21 Entry-Level Remote Jobs You Can Start Today
Who doesn’t want to work from home? Maybe you have a child or maybe you have a dog that you just really, really like. Maybe you just hate pants.
But how can you get a high-paying work-from-home job if you don’t have any credentials? It turns out there are a lot of entry-level remote jobs out there.
Some of them can even put you to work today.
Why You Should Become a Customer Service Representative
Even companies as big as AT&T are now hiring remote customer service representatives.
CSRs can work from their own home through digital voice lines, and all they have to do is make sure the customer gets the help they need.
The average pay isn’t high, but you do have a lot of flexibility.
Why You Shouldn’t Become a Customer Service Representative
Let’s face it. No one contacts customer service unless they have a problem. Sometimes it’s something you can fix. A lot of times, it’s not.
If you’re going to take these situations personally, it’s better to decline.
Why You Should Become Technical Support
Technical support associates often don’t need to have a thorough background in IT. They just need to consider themselves somewhat tech-savvy.
Companies like Sutherland hire for entry-level tech support jobs all the time. If you find you enjoy this role, consider getting a few tech support certifications and boosting your hireability.
Why You Shouldn’t Become Technical Support
When your father or mother asks you to troubleshoot their computer, and you find that they didn’t turn their monitor on, how do you feel about it?
Quiet, seething rage is probably the wrong answer for this line of remote work.
3. Online Moderator
Average pay:$39,809
Job growth rate: Unknown
Why You Should Become an Online Moderator
If you love arguing on the internet, perhaps you should become an online moderator. Online moderators ensure that forums and other social media venues remain safe, helpful and friendly.
Sometimes known as a community specialist or community support, online moderators are tasked with removing anything from the site that isn’t appropriate.
Why You Shouldn’t Become an Online Moderator
Imagine being the one person in charge of a kindergarten class of 2,000 children who are all armed. That’s about what it takes to be an online moderator these days.
If you felt a shiver of fear, you’re not alone.
Why You Should Become a Data Entry Clerk
Speedy hands will make light work of data entry positions, which frequently pay you based on how much you can accomplish in an hour or in a day.
Data entry can be in any field, from insurance to legal professionals. Type in data and see the money come in, often on a contract basis.
Why You Shouldn’t Become a Data Entry Clerk
If you can’t type faster than 50 words per minute (WPM), you probably can’t become a data entry clerk.
You also shouldn’t go for a home data entry job unless you can ensure that your setup will be ergonomic.
No one wants to get carpal tunnel as a job benefit.
Why You Should Become a Proofreader
Do you have an eye for mistakes? It's time to set up your dream home office. There are many remote opportunities for proofreaders and editors.
Often, proofreaders don’t need particular qualifications. They just need to pass a gauntlet of proofreading tests. Online positions average $53,000 a year, and it only requires that you be able to identify mistakes when you see them.
You might even be able to parlay this into an editing position, if you’re lucky.
Why You Shouldn’t Become a Proofreader
If tihs lkoos nomral to yuo, yuo prbobaly aner’t gniog to mkae it. And that’s not your fault. It’s actually shown that people can read anything "jumbled up" if the first and last letter of the word is correct.
But it also highlights how important it is to be detail-oriented.
Why You Should Become an Online Chat Agent
A live chat agent is like a customer support professional, but they don’t need to get on the phone. In fact, you can be a chat agent in your local cafe as long as they have a strong internet connection.
Type out answers to questions and provide live customer support through an online chat.
Why You Shouldn’t Become an Online Chat Agent
Online chat agents are probably going to be about 90 percent artificial intelligence by 2025, so it’s not the most secure position in the world.
For now, though, it’s a pretty simple gig — and one of the most popular entry-level remote jobs.
Why You Should Become an Online Researcher
An online researcher is like a fact-checker. You can get hired by companies looking to build whitepapers, or you could get hired by a museum, trying to find information about their latest pieces.
An online researcher will dig into the web to make sure that the facts presented are accurate. All while in their work-from-home attire.
Why You Shouldn’t Become an Online Researcher
If you’re that person in your family who shares facts before checking them, then this is only going to complicate your life.
