How do you find the best remote jobs out there? The best thing you can do is connect your passion with the world’s needs. Have freedom on top of that by being remote.
“Vocation is the place where our deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.”
― Frederick Buechner
By the end of 2020, more than half of U.S. workers were doing their jobs remotely at least part of the time. Into 2021, the majority of those remote employees said they wanted to keep working remotely even when Covid-19 subsides.
This isn’t shocking. Millions of people are finding they quite like working online – especially working from any location in the world online. There’s greater freedom to choose your lifestyle, from where you live to what hours you work. The ability to be closer to family and choose your work environment (and of course the lack of a long morning commute) mean that working remotely is finding its way onto people’s lists of requirements.
If you’re interested in remote job opportunities but don’t think your current position is going to stay there forever, then you may want to put together a remote work career track for yourself.
What are the best remote jobs out there?
I firmly believe that anyone who wants to work remotely and live and work from anywhere should be able to do so. Not everyone’s remote work career track may look the same. The beauty of remote work is that most skills and work experience can translate to an online position fairly well. Your offline skills, in one way or another, can translate to the online world.
If you use social media, use a computer, and have a smartphone, for example, you already have a basic skill set that can apply to get a remote job. And, if you don’t know what to do or what job type or job title to pursue, you can take a course in a field of your choice and at any level to get you on the right track for finding a remote job. It’s really just a matter of finding the best remote job or career for you.
And you might be surprised where you fit in the remote job world. Many people conduct their job search by looking for an exact analog of their current job in the online workforce, with the same work schedule and even job details salary, when really you could be looking for remote work that values your skills and passions more than your current position.
Here are some (but not all) of the positions that excel in the remote working world. We’ve compiled the best full time and part time remote jobs that pay well, aren’t work-from-home scams, offer great benefits and inclusion packages, provide healthy energy and a caring attitude toward your preferred work hours, and allow you to have a healthy income while working from anywhere. You might be surprised at the diversity of remote work.
If you’re completely new and looking to build your skill set for remote work, you can also check out entry-level courses to help you learn new skills to jumpstart your research and understanding of a remote career, guide you to write a great resume and negotiate an excellent salary package, assist you to establish a solid relationship with your chosen employer, or expand your existing knowledge base.
Writing
Writing gigs have had remote options even long before “work from home” was a phrase. Authors and newspaper columnists were mailing their work in to publishers decades before the internet. Now in the digital age, the opportunities for remote work as a writer have exploded.
Email, shareable documents, and online work platforms like Slack and Google Hangouts make writing and interviewing from home a viable career path for more than just novelists. New categories have emerged. Businesses need copy for their websites, content for their blogs and someone to draft social media posts.
And you don’t just have to look for an employer to hire you. If writing is your passion, you can work remotely as your own boss by establishing your own website or blog that’s relevant to your niche. There are plenty of ways to monetize your writing.
Find the best remote writing jobs on the LWA job board.
Sales
Working in sales is more than just sitting in a call center cubicle. Every company needs product specialists to work with their marketers to get leads through the sales funnel. As a remote sales employee, you may also be responsible for generating leads yourself.
While this might seem like more of an in-person job, online sales positions are actually common. In fact, 16% of companies are completely remote and need work-from-home employees to help them make sales.
You don’t need to be a seasoned sales veteran to sign an online sales contract. If you’re interested in sales as a career, brush up your current resume with an eye for transferable skills. “Sales” isn’t really something you’ll see many people with a degree or certification in.
Instead, people who work in sales come from backgrounds like communication, business or even customer service. Some only have a high school diploma, and still, have the ability to excel in the world of inbound and outbound calls as part time or full time employees.
A good option if you’re looking to burst onto the sales scene is to look for sales work in an industry you’re familiar with. For example, an experienced ghostwriter might excel at selling copywriting services.
Find the best remote jobs in Sales on LWA’s job board.
Tech and customer support
As companies grow or an employer expands a business, they need dedicated support staff. These positions exist to support both customers and internal staff.
“Tech support” might make you think of someone on location like a call center, wearing a headset and asking a belligerent caller to try restarting their computer without even attempting to conduct any sort of research on the issue. However, there are many positions beyond that.
Sure, there are those callers and technical issues, but companies need tech employees to handle internal support, as well.
As for customer support, it’s also about more than helping customers when products don’t work. There’s also product ordering support, which is a huge component of sites like Amazon.
Customer support has a fairly low barrier to entry and makes a good part time or starter job for someone wanting to test out the work-from-home situation. Here are some of the most common places or industries to find a remote customer support job:
- Online shopping (Amazon, eBay, etc.)
