Last updated on March 6th, 2023 at 05:06 am

Remote work is here for good.

When you’re not bound by geography or time zone, you have functionally an unlimited number of job opportunities. But if you’ve never worked for a remote company:

• Where do you start?
• What jobs are good?
• Which ones pay well?
• Which ones are scams?
• Where do you find these jobs?
• How do you stand out when you’re competing with anyone with Internet access?

In the last 10 years, I worked 4 different jobs in different industries (Hollywood, online education, technology). These jobs had two things in common:

1. They were all remote
2. I had no experience in any of the roles

But along the way, I met other ambitious people who followed this alternative career trajectory. They made remote work a critical component of their careers. They started with little to no experience. And many were also breaking into the tech industry for the first time.

Remote jobs with no experience required

Reflecting on our combined experiences, I realized: there are great remote jobs with no experience required out there. You just need to know what they are, where to find them, and how to stand out when applying. That’s what we’ll cover in this post.

First, we’ll talk about remote jobs to avoid.

Next, we’ll dig into 10 remote jobs with no experience required.

Finally, you’ll also learn principles to stand out when applying for ANY remote job.

Already landed and crushed your first remote job and looking for your next?

• Click here for tips on finding your next job.
• Click here for 20 tips and tools learned from 9+ years of remote work.

Remote jobs to avoid

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

If a remote job posting promises:

• “Work four hours a week from your couch and make $1,000 a day!”
• “Unlimited potential to earn residual income for life”
• “Be your own boss/owner/CEO”

…chances are it’s a scam, an MLM, or both. Avoid at all costs.

Chances are you’ll lose money. At best, you’ll break even. Here’s how Dann Gallucci, producer of The Dream podcast put it:[efn_note]https://bellocollective.com/how-does-this-stuff-exist-cd9ceb22d25a[/efn_note]

“Imagine an MLM recruitment pitch based entirely on numbers… ‘This is how you get paid. This is what you’re going to need to spend in your cost, and on and on.’

“That’s never happened before. It couldn’t happen because if you looked at those numbers you’d be like, ‘Wait a second now, I get why 99% of people either lose money or break even.’”

Other remote job red flags to watch out for:

• Lack of quantitative data on how much individuals make
• Jargon like: “work from your phone”, “x spots on my team”, “become a guru”, “FB parties”
• You’re required to pay upfront for education material, training, or product

10 remote jobs with no experience required

Fortunately, there are plenty of remote jobs with no experience required out there. What you do need:

• An understanding of what the job requires
• Self-awareness to know if you’re a good fit
• How to find these jobs (hint: avoid job boards)
• How to stand out when applying for these jobs
• How to use today’s most common online tools, like Slack, Zoom, and others

Here are 10 remote jobs with no experience required:

• Administrative or Executive Assistant
• Social Media Coordinator or Manager
• Customer Support Representative
• Graphic Designer
• Copy Editor
• Copywriter
• Content Writer
• Software Engineer
• Community Manager
• English Teacher

Let’s dig in.

Administrative or Executive Assistant

Average salary: $58,205/ year (Payscale)

What you’ll do

Your job as an administrative, executive, or virtual assistant is simple: make sure the trains run on time for your client. Typical duties include:

• Administrative tasks. Manage the schedule and calendar, book travel, clerical duties like maintaining files
• Gatekeeping. The first line of defense for phone calls, emails, and any other messages
• Research. As varied as competitive research to the best playgrounds in Santa Monica to take your kids

If you’re considering an assistant role, you should be extremely organized and able to work autonomously. Demonstrating these abilities is more important than a college degree. Remember, your job is to remove items off your client’s plate, not add to it.

Many assistant roles are remote-first. If it isn’t, an added benefit is that once trust is built between you and your employer, a non-remote assistant role can transition to remote (I did this with my second assistant gig).

Not only is an assistant role a great remote job no experience required, but it’s also ranked second in best highest paying job without a degree, according to US News & World Reports.[efn_note]https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/executive-assistant[/efn_note]

The executive assistant role was one of my first when I started in the entertainment business, working for 3 literary agents. I landed it with no prior experience as an executive assistant. Later, I used that role to land my dream job. Here are tips for you to do the same.

