Finding a Digital Nomad Job: Tips, Resources, & How We Did It
Do you want to be a digital nomad? Are you trying to figure out how to get a job that will allow you to travel full time, or to work from anywhere in the world? Not sure where to start?
As a couple with two very different careers in different fields who have been just as successful on the road as at home in a traditional 9-5 job, we’d like to share our experiences, tips, and resources in hopes that they’ll help others create a life they love.
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Our Digital Nomad Story
We haven’t always been digital nomads (obviously) and as a couple we had very different journeys to get to where we are today.
Often, when someone thinks of a digital nomad they envision someone who works in the tech industry, and more specifically something along the lines of an IT person… think help desk, software developer, or network operations center (NOC) engineer. This makes sense, as a technical job is usually easy to do remotely, takes less collaboration and in person time, and is an industry that has been at the leading edge of remote work technology.
So, it’s not a huge surprise that Sergio was able to fine tune his IT career early on. He started off as an on-site IT support engineer where he earned a reputation as the go-to person for all things IT. This helped him build his clientele and become a successful independent consultant. From there, it wasn’t long before he was able to go fully remote (with the occasional exception that he simply needs to be in person to more effectively do a job).
On the other hand, Shannon found herself in a place where many people find themselves. She knew she wanted to travel the world and work remotely, but she wasn’t in a career field that naturally fit the mold of a digital nomad (at least not in pre-COVID times).
Between the two of us we talked about options, teaching English as a second language, reselling and drop-shipping goods, coaching, freelance writing, etc. But most of this didn’t stand out as something Shannon wanted to do for the long haul. It means a lot to be able to be proud of what you do for a living and when asked say it matter-of-factly, without any caveats or justifications added. Shannon knew that none of these possible digital nomad career choices would accomplish that for her.
As we started our relationship and built our life together we had goals of traveling, working remotely, and pursuing FI/RE (financially independent, retire early). So for Shannon, finding a career that would fit the bill was always looming in the background.
In the end, things turned out well. So well that Shannon has grown her career to be better and stronger than she ever imagined it could be in a traditional on-site role, let alone a location independent one. However, the path to get there was not always clear cut and it certainly wasn’t something she did overnight. It took years of preparation and hard work.
With that said, we’re often asked how to find a job that will allow someone to be a digital nomad. We don’t have a clear-cut answer that will be the silver bullet for every person, however we can share our personal experience along with resources we’ve found helpful.
Note: This article may be heavily focused on Shannon’s journey to becoming a digital nomad as a project and program manager, but we urge you not to dismiss it simply because that’s not your path. We encourage you to replace her job title with your desired title, read between the lines, and focus on the over arching theme, methods, and strategies that can help you become a digital nomad.
What’s a Digital Nomad?
‘Digital Nomad’ is the popular term used to describe someone who works remotely using digital tools and is location independent, AKA nomadic. As digital tools have gotten better, more accessible, and more accepted, jobs that can be done remotely have grown well beyond software developing and help desk. Today the breadth of roles that can be digital and remote are vast, including an entrepreneur with their own products or company, an teacher or coach, a project manager, a trainer, a writer, and so much more.
In addition to having a job that leverages digital tools and an internet connection, the act of full-time travel is part of being a digital nomad. Being location independent means traveling from place to place rather than simply being a remote worker and working from home or a single long-term location. In defining location independence, there’s no set speed of travel, so one could stay in a location for a few days or weeks, or longer.
“One thing we always like to point out is that being a digital nomad is often portrayed as ‘living the life’, working from a laptop on a tropical beach for example. This is far from the truth.”
Working remotely requires a comfortable, productive, and ideally ergonomic workstation that can be utilized for hours at a time. You must also have a reliable high-speed internet connection. Among many other things, the glare of the sun simply makes working on a beach for long periods of time… challenging to say the least.
How to Find the ‘Right’ Digital Nomad Job
When we met, Shannon was part way through her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and was considering a path either towards becoming a psychologist (PsyD) or a psychiatrist (MD). Either careers would have followed the path of most of Shannon’s family who are highly educated social workers, teachers, and missionaries. And, while she could have created a digital practice, this would have been unique in the field 10+ years ago. Additionally, it didn’t take long for either of us to realize that Shannon’s skills were better suited for the business world.
With that in mind, Shannon finished her degree in Psychology and with some determination and grit made her way into the business world in a field that was a perfect fit for her, project and program management.
