As we ascend further into realm of Digitalization and Tech, there is one aspect quickly becoming outdated in many industries: Working Strictly Onsite.  With increasing number of companies embracing flexible work arrangements including flexible hours and remote work, companies are redefining what it means to be an “full-benefits employee.”

One big thing I look for in any company I might consider working for is their “Remote Work Policy.”  This could be in terms of partial remote schedule (ie: 50% in-office, 50% remote) or fully remote.  Some “fully remote” positions may not even have a main office. In others, you might live in a different state or even country from the office.

Currently, I work 60% remote at my job, and it has helped me tremendously in coping with my Rheumatoid Arthritis and Chronic Fatigue.  Now, we officially have a Remote Work Policy. This means that if your work is remote-accessible, you can work remote. (Some jobs inherently are not, like warehouse work or some finance related work.)  I know few people in the process of, or have already taken advantage of the new policy, and moved to lower cost of living areas.

It’s also a great trend for people who have marketable skillsets but live in job-scarce areas. Or their local industry is not hiring.  If you have reliable internet and a good computer, you can work from anywhere now!

The wider industry (especially tech) embracing and normalizing what was previously considered accommodations for those with disabilities is a great step forward for us in terms of being able to work with more flexibility.  Just because we can’t get to an office shouldn’t mean we can’t work.

Working from home comes with its own sets of struggles, but I personally feel the benefits outweigh them.  Some people just cannot work well in their apartment, and need the office environment to focus and buckle down. For people who thrive in office settings, it definitely makes sense to work where they are most effective. To be fair, having the bed right next to my work space is less than optimal, especially when I’m tired. But I can also take a nap for my lunch break, so it’s not so bad!

And if you want to work remotely but need that “office” environment, you can always rent a co-working space, too!  Some types of work requires you to be in constant in-person contact with people around you for collaboration.  There’s also something to be said about the ability to just walk up to someone, or chatting in the kitchen.

Remote work isn’t for everyone, but if you are interested and think it might be for you, I’ve compiled a list of 20+ websites where you can look for remote work!

Why Remote Work?

Here are some of my reasons for like working at home/remotely:

• I don’t have to commute: I save 2 hours a day on the commute itself. Not to mention the 1.5~2 hours of sleep by not commuting.  On the flip side, though, it means I also miss out on 3 miles a day of walking and 2 hours of reading (I spend my time listening to audiobooks).  I try to make up for them by walking before and after walk, or during lunch hour.  That’s 3-4 hours a day that I get back, which is a lot of prime time.  You can get a lot done when you are home at 5:01PM instead of spending an extra hour getting back.
• I don’t have to spend money for commute: Because I live in NYC, I had Unlimited MetroCard for my commute. These expire at the end of the month, and as the name suggests, I had unlimited use of the Subway. However, it financially does not make sense to buy them unless you do 5x roundtrip (to break even) PLUS another trip every week. Given I’m commuting only twice a week, it didn’t make sense for me to continue paying $121/mo.  I switched to EasyPay Xpress card, which still refills automatically (so I don’t have to stand in that lonnng line at the beginning of the month). Instead of unlimited, I put in $80/mo into a TransitChek (pre-tax) debitcard account.  This allows me to spend only as much as I need, with added benefit of rides not expiring.
• I work a lot better at home: I’m one of those people who work a lot better at home.  There is less to distract me, including noises, people, and general chaos of an open office. (It’s no secret that I am not fond of open offices.)  I love my coworkers, but when I want to buckle down and get work done, it would be at home.  I can turn my music on, and get lost in my work with nothing to distract me.
• It doesn’t matter where I work: Sure, the best place for me to work is at home. I have my home office set up with my monitor and laptop stand, connected to my keyboard and mouse.  However, I don’t have to be at home to be work.  I have worked from random offices around the country, as well as San Francisco, DC, Orlando, and Maryland. I can work wherever I have stable internet, because everything I need is in my laptop. We set up our infrastructure to support remote work.  This allows for much more flexible vacation planning, as you don’t necessarily have to take off every day of vacation.
• I save money: As mentioned above, I save money on my commute. I also save money by always having lunch in the fridge or the ability to cook. This means I never have to buy lunch when I’m working from home AND have healthier options available.  I already only eat out maybe once a month, if even, for lunch at the office. Not having to worry about packing lunch for 3 extra days a week help tremendously with fatigue.
• I don’t have to put on pants: No comment.