Tips to land these remote jobs with no experience

• Reverse engineer the role on Upwork and Fiverr. Review the profiles of administrative, executive, and virtual assistants on these gig sites. The job is keeping the trains running, with little input from your client. How do success assistants convey this in their profiles? How might you emulate this? Take a look at the profile page above. What stands out to you?
• Reverse engineer the role on LinkedIn. Study 3-5 executive assistant profiles on LinkedIn. What do you notice about their profile pictures, their summaries, and their experiences? You can’t make up experiences you don’t have, but you can identify the skills and experiences that are important. Once you do, find ways to (1) speak to them in your profile or (2) acquire them yourself.
• Go local. Local businesses need assistants, too. Search local for remote jobs instead of using the black hole job boards everyone else uses. How do you grab a local business’s attention? (1) Follow local media outlets and social media accounts. These often profile local businesses and entrepreneurs. (2) Make a list of companies or CEOs you’d be interested in working for. Research them. (3) Then email/DM them. I’ve used something like:

Hi Name, I saw your interview on Instagram with AlbanyLocal, and enjoyed it. I particularly liked what you said about X; I’ve lived here for the last 10 years and agree. I’d be thrilled to work for you and help take COMPANY to the next level (happy to do a 2-week trial to make it a no-brainer). What do you think? Sincerely, Chris

Want more help landing jobs? Learn to connect directly with hiring managers and avoid black hole job boards here.

Social Media Coordinator or Manager

Average salary: $52,724/ year (Payscale)

Social media coordinators and managers are responsible for managing a company or individual’s social media presence. That can mean the big four (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter). It can also mean developing more nascent channels like Snap, TikTok, and Pinterest.

Typical duties include:

• Managing the community. Responding to comments and DMs and answering questions
• Creating assets. Anything from the written word, images, or videos
• Tracking performance. Monitoring how posts are performing
• Strategy. Developing whole campaigns or series of posts (e.g. “New Year, New You”)

A social media coordinator is an individual contributor role and is typically entry-level. A social media manager handles more strategy and has direct reports. Going from a coordinator to manager is one path in a traditional company structure. Fortunately, both are usually remote-friendly, especially once you’ve mastered project management software like Trello, Basecamp, Asana, or Notion.

How can you stand out with no experience?

• Clear, concise copywriting
• Good intuition around how the target audience thinks
• An eye for what’s trending in the cultural zeitgeist

A friend recently transitioned to a social media manager role, despite having NO experience (she was an ER nurse). Her strategy?

First, she got a little experience by volunteering to help influencers she admired. Then she told friends what she was looking for. This got her an introduction to an owner of a small agency. She pitched herself and got the job.

How can you do the same?

Tips to land these remote jobs with no experience

• If you have ZERO experience, start with free courses. I recommend HubSpot’s social media and social media advertising programs.
• Build up your experience. If you need to build your skills, start working with gig agencies like ICUC and 99 Dollar Social. These are lower-paying gigs. For now, get the reps. Money comes later.
• Hone your skills. Work on your copy and design skills. Focus on tools like Canva, Figma, and Photoshop. Improve your ability to analyze data, so you can speak to the results your campaigns drive.
• DM small- to mid-sized influencers. A social media manager is a typical first hire for a small- to mid-sized influencer building their business. They need organized, self-directed people who can handle creative project management. Look for influencers with 5,000 to 10,000 followers who are actively promoting their business. Reach out via DM, using the script above.
• Level-up to bigger clients. Companies and individuals of all shapes and sizes need help with their social media presence: your local chiropractor, restaurants, giant banking companies, etc. Leverage your experience into jobs with bigger clients.

Customer Support Representative

Average salary: $40,000 (Payscale)

What you’ll do

Customer support representatives are a part of every company. It’s common to land a customer support role with no experience. Most companies will train you up on their systems and processes. In general, you should enjoy talking with others and diffusing situations where a customer might be upset. Typical duties include:

• Providing support. Solving a customer problem across phone, chat, or email
• Improving systems. Systematically improving playbooks and scripts (called macros) that get distributed across the support team

As mentioned, the customer support role is great if you’re looking for a remote job with no experience required. At the right company, you can get flexible hours, plus opportunities to take on side projects, become a manager, and even transition to other roles.