- Healthcare / medical
- The mortgage industry
- Airlines (Delta, Alaska, etc.)
- Travel agencies
Find the best remote jobs in tech and customer support here.
Software design and development
It’s no surprise that a lot of tech jobs have made the leap to remote work very smoothly. And it’s not just tech startups that are looking for remote workers, many established companies are also hiring remotely for these positions. Some of the best (and highest paying) remote jobs are in the tech industry. So if you have a desire or knack for tech, long for a high salary, enjoy challenging tasks, and feel comfortable in an industry that is always changing, look no further.
Also, there is a definite increase in software engineering teams going remote. Prior to 2020, before Covid, 13% of engineering teams were fully remote. As a result of the pandemic, that number has increased to 74% and now 66% of engineering teams believe they will continue to allow remote work even after Covid has subsided.
You have options when it comes to remote tech jobs. It’s not just late-night coding with three big screens, no lights, and a giant pizza box next to the always-full coffee mug at your side. You can also work in design, create innovative tech solutions, and handle product management or project management.
Design
There are various forms of design to create and explore in the tech world. This creative task covers anything and everything from graphic design and illustration to user experience and user interface design. We talk about this a little bit more below for front end developers, which can also be called front end designers.
Product Management
Every product that’s created needs someone conveying critical information on factors like how to manage the flow of tasks, project deadlines, and features being released.
A product manager makes sure that the software developers are producing what the customers want and demarcating the relevance of each phase to ensure the timely delivery of a project. This is different from a project manager who makes sure things are getting done on time. Product managers are closely tied into the development process.
Development
If you’ve got some development experience already, you may be wondering where to focus your skills to land the best jobs and sign the best contract that offer the best salary.
Determine which coding languages you should master to know the kind of development you want to pursue. For example:
- Front end developer
JavaScript, Elm, TypeScript.
- Back end developer
JavaScript, Scala, Python, Go, Ruby
- Game design
Unity, TypeScript
- Mobile app development
Swift, Java, Objective C, JavaScript
Other than keeping calm under pressure, your most sellable trait in the online development space is adaptability. Make sure you’re learning and growing with the times, keeping up with the latest advancements and newest technology. Even if you’ve got past experience, it’s a good idea to brush up on your skills.
There are many programming and coding schools that will offer courses for more experienced developers as well as complete beginners. Codeacademy is a good example. If you’re not able to invest a lot of money into learning coding right now, you may consider options like Lamba School or Microverse, where they offer the education for free upfront and you pay them back after they help you land a job.
A coding school is a great way to get started in coding for little to no money and have a nearly-guaranteed high-paying job once you graduate.
You can find entry-level software jobs on Liveworkanywhere. Already a senior-level engineer and need to be matched with the best remote jobs on the planet? Go to our partner site, fullstackremote.
Operations
This is a good category for anyone with strong basic office skills and business experience. Operations is just career lingo for every position that works behind the scenes to make sure business processes run smoothly.
This can be program coordination, office administration and much more. For example, a company may have an operations team that focuses on creating internal training materials and building in-depth client onboarding experiences.
General positions in operations can include everything from a business operations manager all the way up to a COO.
If you’re just starting out, you can look for an entry level position as an executive or administrative assistant. These positions are looking for people with a strong grasp of basic office suites like Microsoft or Google products.
A general operations position might be that of a business operations manager or a company executive. You’ll need more experience and a solid resume for this position, so if you’ve got your sights set on a high remote work position, you may want to get your feet wet in a lower level assistant position first. This will give you a good opportunity to explore a new industry at relatively low risk.
Find the best remote jobs in operations.
Virtual Assistant
Virtual assistant is another term for an admin or executive assistant, but, of course, virtual. And again this can be anything from entry level to more advanced. This is one of the best starter jobs for people who want to enter the virtual workforce but aren’t sure where to start or get experience.
How does a virtual assistant job differ from the admin assistant positions we just talked about? A virtual assistant involves freelancing multiple clients whereas an operations admin assistant is a remote job where you’ve been hired by one company. There’s even the possibility that a freelance VA gig could turn into a permanent remote position.
Search for the best virtual assistant or admin assistant remote jobs here.
Freelancing
The gig economy is growing. Even prior to the pandemic, freelancing was projected to make up more than half the workforce by 2027. So if you have specialized skills, you can get started working for yourself. You’ll need to brand yourself and gather clients. We talk more about this process here.
If you don’t have the time to invest in becoming a completely independent freelancer, you can go to a business for help. Freelancing for a company like Upwork or Fivrr can help get you work fast. There are more specialized sites, as well, like Behance, Textbroker or Content Cucumber.