Why You Should Become an Online Translator
If you know a second language, you already have all the credentials you need. Companies like TextMaster and similar businesses will hire you to translate text or voice from one language to another.
While translators can make, on average, around $29/hour, it’s likely that you’ll start closer to $12. Still, it’s a great way to keep your language skills sharp.
This career is really taking off thanks to the global economy.
Why You Shouldn’t Become an Online Translator
An online translator needs to have a deep understanding of a language, including idioms. So if you aren’t actually fluent in another language, you might want to reconsider.
Why You Should Become an Online Sales Professional
If you have a passion for selling, consider an online sales rep role such as the ones available at LiveOps.
You don’t need to go "hard" on sales to be a salesperson. Often, you’ll be calling back people who already expressed interest, or answering calls from those who are interested in your product.
You don't need any sales experience. You just need to answer questions and find the best ways to get deals. You could even specialize in an area you like, like tech sales.
Why You Shouldn’t Become an Online Sales Professional
If you’re not good at selling, this position just isn’t going to be any fun for you — or for the people at the other end of the phone.
The whole point of home jobs is to find a job you feel comfortable with.
Why You Should Become an Online Captioner
Have you ever wondered how they get captions for TV shows, movies and other video content? Freelancers. You can get hired by Dotsub or other similar companies to caption video content.
Online captioners can make quite a bit, depending on how fast they work. If you’re a speedy typist (and a good listener), you may make much more.
Why You Shouldn’t Become an Online Captioner
You need to be able to type both quickly and accurately. Take a typing test. If you’re making more than a few mistakes, you’re probably not going to make much money in this remote entry-level job.
Why You Should Become a Voice Actor
If you have a creative streak, why not consider voice acting as a home job? To get into voice acting, you just need a great microphone. Sign up for Voices.com and get started.
The pay rates for voice acting are highly variable. But it’s a great second job — and it’s something that you can turn into a wildly successful career, if you find the right niche.
Why You Shouldn’t Become a Voice Actor
Being a voice actor can mean long hours and voice strain until you get your big break. Because this is an "acting career," you may need to take unpaid gigs and pay your dues before getting bigger roles.
And you aren't going to get a consistent remote position. You're always going to be looking for the next job.
Why You Should Become a Call Center Agent
Do you have strong interpersonal skills? Do you love to communicate? Get a part-time call center job for the times when you’re sitting idle at home.
This job type can be very flexible, depending on the volume of calls you're expected to take.
Why You Shouldn’t Become a Call Center Agent
If you don’t like the idea of calling people when they’re at their own homes (and perhaps eating their dinner), then a call center agent job might feel a little intrusive to you.
And you can make more money in entry-level sales, if that's your jam.
Why You Should Become a Travel Agent
An online travel agent gets to talk to people when they’re at their happiest — planning a big trip.
As an online travel agent, you’ll be taught how to coordinate and create the best deals for people looking to book airfare, rental cars, hotels, and more.
You’ll be able to give them recommendations for trips and excursions and ensure that they get to their destination on time and safe.
Why You Shouldn’t Become a Travel Agent
Travel agencies are definitely dying out as more and more people just book their vacations on their own. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities there for the right person.
This entry-level remote job works out primarily because it is online rather than in person. Travel agencies may be dead, but people still look at travel websites.
Why You Should Become a Virtual Assistant
What does someone do when they need an assistant but they work from home? Hire a virtual assistant.
A virtual assistant is like a receptionist or personal assistant, but they work entirely from their own home. You might look through documents, make appointments, do some light data entry and more. You can even become a virtual executive assistant and make quite a bit.
Overall, the market for assistants is shrinking — but a lot of that is because people are going remote.
Why You Shouldn’t Become a Virtual Assistant
These jobs require that you be on the ball and conscientious all the time. This isn’t the right entry-level remote job if you’re having trouble managing your own life.
Why You Should Become a Transcriptionist
A transcriptionist is like a closed captioner, but they’re usually responsible for transcribing longer sets of text.
