111 - 4 steps to land your first remote job

4 steps to land your first remote job

September 13, 2022

The Connection |  2022.09.13 | Issue 111

Today I’m sharing how to land your first remote job, even if you have no experience working remotely. 

Remote work 10x’s your control over where and when you work. This unlocks time, money, and satisfaction (i.e. happiness). It also makes the number of jobs available to you functionally unlimited, because you’re no longer geographically constrained. 

But navigating HOW you land your first remote job is different than the traditional job search. No one taught us the right approach. In 9 years of working remotely, I’ve noticed remote job hunters consistently make the same three mistakes: 

  • They focus on themselves 

  • They search too broadly for jobs 

  • They submit directly to online job portals

Here are four tips on what to do instead to land your next remote job, even if you have no experience working remotely. 

  • Reverse engineer the roles you want

  • 80/20 your marketing assets

  • Apply through people, not portals

  • Look for "local remote" jobs

Let’s jump in:

1/ Reverse engineer the roles you want

Before you update your LinkedIn or fire off a resume, spend time analyzing and dissecting the types of jobs you’re in the market for. I call this “reverse engineering the role.”

Most people will review a few job descriptions, see if it sounds interesting and if they have enough years of experience. That’s table stakes. 

If you want to stand out, you have to take the next steps: 

First, reverse engineer the role on LinkedIn. 

  • Find 3-5 profiles on LinkedIn of people who have the job you want 

  • What similarities do you notice about their profile pictures, their summaries, and their experiences? Write these down 

  • You can’t make up experiences you don’t have, but you can identify the skills and experiences that are important. Find ways to (1) speak to these in your profile or (2) acquire them yourself

Next, reverse engineer the role on Upwork and Fiverr. 

  • Find 3-5 profiles on these gig sites

  • Write down similarities in their profiles and skills 

  • Which of these can you highlight? Which of these can you quickly acquire? 

For example, let’s say you’re exploring administrative or executive assistant roles. The job is keeping the trains running, with little input from your client. How do successful assistants convey this in their profiles?Take a look at this profile page. What stands out to you? 

Reverse engineering roles is a quick hack that will immediately sharpen your job search because it forces you to focus on how to succeed in the role, not just what you want to get out of it. 

2/ Improve your marketing assets 

In a traditional job search, your marketing assets were your cover letter and resume. Today in a remote work world, focus on your LinkedIn profile to get 80% of the benefit with 20% of the effort. If a resume is needed, you can copy your LinkedIn profile to your resume. 

Carve out 1-2 hours for this work. You’ve already studied 3-5 profiles of folks who have your desired job. Next: 

  • Upload a good headshot. People hire people, not profiles. Use a headshot so you’re visible. Be the only person in the photo. Finally, match the dress level of your industry (e.g. tech can be more casual, finance more formal).

  • Nail the headline. The headline is critical. The most important detail is to include the title of the role you want. If you’ve never held that role before, include “aspiring” e.g. “Aspiring graphic designer.”

  • Write the summary. Using the profiles you studied, tweak your summary to match. Demonstrate the qualities and accomplishments you see modeled in people who have this job, using your own experiences. 

  • Set your location. Even though you want to work remotely, location is a filter used by recruiters, so you want to put this to use. Set your location to the largest market in your proximity (e.g. if you live in Hudson, New York, set your location to New York City).

  • Turn on the “Open to Work Feature.” This tells recruiters it’s okay to reach out about potential jobs. Keep this on!

So far you’ve studied the market, and tailored your LinkedIn profile to speak to that market. 

3/ Apply through people, not portals

Avoid job portals. That’s where everyone else goes to blast their resume. This was a challenge with traditional job searches. Now with remote work, you’re competing on a global scale. You need to rise above the noise. And the best way to do that? 

Get a referral from someone in the company. I call this “applying through people, not portals.” 

Connect directly with people who can give you a referral. How? 

  • On LinkedIn, look at all the people who work at the company

  • Identify your first-degree connections. These are people you are already connected to.

  • Identify your second-degree connections. These are connections of your connections. Find a commonality to connect on (e.g. people, schools, cities, organizations, etc.) Find anything to connect on.

Next, send a LinkedIn message, explaining your connection and asking for 15 minutes to learn more about their company. 

What if you have zero connections? You can still reach out cold. 

For example, if you were looking for customer support roles, here’s a cold LinkedIn message script you could use: 

4/ Look for local remote jobs

Who says your company needs to be 1,000 miles away to enjoy the autonomy of remote work? It’s counterintuitive, but local remote work roles are terrific jobs you should consider. Local businesses need great talent, and more are embracing the benefits of running a lean operation (e.g. no office space). 

So how might you grab a local business’s attention?

First, follow local media outlets and social media accounts. These often profile local businesses and entrepreneurs. 

Second, list the companies or CEOs you’d be interested in working for. Research them.

Then email or DM them. I’ve used something like: 

TL;DR you can 10x control over your life with remote work. Master how you land remote work jobs and unlock time, money, and happiness. 

4 tips to land your first remote job: 

  • Reverse engineer the roles you want

  • 80/20 your marketing assets

  • Apply through people, not portals

  • Look for "local remote" jobs

Hope this helps you land your first remote work job.

See you in 2 weeks. 

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