Marketing
Every company, non-profit and brand out there needs marketing, and marketers have traditionally fared pretty well in online spaces. With tools like 5g tech and the near omnipresence of Wi-Fi, many marketing positions have dropped the in-person requirements.
You’ll find that many smaller companies are on the lookout for a “jack of all trades” or “full stack” marketer who can do a little bit of everything, from social media, to brand design, lead generation, advertising, messaging and content creation.
Once you move up towards the larger businesses and corporations, they’ll be wanting marketing specialists. These are marketers who focus on one area, such as social media. You may see these two types of marketing jobs referred to as generalist marketing and specialist marketing.
If you’re just starting out, you may want to cut your teeth on several varieties as you figure out what best aligns with your skills as passions. Then you can focus in on that specialization. In other words, start off as a general marketer and move towards a specialist track later on.
Having a wide variety of skills is great, but in order to move up in your career you’ll want to focus in on an area of expertise and develop that more fully.
Find the best remote marketing jobs on liveworkanywhere.
Finance
You may be surprised just how many remote finance jobs are out there. While the traditional image of a finance employee might be someone locked in a small work cubicle in a suit at the back of the office building, more and more companies have been hiring out their financial needs to remote workers or even remote finance companies.
In fact, more than 70 percent of financial executives outsource at least some of their work remotely.
There are a few paths for a remote career in finance: you can look for remote accounting or bookkeeping positions, a Controller or even a CFO. You can work for startups providing accounting services or even more traditional accounting firms.
Find the best remote finance roles on our job board.
Human Resources
The more that companies go remote, the more support they need for things like hiring and managing remote talent. This means handling benefits, salaries, payouts, employee training materials, onboarding processes and more.
Human resource jobs can also earn you a nice stable salary, anywhere from 30k-100k/year.
And of course, many companies are looking for H.R. specialists to manage their increasing number of remote employees. Facebook recently hired their first Director of Remote Work to do this very job.
Find the best remote jobs in Human Resources.
Legal services
If you have a background in law, there are a lot of opportunities to take those skills remote. Paralegals and attorneys both fit nicely into the remote landscape, particularly for consultations and other services that can be offered over the phone or via Zoom.
During the Coronavirus pandemic, many legal services (and even full court cases) transitioned to videoconferencing.
And while in-person trials and consultations will resume again once things have calmed down, many law firms are finding that keeping remote options available to clients allows them to connect with global legal teams, reach out to more diverse clients and ultimately serve their communities better.
There’s good room for crossover here, as well. For example, if you have a legal background and writing skills, you may be perfectly suited to an online legal writing position.
Paralegals and legal support can earn 40-60k/year and attorneys can earn well into 6 figures.
Find the best remote jobs in legal professions on our job board.
Medical
Telehealth options have risen more than 50 percent since the CDC recommended these options to areas affected by Covid. However, telehealth was already a rising trend before that.
While it’s not projected that telehealth will replace in-person care, it is a helpful tool for hospitals and clinics to have, and many of them are investing long-term.
This is because telehealth options help doctors and other medical professionals reach a wider audience, including lower-income patients and those who cannot travel.
Remote medical jobs exist for licensed medical professionals, such as doctors, nurses, counselors, and physician assistants, but you can also work in this field doing the “behind the scenes” work. This includes scheduling, claims reviews, insurance work and more.
Go to Remote Medical Jobs to get an idea of what telehealth jobs are out there. Or search for the best remote jobs for medical professionals on our site.
Teaching
Nearly all schools had to transition to online when the pandemic hit, but we’re not talking about that. There are many teaching positions that are permanently remote, and were long before Covid struck.
Of course, if you’re already a seasoned teacher or professor, you can look for remote teaching positions at universities or even high schools. But even if you don’t have a long background in teaching, there are jobs out there that make great side hustles (and can even transition to full time careers).
Most common are tutoring and teaching English as a second language. The demand for native English speakers who are available to teach remotely is incredibly high. The pay can range anywhere from $10/hour to $40/hour or more.
How much you make will depend on who you work for, what experience you have and even what hours you choose to work. Some of these positions may require that you have a TEFL certificate, and these are usually the ones that have higher pay.
You can often set your own hours for these kinds of positions. However, keep in mind that many English teaching positions might need you to be working early in the morning or very late at night due to the time difference between Asia and North America or Europe.
