It amazes me to no end how many people want to work remotely, or say they do, but haven’t actually tried to land a remote job…ever. 

There really is no substitute for action folks.  None at all. 

In most cases, they haven’t taken action because they have already convinced themselves it won’t work.

9 out of the 10 people I talk to about fulfilling their desire to work remote are blocking themselves from working remotely. It pains me that this is happening because what that means is there are THOUSANDS of remote jobs out there that you aren’t going to get because you won’t even try and you won’t try because you’ve made assumptions about what will or will not happen if you do.

I’ve been landing remote work for over 13 years. I’m not special. I mean, my momma told me I was special, but I bet yours did too.

The only real difference between me and you is I tried and kept trying.

Based on the conversations I’ve had with folks who slide in my DMs or post on my IG about working from remote, I have noticed a few patterns

PEOPLE ASSUME REMOTE JOBS ARE JUST FOR TECHIES

For some reason, most people think that remote jobs are only for developers and tech people.  That could not be farther from the truth. In fact, there are more remote jobs out there for non-tech people than there are for tech people.

But let’s just say, for arguments sake, that only tech companies were hiring remote employees. Let’s say the only companies out there hiring a remote workforce are the Googles, the Apples and the Ubers of the world.  Guess what those tech folk are not doing at Google, Apple, and Uber? They are not doing do their own accounting, finance, recruiting, HR, or administrative work. So even tech companies need people like me and you to keep their virtual doors open.

PEOPLE THINK REMOTE JOBS DON’T PAY WELL OR HAVE GOOD BENEFITS

Ok, I was guilty of this one myself. I had a friend tell me I should work for the company he was working for at the time b/c they had Project Managers that work remote all over the US. At the time, I loved my job and was making over six figures as a PM. I really wanted to be remote just because I wanted some freedom in my schedule to travel and focus on building my business(es).

I ignored his offer to refer me for about 6 months because I thought “there’s no way they’ll pay me what I’m currently making to work remotely”.  One day, after realizing I really needed to commit to being able to travel more if I wanted to start my business I finally decided to stop relying on my assumptions and just ask him what the salary range was.

BRUH! It was more than I was making at the time. In fact, by the time I received and negotiated my offer, they were paying me $20K more to sit at home and work than I was making driving to an office every day! 

But here’s the thing, I do believe there is a reasonable pay cut I would have taken in exchange for the freedom to work from anywhere.  It would have been worth it to me. Figure out what that reasonable pay cut is for you. What are you willing to give up for the freedom to spend more time with your family or spend more time living your life?

PS a lot of remote jobs have unlimited PTO!!!

PEOPLE TELL THEMSELVES THEY AREN’T QUALIFIED

I read somewhere that many women do this, especially.

I read a study that said men will apply for a job even if they meet less than 50% of the qualifications and women will only apply if they meet 90% or more.  

We look at a job posting and we’re mostly qualified but we’re missing one or two key things in the job posting so we just don’t apply at all.

WHY?!? WHY DO WE DO THIS??

The way I see it, I’m putting my bid in either way. What do I have to lose aside from the 10 mins I spent on the application? Let them decide they don’t want me.  Because if I choose not to apply for the job, I’ve decided they don’t want me. Who am I to make decisions for them?? 

Now I’m not saying just sling your resume to every job out there, but if you meet 70% of the job requirements, why not go for it? The ones where you don’t meet all or most of the qualifications are the ones you should make damn sure your resume and cover letter show why they should consider you even though you have gaps in your quals. 

I hired someone recently for a job he was missing qualifications for. The job posting said we were looking for someone with Master Data Management experience. MDM is a very industry specific term. Neither of the top 3 candidates had it, but they had a lot of other relevant experience that made me believe they would be great in the position. The guy I hired, who had ZERO MDM experience is currently ROCKING IT on his MDM projects.

It is absolutely impossible to get a job you don’t apply for.

All that said, I can only conclude that the single BIGGEST obstacle to most people landing remote work is themselves.

You are likely your biggest obstacle to landing remote work. The assumptions and myths you have chosen to believe without substantiation is stopping you from snagging a remote job because you won’t even start looking and applying. 

Aren’t you ready to start?

It’s pretty easy to do. I actually put together a free guide on my favorite places to find remote jobs, that guide has a lot of great places for you to start.