It wasn’t something that happened easily and it wasn’t something she did right out of the gate. She created opportunities and accepted jobs that were a mix of psychology, business, and operations. Once she got her first official job as a project manager, she earned her PMP (Project Management Professional) certification and then found opportunities that allowed her to be a remote project manager and then later became a program manager for one of the top tech companies in the world.
“It’s easy to find a list of job roles and careers that can be done remotely, but getting hired, that’s another story.”
We recommended you find a job you actually enjoy doing and that suits your skill set. Please, don’t misunderstand us, you don’t necessarily have to be in love with your job or plan on doing it for the rest of your life, but you shouldn’t dread it either. You might be ready to jump right in, or you may have to learn skills, get certified, and/or earn credibility and seniority in your field before you can work remotely, especially overseas.
If you simply want to see what remote jobs and career opportunities are out there, here are some job sites we recommend:
Be sure to check out our resources and tips on finding a location independent job and our take on how to become a successful digital nomad.
If you’re not sure what you want to do, we recommend reading on to see how Shannon took a non-traditional path to becoming a digital nomad and figured out what career path was right for her. See how she got her ‘foot in the door’, got certified, and earned credibility in her field.
“We encourage you to replace her job title with your desired title, read between the lines, and focus on the over arching theme, methods, and strategies that can help you become a digital nomad. ”
On the other hand, if you want to become a project manager or a program manager, then read on to see how Shannon earned her PMP, became a consultant and leveled up her career to a program manager while working as a digital nomad.
Most of our articles are written from the third person, however to make this a bit easier, we’re going to make a rare change and write from Shannon’s perspective.
Note: Requirements and specifics for the PMP certification may have changed since Shannon earned her PMP certification. Please check with PMI to ensure you have the most up to date information on certification.
Becoming a Project Management Professional
Let me start by clarifying my experience by saying that I started with no clue as to what project management was. Frankly, I had an extremely limited knowledge of the business world since I grew up in a non-profit, social working family. I was, however, from a young age different than my family. I naturally planned, budgeted, and structured everything.
“If you joke that we run our life off of a spreadsheet, we laugh because it’s mostly true! ”
So, this is the experience of someone who, as far as project and business management are concerned, might as well be considered a tabula rasa (Latin for blank slate).
Finding the ‘Right’ Career Path
I knew before I graduated that my once dream of being a psychologist or psychiatrist simply wasn’t a good fit for me. The field was interesting, but research didn’t intrigue me and having a practice was surely going to burn me out quicker than retirement would come.
But what was done was done, and I wasn’t going to pursue a doctorate or medical doctorate, but I also wasn’t going to change my four year major so far into the game.
“So I opted for a bachelors in science rather than art and worked full time, did internships, and took 18 credits in school (12 credits is considered full time). ”
After graduation I started looking for work and of the few social work job interviews I went on, I was offered the positions (even management roles), but I turned them down. I was diligent and interviewed potential employers just as much as they did me, and it became even more clear that the psychology field simply wasn’t for me.
With encouragement and support from Sergio, I widened my job search and looked at as many different types of job listings as I could find.
“I set aside the listings that seemed interesting and looked for what they all had in common. Every position that seemed ‘perfect’ required a PMP certification. ”
I Googled PMP certification and learned that it was a Project Management Professional certification administered by PMI (Project Management Institute). Through their website, I contacted my local chapter. In fact, I pretty much spammed them, because I emailed every email on the chapter’s board asking for information and guidance. I was soon on the phone with a person from the local chapter who invited me to my first chapter meeting. He answered all of my questions, gave me more information than I honestly retained, and then introduced me to over a dozen other chapter members who were experienced project managers.
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My Journey Towards a PMP Certification had Begun!
I Had Four Goals for My Career
Enjoy it
Be good at it
Remote
Location Independent
As I surrounded myself with other project and program managers I was pretty confident that not only would I enjoy it, but it would come naturally to me.
But could it be a career I could do as a digital nomad? I wasn’t 100% certain, however I had the confidence of Sergio that I could find a way. Whether it was a remote and location independent employee role or becoming a consultant, he had the confidence where I lacked it. And thank goodness for that, because I used his confidence to begin a journey that has led to greater success than I could have imagined. Throughout the whole process Sergio was my rock and biggest cheerleader!
Once I figured out that the jobs I wanted prefered a PMP certification, I carefully reviewed what the requirements were to earn it. I analyzed and memorized the bullet list of requirements and kept them in the back of my mind. They guided every career decision I made from there on out.
