Where to Find Remote Jobs & Gigs (And How to Stand Out)
With stay-at-home orders increasing across the US and many people out of work or feeling insecure about their jobs, there is an urgent need to find work that can be done completely online. This is true for people who are used to working remotely and those who have never worked remotely or done any kind of digital work.
I’ve been working remotely since 2015 and I recently published my book The Remote Work Era, where I discuss opportunities for women to build flexible, remote careers. A big part of this is exploring what kinds of jobs can be done remotely and where people can find legitimate remote jobs and freelance work.
**Due to COVID-19, a lot of digital jobs that were previously done in-office will be performed remotely for the foreseeable future. If your priority is simply securing a paycheck during this time, apply to everything relevant that can be done from home for now, understanding your remote life might only be temporary until the world starts transitioning back to the office.
However, this list focuses on where you can find remote specific jobs — pandemic or no!
Where to Find Remote Jobs
- WeWorkRemotely — “The #1 destination to find and list incredible remote jobs.”
- Remotive — “Find a Remote Startup Job.”
- RemoteOK— “Get a remote job you can do anywhere.”
- Remote.co — “All things remote work.”
- Pangian — “The best curated & verified remote jobs at reputable companies.”
- Jobspresso — “Expertly curated remote jobs in tech, marketing, customer support and more.”
- Hubstaff Talent — “The FREE way to find the world’s best remote talent.”
- FlexJobs — “Discover a new world with only the best remote and flexible jobs!” (Paid service, I’ve used promo code NOMAD.)
- AngelList —“Experience the startup ecosystem — invest in startups, research the fastest-growing companies, and find a job you love.” (Not all the job listings are remote, but many are.)
- CyberCoders (Not all the job listings are remote, but many are.)
- Indeed (Not all the job listings are remote, but you can search with keyword “remote” in the advanced search.)
- LinkedIn Jobs (A great resource for finding jobs, including remote work)
- Facebook groups (Find professional Facebook groups that match your industry, i.e. groups for transcribers, affiliate marketing groups, etc.)
Standing Out
- Keep your resume to one page (if possible), making sure that it’s achievement-oriented. Use concise bullet points and keywords. If you need a free resume template, I like NovoResume.
- Create a short but powerful personal mission statement that really demonstrates who you are and what drives you.
- Create a few different versions of your resume, tailored to each specific type of job you’re applying to.
- Keep cover letters short but specific to the job and company you’re applying to. Show that you’re familiar with their mission and that it resonates with you. Talk about why you’re uniquely qualified and what you can bring to the table to help them grow.
- Include any links to your portfolio, blog, or personal case studies, which can further add to your credibility as a candidate. If you don’t have these things, quarantine can be a great time to start putting them together.
- If you’ve never had a digital job before, consider personal projects and other things you’ve worked on or contributed to that demonstrate digital skillsets, like managing a Facebook community. Express familiarity with tools like Google Drive, Slack, Zoom, and others that the company may be using. Also consider what parts of your work experience can easily translate to the digital world, like customer service.
Where to Find Remote Gigs
- UpWork — “Upwork expertly connects professionals and agencies to businesses seeking specialized talent.”
- Fiverr — “Find The Perfect Freelance Services For Your Business.”
- FlexJobs — “Discover a new world with only the best remote and flexible jobs!” (Paid service, I’ve used promo code NOMAD.)
- Freelancer — “Millions of small businesses use Freelancer to turn their ideas into reality.”
- Outsourcely — “The easiest way to connect with talented remote workers from 180+ countries.”
- ProBlogger — Freelance content writing/SEO writing jobs.
- Dribbble — Freelance and full-time design jobs.
- Toptal — “Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world.”
- FreeUp —“Access To The Top 1% Of Online Talent.”
Standing Out
If you’re looking for additional streams of income, freelance work can be a great solution! Before you start applying, I recommend putting together a portfolio of relevant work to share with potential clients. Platforms like UpWork allow you to upload work samples directly to your profile, but you can also create a basic portfolio site using Wordpress or PortfolioBox.
Freelance jobs can be highly competitive, and every bit of effort to stand out can make a difference. If you don’t have any work samples, now is the time to create them, whether it’s for fun projects or helping a friend’s business.
What Kind of Work Can Be Done Remotely?
A question that a lot of people are asking right now is what kind of work can be done remotely. While jobs like software development and digital marketing are obvious answers, I’ve compiled a list of fields that can function completely digitally:
- Accounting
- (Virtual) Admin/Assistant
- Audio Production
- Content Writing
- Copy Editing
- Design
- E-commerce
- Event Management
- Journalism
- Law
- Marketing
- Nonprofit
- Public Relations
- Project Management
- SEO
- Software Engineering
- Teaching Languages
- Therapy
- Transcribing
- Translating
- Video Production
- Web Development
If you have questions about how any of the above jobs can be done remotely, please comment here or tweet me @rhiannon_io and I’ll try my best to personally connect you with someone who has been working remotely in that field!
Avoiding Remote Job Scams
With the increased demand for remote work, job seekers have also been noticing an increase in “work from home” job scams. My basic rules of thumb are: 1) If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is, and 2) Any “job” asking you to spend money upfront, for any reason, is a scam.
Skillcrush has a great guide to identifying remote job scams, which you can read here.
If you have any questions about finding remote work or putting your best foot forward when applying for jobs and gigs, feel free to reach out to me! I’m happy to chat and do what I can to help.
Rhiannon Payne, based in San Francisco, is the founder of Sea Foam Media & Tech, an agency working with tech startups to help them tell their stories, build their products, gain investment, and scale.
She is specifically interested in distributed team building and the changing workforce of the 2020s. Her book, The Remote Work Era, explores these changes with a focus on new opportunities for women to go remote and start their own businesses online.
- Buy The Remote Work Era Now!
- Join The Remote Work Era: Women Going Remote exclusive community
- Twitter: @rhiannon_io & @remoteworkera
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rhipayne/
- Personal Website: rhiannon.io
- Email: payne@rhiannon.io
