It sounds pretty great to work from the comfort of your own home. No commute, no professional attire, no cubicle-sitting all day. You can wear your pajamas and snuggle your cat. You can save time and focus more on balancing your work and personal life.
But what if you don’t have any experience just yet? Or what if you’re shifting career paths? Can you still work from home?
The answer is a resounding: definitely.
The entire work landscape has changed drastically over the last few years alone. A USA Today Blueprint survey found that 36 percent of employees with at least a high school degree or equivalent are now fully remote. And Pew Research found that 35 percent of workers who have remote-possible jobs work from home full time.
Employers are paying attention to an increased demand for remote work options. What this means is that more entry-level jobs and others requiring very little to no experience can now be done online.
Remember that when you’re job searching with no experience, you can make up for gaps in your resume by showing your passion and relating the life experience you do have to the job you want.
So, what kinds of remote jobs are out there for people without experience? And what do they pay?
This guide covers 11 work-from-home jobs you can snag, even if you have zero experience.
Read more: Hello, Flexibility: The 23 Best Jobs for Work-Life Balance
11 work-from-home jobs that need no experience
1. Virtual assistant
First is a position that’s becoming more popular by the day. Virtual assistants can work from anywhere and provide a range of tasks for executives, entrepreneurs, and businesses. These positions are often fairly entry-level and require tasks like sending emails, scheduling appointments, answering phone calls, scheduling travel, and organizing records.
A big plus to being a virtual assistant is that they’re needed in nearly every industry. The CEOs of companies of all sizes need someone to handle time-consuming tasks. Startup founders commonly need flexible assistants.
The pay isn’t too shabby either: Indeed reports the average base salary for virtual assistants is $26.31 per hour. Assistants can often work either part- or full-time.
Read more: 40 Female-Dominated Careers (& What They Pay)
2. Customer service agent
Today, many customer service representatives are virtual, taking calls from the comfort of their homes. But these workers also commonly provide chat and email services remotely, too. This means when a company needs to have someone available 24/7 on their website, virtual agents can reply to any basic inquiries in moments.
Virtual customer service representatives make a median salary of around $42,000 per year, according to Glassdoor. Many of these jobs don’t require work experience—just an ability to communicate effectively and follow a script.
3. Tech support representative
If you’re pretty savvy with new tech tools and computers, you may consider working as a virtual tech support representative. Similar to customer service employees, tech support teams provide basic troubleshooting assistance and answer questions for a service provider or tech company’s customers.
Virtual tech support agents can make between $40,000 and $60,000 per year, depending on the company, and Glassdoor found the average annual salary to be $58,749. This job could be a great entry point into a tech career or advanced customer service role down the line.
4. Travel agent
Do you love traveling and looking for deals? This could be the remote job for you. Virtual travel agents help people book vacations, whether finding the right package deal, sifting through special offers, or coordinating with hotels and airlines. Many different types of companies hire these types of roles, like rental companies, travel management organizations, or hospitality networks.
ZipRecruiter data shows the average hourly rate for virtual travel agents is about $21, which is pretty strong for entry-level positions. Turn your organizational skills and love for traveling into this fun job without leaving the comfort of your abode.
5. Translator
Translators are valuable resources. Even without any professional experience translating, you have a huge asset that many types of employers want if you speak more than one language.
Examples of industries that need translators include publishing, education, social services, law, and health care. When you work online, you may translate texts for these organizations or attend virtual meetings and translate for patients, clients, or customers.
Remote translators can make quite a bit, with an average salary of $26 per hour in the U.S., according to ZipRecruiter. Translating can help you establish a career quickly and have the opportunity to work in several different industries.
6. Data entry professional
Every organization needs organized data, from hospitals to financial institutions to law firms to universities to marketing agencies. Because entering in a ton of data is time-consuming, many companies hire an entry-level employee to take on repetitive tasks. It’s a great place to get your foot in the door in your desired industry.
Because digital tools have changed the way businesses operate, most data entry is now done online. This makes remote jobs an easy choice when hiring a data entry professional. Glassdoor reports the average remote data entry salary is $38,079 per year.
7. Proofreader
If you excel at catching errors and enjoy reading, you may be able to land a job as a proofreader, even without experience. Employers like content marketing agencies, publishers, and online magazines may ask you to take a proofreading test before hiring you, where you can show them your proofing skills.
Starting as a proofreader can help you build a portfolio for other jobs in editing and writing. You may also be able to start with one-off projects and jobs, working as a freelancer. According to ZipRecruiter, online proofreader jobs pay an average of $25 per hour.
8. Social media professional
Are you active on social media? Do you love making an online impact? Getting an entry-level social media job may simply require familiarity with social platforms, like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube. You can show potential employers any accomplishments you have on these sites, like follower count or engaging content you’ve created.
Most companies now need a social media presence to connect with people. This means no matter your industry, there’s bound to be social media jobs. In the U.S., the average social media job pays in the $50k range.
9. Writer
Have you always been a great writer? Do you dream of a creative career? Writing jobs are some of the most common virtual opportunities out there right now. Large companies, small businesses, and everything in between require great content for their website, blog, email newsletter, and social media channels.
Many writing jobs require you to submit a portfolio or previously published samples. However, if you don’t have any experience, you can always create your own samples. Come up with a blog post related to the industry or role you’re applying for. This shows employers you have chops, even if you’ve never been hired.
Because writing jobs come in a variety of specialties and sizes, from novelists to journalists copywriters to grant writers to technical writers, salaries vary. However, Glassdoor estimates that the average remote writer makes $70,111 per year.
10. English teacher
You may be surprised to learn that there’s a big need for virtual English teachers. You can teach at home on your computer to students on the other side of the globe. Most of the time, all you need is to be a good communicator, speak English fluently, and have access to the internet.
The International TEFL Academy says you can make between $10 and $20 per hour teaching English online with a company, and you can charge whatever you want if you work for yourself. You can work from anywhere when teaching online, but remember you may have to accommodate the schedules of students in other countries.
11. Salesperson
Working in sales can be extremely lucrative, even without experience. Working on commission may sound stressful, but it can really pay off—Glassdoor states that the average online sales representative salary is $94,437.
If you have good persuasion and communication skills, consider looking for a work-from-home sales job. Often, companies look for entry-level salespeople to grow their customer base.
This is another position that’s required by most industries, so consider what product or service you’d be especially effective at selling based on your interests.
Whatever remote job you choose to pursue, remember that you have to start somewhere. Just because you don’t have a lot of experience in the industry you want to work for, doesn’t mean you can’t have a flexible job that allows you to work from home.