PMP certification requirements vary depending on level of education. I focused on the requirements for those with a four year degree.
35 hours of project management education. Most effectively accomplished with a PMP bootcamp. I could earn my hours AND prep for the exam.
36 months of project hours. This converts to 4,500 hours that can be accumulated over an eight year period. This was the requirement that would take the most time to fulfill.
Pass the PMP certification exam. I am a good test taker but this still made me nervous. The PMP exam is compared to the LSAT or CPA exam. A lot of studying was going to be needed.
Earning Project Management Hours without Official Project Management Experience
It’s a catch 22. Usually to be a project manager you need to have your PMP, but to get your PMP you need a whopping 4,500 project management hours (with a four-year college degree).
It seems that it takes at least one of four things: luck, a business degree or MBA, and patience to earn hours… Or pure grit and bullheaded determination to get the hours. First, I don’t believe in luck, I make my luck happen. Second, I was not financially prepared to get an MBA or a second bachelor’s degree. I certainly was not patient enough as I had already taken too long to get my career started.
“At some point my schooling had to stop so my career could start.”
So, that left me with option four.
PMI allows PMP certification applicants to use professional project management experience hours from the previous eight years.
The key here is professional. I couldn’t use my Saturday chores or my family vacations as project experience hours since it wasn’t considered professional.
I was laughably optimistic that once I reviewed my job history, I would have close to 4,500 hours. However, after a methodical review and documentation on a spreadsheet, I was nowhere near enough hours to satisfy the 4,500 hour requirement. So, I had work to do, and I knew I needed to find a job that would focus on project management.
Tip: I reviewed the PMP application criteria and knew what information would be required when documenting my project experience. I downloaded a free spreadsheet template for documenting project hours and made sure that it had all the fields I would need for the application. I then used this spreadsheet to document my review of previous work experience and then continued to fill it out weekly. This ensured that when I completed the application I had all of the information required on hand. With that said, because I had over 80 projects, it still took over seven hours to document my hours on the application!
The First Job Sets the Tone for Every Other Job
After I graduated, I felt I had to contribute to our home and that it was time for me to kickstart my career. So, I thought I needed to take the first job offered to me, even if it wasn’t a good fit and compensation was low. Thankfully though, Sergio put a big stop to that! He supported me in making sure that my first job out of the gate would not only help me get the hours I needed to become a project manager, but that the pay was also decent.
“Consider this: Every subsequent raise (and salary from a new job) is based off of your first salary. So, the more you earn on day one, the more you’ll earn in a year, in a decade, and in theory at retirement.”
It was hard to do, but I turned down the first few offers that were made to me.
It paid off in spades.
The first job I took was a government contract job that would be both launching a facility and training employees. The pay was more than anything else in the area and even more than the career coach I had spoken to said I would be able to secure. And, the job would leverage my psychology degree for training, but also give me the ability to manage projects if I played my cards right.
Within six months I had accumulated hundreds of project hours. Let me be clear though, they weren’t handed to me and weren’t a part of my job description. I wasn’t shy about getting to know managers, operational leads, and site leads. I was kind, professional, and worked hard and smart, so when I asked for projects and opportunities, I was given them.
Once the government contract was coming to an end, I was able to quickly find a job as a project manager for a leading website in the coupon and deal sector. Overtime, I earned enough hours and experience which allowed me to level up to a new role as a manager for a supply chain program. This is where I really earned my stripes and widened my experience to large scope and budget projects. The company also supported me in earning my Project Management Professional certification, which was a huge benefit.
It took just under four years to earn the remaining project hours I needed. I also honed in on the type of project management I was best at. I preferred an Agile working method and was great at bringing order to chaotic and/or failing projects.
“I learned that I wanted to be a consultant that took on new, failing, or challenging projects, made them successful and operationalized them, then moved on to the next thing. ”
I was fortunate that the company I worked for when I had earned and documented all of my project hours paid for my bootcamp, PMI membership, and exam.
I was Ready to Get My PMP Certification
Almost four years after the start of my journey, I had my 4,500 project hours. I signed up for a bootcamp to get my 35 project management education hours and I thought I was ready to go.
The hardest part is over…right?
Getting the hours took so long and I always thought that would be the hardest part. And, no matter how often I heard how hard the test was, it didn’t worry me. I just wanted my hours.
Then I found out about application auditing by PMI; 30% of applications are audited. If your application is audited, you are required to provide any additional information needed and to have a manager or employer sign off on your hours for verification. I was terrified of being audited.