However, at other companies, customer support representatives keep very strict schedules, and there’s little room for advancement. If this is important to you, ask and be discerning about what company you work for.

Tips to land these remote jobs with no experience

• Connect with other customer support representatives. By now, you should notice a pattern: avoid job boards. That’s where everyone else goes to blast their resume. Instead, you should go direct. This applies to customer support roles. There’s consistent demand for these roles. The challenge is connecting with the right company at the right time. The trick? Connect directly with other customer support representatives on LinkedIn and let them know what you’re looking for.
• Demonstrate your knowledge about the company. Then ask to learn more about their experience. Here’s an example script you can use on for LinkedIn messaging: Hey NAME, I’m reaching out because I saw you’re a customer support rep at COMPANY. I’ve been a customer since 2019 and use PRODUCT every week! I wanted to learn more about working at COMPANY; would you be available for 15m to chat about your experience? 
• Stand out in the interview. Good customer support representatives empathize with the customer and provide a complete solution as quickly as possible. But the best support representatives? They can also quantify what’s happening at a big picture level: (1) How many tickets are created daily? (2) What’s the average handle time across the team? (3) How might you re-prioritize to improve Csat (customer satisfaction) score? Practice speaking about the metrics of the customer support representative job. You’ll be a breath of fresh air in the interview process.

(Want more help with interviews? Check out counterintuitive interviewing tips here.)

Graphic Designer

Average salary: $47,032/ year (Payscale)

What you’ll do

As a graphic designer, you’ll use words, images, and aesthetics to convey what a company or individual represents. You (or a team of graphic designers) are in charge of creating any visual assets.

Typical duties include designing web graphics, product packaging, social media images, and logos.

An artistic eye and terrific design sense are the obvious table stakes. You also want to be a great communicator. It’s your job to get everyone aligned with the final vision.

Similar to the social media coordinator role, once you’ve proven your chops, it’s a remote-friendly role. Companies hire both full- and part-time designers, as well as work exclusively with agencies. You’ll need to master this generation’s digital design toolkit:

• Design tools. Canva, Figma, Photoshop
• Free image sources. Rawpixel, Unsplash
• Project management tools. Trello, Basecamp, Asana, or Notion

Tips to land these remote jobs with no experience

• Research potential niches on Fiverr and Upwork. If you’re starting out, first get proficiency around a niche. This can be Facebook Ads, featured blog images, or Squarespace pages. Each niche has plenty of nuances. You can spend months mastering one type of asset. In the example above, there are over 11,000 designers who just market their Facebook ad design skills.
• Build your portfolio. You can do gigs as an independent on Fiverr, or via the agencies linked above. But the fastest way is to build directly for creators, like bloggers, podcasters, course creators, etc. They need the assets and you’ll get to build a powerful portfolio. Cold email and DM your favorites, using the scripts above.
• Become a T-shaped graphic designer. Over time, you’ll gather experience across many channels and design requirements. However, be sure to master at least one, whether it’s YouTube stills or Pinterest pins. This is called becoming “T-shaped” – generalist across a few channels, and master of one.

Copy Editor

Average salary: $50,351/year (Payscale)

What you’ll do

As a copy editor, you’re the last line of defense for a company or individual when they’re shipping words that need to be perfect. Typical duties include:

• Working any content. Web copy, print copy, press releases, blog posts, briefs, reports, etc.
• Tightening the message for clarity. Removing passive voice or simplifying the language used

To succeed, you need a strong command of the English language. You need to be extremely detailed oriented (remember, the last line of defense)! Most of the time this work is done solo, which makes it the perfect remote job.

Tips to land these remote jobs with no experience

• English or communications degree. This would be extremely helpful, especially if you don’t have experience. However, it’s not a dealbreaker.
• Target niches you understand. The best way to stand out? Pick a niche you have experience in – even if it has nothing to do with copywriting. For example, let’s say a medical device company is looking to hire a copy editor: all else being equal, they’ll hire a former nurse over someone with zero medical experience.
• Ride the newsletter wave. Newsletters are having their moment. As someone with a newsletter, I can confirm: copy editing is the worst. Put together a list of newsletters you admire, follow the author on Twitter, and pitch your services.
• Target “boring” companies. What do pharmaceutical, publishing, and insurance companies have in common? They ship a lot of copy. Include these companies in your research. Find their heads of content or marketing on LinkedIn and connect.

