Best digital nomad jobs for beginners and how to find them
If you’ve landed here you’re probably thinking about how you can become a digital nomad. That’s awesome, congrats! There are plenty of digital nomads jobs for beginners out there, you just need to know what they are and where to find them.
Becoming a digital nomad is the right path for you if you find the 9-5 a total drag. You’re over the corporate lifestyle and just want the freedom to hang about in your pj’s all day or work from somewhere different like Chiang Mai, Thailand.
It’s likely you haven’t found a job you’ve truly loved yet. Yes, you’ve enjoyed your career so far and the jobs you’ve landed haven’t been totally terrible but you know that there’s more out there waiting for you.
So where does that leave you?
Researching the best digital nomad jobs for beginners of course! In this list, I’ve broken down some of the most common digital nomad jobs so that you can get yourself familiar with the different opportunities out there and chose what you want to focus on.
What is a digital nomad?
For any newbies here, first, let’s answer what a digital nomad actually is.
A digital nomad is someone who makes money on the road, anytime, anywhere. They are location independent and don’t need to be based in a certain city or certain country.
Digital nomads have the freedom to travel the world due to their location independence. One week they could be working from Mexico and the next from Greece.
Most commonly they work as freelancers or contractors, and some are even entrepreneurs. The biggest reason for this is that it puts them in charge of their own schedules. Some may also be remote workers, which still comes with location independence but there may be certain times where this person is expected to be online and contactable.
What is the difference between a remote worker and a freelancer?
When it comes to a remote worker vs a freelancer both have their pros and cons. Being a remote worker is obviously less flexible but a huge pro is that you will have a steady income. On the flip side, when you’re a freelancer you are your own boss. You set your schedule, you decide how little or how much you work. But that of course comes peaks and troughs in your income. If you’re prepared to ride the wave then freelancing could be the way to go.
I’ve got experience with both and what I would recommend is finding a PART-TIME remote job, then doing some freelancing on the side.
Best digital nomad jobs for beginners
Social Media Manager
Getting into the world of social media management is great as there is actually a few different types of social media management, and some are a lot easier to get jobs in than others. Usually, it’s either businesses or influencers who hire social media managers and often for different reasons. When you work as a social media manager for a brand you are usually developing the social strategy, managing paid ads and looking after content creation.
For influencers, those with a large following usually need someone to help with nurturing their audience i.e responding to comments, replying to DMs, comment on photos of other accounts in their niche. Basically, they need someone to help with the admin tasks so they can focus on creating content and all the other things they’ve got on their plate.
This type of social media job is a lot easier to land with little to no experience so it’s great for beginners and getting paid to spend time on Instagram sounds pretty sweet right?
If you have a bit of customer service experience, an excellent eye for detail and good language skills, you’ll make a pretty good candidate. No doubt you’ll be able to draw on some previous work experience that would make you a good candidate for the role.
Where to find social media management jobs
A great way to get into the industry is to build a social media following for yourself as this helps build credibility but we all know that’s easier said than done with the Instagram algorithm these days…
So where else can you find these roles?
Instagram is a pretty good place to start! Have a think about some larger influencers you know, perhaps bloggers or entrepreneurs and reach out to them. Do they have some people in their team already? Do they have a ton of comments on their posts left unanswered?
If so, reach out to them and offer your services. Be sure to include what makes you the right person for the job and how you can draw on previous experience that would benefit you in a social media management role. It’s even better if you reach out to someone you’ve been following for a while and when you do tell them this. A huge benefit is you will already know the type of content the post, their tone of voice etc so be sure to include that in your pitch.
Other places to find this job include:
- Remote job sites e.g Angel, Freelancer.com, Remote Ok
- Niche Facebook groups such as Social Media Job, SMMJobs, Social Media Manager Jobs
- 99dollarsocial
Pinterest Manager
Before I hear you ask, isn’t a Pinterest Manager the same as a social media manager, let me tell you, they are very different. This is because Pinterest is actually a search engine, not a social network. So this means the way you use Pinterest to grow your business, web traffic or following draws more on SEO (search engine optimisation) tactics so that your pins get seen, repinned and possibly even go viral.