First, I had over 80 projects, which again, took me over seven hours to document on my application (of which, sadly, you don’t earn any additional hours for!). But, if audited I would have to get manager sign-off on all of my project hours. And, 80 projects equals a lot of signatures!
Second, to be prepared, I attempted ahead of time to contact each manager I worked under for my project hours and let them know what I was doing. Great idea, but my manager from eight years prior was missing in action and my manager for about 35% of my project hours was in a federal prison (that’s a long story for another time!). I was assured by the project managers I spoke with that I would be able to write an explanation for PMI if I was audited and I should be okay. But still, I was worried.
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Completing the PMP Certification Application
The process is simple:
Sign up on the PMI web site.
Fill out and submit the application.
Once accepted and approved, get your testing information.
This is, by all means correct. It’s just skipping a few key things that would have been nice to know ahead of time.
What’s Required on the PMP Application
Filling out the application includes documenting all of your project hours. You must enter in your job title, your manager, the company, and all associated information. Then you need to enter the information for each project, including your roll and the purpose of the project, oh and by the way, all in 300-500 characters!
If you decide you’re going to go after your PMP certification, I highly recommend keeping a spreadsheet that mimics the project hours documentation portion of the application. This will allow you to do the hard lifting as you document your hours over time, rather than all at once when completing the application.
I initially set aside about three hours of my day to fill out the application, over seven hours later I was done and submitted it. It’s a simple process, but a tedious one. Be prepared to put in the same information over and over. Unfortunately, the online application system only stores one step for auto fill, creating several fields that you have to type in again, and again.
Tip: Consider an extension on your browser that saves text and autofills form fields you.
Completing the Application
I had a misconception that once I pressed submit I would know if I was going to be audited or if it would be approved and I could continue to the next step… the test. Sadly, this wasn’t the case. I quickly received an email confirmation that the application was received but it took an additional five days to receive an email saying it had been accepted.
My five days of anticipation and anxiety weren’t done there though. I read the email from PMI thoroughly and realized that I had to pay for the exam and THEN I would be told if I was being audited or not. To my relief, after payment I found out that I wasn’t going to be audited!
“I got my testing code and had a year to take and pass the test!”
One thing to note, if you are a PMI member you save $145 on your exam fee. To earn the discount, be sure to purchase your PMI membership prior to paying for the exam. Since I could sign up for my local chapter and become a PMI member for $150, it made sense to do that and essentially get my memberships in addition to the exam for only $5 more.
A membership is well worth it since there are so many benefits of becoming a member. The first benefit I used was the free digital version of the PMBOK (essentially the PMI bible if you will). Since then, I have used the membership to download project management templates, read articles and tutorials, and earn free and discounted PDUs (professional development units) which are needed to maintain your certification.
Earning 35 Educational Hours
As I mentioned earlier, I signed up for a PMP exam bootcamp. Be prepared to spend anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 (as of 2016).
Tip: Check with your local PMI chapter, they may have the best value when it comes to a bootcamp.
I wanted to complete my education hours as soon as humanly possible, so I signed up for an out of state class. This turned out to be a good thing, since I was stuck in a hotel with zero distractions and could study every waking hour. To put it into perspective, I studied 25 hours before bootcamp, 10 hours during bootcamp class and 3 to 4 hours each night for four days. Once I returned home I had a week until the exam and I put in an additional 25 to 30 hours before I took the exam.
Studying and Bootcamp Tips:
Find a class that offers online material and practice tests. The material I had access to had chapter exams and practice tests. The answers justified the correct answer and also included comments from the educator that explained right and wrong answers.
Don’t go into a bootcamp without studying first. I studied over 25 hours before attending bootcamp, per my bootcamp instructor’s advice. Had I not, I would have been lost and playing catch up the entire week of class because every concept would have been new to me.
Find a bootcamp that has a money back guarantee. Read the fine print of the guarantee of course, but it should essentially mean that if you fail the exam ‘x’ number of time after completing all steps of the bootcamp, they will refund some or all of your bootcamp costs.
You’re not going to be tested on how to be a project manager. You’re going to be tested on the PMI process. Answer questions first by the PMI material, second using critical (NOT logical thinking) and as a last resort, if the first two fail, then and only then use your logic and actual experience.
Use practice tests to learn how questions are framed and asked. The PMP exam questions will be tricky.
