Top remote jobs you can do from anywhere
Looking to earn some extra cash without the constraints of heading to the office each day? Here's a list of remote jobs you can do from anywhere you like.
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If the idea of heading to the same workplace each day fills you with dread, fear not. There are an ever-growing number of jobs you can do remotely.
For most people that means the possibility of working from home rather than heading to an office, but who says you have to be at home? Really, you can work from anywhere you like, be it a cafe, co-working space or beach.
We've put together a handy list of the top jobs you can do remotely from anywhere in the world.
There are some examples of starting salaries to help you get an idea of how much you could earn if doing the jobs full-time. However, most of these roles can also be done part-time, making them great options to fit around your studies while you're at uni.
What is remote work?
Remote work can be carried out from anywhere you choose, away from a designated workspace.
If there are any positives to be taken from the Covid pandemic, it could be the growing trend in flexible working arrangements. In fact, data from Statista suggests that in June 2024, around 14% of working adults in Great Britain reported working from home and a further 26% reported hybrid working (a mixture of working from home and travelling to work).
These working arrangements can not only benefit employees, saving time and money on commuting, but also for the employer, saving money on rent, utilities and cleaning services.
The majority of remote work is done online. If you want the flexibility to work from home or wherever you like, try to avoid jobs that require you to be physically present. These include skilled tradesperson jobs, manufacturing, and most hospitality or healthcare roles.
Consider this when thinking ahead to your graduate job.
Best remote job ideas
Here are some of the top jobs you can do from anywhere:
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Graphic designer
- Relevant subjects – anything involving visual arts including art and design, illustration, photography and graphic design
- Starting salary – around £18,000 – £23,000.
Graphic designers create visuals for companies and organisations to reflect their branding or communicate a message. This can be either online or in print for example on packaging, websites, advertisements or posters.
As this job can be solely done from the safety of your own laptop, it's one of our top picks for remote working. Some clients may request that you meet in person to discuss briefs, but as this can just as easily be done via video call, there isn't generally a need to.
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Content writer
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- Relevant subjects – journalism, English language, creative writing, media and marketing are all useful backgrounds
- Starting salary – around £22,000 – £25,000.
Content writing is a great way to make money from your writing skills. It involves researching and creating written content for websites, blogs or social media.
An understanding of SEO and other digital marketing strategies can be very useful as well as knowledge of HTML and WordPress.
This position is generally carried out online so can easily be done from home or wherever it is you like working best that has a decent WiFi signal.
Similarly, a copy editor's role, which involves editing and proofreading the written content to improve its quality and readability, can also be done remotely.
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Virtual assistant
- Relevant subjects – business, management and administration
- Starting salary – around £18,000 – £25,000.
A virtual assistant is basically an online personal assistant. Tasks include scheduling meetings, replying to emails and making travel arrangements (e.g. booking flights). However, rather than carrying out all these administrative tasks from the office, they are done remotely.
Though a virtual assistant role offers full flexibility when it comes to your working location, you'll usually be expected to work during the business hours of whatever company you're working for.
This is fine if you're working from home, but if you plan to be on the other side of the world, you may find the time difference difficult.
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Transcription
- Relevant subjects – English language, linguistics, modern languages and business, law or sciences (for more specialised transcriptions)
- Starting salary – transcription jobs are usually paid per audio minute (depending on your speed, you can earn around £10–£20 per hour).
Transcription is a job that can easily be carried out remotely. Often done on a freelance basis, a transcriber (or transcriptionist) converts audio recordings into written text.
Salary varies widely depending on experience, speed and if you can offer knowledge of a specialist subject (such as medicine or law). Check out our guide on how to make money transcribing to see if it's for you.
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Online ESL tutor
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- Relevant subjects – English language, literature, education, linguistics and modern languages will all help, but any degree with a TEFL qualification would likely be enough
- Starting salary – varies, but you can earn around £10–£15 per hour, rising with experience.
Traditionally, teaching English as a second language would involve either teaching in a language school in the UK or travelling to another country to teach abroad.
Though this is a great option if you want to earn some money while travelling, there are still some constraints as to where you have to show up to work.
Luckily, it's now very common to find online work teaching English as a second language. And if you're teaching online you can do it from... yep, anywhere you like.
Teaching English as a second language isn't the only type of online tutoring you can do. If you excel at a subject and think you could help others with it, check out our guide on how to become a tutor. -
Translation
- Relevant subjects – English language, linguistics, modern languages and business, law or sciences (for more specialised translations)
- Starting salary – Translation jobs are often paid per word with rates starting at around £15 per hour (depending on the source language).
Lucky enough to have a second language? Translation is a great way to make money from your language skills. And, even better, it can easily be done from anywhere.
Translation involves converting one written language into another. The pay rate can vary widely depending on what language is being translated. If you're fluent in a language that isn't as widely taught as some others, you may be able to charge more.
Though you can find in-house translation jobs, many translators work freelance from home. This means you can set your own hours, making it a great job to fit around your studies.
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Customer service representative
- Relevant subjects – business studies, marketing and consumer studies
- Starting salary – £17,000–£22,000.
If you're a people person, a customer service role may be ideal. A customer service representative will be expected to interact with people on behalf of a company or organisation.
Not all customer service roles can be done remotely, as many will require you to interact with customers in person. However, a lot of customer enquiries are now dealt with over the phone, by email or via live chat. So, as long as you have access to a laptop, you can do the role.
As with virtual assistant roles, you might need to work set hours based on the relevant time zone. Look for roles with hours that fit your schedule.
No specific qualifications are usually asked of a customer service representative. But you'll find many of the key skills employers look for will come in handy.
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Social media marketing
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- Relevant subjects – advertising, marketing, media, communications and journalism
- Starting salary – £19,000–£25,000.
A job in social media marketing involves looking after the online presence of the organisation or company you're working for.
It'll be your job to boost their visibility online and engage with the customer, handling all social media channels including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, etc.
If you spend most of the day on social media anyway, this could be the perfect job for you. And most of it can even be done from your phone.
If you've got a good following on your personal social media accounts, why not try becoming an influencer and getting paid to post? -
Data entry
- Relevant subjects – IT and data administration
- Starting salary – £15,000–£20,000.
Data entry on a basic level involves inputting or updating info in a database. Being familiar with different software and having a good typing speed can help.
We're not going to lie, it's not the most stimulating of roles and can be extremely monotonous.
However, on the plus side, as long as you have your laptop to hand, it can be done from anywhere.
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IT support
- Relevant subjects – IT, computer science, software engineering and software development
- Starting salary – £18,000–£25,000.
As an IT support technician, you'll be diagnosing any IT-related problems an organisation is experiencing and working to fix them.
Specifics of the role will vary depending on the size and nature of the company but can range from dealing with computer network errors for large organisations to desktop support for individual users.
Generally, IT issues can be dealt with remotely over the phone or via remote desktop software, so if you're a bit of a tech head, this could be the remote job you're looking for.
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Data analyst
- Relevant subjects – maths, statistics, computer science and economics
- Starting salary – £23,000–£25,000.
Data analysts study data and translate it into accessible information so that it can be used to help solve problems and answer questions.
They're required across a range of sectors including government, education, finance and consulting. You'll also find that some businesses offer graduate schemes in data analysis roles. If you're highly organised and have an analytical mind, this could be a role to consider.
Though you'll generally be based in an office when starting out, as you become more experienced it's common to find remote data analyst roles.
Remote work could also be a great option if you're planning a gap year and want to travel but don't have enough funds to take the whole year off.
