How I Scored a Fully Remote Gig, And How You Can Too!
The job market is a doozy -- and it's not any easier for people seeking remote work. Here are some tips, based on my recent success in scoring 100% remote work.
Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and they/thems! You may have wondered what I’ve been up to since my last post, wherein I reflected on my travels and discussed being a digital nomad. Or maybe you haven’t, and that’s fine too. Regardless, I’ve decided to keep up with this blog, even when I’m not actively traveling, as I always have much to say.
While I could easily talk about my upcoming travels — which needed to change as a result of the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East — or my brother’s wedding in October, or my busy and fun summer thus far. Instead, I’ll discuss how you can find fully remote work, as I’ve been working as a ghostwriter (and a proofreader for the same company). And by “fully remote,” I don’t mean hybrid (aka you still need to come into the office for some seemingly inane reason) or that you need to be based in a certain time zone, location, etc. “Fully remote” means that you can truly work from anywhere in the world and, even if you’re not a digital nomad like me, this can be very useful.
Looking For a Job IS a Job
As nearly all job seekers will tell you, looking for a job is a job. It’s a shame we can’t get paid for that. (Unless, of course, you’re a recruiter). While I regularly applied for jobs, sent out pitches, and networked with people — primarily through LinkedIn — during my time in Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand, I didn’t spend nearly as much time doing that as I did when I returned home. It helped that the weather wasn’t particularly conducive to sunbathing, which can be a major distractor to productivity (unless I get one of those laptop sun shades, which could allow me to work outside). And sometimes it’s too hot to sit outside, even for a sun and heat worshiper like myself. (Don’t worry; I wear sunscreen!).
When you spend as much time looking for work as I did, it’s exhausting and especially frustrating when it seems you’re not making any headway. I used ChatGPT for assistance with resumes, cover letters, and the like, which may have been somewhat of a detriment, especially when I applied for writing jobs that discouraged or flat-out banned — the use of AI. While I didn’t plan to use AI for writing, unless it was encouraged and/or allowed, the recruiters may not have known that, so I started to make my cover letters, emails, etc., more personable and less robotic.
However, I struggled to narrow down my search. I wondered if I was putting my eggs — or whatever the vegan alternative to that is — all in one basket, in using LinkedIn, Indeed, Upwork, remote-first job boards (like We Work Remotely), niche job boards (like Animal Advocacy Careers and GFAS), and individual companies’ job boards. This is a lot; although, thanks to my efforts, I did eventually obtain a job through LinkedIn. This actually wasn’t through the platform’s jobs section: I’d been doing frequent searches for things like “hiring ghostwriter” and “freelance writer remote,” and then filtering by posts only, then sorting by most recent. While I applied for the Ghostwriting position via a Google form, I found it by consistently searching LinkedIn posts.
Shortly after my application, I received an interview request, which I did over Zoom just days later, followed by a job offer the next day, and then I was almost immediate onboarded. I’ve already been paid numerous times, so you can imagine my relief to have consistent additional income. (I’m still working as a freelance film critic and editor for Next Best Picture). The road to that was stressful, frustrating, and often repetitive — in that I frequently received no response after a job application or a robotic rejection letter/email — so I felt the heaviest weight lifted off my petite body upon finally having some success.
What to Look For In a Fully Remote Worldwide Job
Before I realized what I was doing, I made the mistake of applying for jobs that appeared to be fully remote but required you to live in a certain time zone or country. I even made it to the hiring stage for a high-paying Technical Writer position, only to learn that I wouldn’t be able to go overseas while working for this company. The problem was not just on my end — I should’ve been upfront with them regarding my digital nomad lifestyle — but also on theirs, as they should’ve specified the in-country requirements.
Regardless, I took that as a lesson-learned type of experience, vowing to only apply for jobs that would allow me to work remotely from anywhere in the world. This is more common than you might think, but there are still numerous companies that not only necessitate work being performed during certain work hours and/or in a specific country (or region), but some still require you to be on site, in a hybrid or full-time format.
That certainly gives me pause and makes me annoyed. If the position requires you to work with people and/or equipment, I get it. But if it’s something like a writing or editing position — which was primarily where I focused my job search — the need to be onsite is unfathomable (unless it requires more hands-on work or maybe requires a security clearance, as one of my previous positions did).
When searching on LinkedIn, Google Jobs, Indeed, or any legitimate job board, you’ll want to type in something like: “remote worldwide writing jobs.” If you use a site like Idealist — which lists hybrid, remote, and onsite positions — make sure to select the “remote” option. You can narrow it down further by selecting the job type (freelance/part-time/etc), as well as salary information, experience needed, etc. I also recommend sorting by recently posted, because roles that aren’t that recent may have already been filled despite still being on the site.
Below, I’ve listed a number of job search boards that offer remote jobs. Remember to put in appropriate filters and check east listing thoroughly before applying. It’s not worth the effort if it’s not the right fit for you.
Job Search Boards:
Google Jobs (do a search on Google)
Thank you so much for this post!