Working Online vs. Working In-Person
How to know which route to go when you're planning on moving abroad (and need to have an income)
Securing a source of income is (understandably) one of the biggest pain points I see for people moving abroad for the first time.
Although I’m really driven by where I live, more often than not a job has determined my move.
It can be really, really tough to take the job you have in your home country and get the same or a similar one abroad. Not impossible (it’s essentially what my husband has done here in Italy but that was a long, hard process and a story for another day) but definitely not the “easy” route.
Let me put it this way: If you’re moving because of a job, that job has to sponsor your work visa. Sponsoring visas is costly and annoying, for them and for you. If you don’t bring anything to the table that a local doesn’t, it’s going to be hard to convince them to go through the extra hurdles for you. Take that into consideration alongside the language and cultural barrier.
It’s a costly risk and one most companies won’t take lightly.
This is why jobs like teaching English are so popular - speaking English natively and fluently is something that locals in many countries simply can’t offer. This gives you, the native English speaker, the upper hand.
So, most people think, “ah, I’ll just work online.” And yes, if your job can be turned into a remote one, that’s an easy fit. That’s what I do - alongside my 2 websites I work remotely at a digital marketing agency.
Getting a remote job is likely easier than getting a job abroad. The pool of companies is bigger afterall and you can target roles in the language(s) you speak. Toss in the ability to work for yourself (either creating your own business or going freelance) and you typically have more opportunities.
But, then you face the legalities of living abroad while working online.
If you want to go the nomad route and hop around the world, this is definitely the path I would suggest. If you want longevitity in a single country and to build a home there, you’ll need to make sure it’s a country with a digital nomad visa (aka a visa that allows online workers to legally live there).
All digital nomad visas aren’t created equally nor do they all offer the same rights or length of stay so be sure to read the fine print to ensure it aligns with your goals. Here’s the full list of countries with digital nomad visas.
Really quickly, here are some basic pros and cons to both working in-person and working online.
Working In-Person Pros:
You gain a better connection to the community. This helps with making friends, learning the language, and understanding the local culture better.
You’ll get a straightforward visa. The work visa is one that’s been around a lonnggg time. Immigration and lawyers understand this one and while it might still be a pain in the ass, usually the requirements are pretty straightforward.
You’ll be integrated into the local system. Ok, this is maybe for better or for worse depending on the country but it means you gain access to public healthcare and public services that tourists don’t.
Working In-Person Cons:
It can be tough to get a job in your field. As I mentioned earlier, you have to prove you can do the job better than a local in order to get a sponsored work visa. That means having a unique set of skills that can be hard to showcase.
You might have to work in an industry you don’t care about. Things like tourism, education, medical, and hospitality are the most common industries to hire foreigners.
You lose a lot of flexibility. I’m comparing this to working remotely. If you work in-person, it likely means you actually have to go in-person to do your job which is less flexible than most online workers have.
Working Online Pros:
You have more job opportunities. Generally speaking, you’re likely qualified for more jobs online than you are for jobs in foreign countries.
You’ll gain more flexibility. I mean this in when and where you work from. Not all remote jobs are created equally though, so be sure to read the fine print before assuming you can take your job anywhere.
You can take it to more countries. For those that dream of traveling the world, working remotely is the easiest way to check off that goal while still making an income.
Working Online Cons:
You’ll have to work harder to make friends. It’s easy as a remote worker to sit at home or a coworking space and not interact often with others. You’ll have to really try to make friends and integrate into the local community.
It’s harder to live abroad long-term. I’m pretty sure 99% of countries offer work visas but less than half offer digital nomad visas. From those, many of those visas are to only stay in the country upwards of a few years.
Immigration is a little trickier. I say this simply because compared to work visas, digital nomad visas are new. That means not all immigration officers and lawyers have worked with them yet. You might receive contradictory info and things can change last minute.
So, where’s that leave you?
You might have opened this hoping I’d give you a clear answer about which path to take and if working in-person or working online is better. That just means you don’t know me well enough yet.
While I love sharing my own experience living abroad, a big part of my mission is to help you get abroad in the way that’s best for YOU. I’ll share my opinion and try and paint a full picture but I’ll hardly tell you which route to choose.
The thing is, most likely you’ll have to make some sort of sacrifice. You’ll have to be lenient on where you move or the way in which you get your income. It’s often far easier to get what you want by taking small steps towards that goal rather than waiting for the stars to align.
Learn new skills to better align yourself with jobs abroad; Open a map and dream up other destinations that excite you; Take a job, knowing that it doesn’t have to be forever, in order to get your foot in a country.
For the month of May, I’ll dive deeper into getting a job abroad (both in-person and online) to help you figure out not only which of these routes is best but the steps to take once you’ve made that initial decision.
Until next week!
