Want to quit your Aussie job and work from anywhere in the world? It’s not that easy. Read on to find out what you need before you quit –or else be left twiddling your thumbs and have to book that ticket home.
When my boyfriend wanted to leave Australia I thought, OK fine, I can get remote work no worries. I can write and edit. I have three citizenships. How hard can it be?
Well it turns out very hard. Most companies want their employees to actually be in the country they exist. And fair enough I guess. Especially the US which the known for its culture of suing and distrust workers: ‘If we can’t see you, then you’re not working’.
I did have the pleasure of doing what was the perfect remote job for nine months. The kind where I can pick my own hours, not talk to anyone, and work on quality content. And get paid in Euros! Alas, all good things come to an end, when the team was downsized, I was let go.
It made me think, why I was even able to get a job in Australia at all. If my kind of job was available to anyone on the world, I wasn’t that special. It’s only because of my security clearance and tolerance for absurdity that I was in demand. But after a year of not having to don the veneer of civility, could I do that again?
What I’ve tried so far to get a job
Since August 2022, I have applied for over 150 remote jobs. Of that, I had three interviews. I also contacted companies without job openings. From this I learn: even if a company says remote work is fine, they really mean remote work from that country. Even with citizenship it’s a no-go.
I also engaged the help of a professional career coach, who helped me to update my resume and LinkedIn profile.
I have Mexican temporary residency, but that doesn’t allow me to work here. And I agree with that. Jobs should go to Mexican citizens.
Factors that I thought would help in getting remote work:
· Citizenship in Australia, US and New Zealand
· Living in time zone suitable for North, Central and South America
· Native English speaker
· Over 18 years of experience as technical writer, editor, analyst etc.
This is NOT enough. And from the nine months of trying to find work, here’s what I have learned.
Lessons learned
Freelancing for anything non-technical is a no-go. Anyone can create a profile on Upwork and Freelancer, such as to write some blogs. Aha, there is me and there are 10,000 other people like me with the same or better skills and experience. I’d spend more time hustling to get work than actually doing any.
Translation is great…but. I am lucky that I am a native English speaker yes, but I don’t know any languages fluently to be a translator.
Transcription: Would be ideal, but must be deficient in some way, because I never hear back after I complete those 20-minute “let’s find out if you’re an idiot” tests. I don’t know how calculating the percentage rise of prices per eggs over 3 months has to do with typing speed and ability to understand audio—but apparently it does.
Customer Service: I have social phobia, so that’s a no to anything customer service related like tour planner. I can function fine with people...after I get to know them.
Set up my own business. Make jewellery or cook some jam. Errrr no. Firstly, I suck at making anything. Secondly, even if I didn’t suck, unless my shit goes viral, it’s not a viable business model. I’d lose money from buying materials and storing inventory.
Write a book? Er no. Again with the viral thing. Unless I’m famous for something else, what’s the point? I wrote a novella and some short stories back in the day before I lost creative motivation, but I’m neither Dan Brown nor Dostoyevsky.
Options after my reality check
Move back to Australia then. As tempting as that is, it’d be a two-stage process. We brought our 9 year old German Shepherd to Mexico. Australia doesn’t accept animals directly from Mexico, so we’d have to stay in the US for six months, and then fly from there. And she‘s old. She might not survive another 3 day journey. So we’re committed to living Mexico until she dies.
Learn technical skills: I have neither the desire not the aptitude to learn coding, so that rules out techie jobs like ‘SQL engineer’ and ‘full stack developer’. I don’t even know WTF that is.
OK then, so retrain. That’s what I’m doing. Manual software testing. But again, the work is sparse as a freelancer, so unless I manage to get an in-house gig, there’s a lot of time to twiddle thumbs. I’m also learning Spanish, but it will be years until I am even at an intermediate level.
What you need to do before you quit
So, if you are thinking of leaving Australia and working remotely you need at least one of these:
· Already established freelance gig with multiple clients: such as in areas of graphic design, writing, editing
· F luency in English and another language
· Technical skills, such as coding
· Actually working in the same country as your other citizenship
· Fame/influence or ability to hustle and schmooze: so you can monetise your products such as jewellery, books. You might even be able to pick up a job because you can network. It’s a lot easier to get your virtual foot in the door if you’re not competing against 500 other applicants.