Memorize the process chart and the formulas. Know each process inside and out and have a thorough understanding of what the inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs are and why. Once I started questioning the logic and accuracy of the chart, my instructor knew I had a good grasp of the material. This was extremely helpful on the exam!
Study a lot but break it up with movement. There is so much research out there supporting exercise and movement with better learning. Plus, it helps with the stress. I ran till I had blisters and likely irritated my hotel neighbors below me doing jumping jacks. But it helped focus me when I was exhausted.
Just as I had taken the initiative to build relationships with my managers and directors in my career, I got to know my bootcamp instructor. I not only had his support and personal investment in my success, but he was available to answer questions when I was studying prior to the exam. He has been a contact throughout my career as a project manager as well.
The PMP Certification Exam
The PMP exam is hard. I am a good student and a good test taker so, I thought it would be no big deal at first. But when they say it’s hard, it really is.
My bootcamp class came with a pass guarantee. I read the guarantee thoroughly ahead of time and made sure I met the requirements. If I failed, they would reimburse the retake exam fee twice as needed and then the whole class fee if I failed a third time.
While my ego and pride refused to fail, I was anxious. My friends and family reassured me that I was bound to pass. My instructor told me I had the best practice test score he had seen. But I told them to stop, I wasn’t confident and I felt even more pressure with their assurance.
“I felt that if I failed, I wouldn’t just be failing myself, I would be failing everyone else as well.”
The night before the exam I took a sleeping pill just to be sure I could get a good nights sleep. I also took the morning off of work and took this time to work out (movement helps to learn and relieve stress!) and get a quick study session in.
Tip: Find a place to study near the exam center, that way you don’t have to worry about making your testing slot on time and can simply focus on the content.
I got to the exam center and took a moment in the restroom. I did the Oscar winning encouragement speech to myself in front of the mirror and then walked my way to the testing room.
The Testing Center
Each testing center is different, so this is simply my experience.
I signed in, my picture was taken, and then I was ‘wanded down’ with a metal detector. I was asked to roll up my jeans above the ankle and turn my pockets inside out. Basically, think TSA at the airport.
I was then given a blank paper booklet, two pencils, and a calculator. My desk was equipped with noise canceling headphones which didn’t actually cancel out the keyboard typing or the guy behind me whispering to himself. There was a white noise machine going the whole time and the proctor walked the room every eight minutes.
The PMP Certification Exam Experience
The test is 200 questions, of which 175 count towards your pass/fail grade. The questions are pulled from a pool of 6,000 possible questions. You are scored as proficient (above average knowledge), moderately proficient (average knowledge) or below proficient (below average knowledge) in each of the five phases. From there, the algorithm for scoring is mainly speculation. I spent hours on blogs trying to understand the exam and prepare myself. I ended up being more unclear on the testing procedures and pass/fail determination than before, but taking action calms my nerves so I was glad I had done my reading up on the exam.
At the beginning of the exam I was given 15 minutes to become familiar with the exam process. The exam is on a computer and it walks you through how to strike through (cross out) answers you know are wrong and how to highlight parts of questions you deem important or clarifying. It also shows you how to mark questions for later review.
I highly recommend using these tools.
I always highlighted key words, like ‘not’ or all’, or a key process that was used in the question. On the first pass I didn’t leave any question unanswered in case I ran out of time, but I marked about one third of the questions for later review. This meant I could go back, double check my answer, and spend more time on that question if needed.
Since the test is timed and every minute counts, I suggest quickly going through the testing tutorial and when you re done with the tutorial, don’t end it. Use the remainder of the 15 minutes to write down your memorized process chart and all of the equations in the blank booklet that was provided for you.
PMP Certification Exam Tips:
Take a deep breath and relax your shoulders and neck frequently.
Read the question thoroughly and at least twice. It’s easy to glance at the question and make an incorrect assumption on the information given or asked.
Focus on the last sentence or two. Many of the longer questions have a paragraph or two that set up the questions, but often they don’t really matter to the answer.
Read every answer, even if you think you already know the answer. Some questions have more than one right answer. You need to pick the best, most appropriate one.
Questions are tricky and have ambiguous wording. Don’t assume anything, read and take the question exactly how it’s stated.
You can usually eliminate two of the four answers right away. Using the process of elimination may drive some of your answers.
You have four hours to complete the exam. I managed my time accordingly: 25 minutes for every 25 questions. This gave a total of 40 extra minutes at the end to go back to the questions I had marked for review.
Go into the test knowing that you did everything you could to be prepared. Leave nothing on the table.
