What are remote careers?

Remote career opportunities are becoming more common in the digital age; in fact, there are multiple lucrative career paths that don’t require employees to set foot in a physical office space. Remote careers are those that can be pursued completely online, from the comfort of your own home.

Many of these jobs require a stable internet connection and an up-to-date computer that can handle the necessary software for the position.

6 exciting and fully remote jobs

While not all employers have the ability to offer remote working opportunities to their employers, such as those in the health care field, there are some industries where working in a physical setting is no longer necessary. These six occupations rely heavily on the internet and can be performed just as effectively as fully remote jobs.

Consider allowing your employees in these fields to continue working from home to save on office space rentals and increase productivity.

Learn more: 11 Tips to Effectively Manage Remote Employees

1. Digital marketing specialist

A digital marketing specialist is someone who designs, creates and delivers marketing initiatives to companies to expand their reach. Although these professionals are often outsourced by an agency, they work alongside the company’s marketing personnel to identify their target market, understand their products and services, and find new ways to engage with consumers.

A digital marketing specialist handles various tasks, including:

• Creating and executing digital marketing campaigns
• Content creation
• Ad copywriting
• Development of visual marketing assets
• Publishing content to the company’s website
• Monitoring the effectiveness of marketing campaigns
• Designing and scheduling posts for a company’s social media channels

Skills specific to the job include knowledge of:

• SEO (search engine optimization)
• Data analysis
• PPC (Pay per click) advertising
• Email marketing
• Social media marketing
• HTML and CSS markup languages

Digital marketing specialists spend a lot of time working independently to create these marketing plans and design elements, allowing them to do the job just as well remotely. For aspects of the position that require communication with other marketing team members or clients, the digital marketing specialist can use teleconferencing tools such as Zoom.

2. Customer service agent

Customer service agent roles vary from entry-level to senior-level positions. However, for all customer service agents the focus is handling customer interactions and providing answers to questions or inquiries about products and services. Besides handling customers complaints and concerns, customer service agents are also often responsible for dealing with returns and exchanges.

The key duties of a customer service agent include:

• Answering calls from customers about products or services
• Referring complaints to upper management
• Providing refunds when handling returns
• Performing telephone surveys to gain data about customer satisfaction

Specific skills required for the job include:

• Being personable and easy to talk to
• Good phone etiquette
• Oral communication skills
• Conflict resolution
• Data entry

58% of all consumers contact customer service each month, which is why so many companies have invested in a significant number of agents working in their call centers. They’re able to take customer concerns over the phone and make adjustments to their products or services remotely. With capacity limits and workplace restrictions in place throughout 2020 and 2021, many call center agents were told to continue working from home, proving the job can be done just as well when fully remote.

Related: Interviews for Customer Service Positions: Three Common Questions

3. Computer programmer

Computer programmers write and test code for software programs and computer applications. They ensure the code allows the program to function correctly. Computer programmers take the program or app created by a software developer and turn it into instructions for a computer to follow. Their daily tasks include:

• Writing and testing code for new programs
• Identifying and fixing coding errors
• Updating existing programs
• Ensuring protection against cybersecurity threats

The position typically requires a bachelor degree-level of education and the following skills:

• Proficiency in programming languages
• Mathematical skills
• Ability to solve problems

Provided the employee has the necessary software and computer system as part of their remote setup, there’s no reason they can’t continue working in computer programming from home.

4. Tutor

Tutors are usually responsible for teaching a small group of students or offering special one-on-one guidance. The role of a tutor is not to replace a teacher, but to supplement students’ learning by helping them become more independent thinkers. Tutors provide help with homework and can assist students with subject matter if they need additional instruction outside the classroom.

Tutors may often instill ambition in students and help them succeed so they can get accepted to their ideal college. The duties of a tutor are:

• Working with students to improve skills in a certain subject
• Assigning and correcting homework
• Identifying the student’s individual learning needs
• Presenting material in a way that appeals to a student’s learning style
• Evaluating students’ progress and sharing the results with their parent or guardian

Tutoring, while sometimes done in a library setting for group sessions or in the student’s home, is easily accessible online. Videoconferencing tools such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams make it possible for tutors to call their students remotely and share their screens when reviewing material. This expands the reach of tutoring businesses by allowing employees to work from anywhere and assist students living virtually anywhere as well.

A good tutor should possess the following skills:

• A higher level of education in the subject matter than the student
• Good oral communication skills
• Patience and encouragement
• Attention to detail
• A genuine love of learning and sharing knowledge

5. Mortgage underwriter

A mortgage underwriter is the individual responsible for approving or denying a loan application for someone purchasing a house. They must consider various factors, including credit scores, outstanding debts, level of income and credit history. The mortgage underwriter is employed by a financial institution. Although they previously worked in an office at your local bank branch, work-from-home opportunities for these professionals are becoming more common. Mortgage underwriters:

• Assess financial risk by reviewing credit documents
• Recommend loan products
• Authorize loan amounts
• Prepare reports based on their assessments
• Ensure compliance with regulations
• Document and prove reasons for loan approval or rejection

Provided the mortgage underwriter has a computer, the necessary software and access to the internet, they can now work from anywhere to approve and process mortgage loan applications. Allowing these individuals to stay fully remote frees up office space at bank branches and corporate buildings to allow on-site employees to enjoy more personal space.

The necessary skills of a mortgage underwriter include:

• Financial literacy
• Mathematical skills
• Decision-making abilities
• Understanding ethics and confidentiality
• Attention to detail

6. Creative copywriter

A creative copywriter works in various capacities; they can be part of a marketing agency providing copy for marketing campaigns or they may work for a content creation corporation writing blog posts or editorials for multiple clients. Some copywriters work in-house, but most of their duties can be done just as effectively from home. Tools such as Slack, Zoom and Dropbox make it easy for team members to share files and ideas and review employees’ work for publication.

A copywriter:

• Generates interesting and engaging copy for publication
• Researches the topic
• Offers an original and fresh viewpoint
• Proofreads their work
• Communicates with an editor

To succeed in a remote work environment, a copywriter must have these skills:

• High-level language skills (grammar, punctuation)
• Digital literacy (understands file sharing, formatting)
• Written communication skills
  

Skills for fully remote jobs

Working remotely is a dream for some, but it’s not ideal for everybody. To excel in a fully remote job, employees need to exhibit the following soft skills:

• Self-motivation
• Ability to meet deadlines
• Taking initiative
• Good communication
• Attention to detail
• Focus on the task at hand
• Organization
• Trustworthiness (will complete the agreed-upon hours)

When employers allow staff to enjoy remote career opportunities, they are putting a level of trust in them to do the work and clock the agreed-upon hours. For these fully remote jobs to work well for a company, employees must be reliable, ethical and responsible individuals who take the tasks seriously.

Read more: How to Create a Remote Work Policy (With Template)