“I would love to have such a lifestyle, too. But I have no idea how to find digital nomad jobs!”
This is definitely one of the most common issues I hear people saying. And I understand why. Many people think that a location-independent job is something super special and very hard to find. But the good news is: It’s not! In fact, remote jobs are getting more and more popular. Today there are plenty of ways to find digital nomad jobs and the following list will show you the easiest ones.
What Type of Digital Nomad Job do You Want?
Before you start looking for digital nomad jobs, you first need to find out how you want to make money online. By that I mean:
- Do you want to work as a remote employee?
- Do you want to work as a freelancer? Or
- Do you want to start your own business?
You also need to define what kind of remote job you want (if you don’t want to start your own business). Here are a few popular digital nomad jobs:
- Social Media Manager
- Content Writer
- Web Developer
- Translator
- Graphic Designer
- Virtual Assistant
- Customer Support
Maybe you already have experience and skills in your aspired job. Maybe you want to do online courses to learn what it takes to do the job. Or maybe you are looking for entry-level remote jobs where you can learn as you go.
Make sure that you first know exactly how you want to generate income online before you start. If you don’t know what you are looking for, it’s going to be much harder to find it.
How to Find Digital Nomad Jobs?
Now that you know what kind of remote job you want, it’s time to find it.
1. Talk to Your Boss
Before you start looking for new jobs, check if your current job could potentially be done remotely. That means if you like your current job and would like to continue doing it.
- Can most of the tasks be done on the computer?
- Can most of the meetings or conversations with your team members and supervisors be done online or over the phone?
If so, talk to your boss. See if there is any way you can switch your office job to a remote job. Oftentimes, companies are more willing to cooperate than to let you go and find a replacement for you.
Maybe it’s not full-time at the beginning. Maybe you can start with a few days a week to gain trust and show that you can indeed work from home (or wherever).
2. Online Job Boards
If continuing your current job is no option, it’s time to find a new job that can be done online.
What many people don’t know: Normal job search engines like Indeed or Monster are a great source for remote jobs, too. Simply use keywords such as “remote job”, “online job”, “home office” or “work from home” and see if you can find a job in your desired field.
Another fantastic job board that offers both in-office and remote jobs is FlexJobs. Here you can find hundreds of hand-screened flexible job offers. Everything from part-time or full-time jobs, permanent positions, or freelance work, to flexible working hours or online jobs.
There are many international companies hiring through FlexJobs, too, which usually means fantastic benefits, such as health care and a great salary.
Check out my FlexJobs review to see how you can profit from this brilliant job platform.
3. Remote Job Boards
There are also online job boards, which list digital nomad jobs only. How easy is that? No need to filter for remote positions. You can simply look for your desired job and anything that pops up is an online position.
Check out open positions on websites like:
4. Specialized Remote Job Boards
As just mentioned, there are many remote job boards out there, that offer hundreds of different digital nomad jobs. These are rather general platforms.
But there are also remote job websites, that focus on a specific niche. That means all of the jobs you can find on those platforms are in your desired field of expertise. Probably the best way to target your potential employers. Here are some examples:
- 99 Designs – graphic design jobs
- Axiom law – law jobs
- Power To Fly – tech jobs for women
- ProBlogger – content writing jobs
- ProZ – translation jobs
- Ruby Now – ruby jobs
- Stack Overflow Careers – programming jobs
5. Freelancer Platforms
If you are planning to work as a freelancer, specific platforms for freelancing jobs might be a great idea. You usually have to register, create your own profile with all your experiences and skills and can then apply for open job positions, or clients can find you and book your services.
There are a lot of jobs there, so you have a good range to choose from. They are also fairly safe, as these platforms often verify payment methods and you can check former reviews and see if the client is reliable.
Some of the most popular job boards for remote freelancing jobs are:
Please Note: Although this sounds very easy, the competition is huge. That means that prices can go down to a tiny USD 4 per hour. That’s why it is important to build up a reputation so potential clients see that you are worth the extra money because you deliver great quality.
Read this post for more tips on how to score a job on these freelancer websites.
Another disadvantage is, that most platforms charge you a fee that is deducted from your payment. For example, if you score your first job on Upwork, they keep between 5 and 20 percent of your payment, depending on how big the job is. This is, unfortunately, something you can’t avoid when using these platforms.
6. Unsolicited Applications
Of course, you can also approach your potential clients or employers without a public job posting. There are many companies out there, that are known to be very remote-friendly. They often hire remote employees or freelancers. Here are some of them:
If you want to see more remote-friendly companies, check out the linked post.
If you are an expert in a certain area, you could build a website to display your experience and knowledge. Send out emails or call companies directly and see if they would be interested in your help. High-level self-marketing skills will definitely help you with that approach.
7. Social Media Outreach
It doesn’t matter if you are looking for a permanent position, freelance digital nomad jobs or if you want to start your own business: Never underestimate the power of social media!
Take Facebook as an example:
- Use general Facebook groups like “Remote Jobseekers”.
- Facebook groups specially designed for digital nomads also offer positions every once in a while, for example, Digital Nomads Around the World.
- Go for specific groups, such as Virtual Assistant Hiring- Homebased Jobs.
If you are big on Twitter, you could also send out Tweets mentioning that you are currently looking for remote jobs and what you can offer. You never know who might end up seeing it.
8. Networking
The classic. Networking is one of the best ways to find jobs, no matter what kind of job.
Use LinkedIn and check your contacts. Anyone who works in your industry and might be able to connect you with someone interesting?
You could also reach out to former team members, employers, or even fellow students directly. They might remember your expertise and great working morals. If you are lucky, they might currently be in need of someone like you. If not, they might be able to connect you to others and recommend you.
You never know what happens. Networking could get you some really great digital nomad jobs.
Your own business
If you don’t want to get a permanent position and are not a big fan of freelancing either, you could start your own business and work from wherever you want. In the beginning, this might be harder than finding a digital nomad job. But being your own boss will probably give you the highest level of flexibility, too.
There are plenty of opportunities for setting up a location-independent business. Here are just a few popular ones:
- Start a dropshipping business
- Write and sell ebooks or online courses
- Start a blog and monetize it
- Buy and resell items from eBay or flea markets
- Flip domains or websites
- Design and sell your own merchandise products, e.g. t-shirts
Just be aware that it is usually a long process until you can actually make enough money with your own business. You have to invest a lot of time and sometimes even quite a bit of money until you can generate income with it. Make sure you have enough savings to get by for a while.
Find Your Perfect Remote Job
As you can see, there are many options on how you can find digital nomad jobs. Of course, you don’t have to use all of them. Test them out! See what works best for you, where you feel most comfortable, and what brings the biggest success.
If you need some ideas on what kind of remote jobs you can do or are looking for jobs that don’t require you to have any IT skills, check out the linked posts.
If you have another creative idea on how to find work, feel free to let me know in the comment box below!
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