Talk to any Pinterest Manager and no doubt they’ll be well versed in Tailwind so this is an important tool to become familiar with too. It’s basically the holy grail of Pin automation. Growing a Pinterest account takes a lot of time which is why this work is often outsourced. The reason for this is the volume of Pins that need to be pinned on a regular basis, 25 per day is a rough average.
Pinterest can be an incredibly powerful platform when used correctly so these roles are pretty sought after. If you can teach yourself the basics when it comes to optimising pins, learn how to use Tailwind and figure out how to create cute looking graphics on Canva, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a Pinterest Manager.
Where to find Pinterest Manager jobs
Usually, bloggers hire Pinterest Mangers are they are putting out regular posts they need help driving traffic to, enter their Pinterest Manager. Small businesses may also find a need to grow their Pinterest account, particularly if they have a ‘trendy’ or aesthetically pleasing looking product.
Thought leaders, coaches, nutritionists, fitness trainers all could utilise the platform to help build a name for themselves so you may find roles for these industries too.
The best place to look for this job:
- Freelance sites such as Upwork, Flexjobs, Hubstaff Talent
Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assistant is probably the broadest job on this list but with that comes a lot of opportunities! It is a fantastic beginner-friendly way to make money online as there are so many different types of virtual assistants out there.
You might be thinking what on earth is a virtual assistant? Basically is someone small business owners hire to help them with a lot of the admin tasks so they can focus on the more important stuff. Think scheduling appointments, managing emails, answering customer service queries, helping with travel arrangements, invoicing, the list goes on. If you are someone who prides themself on being super organised, being a virtual assistant is probably for you!
There are other virtual assistants out there who are a bit more specialised and can help with blog writing, content creation, SEO, video or photo editing, really anything they are particularly skilled at that would be of value to a busy small business owner.
Where to find Virtual Assistant jobs
Being a popular line of work for digital nomads, the options for finding a job as a Virtual Assistant are pretty good. With this though, comes competition so think of something that sets you apart and makes you stand out.
Niche Facebook groups are particularly good for helping find Virtual Assistant work, you can find a great list worth checking out here. Finding jobs through Facebook groups is an awesome way to go because those looking to hire a VA can immediately put a face to a name.
An added bonus in the VA world is if you have your own website as this is something that will help you stand out and it’s an easy way to communicate your skills, previous work and rates. It becomes a fantastic place to help do the selling for you. People automatically trust you so much more if you have a professional and well laid out website. It also shows you are committed to your work.
If that all sounds a bit scary and too hard, first let me say there are so many great tools out there that allow you to build a website in no time at all. Try a drag and drop builder like Wix or Squarespace to get you started, no coding skills necessary!
Other places to find this job include:
- Fancyhands (focuses on small jobs so great for beginners trying to build their portfolio)
- Zip Recruiter
- Upwork
- VA Networking
Copywriter
If writing is your passion, why not turn it into a career? Copywriting is a job that’s very easy to do for anywhere in the world, heck, travelling will probably help unleash your creativity!
There are a ton of reasons why people will hire a copywriter such as to help with blog writing, article writing, social media copy, website copy, email creation. The reason copywriters are so sought after, particularly from small businesses is that good copy SELLS. If you are a great storyteller or good with words you will probably find you are very capable of writing copy that sells.
The question you need to ask yourself at the end of the day is what type of copy do you want to be writing? Yes, when you’re first starting out you may take any copywriting job you can find but you do want to start thinking about this pretty early.
The reason being is copywriting jobs will often ask for experience or knowledge within a particular niche. Another good way to spin it is what topics are you particularly knowledgeable about? Think about your past work experience, do you have anything you can leverage off to launch your copywriting career?