Copywriter

Average salary: $53,792/year (Payscale)

What you’ll do

A copywriter creates the words for product, marketing, and sales assets. The asset might change but the objective is the same: get the reader to take action. For example: click, buy, subscribe, follow, pin, like, watch, etc.

Things you may work on as a copywriter:

• Product. Product packaging, blurbs, and buttons in software
• Marketing. Blurbs for e-commerce sites, social media content
• Sales assets: Drip sequences, landing pages, sales pages

Tips to land these remote jobs with no experience

• First, hone your craft. Good writing chops go a long way, but copywriting is its own art and science. Invest the time to get good at both. I recommend the following courses, in this order: (1) CopyHacks Conversion Copywriting 101 (free) (2) Talking Shrimp (paid courses) (3) Copywriting Course (paid course).
• Research companies. Create a shortlist of companies you’d be interested in working for. This should include both local businesses, Fortune 500 companies, and everything in between. Sign-up for their mailing lists and follow them on Twitter. Start to understand their tone AND where you can add value. Strong recommendation: Include as many DTC (direct-to-consumer) brands on this list as possible, for example, MeUndies, Magic Spoon, Hims, Casper, Warby Parker, etc.
• Get noticed by adding value. When you see an opportunity to improve their copy (in an email, in a mailer, in an ad, in a Tweet) write down your suggestions. Then email or DM their head of marketing or brand (you can find this person on LinkedIn). This works particularly well for smaller DTC brands because they have less marketing dollars to spend and therefore, strong copy is their best weapon to stand out. If your suggestions are valuable, working with you is a great investment. The key to the message is being polite and helpful:

Hi there, Just a note from a fan, I love your product, been using you since 2019. I just noticed in this email blast that the CTA here was X. One small suggestion: perhaps change it to Y because it aligns more with the promise you’re hinting at in the subject line and the added congruence might lead to a higher conversion rate. Thanks for everything. Sincerely, Chris

Content Writer

Average salary: $49,300 (Payscale)

What you’ll do

A content writer creates longer articles and blog posts. There are copywriting elements to content writing, but you’re not driving readers to a specific action. Instead, the content writer’s goal is to educate, inform, and shape the brand.

A good way of distinguishing between the two: copywriting drives sales, content writing drives brand.

Typical duties of a content writer include:

• Pitching stories. Come up with article or blog ideas and pitch them to the head of content, marketing, or brand
• Research. Uncover and surface supporting evidence to support your article from interviews, web research, or any other source (e.g. books, podcasts, journals)
• Writing. Drafting the article, submitting it for feedback, incorporating the feedback, and publishing the final draft

Similar to the other writing gigs, the content writer role is perfectly suited for remote work if you have a handle on project management software and the basic Gsuite (Google Docs, Sheets, Forms, etc.)

Tips to land these remote jobs with no experience

• Write a blog. The best way to prove you can do the job? By doing the job. If you write a blog, it shows you can come up with article ideas, do research, and publish. Publish as often as you’d like, but remember that 5 well-written articles are more powerful than 50 poorly written ones. This is precisely how I picked up my first content role: I wrote a health insurance guide that caught someone’s attention. They were considering building a similar product and were impressed with what I published.
• Publish blog posts recapping books and podcasts. Notes for popular books and podcasts are a good evergreen source of traffic. Google shows there’s consistent search traffic for these keywords. You can landgrab this traffic (therefore getting more attention to your blog and your content writing abilities) by publishing the best reviews of popular books and podcasts.
• Cold email businesses without a blog. If a business has not invested (or under-invested) in its content marketing, that’s going to change. Apple’s i0S14 update has dampened the effect of paid acquisition (e.g. Facebook ads) across the board. The update affected targeting, reporting, and optimizing paid acquisition. In other words, paid ads are less effective, according to Insense. 

What does all of this mean for you? Businesses will need to attract customers organically, which means they need great content writers. Don’t be shy about reaching out directly if you’re a good match for a company. Cold email folks in the brand, communications, or marketing departments.