Finishing the PMP Exam
Pressing submit at the end of the test was an almost impossible task. I reviewed every marked answer but still felt that I didn’t know the answers on 30% of the questions and about 50% were best guesses between two possible answers. I wasn’t as confident as I felt I should be for such an important test. But I did everything I could, so I pressed submit. Then it asked me if I was sure. Of course I wasn’t sure, but I pressed ‘yes’ anyway.
I expected to see my results on the next screen but it made me take a survey for the testing center first. Really?! My advice to Prometrics, make the survey after the results. I would have taken the time to actually be constructive, but instead I just marked the minimum necessary to get through and done with the survey.
“I nearly cried when I saw my results. I passed!”
I was proficient in four areas and moderately proficient in one. This was a great result and not to brag (but let’s be honest, to brag), was the best score my bootcamp instructor had seen.
I gathered my supplies and walked to the proctors desk. I was so over joyed to have passed. This was a monumental moment in my life. I worked towards this for four years! So when I walked out and was handed a sign out sheet with no smile or comment from the woman at the desk, I was deflated.
“I wanted, no I felt I deserved, balloons and confetti to fall from the ceiling!”
I wanted cheers and congratulations from everyone in the room. But I didn’t even get a smile. I signed out, grabbed my stuff from the locker and took my embossed and signed confirmation of passing results with pride.
I walked out of that exam center knowing that I now had credentials. I was officially PMP certified!
I Earned More than Just ‘PMP’ at the End of My Name
Having PMP credentials at the end of my name is amazing, but I got so much more out of it than that. I see projects in a different way and am a better project manager. Not just because I know the PMI process chart and ITTOs, but also because of what it took.
I had to work my butt off to get project hours. I learned a new level of grit and determination and my drive and ambition was on overdrive. Passing the test gave me an understanding of what a PMP certification actually means about a person. It also gave me a confidence to keep going, to keep achieving, and not to let anyone tell me no.
Turning My Career into a Digital Nomad Career
With my PMP certification in hand I now had the credentials that were highly sought after in project manager roles. And to top it off, I had a job I enjoyed and excelled at. In a year and a half I had taken a failing (in the red) program and made it profitable by over a million dollars but I was ready to scale up, go remote, and travel.
“Within six months of earning my certification I submitted a proposal to the chief operating officer of the company that outlined how I would go remote, be location independent, and transform my role from a full time employee to a part time consultant. ”
They accepted my proposal but with the caveat that they were going to back fill my role with someone who could be in the office full time. So, by their projections they would only need me a couple of months as a consultant.
In the end, they never found a qualified candidate to replace me and I moved on within three months on good terms. Honestly, this was good enough for me. I knew what my end goal was, to be location independent and make our goal of becoming digital nomads a reality.
“And plainly put, that job wasn’t going to get me any closer to the goal than I already was.”
Next Steps to Becoming a Digital Nomad
We sold, donated, and got rid of 95% of our belongings, got 36L backpacks, gave up our apartment keys. and hit the road.
We spent a year in Europe, Sergio consulted, and I worked on this website (with a ton Sergio’s help!).
After a year we both knew it was time to return to the United States and while the website was something we were proud of, it was time for me to stretch my wings and start consulting.
Finding Remote Consulting Jobs
I used several job listing boards but focused on FlexJobs. It has a fee to use, but I knew it was worth it because it was a barrier to entry. It meant higher quality listings and fewer applicants overall.
“I can’t tell you how many inquiries I made and how many cover letters and resumes I submitted. ”
Tip: Have a high quality resume! There are several ways to format your resume, but now that I have been in a role that requires me to review resumes, I can tell you that making it easy to understand skills and experiences quickly is a MUST. Also, I personally don’t like cover letters (many companies no longer require them thankfully), but in my opinion, if you need one, make them short, sweet, and to the point. Think, four to five bullet points that cover why you’re the right person for the job.
It’s an estimate but I probably only heard back from 20% to 30% of the applications I submitted. Sadly, this is the how the job game works, so I didn’t let it get me down.
“Finding a consulting role became my job.”
I interviewed for several roles and was offered all but one that I interviewed for. I turned down all but one of them and in the end was glad I wasn’t offered the other job since it was a poor fit for me. As I mentioned earlier, I may be interviewing for the job, but I am also interviewing the company and management in return.
“I’m not just looking for any job. I want something that will compensate me well in salary and benefits, offer career growth, and provide personal satisfaction.”
