Remote Work Without Degree: The Ultimate Guide

The ability to work remotely without a degree has exploded in recent years with the advent of technology that makes it possible to work from anywhere. And with the pandemic, remote work became the new way of working in this world.

Remote work allows you to work independently, setting your own hours and working on projects that interest you. You can work remotely with no degree for a company or client, or you can work as a freelancer on your own.

There are a number of advantages to working from home, including the ability to set your own hours, work from anywhere, and choose projects that interest you. However, there are also some challenges to this, such as finding clients and managing your time.

In essence, a remote worker is someone who works outside of a traditional office setting. This can mean working from home, a coffee shop, or even from a remote location such as a different country.

Can You Really do Remote Work with no Degree?

The simple answer is yes, you can work remotely without a degree. There are a number of remote jobs that are available to people without a degree.

However, there are some remote jobs that will require a degree or specific skillset. For example, jobs that require expertise in a particular software program or those that require a certain level of education.

However, since almost every digital skill can be done remotely, you can find yourself a good gig if you have proven self-taught skills. This means a good history to back your skill can ultimately substitute a degree to get a remote job.

So, ultimately, you do not need to get through college and earn yourself a degree to find remote jobs. Digital skills can be self-taught. If you teach yourself well and build an appealing portfolio, you'll be able to get a remote job without having to rely on a degree.

Becoming a Remote Worker

Identify your skills and interests

The first step is to identify your skills and interests. What are you good at? What do you enjoy doing?

There are a number of remote jobs available in a variety of fields, so it's important to narrow down your focus, so you can find the right job for you.

When working remotely, it is better to be in a job that motivates and satisfies your inner self. This is important as you might face less opportunity to socialize with your co-workers. The remote work environment is the complete opposite of working in an office, so make sure you're getting into something that keeps you happy.

In essence, it's better not to aim for any of the popular or high-paying digital skills just for the sake of making money. Start by identifying your interests. Then see if you can associate that with a digital skill.

For example, if you like playing video games, you may consider skills within the video game industry, like game design, game development, scriptwriting, etc.

Learn the skill

Once you've identified the skill you want to learn, it's time to start learning.

There are a number of ways to do this, including online courses, books, and tutorials. There are also various free resources available online that can help you get started.

If you're just starting out, then it's important to not get too bogged down in the details. Just focus on learning the basics and gaining some experience. As you gain more experience, you can start to specialize in a particular area.

Master the skill

One of the best ways to master a digital skill is by doing. If you can find a way to get paid to do what you love, then that's the ideal situation.

In case you can't find a gig that pays you to work as you learn, then just keep honing your skill. With a simple Google search, you'll find a lot of free resources that you can use to practice.

You must also keep in mind that failure is part of the process. Practice sessions don't always have to be successful as long as you're trying your best to improve. The best way to master your skill is by doing and failing often. We believe that's how you can train yourself to achieve the natural flow with your skill.

How to Find Remote Jobs?

There are a number of ways to find remote work, including job boards, freelancing websites, and contacting companies directly.

The best way to find remote work without degree is to use a combination of different methods. This will help you cast a wider net and increase your chances of finding the right job for you.

Platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and LinkedIn are some of the best places to hunt for remote jobs. These sites offer remote jobs of different contractual possibilities, and you have the ultimate freedom to work for whatever job you like.

Unlike working directly for a company, working through freelancing platforms like Upwork and Fiverr will require you to share a percentage of your earnings with them. These platforms act as a broker between you and your employers, so you'll be sharing 5-20% of your earnings as a commission, depending on your profile's success.

Job boards like Craigslist are another option. They allow you to contact employers directly, which ultimately avoids sharing any commission with the job boards. This means every penny you earn will entirely come to you.

Inquiring with companies directly is another way of finding remote jobs. Top tech companies like Toptal, GitHub, and Automattic are actively hiring remote employees, and you'll be able to find all career-related info and open job roles on the career page of their website.

How to Land Remote Jobs?

The best way to start is by building an appealing portfolio. Build everything that's possible with your skill and bring them together for display. An employer hiring remotely will always be impressed by a proven portfolio rather than a degree with minimal or no proven application of skills.

Hence, a good portfolio is key.

After shaping a good portfolio, the next step is to send your application. A rule of thumb is to apply for as many jobs as you can. Always expect a conversion rate of less than 10% for the entire process of winning a job.

This means when you send 100 job applications, you can expect to win around 10 interviews. Again, applying the rule of 10%, you can expect to win 1 job after going through all 10 interviews.

Winning a remote job will be one hard grind. So, it's always best to keep a definitive strategy to win your first remote job. The competition for remote work is much higher than for traditional in-office jobs, so be prepared to put in as much effort as you can.

Below, you'll find a list of the most in-demand and high-paying remote job skills. This is just to give you an overall idea of what skills are dominating the remote job industry, and you should not be aiming to learn any of these skills solely because they pay better.

However, we do encourage you to find an area that bridges your interests and skills that are being demanded or paid the most.

Top 13 In-Demand Digital Skills

• Website Development
• Mobile App Development
• Business Analysis
• UI/UX Design
• Project Management
• Product Management
• Digital Marketing
• Social Media Management
• Data Analysis
• Website Design
• Writing
• Accounting and Bookkeeping
• Video Production

Top Paying Digital Skills

The salary for digital skills varies according to multiple reasons, just like how salary is calculated for in-office employees. Two of the important impacting factors are experience and location.

Different companies use different compensation strategies. This may be either of the 2 popular compensation strategies - salaries indexed to location and equal salaries for equal job roles.

Location-indexed salaries are where companies pay remote employees depending on where they live. If a remote employee lives in a country with a low cost of living, they'll pay a low salary. Similarly, if a remote employee is living in a country with a high cost of living, they'll pay a much higher salary.

Equal salaries for equal job roles is where companies pay the same amount to all remote employees performing the same degree of tasks. So a software company will pay the same salary to all its remote software engineers.

With remote jobs, there exists an opportunity to earn and save more money with the same salary you receive. This is called Salary Arbitrage, a technique of moving to cities with a lower cost of living to ultimately save more money off the salary you receive.

Taking the average compensation rate, remote jobs like Finance Director, Cloud Architect, Marketing Director, Data Scientist, etc. are paid the most money, billing up to the $270K mark per year! You can read this comprehensive list of top-paying digital skills to discover more opportunities.

Conclusion

Earning a remote job is not an impossible task, but it'll definitely require more dedication and effort to land one. The best way to start is by building an appealing portfolio and applying for as many jobs as possible.

And always remember, the remote job industry is ever-changing. What's in demand today may not be in demand tomorrow. So, be prepared to continuously update your skillset according to the latest industry trends.

As we already mentioned, the competition for remote work is much higher than for traditional in-office jobs. This means you must be prepared to put in your best efforts!

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