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Working remote jobs and making money online from a beach shack during the week, then exploring wild jungles on the weekend is the ultimate dream.

And since you found this article, it seems to be the ideal lifestyle picture you paint for yourself too.

Good news!

Companies shift away from traditional employment structures and allow more and more location independent working. Co-living and co-working spaces are popping up like mushrooms after a rainy day.

  • Have a look at Coliving.com for options and destinations to work remotely from.

 Remote jobs sites are not everything

Before you can make the coconut-sipping-in-a-hammok-with-your-laptop-hanging lifestyle a reality for you, you need to first get a remote job. Especially as a digital nomad newbie, the path to finding your first remote job can seem like a maze. 

If you are pumped to start your digital nomad journey and wonder how to best search for remote jobs, this post is for you. This is not another list of a million and one sites for finding remote work. It’s a comprehensive list of the best options to land your first remote job as a beginner in 2021.

You also might love these posts to accelerate your digital nomad journey and start your location-independent travel lifestyle:

 

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Become a digital nomad and make money online while traveling around the world! Here are 7 Best Tips and Resources for finding remote jobs in 2020. Jump start your digital nomad career and make your remote lifestyle a reality.

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you use them to make a purchase, we will earn a small commission. There are no additional costs to you, but it helps us keep this blog alive. The products and services we recommend are based on our own opinions. Enjoy!

Remote jobs vs. Freelance jobs

Before we dive into how to find remote jobs as a beginning digital nomad, let’s make sure we know that we’re talking about the same terminology.

Remote work is a working style that is based on the idea that work doesn’t need to be done in a specific place to be done successfully. Hence, professionals are allowed to work outside of a traditional office environment. This means that a remote worker remains on the payroll of a given employer, but can do their job from anywhere in the world.

This concept is different to being a freelancer. Freelancers are self-employed and not committed to any one company in particular. They execute jobs often on project basis and move on to a new project once the current job is done. As opposed to a remote employee who is committed to one employer, freelancers can work for multiple clients at the same time. 

Both, remote and freelance jobs, are location independent and therefore suitable options for becoming a digital nomad. As the ways for finding a remote and freelance job are very similar, we will use both terms interchangeably for the purpose of this blog post.

Important remote jobs skills

As you won’t be surrounded by a physical team to keep you on track with your working hours, important soft skills are knowing how to stay focused, working independently, and managing your time well as a digital nomad. If you decide to work remotely for yourself, you will need to learn how to be your own boss, and take care of additional administrative things such as filing your taxes and arranging your pension funds.

We personally use SkillShare to learn new skills. You can use our link and get a 2 months FREE trial to SkillShare. They offer a bunch of different courses given by professionals. Just browse through their library and you will surely find some courses that can lift your career to the next level.

Skillshare classes to get you started to be a successful remote worker:

When it comes to job profiles and hard skills, options are endless. You might know the popular usuals such as digital marketing, graphic design, programming, and photo or video graphing. Do you fall in any of the popular digital nomad profiles? Awesome! You know exactly what services you can offer and won’t have a hard time selling yourself to potential clients.

Do you feel like you don’t have unique skill set or are not specialising in anything in particular? We hear ya! Don’t get discouraged. We have met so many digital nomads and online entrepreneurs who have never before done the line of work they excel in now. It’s all about willpower and discipline.

Figure out what you want first

The first step is to figure out what value you can and want to deliver. We have a post about Finding The Best Career For You recently published. We share 6 questions that you should ask yourself when choosing a career. Read through that one too to make sure you are choosing the right job for you.

If you are want to set yourself up as a remote entrepreneur, we have some great posts to get you up to speed:

TIPS TO GET REMOTE JOBS IN 2021

Here are our recommendations of how you can find remote jobs to travel and work from anywhere in the world.

1. Inquire about remote work at your current employer

Ok, we know, this seems like a no-brainer. And yet, you might be surprised how many people neglect this option. Your current and previous employer and co-workers know your capabilities and value, so why not start there?

If you like the job you’re currently doing or see opportunities in another position in the company you work for, the first best option is to start the conversation with your current employer. Be open, tell about your ambition to work remotely, and inquire about freelance options.