That’s a hard combination to find, but worth holding out on.
I accepted a part time corporate training position that was 100% travel. I could be anywhere in North America as long as I was willing to fly where the company needed me (on their dime). I found out that my resume was pulled not only for my training experience, but because the CEO wanted PMP certified project managers on his team. They eventually offered me a full time project manager position, but since it required I be in person I declined it.
I continued to look for consulting work and within five months was contracting for a digital marketing agency that needed a project manager to come in and take over a few client projects. I earned my stripes and quickly took over some of the agency’s hardest clients and projects.
“The best part was that I could work from anywhere in the world and dictate my own hours.”
Developing my Career as a Digital Nomad
I can’t recommend strongly enough to make and maintain relationships along the way. I reach out to contacts on a regular basis that I made 12 years ago or more. The world is all about who you know and the friends you make and keep along the way.
After working a few consulting roles I was settling into being a digital nomad project manager and earning a good reputation in the field. Then my phone rang and I was offered an opportunity, that while it wasn’t location independent and would make me a full time employee, I couldn’t turn down. It was going to open career opportunities and benefits in ways I could only imagine.
I interviewed and accepted a role as a technical trainer for a global technology company that had a contract with one of the top tech companies in the world. I would be fully remote but had to be within quick reach of New York City, New York and would do about 75% travel.
Rather than find an apartment in New York City, Sergio and I decided to maintain our digital nomad lifestyle and house sit exclusively in the area.
To be honest, my employer didn’t know we house sat full time but I was where they wanted me to be when they needed me to be, and that was sufficient.
Quickly, I took on more than just trainings and started earning my stripes by managing projects. Within seven months I was promoted to a Project Manager role within a different team. In this role I was no longer required to be near New York City and I immediately told my new manager that we were digital nomads. He not only was okay with it, but it became the running commentary of the team on every video call, ‘Where’s Shannon living today?!’.
It’s Better to Ask Forgiveness Than Permission
Early on in my career, I asked my manager (the COO, chief operating officer) what my boundaries were for decision making in my role. He told me that I had the leeway to do what I wanted to make my program and projects successful. If I went too far, he’d tell me.
I took that advice to heart and have continued to work that way. I’m not afraid to make decisions and follow through if I have thoroughly evaluated and know my decision is the best thing to do. I’m also not afraid to jump the ladder when necessary and speak to powerful people within the organization to get things done. Because I do this with tact and respect, it’s gotten me a long way in my career.
Between my honed skill sets in program and project management, the relationships I have made along the way, and my drive and ambition, I’ve been incredibly successful.
“Because we’re (thankfully) not living paycheck to paycheck, I lack a huge fear of loosing my job, which has led to greater success and respect in my career.”
Today I’m no longer a contractor for the well-known tech company and instead I’m now an official employee as a program manager. I have all the benefits of working for them and I’m still able to work remotely and be location independent. The team I work for is amazingly talented, supportive of each other, and while it’s a huge company, I feel like the day to day environment of my team is that of a small entrepreneurial company.
I’m proudly a program manager and digital nomad. I have the experience, skills, and credentials to back up my resume and I can choose what projects I want to do. If tomorrow I decide to quite my full time job, I know that finding consulting work under my criteria probably won’t be too hard. Not only do I have the resume to find new opportunities, but I’ve built relationships along the way that have continued to ask me to manage projects for them over the years.
I hesitate to sound overly confident, so please forgive me if I come across that way. My intent is to convey the importance of drive and grit. You HAVE to go after it, it won’t just fall into your lap.
All too often we run into people who desire to live a similar lifestyle to ours but when we offer help, they usually take little action.
Final Thoughts
More resources and tips below!
With enough ambition and grit, just about anyone can become a digital nomad. We're not saying it’ll be easy, and it may require you to change careers. We did it before it was really a ‘thing’, and now with changes to the working world that COVID brought with it, it’s more possible than ever before to work remotely and be location independent.
Don’t reinvent the wheel, learn from those that came before you, but don’t be afraid to do your own research, problem solving, and hard work.
We highly encourage you to be creative, know what you want, and go after it!
How We Lived on $7,000 ($3,500 each) All-Inclusive for One Year
Digital Nomad Career Resources
Job boards
Potentional Digital Nomad Jobs
Digital Content and Goods Jobs
Copywriting/content writing and editing (Text Broker)
Translation (Blend Express, Gengo)
Transcription or closed captioning (TranscribeMe!)
