’ve come to the right place. We Work Remotely is clean, simple, and easy to use.
Working Nomads
If your skills lie in digital services, then Working Nomads is the site that you want to check out. There’s not as many roles available here, but they are curated. That means that you know they are legitimate and well-paying roles that are well suited to you.
Working Nomads currently offers roles for writers, marketers, and designers, amongst others. You can check out the top jobs that appear on the home page, or go searching for a role that will really suit your skills and lifestyle. These are top quality roles, so expect to work a little harder to get them, but with a much better payoff at the end.
Remotive
What’s great about Remotive is that they’ve worked hard to create a true community of remote workers. Twice a month, they send out a newsletter that’s jam packed full of working tips and the newest job roles that have become available. Along with that, they offer a Slack community. This allows workers from all over the world to come together, swap tips and simply chat about their work.
If you want something more from a remote work site, this is the one you want to start using.
Flexjobs
Flexjobs is a remote work site understands that you’re tired of digging through all the scams and junk ads when it comes to finding location independent jobs. That’s why the staff here work on finding the best legitimate job roles out there across 55 different sectors.
The Flexjobs team also writes highly informative posts about finding work, and tips on working remotely and getting the most out of the experience. There’s plenty of companies who respect Flexjobs, so they’re a site that’s clearly worth checking out.
AngelList
If you really want to drill down to find exactly what you’re looking for, AngelList is the job site to go for. The easy to use home page offers you ample options and opportunities to find the remote job of your dreams.
You can pick from contracts, internships or full time work, meaning you only commit for as long as you want to in any one role. There’s also the option to hook up with any start-up company that’s listing there.
Get in on the ground floor with one of the exciting businesses listed here. AngeList certainly has plenty of remote work offering companies to choose from.
Remote OK
If you want to work remotely, Remote OK has a plethora of job listings available right at your fingertips. They pull in listings from other sites, so it’s a great home base if you’re serious about your job search.
Remote OK rates each job with a point system which is based on elements such as the salary offered. This is perfect if you need a way to compare jobs before applying.
Being independent, they give a great, unbiased look at whether or not that role is right for you. Give them a try before you start looking elsewhere!
Skip The Drive
SkipTheDrive offers the chance to work remotely hassle free, with none of the stresses or issues of working in a conventional office. One of the best features is that it’s totally free to use. You’ll never have to pay a registration fee, saving you money up front.
Skip The Drive also offers an online calculator that helps you work out how much money you can save, working from home.
When applying for roles on this site, be sure to check whether you need an actual home office. If you do, you won’t be able to travel during the day.
Jobspresso
Jobspresso is great for location independent job seekers, as you’re able to post a resume up on their servers for potential employers to view. That means you don’t even need to trawl through the listings to find a suitable role, recruiters will come to you with something that’s just right.
Jobspresso targets their jobs at highly qualified employees, so you’ll find that the salaries offered reflect this. If you’re looking for a role that offers good money and benefits, while still allowing for telecommuting, then this is the site for you. You won’t be on here too long before you’ve found the perfect role.
Now Get That Remote Job You’re Dreaming Of!
One thing is for certain: You won’t score a remote job if you don’t apply. Hence go and check out the above remote work job sites now, sign up for the two or three that look the most appealing to you at first glance, and start applying!
Make sure to also join our Facebook discussion on remote work to swap ideas and experiences with like-minded people. Few things beat good networking.
We wish you all the best of location independent success. More time to travel. And more money to spend.