Where Do I Find Remote Work?

The phrase, “Digital Nomads” is popular these days to indicate people who are working remotely, unbound by any location.

Many of them are even traveling the world while they are doing this, living a “nomad” lifestyle.  Many write blogs about staying in hostels and working in co-working spaces in Bali or Spain while making a living.

Job Boards for Digital Nomads

Here are some job boards for Remote Work. (I tend to follow their Twitter accounts to get the feed of job listings.) Many of these websites also have a non-remote section, but where available, I’ve linked directly to their remote work listings.

• NODESK.co: 830+ remote jobs at over 260 companies that offer you the freedom to work from anywhere. Work remotely from home or places around the world. Customer support, design, engineering, marketing, operations, sales and more.
• Remote|OK: “Biggest” remote job board on the web (daily aggregates of remote job listings from all over the internet).
• Jobspresso: Remote job listings curated, reviewed, and added on a daily basis. You can also submit your resume.
• FlexJobs: FlexJobs is the leading job search site specializing in the best remote, part-time, freelance, and flexible jobs available. (Requires Membership Fees)
• Working Nomads: Curates lists of the most interesting remote job offers in many professional career areas. They connect professionals who want to work remotely with innovative companies offering independent positions.
• Remote.Co: Looking for a remote job as a developer, customer service rep, recruiter, designer or sales professional? Browse openings in those categories and more.
• WeWorkRemotely: Find remote jobs in programming, copywriting, customer support, design, dev ops, sys admin, marketing, management, and more.
• Toptal: Exclusive network of top freelance software developers, designers, and finance experts in the world.
• Skip The Drive: Offering job listings from account management to IT to PHP development to Sales to entry level to data entry for remote workers everywhere.
• VirtualVocations: Remote hand-screened jobs in 40+ categories, updated daily by researchers.
• Remote Work Hub: Hundreds of long-term and permanent roles with remote-friendly companies from around the globe added every week.
• The Muse: Over 80,000 jobs in different industries, ranging from sales executive to brand ambassador to data scientist to research editor.
• Outsourcely: Filling remote jobs in a dozen different categories ranging from customer service and administrative support to mobile developers.
• Jobbatical: Don’t mind working in an office… Just want to work outside your country? Find a tech, business, or creative job anywhere in the world.
• Online Writing Jobs: Hand-curated freelance writing jobs for active freelance writers.
• Authentic Jobs: Job listings to match creative professionals with main brand companies like Tesla, Facebook, Apple, Etsy, NPRA, and Squarespace.
• Landing.Jobs: Not as hopping in the remote section, but they do offer a few dozen remote tech positions.

Job Boards focused on Women

This applies to anyone who identifies as female.

• Power To Fly: Launched by Milena Berry and Katharine Zaleski to connect Fortune 500 companies and fast growing startups with women who are looking to work for companies that value gender diversity and inclusion.
• Werk: Based on 6 types of flexibilities that women might be looking for, founders Anna Auerbach and Annie Dean made it their mission to make work flexible for everyone, especially women.
• Hire Tech Ladies: Apply for a membership to get access to their jobs page which includes roles from companies like Slack, Adobe, Square, PayPal, Samsung, Wikipedia, Etsy, Warby Parker, GIPHY, theSkimm, Trello, BuzzFeed, and hundreds more.

Other Resources

Some other resources to ponder when considering remote work:

• r/DigitalNomad: Sub-reddit for Digital Nomads
• Jobscribe: Not a job board, but sends you curated job listings every morning from top up-and-coming tech companies.

Do you know any other job board lists for remote work? Or have you ever used any of these to find remote work?  Better yet, have you been able to negotiate a remote work set up with your current in-office work? Let us know!