3 Ways To Increase Your Chance of Getting A Remote Job
Follow This Simple Guide To Increase Your Chances of Success
Getting a remote job can feel very hard. When I first started looking for remote jobs in 2016, it didn’t seem possible, so I didn’t try much.
But after getting 4 remote positions myself, and being part of hiring and onboarding process for over 40 remote positions in 2 remote companies, I know much better how the process of getting a remote job works.
Since almost all my subscribers found this newsletter through LinkedIn, here’s 3 things you can do on LinkedIn if you want to get a remote job before the end of 2022.
Tell Your Story
It may sounds strange, but the first step to getting a remote job is NOT to apply, or reach out to someone else asking for a job, or even look for jobs.
The first step is to tell your story. Get on LinkedIn and start telling who you are, what you can do, and what your background is.
There’s no one right way to do this. But generally there are 4 rules:
Tell your story in small pieces. For example, in 1 LinkedIn post, you may talk about 1 moment in your life, or one short period.
Connect the storytelling to something valuable you have learned, or some skill you have. If it’s a skill, don’t say you have the skill. Tell the story so people know you have the skill.
Do this everyday. Don’t be shy if no one reads or watches, or if few people comment/like. It’s not important. Never get attached to results. Get attached to the habit.
Read/watch what other people post. Understand it, analyze it. Ignore negative content where people argue/fight with each other.
If you do this for the next 100 days, 3 things will happen:
You will know yourself better. You will know what value you have, including skills and perspective.
You will have a record of your story others can reference. So others will be able to know you.
You will attract attention. Especially if you put some time into learning from others’ posts. It will help you tell your story better.
Set A Job Goal
You want to work remotely, that’s clear. And once you’ve been telling your story online for at least 10 days, you should have a general sense of the kind of job you want, and even the industry.
It’s time to set a goal for the remote job you want to get.
Here’s what you need to set your goal:
An idea of what industries you would want to work in
What sized company you want to work for
What level positions you want to go after
What kinds of skills you can bring to a company that would be around your job title
With this, you can write out a goal statement. There are many ways to do this, but one template you can use is
I want a job working in {industry} at a {company_size} company as a {level of responsibility} using my {types of skills} skills.
Write this goal on paper. Keep it with you. Everyday, ask yourself, “Am I doing things that are getting me closer to my goal?”
Build Relationships Online
When you want a remote job, having strong relationships online can help you at every stage of the job search process, from finding opportunities to negotiating your salary.
To build relationships, you need to figure out 3 things:
Who do you want to build relationships with? It could be you want to build relationships with people in a specific company or a specific industry.
How many relationships do you want to build? Quality is more important than quantity. A suggestion: If you have a clear list of companies you want to work with, you want to go for a smaller number of relationships in each company. If you are not sure about which companies, but know the industry you want, more relationships might be more useful.
How can you add value through these relationships? The goal of the relationships you form should be to add value to the other person. The more you can give, the more you will get in the long term. Take time to think about what value you can add.
Okay, now for how to build relationships. On LinkedIn, there are 2 best ways, please consider them:
Commenting on posts. If the person you want to build a relationship with is posting a lot of content, comment on it frequently. This will lead to conversations, which will lead to a relationship.
Connecting and adding value through messages. This way may prove more challenging, but if a person doesn’t post on LinkedIn, this may be the only way.
In Conclusion
You can get started on these today. Chances are they will not feel easy, but the key is to take small actions towards them. If a remote job is what you want, these 3 actions will help you attract and eventually land interviews with companies you want to work remotely with.
In the next few weeks, I will be breaking these 3 points down into much smaller steps you can take and also sharing suggestions for how to handle the application process, interviews, salary negotiation, and your first days on a job.
Thanks
Great newsletter Alex. Telling your story has many positive outcomes. It let you stand out and ease to connect with others. And you are definitely going to need to both.