Remote work is a concept that has been popular ever since the technology to support it has been around. The percentage of workers that have done at least some of their jobs remotely has steadily increased over time. Videoconferencing and collaboration tools have reached a state where it’s possible to do many jobs without going into an office. If you’re interested in working from home (or the beach!), here is information about remote work and remote jobs that you might be interested in.
The rise of remote work
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has reported that approximately 51 million Americans reported using the Internet to work remotely in 2019. That was almost a third of the total number of Americans employed. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly caused that number to rise in 2020, as many employers shuttered their offices completely.
As businesses and the economy begin to return to form, many workers are finding that they enjoy remote work and do not want to go back into the office. Employers and employees are now negotiating to see what the future of office work will look like. Some employers are requiring all employees to return to an in-person office. Others have a hybrid approach, and some employers have decided to transition to a fully remote workforce.
8 Remote jobs that pay well
If you’re interested in working remotely, here are a few remote jobs that pay well:
Web Developer — Many software engineers have been working remotely for several years.
Architect — Much of an architect’s work is done in their office, and many client meetings can either be done through videoconferencing.
Data Entry Clerk — Many companies are outsourcing their data entry to remote workers.
Travel Agent — Travel agent is another job that has been working remotely for awhile. If you love travel, what could be better than helping others travel while you sit on the beach?
Virtual Assistant — Virtual Assistants or VAs help freelancers, bloggers and other self-employed people by letting them focus on the things that are core to their business.
Transcriptionist — There are several fields of audio transcription including legal, medical and video captioning.
Mobile Developer — Like most software developers, mobile app developers can often work remotely.
Financial Accountant — Accounting is another field where more and more people are starting to work remotely. Cloud-based accounting software is making this more and more prevalent.
This is just a small sampling of jobs that can be done remotely. Unless you’re looking at a job in the service or retail industries, it’s possible to do just about any job remotely, as long as you find an employer ready to work with you.
Challenges of working remotely
While there are many benefits of working remotely, remote work is not without its challenges. Social interaction can be harder to come by, depending on how your company is structured. If your company is still centered in one geographical location, it’s easier to still meet up with people from work. When your team is spread out across the globe, it’s a lot harder to have a happy hour after work.
Another challenge of working remotely comes if your team is split between remote and in-office workers. If you are working remotely but many of your colleagues are together in an office, it can be difficult to feel like a part of the team. Imagine a scenario where you have a team meeting to talk about an important team project. You dial into the meeting and participate as normal, but after you disconnect, discussion continues in the meeting room. In this case you may miss out on important changes to the project.
Neither of these or any other challenges of working remotely is impossible to overcome, but it does take a mindset change for workers and companies that are used to office life.
How to get qualified for remote jobs
While you’ll want to make sure that you have the qualifications for whatever job you’re angling for, there are also qualifications that employers will be looking for in any remote position. There are some challenges with working remotely and companies will be looking for candidates that can meet these challenges.
So in addition to the technical or hard skills, you’ll also want to work on your soft skills. Important soft skills to develop and showcase for remote work include communication, organization and flexibility. With employees and teammates in different locations throughout the world, getting things done takes more communication than just getting everyone in the conference room to work through challenges. Make sure to showcase these abilities when you interview for a remote job.
The Bottom Line
If you’re one of the millions of workers that got your first taste of fully remote work during the past two years and never want to go back into an office, you’re in luck. There are tons of jobs where it’s easy to work remotely. So find the right job for you, polish up your skills and go get your dream job.
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