Captioning/subtitling videos (Rev, ClearCaptions)
Web design
Graphic design
Sell your work on sites like Creative Market or Envato
Video editing and/or production (ProductionHUB, Stage32, Behance)
Digital content creation
Photos, audio content/filters, blueprints/schematics, webinars, e-books, etc.
User acceptance testing (User Testing, TryMyUI, userfeel, userlytics)
Blogger, Vlogger, Podcaster
Photography
eCommerce
Drop shipping, Fulfillment by Amazon, etc.
Marketing Jobs
SEO (search engine optimization)
Social media and community/forum manager
Ads: PPC (pay per click), search, social media, etc.
Search engine evaluator, internet analyst, social media evaluator, etc. (Lionbridge, Appen, Leapforce, Raterlabs)
Affiliate marketing
Email campaigns
Website optimization
Educational Jobs
TEFL/ESL (teach English as a foreign language/English as a second language) (VIP Kid, Verbling, Verbalplanet, Connections Academy)
Virtual tutor
English, math, science, etc. (Take Lessons, TutorMe, Tutor.com)
Technical and Computer Science Jobs
IT support
Example: support desktops and servers for enterprise customers or SOHOs (small office, home office)
Web developer
Software developer
Business Jobs
Project and program management
Product management
Data analyst
Business analyst
Data entry
Virtual assistant
Customer service representative
Consulting
From medical to IT, to project management and beyond
Medical Jobs
Telemedicine
Virtual therapy
Misc. Jobs
Voice acting (Voicebooking, Voices.com)
Consulting or coaching: Career, resume, business, management, life/personal, nutrition/health
Training: technical, business, soft skills, etc.
Additional Resources
Our tool box is full of resources! From travel hacking to house sitting, digital nomad jobs to privacy and security, financially independent retire early (FI/RE) to entertainment, plus travel hacking (credit cards, miles, points, and rewards), and much much more…
Digital Nomad Career Tips
Not sure what you want to do? Go to any job listing site and look through everything and we mean everything. Give every type of job a chance and save anything that sticks out as something you’d be good at or interested in doing. Once you’ve given all different types and categories of jobs a chance, take a look at all of the listings that you saved. What do they have in common? Anything stick out? Do they all require a similar skill set or certification?
Build and nourish your network. Brainstorm all the people you know (your friends, friends of friends, friends of your parents, former colleagues, acquaintances, social network connections, etc.) and consider how they could be of help (contract work, full time employment, be a reference, help with increasing your knowledge, skills, and work experience, etc.). Set up meetings and connect with them as it’s not only a great opportunity to ask for leads but also to connect and build a professional relationship. Not everyone will respond, but be sure to be genuinely thankful and pick up the tab for the drink or meal for those who do. You'll find more success when you listen and can find ways to be of help to them, rather than just asking for help for yourself.
Don’t get over whelmed. In the beginning it seems daunting to get a remote job (and to some extent rightfully so). Keep your goal in mind, but take it one step at time. The best things we've seen work are either having your own list of clients that you’ve built over time and built trust, respect, loyalty, etc., or work for a company that’s mostly remote and therefore no stranger to employees all over the world.
Figure out how to stand out. Once you know what type of job you want, research the related certifications. Determine if the time and money to earn them are worth the rewards. How much will they get your foot in the door? Will they earn you credibility in the field? Will they increase your pay or seniority level?
Get to know your field. Once you know the type of job you want, research professional organizations that are centered around it. Reach out to a local chapter, ask for guidance or mentorship, attend a few meetings, etc.
Get a mentor. Once you have a good idea of what you want to do, find a mentor that has been successful in your desired field. A mentor is a great resource for advice, experience, and can even be someone to shadow and learn more about the industry and their role! Take a look at SCORE for help finding a great mentor.
You don’t need it all planned out. You might not know every step of your career path to becoming a digital nomad, but you can fill in the blanks as you go. The important part is that you know where you want to end up and that along the way you make careful and deliberate choices to get to your objective. And, don’t be afraid to pivot as needed and adapt your plan as you go.
Need a certification? Understand each and every requirement to earn it. Know what’s needed and how to obtain it. Then make career decisions with that in mind.
Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. Even if you’re told there isn’t an ability to offer you a higher salary or better benefit package, they probably can. Shannon learned this the hard way on her first professional job when she was told it was a government contract with a ‘set pay’. Within a month she found out that several of her colleagues, with similar experience and seniority who were on the same contract were making $10,000 more a year than her.