Medical transcriptionists may need to transcribe medical files, whereas legal transcriptionists may need to transcribe case reports and court information.
A transcriptionist has to be a fast typist, but there’s a lot of earning potential based on their speed.
Why You Shouldn’t Become a Transcriptionist
Like closed captioning, you really have to be both fast and accurate. Try a transcription test and see how you do.
You might find that you’re not really "hearing" the right words that people are saying.
16. Survey Taker
Average pay:$52,791
Job growth rate: Unknown
Why You Should Become a Survey Taker
Do you love giving your opinion about things? There are online tests that you can take that will actually pay you to respond to them.
Generally, these are from companies that are conducting market research and need to know more about how people will respond to them. There are even video surveys that pay you $10 a pop.
If you’re very fast at surveys, you could make up to $52,000, but entry level is likely to be closer to $20,000.
Why You Shouldn’t Become a Survey Taker
There’s not a lot of money in this unless you’re very dedicated. You’ll have to spend most of your day filling out surveys, and if you’re not the type of person who finds this fulfilling, it’ll be a drain.
17. Online Mystery Shopper
Average pay:$41,611
Job growth rate: Unknown
Why You Should Become an Online Mystery Shopper
This is an online job many haven’t even heard about. Companies like Bestmark hire professionals to perform "mystery shopping" on websites and through the phone.
Like many other jobs, this is mostly hourly. You’ll make around $15 to $20 an hour depending on how well you do.
But if you choose to make it a full-time job, you can make up to $40,000 a year.
Why You Shouldn’t Become an Online Mystery Shopper
An online mystery shopper is kind of like a spy. A lame spy. But a spy nonetheless.
If you don’t like lying about what you’re doing and acting like a legitimate customer, you might get frustrated.
And in terms of entry-level remote jobs, the hourly pay isn’t that high.
Why You Should Become an Online Writer
Perhaps we’re biased, but it’s a great job with a lot of perks. You get to write about anything that you’re interested in and get paid for it.
There are a lot of places where people are hired to write on a project-by-project basis, such as PeoplePerHour and Freelancer.com.
And you can find full-time and part-time positions on Indeed.
Why You Shouldn’t Become an Online Writer
We don’t want the competition. To be an online writer, you have to be pretty passionate about writing — or it’ll be like pulling teeth.
If you hated writing papers in college, give this one a pass.
Why You Should Become a Website Tester
If you like thinking out of the box and breaking things, you want to become a website tester.
A website tester goes to websites and sees how they can break them. This is essentially quality assurance testing, and it can open doors to other careers.
Most website testers operate on a contract basis, but you can also get hired full-time.
Why You Shouldn’t Become a Website Tester
If you’re an "if it’s not broken, don’t fix it" kind of person, then this job might not be for you.
To be a tester, you have to intentionally break things. You have to really think about how to cause the most chaos.
It's fun for some, stressful for others.
20. Vlogger
Average pay:$83,916
Job growth rate: Unknown
Why You Should Become a Vlogger
Maybe you just want to get paid to be yourself. Vloggers can make millions of dollars by building up their internet personas, but it also means you’re going to be on camera all the time.
Consider what this could mean for your life (and those in it) before embarking upon this path.
Some bloggers do recipes. Others just talk about their lives.
Why You Shouldn’t Become a Vlogger
Are you the type of person who texts someone, then throws their phone in a ditch? Then you probably don’t want to maintain a huge army of fans.
Likewise, if you don’t like the idea of the whole world knowing your birthday, you might not want to be in the public eye.
21. Search Engine Evaluator
Average pay:$53,218
Job growth rate: Unknown
Why You Should Become a Search Engine Evaluator
Evaluate the performance of search engines. Turn this into a full-time job, and you’ll be spending most of your time searching the web and ensuring that what’s returned makes sense. If you find things that don’t, you flag it.
In many ways, this is just a quality assurance role for the world wide web.
Why You Shouldn’t Become a Search Engine Evaluator
Are you the type of person who hates having to Google something? Do you learn best by being told?
If so, then you probably shouldn’t be spending all your working hours around a search engine.