You are probably wondering – remote work is great but what job opportunities are out there? The short answer is: if you can find a traditional job that can be done without being in the office (most office positions), probably you can find a remote job. The detailed answer follows.
Are there remote jobs in your field?
Can you do your job without being at a particular place? If yes, then you can probably find a remote job. In fact, it’s even possible to find a better remote job, than a regular on-site job which requires you to be in the office and commute every day.
As you can see, there are remote jobs available for each and every field (when it comes to tech at least). Moreover, the percentage of jobs that are remote is somewhat constant across fields (between 20% to 42%). This means that you should not worry so much if there are remote jobs within your field if you have an office job. Software, Marketing, and Sales have it a bit easier than the other fields, but the difference is relatively small.
If you are wondering how does the non-tech sector compare – it’s not so different. A study by Quartz reports that the top fields to land a remote job lie within computer science, design, media, personal care, finance, and management. In particular, the IT jobs are the biggest segment within remote work and it’s just 8% of all remote hiring. Therefore, you don’t need to be specialized in computer science to find a remote job.
The professions that you cannot find as a remote position – are the ones that require physical presence. This means barista, hair stylist, security guard, construction worker and similar. Those are mostly non-office jobs. For everything else, the companies want to tap into the benefits of hiring remotely, so there are positions available. This will be the case even more in the future: in the last decade, the number of remote jobs has grown by 115%.
Do you have the other prerequisites for working remotely?
It’s not a deciding question, but you should expect to get it at a remote job interview is: what is your workspace going to be like? The companies are looking to hear that:
- You have a reliable computer
- You have a reliable internet connection (you could even have a backup option).
- You plan to work from a place, where you will be productive.
Companies would expect that you have sufficient IT skills. This means that you are on par with the typical office employee. This is a requirement since you will spend most of your workday in front of the computer, using the computer for communication with your team.
Another thing to have in mind is that most remote companies would require good English skills (written and verbal). You can get away with just okay grammar, but you would be expected to be good at communicating with your coworkers. Remote work puts additional pressure on communication by not being able to use body language, so it’s better to not make it harder by adding a language barrier on top.
Still not sure? Go ahead and check some remote job boards, chances are that there are remote jobs in your area of expertise.
Do you want to work remotely?
There are a couple of things that can accelerate your remote job hunt. Download our newest ebook: The Ultimate Guide to Finding a Remote Job.
