How to Choose a Remote Job

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After working remotely for almost 5 years, I have found that so many of you are interested in working from home, but have no idea how to get started. And I get it, there is so much information out there, and it can be challenging to know where to begin. Here are 6 key things to consider when beginning to search for a remote job.

Financial End Goal

The first place to start, when choosing a remote job, is to think about the end goal. Think about your monthly expenses and find out how much you need to be making each month. This will help you decide if you should focus exclusively on full-time positions, or if a part-time position might be a good fit.

Knowing your financial goals will allow you to weed out the options that aren’t a good fit for you. For example, if you know that you need to be making $5,000 a month, you can eliminate any positions that are below this.

If you have a spouse or roommate, you can discuss this with them, to decide what a reasonable number is.

Employee, Contractor, or Freelancer

It’s also important to know which of these three is the best fit for you. As a contractor or freelancer, you will essentially be a business owner, meaning that you are responsible for paying your own taxes and you won’t be receiving benefits. The advantage of being a contractor or freelancer is that you might have a lot more flexibility or autonomy. However, this can also depend on the company or contract.

The advantage of being an employee is that you’ll have benefits, although this can vary significantly from company to company. There are also some people who work as employees and take on contract or freelance roles on the side.

While there is no best choice, it’s important to find what is the ideal option for you.

Preferred Working Routine

Set Schedule
Flexible Hours

Working remotely is truly a learned skill. People often think that making the transition from office employee to remote worker is an easy and seamless one, however, that’s often not the case.

Working from home can often require a completely different set of skills, and it takes time to work out a schedule and routine that fits you.

For example, some people like having a set schedule where they are doing the same tasks each day. This could look like:

Teaching
Coaching
Consulting
Customer Support

If you are working with students or clients most of the day, your schedule might be determined for you. However, for other roles, you might be switching tasks throughout the day and find yourself doing something different each day.

If you struggle to prioritize or are a procrastinator, working remotely might prove to be a challenge, at least until you can set up proper schedules and structures for yourself.

Working with People or Working Solo

When people think of ‘working from home’ they often imagine tasks like writing, or programming, where the person is working by themselves. However, there are lot’s of remote options for both preferences.

If you want to work remotely but love interacting with people you might enjoy Teaching or Customer Support.

However, if you want a job that allows you to work alone, remember that it’s still important to make time for connecting with others, whether it’s other remote workers, or friends or family.

It’s important to know yourself well, and your own preferences, because we are all different. For one person, spending 8 hours a day interacting with students or clients might be energizing, while for someone else, it might be incredibly exhausting. The same could be said for a job like writing. Some people would love sitting alone in front of their computer all day, while others might go crazy!

Previous Skills

In today’s world, we have so many remote options. Therefore, like I mentioned earlier, it’s helpful to narrow down the search as much as you can. If you’ve never worked remotely, previous skills can be a good way to get your foot in the door, with your first remote job.

Because working remotely is different than being in an office, employers often prefer to hire those with remote work experience. Therefore, if you don’t have remote work experience, the second best option, is to have experience, and be the best overall candidate.

Take some time to think about both your education and previous work experience and think about jobs that would allow you to utilize those skills.

Bonus Tip: Another option is to take on a freelance or contract remote role on the evenings or weekends to get some remote experience. This is also a great way to test the waters to see if remote work is a good fit for you.

Future Skills

If you have been looking at remote job descriptions but feel like you don’t have the necessary skills or qualifications, look into taking a course or certification. Remote roles can often be technical in nature and if the roles require a technical background, start now.

There is so much free and inexpensive information available online, so don’t let price hinder you. Udemy, Coursera, and EduX can be great options for learning new skills without spending thousands of dollars.

To Sum Up: Here are the things to consider.

What is the financial end goal?
Do I want to be an employee, contractor, or freelancer?
What is my preferred working routine?
Do I want to be working with people all day or working solo?
What are my previous skills?
What are future skills I want to learn or develop?

For even more info, I also recommend checking out this great video with a Career Coach from Flexjobs.

I absolutely LOVE this topic! So, if you have any other questions about working remotely, feel free to fill out the comment form below and I’d be happy to help.