Next steps: How to Get Started with Working Remotely
All this might seem overwhelming, especially if you’re new to the remote work scene. To start making progress towards your dream job, you’ll need three things:
- Be remote ready
- Know your strengths
- Know what job you want
1. Remote Ready: How do I prepare for remote work?
Home office
Set up a home office or workspace that’s going to help you be productive. Whether this is a dedicated room in your house or just a desk in the corner is up to you. However, all home offices need strong Wi-Fi and a steady source of power.
Ready to take your remote career on the road? First be sure to check out our Mobility Criteria to make sure you can successfully live and work from anywhere in the world.
Tools
Your job may supply you with work from home tools or it may not. Applications like Slack, Zoom, and others allow you to be connected with your team and keep on top of your work. You will want to look into which pieces of software are most necessary for your position and then familiarize yourself with how they work.
Communication
Over-communication is the name of the game here. If you’re silent, your clients or teammates won’t know what you’re up to.
Be extra responsive to emails, don’t leave messages on read and reach out to those you work with regularly. It takes motivation to succeed in remote work, so be sure you’re ready to take initiative.
Limited distractions
Working from home can be distracting for some people. Here’s how you can identify and prevent common distractions:
- Set up your office in a low-traffic area of your home
- Talk with your housemates or family and explain what your availability will look like on work days
- Consider getting a dedicated work phone
Calendars and time management
If you’re new to remote work, don’t jump into it without first preparing for a major shift in time management. You’ll be on your own getting your work done with no coworkers or a boss to look over your shoulder. Some people thrive in a self-starter environment and others need a little extra help.
Give yourself every advantage by:
- Over-communicating
- Setting up a work calendar
- Testing your internet and power supplies
- Practicing using remote collaboration tools like Slack, Zoom, Google Hangouts, etc.
Not sure if you’re ready for remote work or not? Take a moment to really analyze your passions and your career strengths.
2. Know Your Strengths: What are one of the best remote jobs for me?
Looking for remote work but not sure where to start? It can be overwhelming, but the key is to zero in on what you need. Ask yourself these questions:
- Am I looking to transition my current career online or start a new one?
It is easier to search for a new remote position that matches your current one because you know exactly what you’re looking for.
But you shouldn’t be scared to jump into something new if that’s what’s going to keep you happy and motivated.
- Do I want to be my own boss or work for someone else?
There are varying degrees of independence within remote work. Finding a remote job in an existing company is usually an easier path but may not give you all the freedom you want. For example, you may still be tied to traditional office hours and availability.
Embarking on a truly independent remote work track means going into freelance work or starting your own online company. Both of these require a bit more of an initial time investment on your part.
A freelancer needs to establish credibility and start selling their brand. Starting your own business means coming up with a product, developing your brand, setting up a website and more.
It all depends on what you’re looking for. Which of these paths is going to be the most rewarding for you? Answer that question, and then don’t settle for anything less.
Looking into building your own startup? Go to Anywherestartup.com for more help.
- What are my current skills and what skills do I want to improve or learn?
You want a job that’s a good fit now but with room to grow. Identifying your strengths as well as weaknesses you want to work on will help you narrow down your search. We’ll go into more detail about skills and personality below.
- What excites and motivates me?
You’re transitioning to remote work because of the freedom and flexibility it offers, but it’s not just the “remoteness” of the job that’s important. The work you’re doing matters, too.
Settling for a position you’re not interested in just because it’s remote will not make you happy in the long run. Instead, identify your passions and find remote work that lets you utilize them.
How do I assess my skills?
“What are you good at?” is such a daunting question. If you’re struggling to pinpoint your professional skills and goals, you’re not alone! It can be tricky to identify just what you’re good at and even trickier to match your answers to the language you find in job descriptions.
An online skills assessment can help you crack the surface. And once you get going, you’ll find that figuring yourself out is an exciting, lifelong journey.
What’s my work personality?
“What’s your personality?” is even vaguer than the last question, but equally as important for finding your ideal job–online or otherwise. People are diverse and no one fits perfectly into any single category. However, an online personality test might be a good place to start if you need a general idea of the work environment where you’re most likely to thrive.
3. Know What Job You Want: Where can I find the best remote jobs?
You can find remote work positions practically anywhere jobs are posted. All the common sites like Monster, Flexjobs and Indeed have remote work and you can usually filter your search to find just these positions. You can also take a gander at the Liveworkanywhere job board for remote positions in different fields.
Still feeling lost?
You can start by taking some courses and dig in a bit more into skill development to see which path suits you best.
A career coach may be able to help you get started. If you’re dedicated to finding a new online career but still feel overwhelmed by the scope of your options, talking through your needs with a professional might be the jumpstart you need. However, to make the most out of a career coach, you may want to first identify your skills and basic job needs and go to your coach with these answers already in your mind.