Software Engineer

Average salary: $88,280/year (Payscale)

What you’ll do

A software engineer builds, improves, and maintains the computer programs we interact with daily. These programs keep heat flowing to our homes, transfer money to friends, and play funny cat videos we share.

Broadly, there are two types of engineers: frontend (what the user sees) and backend (how the software functions). Typical duties are getting new code to work, fixing old code that stopped working, and getting code to work for a greater number of people.

More companies are going remote-friendly and remote-first for software engineers to widen the talent pool they can access. There’s never a better time to land this remote job, even with no experience.

Tips to land these remote jobs with no experience

• Go to a boot camp. You may not need experience, but you do need the skills. The best way? Attend a coding boot camp. You’ll deep dive into the required skills to become a software engineer, even if you have no experience. After graduation, many boot camps offer job placement services. There are many boot camps to consider; my friends have spoken highly of Hack Reactor.
• Crack the technical interview. Every software engineering interview includes a technical interview. Prepping for the technical interview is like prepping for the SATs; learning how to take the test is as important as what you study. For help cracking the technical interview, I recommend Sam Gavis-Hughson’s Byte-by-Byte blog free resources and courses.[efn_note]Like the rest of my recommendations, none of these are affiliate links. I don’t make money from these recommendations. I have worked with Sam in the past and talk about that here: https://chrisminglee.com/fbtest/2022-goals/[/efn_note]
• Be personable. The lone hacker building an entire app in one Redbull doused hackathon rarely happens. If you have the skills and you pass the technical interview, the next question is: can you work well with others? Good software engineers can code, but great engineers can code AND work with stakeholders (product managers, customer support, design, and other functions). I’ve heard many horror stories from engineering managers and recruiters. They meet talented software engineers who passed the interviews with flying colors… but no offer. Why? They couldn’t place nice with others.

Community Manager

Average salary: $52,622/year (Payscale)

What you’ll do

The very idea of a community manager role is still a nascent one. The community manager moderates and organizes the community of a brand, influencer, business, or organization. This can happen on any channel, but most communities are hosted on Facebook Groups, Reddit, Whatsapp, Discord, Telegram, or community-specific software like Circle. Typical duties include:

• Adding (and removing) individuals from groups
• Answering questions
• Facilitating and hosting events
• Moderating discussions

There’s no degree or certification for a community manager. Even current “best practices” are just best guesses. What that means is that landing this job has less to do with having experience and more about having:

• The right temperament. You enjoy communicating with others online (via chat or video) all day
• The right enthusiasm. You’re passionate about the community that you’re serving

Tips to land these remote jobs with no experience

• Manage a community you love. Join a community around a topic you’re passionate about: parenting, personal finance, wooden toys, whatever. Engage and pay attention to what makes the community tick: what keeps members active and coming back for more? When you’re ready, ask the moderators if they want any additional help running the group. Can’t find the right group? Start your own.
• Build a community for other creators. More creators are turning their audiences into communities. They need help to (1) get the community started and (2) keep it running. Stay engaged with the creator (follow them, respond to their Tweets, etc), and when appropriate, pitch ways you can help them build that community.

English Teacher

Average salary: $26,226/year (Payscale)

What you’ll do

As an online English teacher, you’ll work with students from around the world. In most cases, your focus is conversational English; that means teaching a non-native speaker how to speak casual English in a relaxed setting. You’re not teaching perfect English dictation or grammar.

Some companies require their teaches to have a teaching certification, like a TEFL certification. Others only require native-level fluency and a college degree. Many companies will also provide resources, like lesson plans and language platforms.

You can also offer your services on a language-learning platform like iTalki. There are over 3 million users on iTalki, and you can teach anyone who reviews your profile and decides you’re a good match.

Tips to land this remote job with no experience

• Demonstrate a passion for teaching. Genuine excitement and enthusiasm for teaching others go further than an advanced English degree. Go into the role thrilled about helping others and your students will see it
• Study successful profiles. If you experiment with platforms like iTalki, study the profiles of its most successful teachers, and emulate what works. Pay attention to all details, from the profile picture, blurb, and how they describe their teaching style.

Sources: 

Photo: Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty. What a legend. Also, one of my favorite memes.