The Best Jobs For Becoming A Digital Nomad

What if you could have a travel experience that never ended? Ever dreamed of a job where you could make new friends, learn new languages and earn great money doing something you’re passionate about? Sounds pretty good right? There’s actually a huge subculture of people chasing that very lifestyle, and they’re called digital nomads. But what are they, and how do you become one?

First of all, what is a digital nomad?

Digital nomads are people who take advantage of the flexibility that digitally-based careers have to offer to earn money while they travel or live overseas. Rather than a typical working holiday situation where you’re working for a business in the local community, digital nomads often work for companies overseas. That way, they can take advantage of higher wages from countries such as Australia, the UK or the USA while living somewhere with a lower cost-of-living. Some of them choose to skip from country to country, while others put down roots for a longer-term stay.

The perks are pretty obvious - you can save more money or live in better digs than if you were living here, you get to immerse yourself in a different culture, and depending on the job you have, you can work flexible hours so that you can fit in more of the good stuff. For digital nomads, home is wherever there’s a decent Wi-Fi connection, and the living’s easy.

What makes for a great job for a digital nomad?

The biggest thing to consider as a digital nomad is a job that can be done away from where the work might be actually happening. It might sound a little obvious, but a job like carpentry or hospitality really relies on you actually being in the place where you work.
If you’re just starting out in the working world it might feel pretty normal to only go into the office one or two days a week and work from home for the rest of the week - but just a few years ago this was a pretty rare occurrence.

These days, cloud-based workspaces and storage companies like Atlassian, Google and Dropbox mean you can do work just about anywhere.

If you’re thinking about living and working overseas, you might need to find a workplace that’s okay with working across different time zones too - or get used to working some pretty crazy hours.

How about some examples of digital nomad jobs?

One of the most popular areas for digital nomads is in digital marketing. This can include areas such as Search Engine Marketing (SEM), where you’re helping make companies’ websites easier to find by search.

Or, if you have a creative streak you could try your hand at areas such as copywriting or graphic design. Many digital nomads who work as copywriters and graphic designers work as freelancers. That means they work their own hours across different clients, running their own small businesses and handling customers themselves.

Many entrepreneurs dream of the digital nomad lifestyle, and if you’re lucky enough to own one or many successful businesses you could generate the income needed to maintain a digital nomad lifestyle while still handling any challenges your hustles present to you.

Another popular choice is in the tech sector. Honing your tech skills is a great choice for a digital nomad lifestyle because you can apply those skills to a whole range of industries and customers. Whether you’re interested in web development, programming, IT assistance or project management, higher tech skills are super in-demand worldwide, and tech companies tend to have a lot more flexibility than more traditional industries.

As you can probably see, the common factor between all of these jobs is having a great set of digital skills. From handling schedules, meetings and emails all the way through to more advanced skills such as coding and development, you’ll want an arsenal of techniques and concepts to help you set up your dream lifestyle.

If you’re keen to learn more about digital skills and what they can offer you, make sure you check out our super-short course Digiskills, made in collaboration with the Digital Skills Organisation.