Online Jobs — 7 Promising Options in 2021
Working from home was already a growing trend, but when the pandemic locked people in their homes, it really took off. Before, online jobs were most common for freelancers and employees at international companies, but in 2020 even more companies had no other choice than to adapt to the new circumstances and transition to remote.
The trend of working online remains in place and is not going away anytime soon. The pandemic gave a huge boost to this shift and even now as things are getting back to normal, the changes in the labor market are irreversible.
There’s no surprise here, as remote work is equally beneficial for employers and employees. Employers have the opportunity to spend less on office maintenance. Employees can spend less time and money commuting and have more flexibility when it comes to performing the tasks without being distracted by their colleagues.
Online Jobs Worth Pursuing
Maybe you’re wondering if online jobs are “worth it.” Maybe you are asking, “How can I make $20 an hour online?” or “Which online jobs are legit?”
If you are concerned about the legitimacy of an online job, make sure to do your research on the hiring company and position description. In general, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Making money online is our new reality now. Luckily, Internet capacity allows us to master a new profession and start a career without leaving home. Want some more specific ideas? Here are the top popular legit online job opportunities, paying $20 an hour or more this year.
Digital Marketer
With many businesses building their websites and moving operations online, they face harsh competition. They need to attract more traffic to their websites and convert prospects into clients.
Digital marketing requires forming a unique sales proposition and building a strategy to improve business metrics like increasing new users, retention rates, and customer lifetime value.
To be a great digital marketer, you’ll need to learn how to create Pay-per-Click (PPC) campaigns, email campaigns, and social media strategies.
Paid and free online courses can help you master online marketing and start a new profession in months, yet it may take years to build clientele and master all the skills.
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Project Manager
A job in project management is versatile. There are often vacancies in almost every industry from the technology sector, to the design, marketing, and finance sectors. Among the main responsibilities of a project manager is balancing the available resources, stiff deadlines, and stakeholders’ expectations.
To become a project manager, you will need to know the available methodologies and approaches to leading projects, risk management basics, budget planning, and progress control. And you will of course need to know how to manage people, build teamwork, and allocate responsibilities.
Usually, employers require certification. Completing project management courses will help you to better prepare for the PMP exam. Mastering tools like Jira, Trello, or Asana will significantly simplify the online management of projects and people.
Website Administrator
As the number of websites selling on the Internet increases, so does the demand for specialists responsible for managing these websites. Website administrators are usually in charge of technical maintenance tasks like keeping the website up and running, tweaking the configuration settings, and updating the software to the latest version. They also must protect the website from malicious attacks and troubleshoot website errors when they occur.
In some cases, you will be also responsible for keeping an eye on the website stock, adding new products along with their descriptions, and posting new articles.
SEO Specialist
Search engine optimization is the first thing to consider when building your online presence, otherwise, your potential clients will not be able to find your offerings. It’s not something that can be done once and for all, as the search engine algorithms are constantly updated.
That’s why all the companies that have a website want to have an SEO specialist on their team. To get this position, you will need to learn the peculiarities of how search engines work, educate yourself on how you can develop a successful SEO strategy, and build some technical skills.
You’ll need to master on-page SEO techniques like improving speed, page loading, developing page markup, gathering the keywords, and optimizing the content. You’ll also need to learn off-page SEO to drive more quality backlinks to the website.
Online Tutor
Distant learning was the only way to keep both formal and informal education running during the several waves of lockdowns, that’s why the job of an online tutor became popular. So if you have at least a bachelor’s degree that proves your expertise you can register on resources like tutor.com and start a tutoring career.
E-learning can be challenging in terms of student engagement, that’s why you will need to develop effective learning strategies, and interactive ways to keep their attention on a high level. It’s especially needed when you are working with a younger audience yet still applicable to adults. Finding and including entertaining videos, illustrative materials, and mastering learning software like Moodle will give you a competitive advantage.
It’s also possible to turn this gig into educational courses on Youtube or other e-learning platforms.
Copywriter
Another of the more popular online jobs is being a content writer. When going online, businesses want to attract the right audience by offering original and informative content for their landing pages, ads, and blog posts.
So if your language сommand is close to perfect and your storytelling skills make people listen to you in awe, consider applying to be a copywriter. Apart from creativity, copywriting jobs require discipline, self-organization, and strong time management skills to be able to produce quality articles on time.
Finance Operations
If you love dealing with numbers and accounting, consider a career in finance operations. The responsibilities typically include budget calculations, tax management, creating invoices, and preparing financial reports. U
Usually, to get a job in finance operations, you will need to have a degree in accounting and pass the certification exam to get a CPA license. However, this job is worth the effort in terms of rewards. Financial jobs offer high pay and great rewards. You can work for companies or individuals who want to outsource bookkeeping.
Some Final Thoughts on Online Jobs in 2021
The shift to working remotely is still ongoing, and more conventional careers are adapting to be online jobs where it’s possible. There are still many challenges that the online world has to tackle, like lack of team bonding, distraction management, and keeping productivity high.
Yet, there are more benefits than drawbacks. 74% of companies report that they are not ready to come back to the office. Many are seeking either to adopt a hybrid method of work, allowing their employees to come to the office several days per week, or switching to a permanent work from home model.
You can expect to see the number and types of online jobs to increase in the near future.
About the Author: Guest author Kenneth W. Boyd is a former Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and the author of several of the popular “For Dummies” books published by John Wiley & Sons including ‘CPA Exam for Dummies’ and ‘Cost Accounting for Dummies’. Ken has gained a wealth of business experience through his previous employment as a CPA, Auditor, Tax Preparer, and College Professor. Today, Ken continues to use those finely tuned skills to educate students as a professional writer and teacher.
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