With all of the COVID-19 changes going on right now, remote work is becoming a necessity rather than a luxury. 

You may be working from home, taking some time away from your job, or you may be looking for an entirely new position. 

But if you’ve never worked online before, it can be REALLY hard to start now – especially now that it has become such a commodity. 

We’re here to walk you through the basics and help you try to land that remote job of your dreams (or at least that your bank account needs for now).

If all of your jobs have been in-person before, the world of remote work can seem like a weird and mystical place. But it’s really much simpler than it seems.

As you probably know, remote work is any work that takes place outside the traditional office environment. 

This includes remotely working for a larger company, working as a freelancer, or even being your own boss. And not all remote workers work from home, either – although as of right now, many of them are.

To get an idea of the broader types of jobs and careers that can be done remotely, check out our blog post from last week.

If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by the current state of affairs and starting a new job search process, that’s A-okay. 

Know that this process is intimidating for EVERYONE at first, and the best attitude to approach it with is a place of being open to learning and exploring (and asking for help when you need it).

There are all kinds of different types of jobs available for different skills and talents – and we’re here to help you figure out how to find what’s right for you!

You might be thinking, “what if I don’t have any experience in tech? Are there even remote jobs for people who don’t know how to code or design a website?”

There are ABSOLUTELY jobs for people with and without tech experience! Even being able to type or string together a few words opens up a full possibility of copyediting, transcribing, and blogging!

But what if you feel that writing isn’t your strong suit?

You might not know all the other awesome skills that you DO have, or how valuable seemingly-simple tasks like organizing to-do lists and schedule appointments can be! For example, virtual assistants typically have the following types of tasks (many of which you might do for yourself on a regular basis!):

• Schedule meetings and appointments
• Answer phone calls
• Data entry
• Organize your to-do list and calendar
• Book travel arrangements (probably not right now, but we’re talking generally)

There are several job boards out there and groups that can help you find a remote job.

Here’s a list of Facebook groups that provide links to available positions for remote work, and here are some of our favorite job boards:

• Flexjobs
• Remotive
• We Work Remotely

Additionally, here’s a list of places that hire remote workers year-round for a variety of different types of tasks.

• Fancy Hands
• Upwork
• Rackspace
• Redox, Inc.
• PPD
• Rosetta Stone
• Parexel
• Grand Rounds
• Intuit
• Red Hat
• Support.com
• Auth0
• United Health Group
• Rev.com
• Amazon
• Later

The good news is that it’s easier than ever to work online…

The bad news is that there’s a lot of other people competing for the same gigs you are. 

Here are a few ways to make yourself stand out: 

1. The cover letter is EVERYTHING. When we hire new people for our marketing company Conversations Digital, we don’t care about fancy degrees or even where people worked before. We care that they’ve taken the time to learn about our company and what we do, and that they’ve expressed their interest in working specifically with us. We also look for candidates who include a little about how they plan to use their previous experience to benefit our company, and how they see themselves fitting into the role. When you’re desperate for a job, this part can seem daunting because for the most part – you just want ANY job. But if you want to stand out – you’ve got to think like a hiring manager. What do they care about most? What will make them excited to offer you an interview?
2. Get your virtual house in order:
   1. Have a polished, completed, updated LinkedIn profile (and make sure to include that link in your application). This shows that you are detail oriented and professional, and shows them that you have at least some level of social media skills. A really compelling LinkedIn profile is also a MUST for anyone applying for writing or marketing gigs. Whenever someone applies for a job with us, we check them out on LinkedIn immediately. Sometimes people really impress us with their innovative headlines, the way they use their biography section to tell their story, and the number of recommendations they have. Those are the people we want to talk to, because they’ve already given us a glimpse of the quality of work they’d be able to do for our clients too. 
   2. A personal website 10 years ago on a resume was a VERY IMPRESSIVE calling card. It’s how I got interviews at places like Newsday and Ask.com in New York the WEEK after I graduated from college. If you’re applying for jobs online in 2020, having some kind of ‘virtual business card’ aside from your LinkedIn page adds a surefire “wow” factor that can put you ahead of your competition at best, and keep you in the game at least.  (See below on how to make your own website for free in less than an hour.) 

About.me is a free service that allows you to make a beautiful website that allows you to display your talents and services in a professional way. There are all kinds of options on how to allow people to contact you, including having people hire you directly from the site! Here’s our official Remote Hustle about.me guide!

Once you have your about.me page or other website, be sure to link to it in every job application you send out!

If you’ve got an entrepreneurial spirit, now might be the time to creatively tap into that by building your own online hustle.

The best place to start is by assessing how something you do offline could be translated into the online space – either via virtual consultations, virtual events, or online courses / educational materials. 

Here are a few highlights of ideas from our Remote Hustle Webinar: 

• Culinary and Mixology Experts

Host virtual craft cocktail / fancy meal lessons + happy hour. People love to try new foods and drinks, and allowing them to do it themselves is an added bonus they’ll definitely pay for!

• Musicians

Schedule live online concerts so that people can tune in and party with you virtually! Don’t forget to include your Venmo handle as your “tip jar”!

• Fitness Coaches

Host lessons and classes in whatever your expertise you prefer – yoga, boxing, cardio, etc. But another great way to make more money with this (and get more dedicated supporters and followers!) is by offering one-on-one virtual personal training and nutrition consulting, as well. 

Want more ideas?

Click here to access the full on-demand training (free).