If you have a positive track record, your company will value you as an asset and might consider even creating a new remote role for you. And if they don’t, they might know somebody who does. Anyways, it doesn’t cost to ask, right?

2. Scan the HR section of companies that offer remote jobs

If working remotely for your current or previous employer is not an option, take a look around at companies that are known to offer remote and freelance work. The list of companies is long and is updated yearly. Below are lists that give you a good starting point to start browsing.

3. Use Remote Jobs websites

To save time browsing through the HR sections of companies directly, you can get a good overview of currently available remote jobs on remote job marketplace sites. There are plenty of blog posts that list the 5-100 remote jobs websites, it just takes a quick Google search to get an overload of options.

How these sites typically work is that you create your personal profile including your previous work experience, your skills, and the type of projects you are looking for. Then you are being matched with available jobs and can then apply on the jobs you see best fit in.

The benefit of remote job sites is that they are entirely focused on digital nomads. However, based on our experience, there exists a lot of competition between applicants and it can be difficult to stand out.

Same as on Airbnb, people that want to make business with you need to see that you are reliable and won’t run off with their money while leaving them with a shitty service. It might take you a while to build up your credibility. Our advice is to start as targeted as possible. Be very specific about the value you can deliver and increase your per hour ask over time once you have proven yourself.

There are a number of go to sites that are good starting points for digital nomad beginners:

4. Find remote jobs on LinkedIn

As opposed to remote jobs sites where you first need to build up your profile, your LinkedIn profile already lists your entire resume and possibly any references you have received in the past. This makes it a great platform to look and apply for remote jobs.

There are two ways to search for remote jobs on LinkedIn. As remote jobs are not as common yet on the platform, you might want to search for it specifically. Select Jobs in the Menu section of your LinkedIn window. Type in “Remote” in the search bar and set your location to Worldwide. You can specify your search results by clicking on All filters and selecting specific industries, job titles, or companies.

The second option is to search for whatever job you are interested in in the Jobs section, by typing e.g. digital marketing. Click then All filters and narrow down your search results afterwards by ticking Remote in the Commute section. Keep in mind though that this might include jobs that require you to be physically present a couple of days a week.

5. Join remote work Facebook groups

Facebook’s groups and community pages are still a good way to connect with like minded people and there are thousands of groups aimed at digital nomads that you can join for free. The purpose of those groups is to interact with other digital nomads, find job opportunities, and have a space to ask questions you might have. This makes Facebook groups especially helpful for aspiring digital nomads and digital nomad beginners.

How do you find the best Facebook groups for you?

Click on Groups in the Explore section on the Facebook sidebar. If you have been googling for remote jobs in the past, the big brother knows it and you will find some interesting group suggestions right away. Another option is to type “Digital Nomads” into your Facebook Search bar, filter the search results for Groups and join the ones that sound good to you. 

Here are a couple of our suggestions to make it easier for you:

6. Visit Co-working spaces

What is a better place to mingle with remote companies and professionals than in their natural habitat? Luckily, it’s becoming easier than ever to find them in the hundreds of co-working spaces that are popping up like mushrooms lately.

Join the Slack channels of the co-working space and introduce yourself and your services. Schedule coffees with other remote workers, and make sure to ask where you can find their latest job offers. Usually co-working spaces have physical or digital boards that advertise the latest remote jobs. They also organise workshops and events that offer excellent opportunities to introduce and pitch yourself to potential clients.

If you want to learn more about co-working, check out our blog on our 1 month co-working experience in Bali: 

7. Join Digital Nomad Meet-ups & Events

Networking is key! Many digital nomads will tell you that they landed their first and then following remote jobs via word of mouth. Look for events and meet-ups in the location you are in and just show up. Have a low key conversation with other professionals, entrepreneurs, and employers over an informal beer and see where the journey will lead you.

Also, if you are clear about a specific industry or field, it could be interesting for you to join conferences as they bring together the most engaged companies and people. Make sure to have your pitch ready and your CV updated to bring with you, so that you can get the most out of your ticket money!

Good platforms for finding professional meet ups in your area are:

You too can land a remote job!

Finding remote jobs can seem like a big challenge at first, but if you explore all options, you’re sure to find the right remote work opportunity for you. If you have any questions that remained unanswered after reading, let us know in the comments below and we’ll get back to you directly.