How to Switch Careers and Become a Digital Nomad

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Being a digital nomad sounds like a dream job dynamic. People choose to be a digital nomad because it gives you more freedom than with any other type of job and you can travel anytime you want. When you’re a digital nomad you have control of your own life. There’s no one to tell you it’s vacation time, you can choose to go on vacation whenever you want.

However, this doesn’t mean you won’t be working. Digital nomads work a lot, the only difference is that they do it in their own terms. But you probably won’t be able to be a digital nomad if you’re working as a manufacturer or a teacher. So you’ll need to switch to a tech career that allows you to work remotely. Here we’ll show you how you can become a digital nomad by switching careers.

Browse Remote Job Sites for Career Ideas

Before you leave your current job and jump into a tech career, try to do some research. When browsing tech careers, try to make lists with the perks and cons each career has. This way you’ll be able to prioritize the aspects that you think are more important for you. Besides, you also need to find something that makes you happy. Maybe you’re interested in engineering jobs, but you enjoy writing. This could be a good start. Many remote job sites offer writing job vacancies for many fields.

However, if you like the tech industry, there are several wealthy professions in the tech market that allow you to work remotely. These are the ones you should consider if you’re looking to have a great salary and do something you enjoy. Just think that you’ll need to have certain tools that allow you to work comfortably from everywhere you are. These are some of the most in-demand tech skills you can use to work remotely:

  • Software engineering 

Software engineering is the profession that works in the conception of a digital product, such as an app or software. Software developers work with several programming languages like Python or Java. There are three specializations in this career which are front-end, back-end, and full-stack development. Front-end development works with the visuals, everything that the user sees when he’s in the app. Back-end, on the other hand, handles everything on the server-side of an app or software. Back-end development also manages the connections between the database and the browser. 

The last specialization is more of a unicorn, less common than the other two, but it’s still out there. Full-stack developers handle both; the front-end and back-end. It requires more effort and knowledge, but it’s very in-demand among tech companies. Most of these businesses would prefer to have the same person to handle both parts. A software engineer can make from $88,000 to $108,000 per year.

  • UX and UI design

The first impression anyone has of your website (or product) is usually related to design and functionality. UX and UI design handle both of these aspects, that’s why these professions have become so popular these days. UX, which refers to user experience, is in charge of providing a seamless experience for all users. UI, on the other side, handles the interaction between users and the interface. There’s nothing more satisfying than using an app or software that’s intuitive. This is what both of these occupations look for; creating intuitive projects that users can enjoy when interacting with them.  

Some of the tasks of a UX and UI designer are to research and test products, run surveys, apply new design strategies. Despite what you may be thinking, this isn’t an artistic occupation, it’s more about functionality. If designing is something you enjoy, this might be a good career for you. Besides, its salary is wealthy enough to cover all your trips. A UX designer can make up to $104,000 a year.

  • Data science 

Data Science might be the future of work’s most in-demand trend. The main reason for this is that it’s very related to artificial intelligence and machine learning, which currently cover a lot of ground in the tech field these days. 

A data scientist’s work is to collect data from a company’s or organization’s data set, scrape the information, and find useful insights for actionable strategies. Data scientists help companies make better business decisions. 

Many companies depend on data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence to stay on the float. Besides, according to a recent report conducted by Brookings Institution, 25% of jobs in America might be at risk of automation. So why not switch your career for a tech profession that might be one of the most in-demand skills of the future? 

Learn new skills

Now that you’ve figured out which profession you like, you can go ahead and learn this skill to finally become a digital nomad. For some professions, you can go for a college degree, but maybe you don’t have to invest a large amount of money into this, rather than that, it’ll be better to invest your money wisely. Bootcamps have become more popular these days because they provide you with the ability to learn with an adaptive method and a fair price for the education you receive.

If you’d like to go for a tech career, there are great options for you like Data Science Bootcamps or coding bootcamps. Besides, most of these schools that teach those skills have a flexible payment modality. You can either pay up-front, choose a deferred payment option, or you could even pay only once you’ve found a job in tech.

Start applying for job positions

You have the skills and knowledge, it’s time for it. When you’re applying for a job in tech, it’ll be good to impress recruiters with projects that you have built for yourself, like an app, a website, your articles, your designs. Show them how efficient you are in creating a functional project. You could also get some experience with internships, this might be a good thing to boost your career. Once you find a good remote work you’ll be able to become a digital nomad.

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