Where to find copywriting jobs:
A copywriter is more of a ‘traditional’ job albeit, easy to do from just your laptop so the possibilities are endless when it comes to finding copywriting jobs. This means you’ll likely find job listings on sites like LinkedIn, Seek, Trademe Jobs etc. However, they may not always be remote jobs so then you’ll want to start turning to places like the below.
English teacher
Becoming an online English Teacher is the perfect digital nomad job for beginners as basically anyone can do and it is an incredibly common job choice for people who want to work remotely. I meet multiple people on my travels who were online English Teachers for various companies.
One thing to keep in mind though is most places require a TEFL certificate. This isn’t something that’s hard or expensive (try searching Groupon) to obtain, it just takes some time and once you have it you are ready to start making money straight away.
Different companies hire people from different countries so depending on where you’re from this could influence your choice of agency. You are paid hourly for your time and you get the rewarding task of teaching young kids from foreign countries how to speak English.
You will need a pretty reliable internet connection for this job and you’re required to be online at certain times depending on when your classes are so that is something to keep in mind. The money is pretty consistent though and charged at an hourly rate so it is a good way to get started in the digital nomad world.
Where to find English Teacher jobs:
Go remote in your current field of expertise
This may sound super obvious but it is an option that is often overlooked. What are you already trained in? What do you already have experience doing? Chances are there will be companies out there who hire remotely, possibly even be totally remote themselves!
With the way tons of businesses had to adapt to the online way of doing things when Covid hit, it is a lot more common these days to have remote workers within a company. If Covid taught us anything, it’s that there are so many jobs that can be done without stepping foot in an office.
So, use that to your advantage! Go hunting for remote companies within your field of expertise and see if they are hiring. If they don’t have any jobs available at the time, why not sign up for alerts when new roles are posted.
This is a great route to go down if you want a steady income, however, bear in mind that will mean you need to give up some of that freedom you so desperately crave.
Where to find remote jobs in your field:
My biggest tip is to head to LinkedIn, enter the kind of role you’re after in the search bar and then change the location to remote and just like that, you’ll have a whole list of jobs within your field that hire remotely.
Teach a skill
Do you know how to play a musical instrument, do you know another language, or are you really good at something random like chess? There are so many random skills out there that some people are dying to learn so why not teach those awesome skills you have and start taking on students?
You could do this over Zoom or even in person depending on where you are in the world. Charge an hourly rate for your time and treat it a bit like a tutoring lesson. Obviously, it will take a bit of time to find clients and build up a bit of a name for yourself but if you’re doing something you love, is it really even work at the end of the day?
How to be a digital nomad with no skills?
Now you might be sitting there thinking you don’t have any skills that would help you get any of the above jobs and that’s okay. We all start somewhere! If you haven’t yet, I’d recommend giving my post on the 10 best skills for digital nomads to learn to start making money here. This will help give you a bit of an idea of some of the skills worth learning and how to learn them.
If you still think you have no skills you could leverage or learn, there are other ways you can make money online and they usually involve trading your time for money and don’t require any experience, or skills for that matter.
Most common digital nomad jobs for people with no skills:
- Transcriptionist
- Remote Customer Service roles
- Content Moderator
- Data Entry
- Admin support
- Proofreader
Where to find digital nomad jobs?
If none of the above jobs tickled your fancy and you want to see what other digital nomad opportunities are out there, there are a ton of general job boards designed for freelancers or specifically hire remote workers. Some of the common ones are:
Otherwise you can search more traditional job boards such as LinkedIn or Indeed and just set your location to remote. It’s as easy as that.
Happy digital nomad job hunting!
Feeling like you need some inspo?
After all that, if you’re felling a bit overwhelmed and like you need a bit of inspo from a fellow solo female traveller, I’m your gal! Head to this post to read about how my life changed when I quit the 9-5, aka the best decision I ever made. Or head here to read about when I moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand.
If you still have questions or are an aspiring digital nomad, drop a comment below! I’d love to hear from you