"I Applied to 50 Remote Jobs in 30 Days Here's What Actually Worked"

 

I Applied to 50 Remote Jobs in 30 Days Here's What Actually Worked

Let me be completely honest with you.

Thirty days ago, I sat at my kitchen table staring at my last rejection email at around 11 PM. My coffee was cold, my eyes were bloodshot, and for a moment, only for a moment, I accepted defeat.

But then I got up from the table, and I'm genuinely grateful to myself for not giving up.

This isn't one of those "I made $10,000 my first month working remotely" posts. It's not a story of success. It's a story about real experience and valuable lessons I've learned over the past month that you rarely hear about in the self-proclaimed "guides" to finding a job from home.

In this post, you're going to discover everything I've learned over the course of applying to 50 different remote positions in 30 days.

Why I Decided to do This Experiment in the First Place

I've been telling myself that I'm going to get looking for remote work more seriously "soon" for a while now.

And every single time, soon became later, and later became never.

So one day, I decided that I was going to stop putting it off, and for the next 30 days, I would apply to 50 remote jobs regardless of anything else that was going on in my life. Regardless of whether my resume was 100% perfect or not. I had to stop putting it off, and I had to force myself to start doing something.

The only condition I had for myself is that I would apply to at least 1 or 2 remote jobs every day regardless of what was going on.

What I Discovered During the First Week

Going into the experiment, I felt pretty confident about myself.

I had spent two nights putting together a nice resume and updating my LinkedIn. How bad could it be, right? I applied to 12 jobs during the first week, and I heard back from none of them.

No one emailed me back, even with a simple automated "thanks but no thanks" message.

I honestly felt as if no one was even reviewing my applications.

It was during the sixth day when I sent a text to a friend of mine asking her if she thought no one was even reviewing my applications.

She replied saying that they are reviewing them, they just didn't feel them.

That stung a little, but she was right.

I reviewed all of my applications and realized that they were all very generic and boring.

After realizing this, I threw away my generic cover letter and began spending more time on each application by researching the company and writing a cover letter tailored specifically to that company.

For example, when applying for a VA position for a small business, I noticed that their website hadn't been updated in a while, and I made sure to point that out in my cover letter.

When applying for a content writing gig, I wrote my cover letter in a similar tone and style to their blog, making sure to show that I was a good fit for their team.

When applying for a customer service position, I made sure to reference a specific detail in their FAQ page.

Did this take more time and feel a little strange at first? Absolutely.

However, when I look at the results from week one compared to week two, I can say without a doubt that the extra time and effort were well worth it.

In week two, out of the 11 applications I sent, I received 4 responses.

The most important lesson I've learned from this is to write like you're writing to a person, not a title.

The Application that Taught me the Most

On day 18, I applied for a remote social media coordinator position for a small online store.

I sent in a personalized cover letter and samples with the application. I was very happy with how everything turned out. Two days later, they emailed me asking to set up a brief intro call. We talked a little bit, and they asked me to complete a small paid test task.

I completed the task, sent it back, and then... nothing. I was disappointed, but didn't want to bug them since we hadn't even formally interviewed yet. So, after waiting 5 days, I sent them a polite follow-up email asking if they needed anything else from me. They responded back within an hour letting me know my email had gone to spam. They loved the samples I sent and eventually ended up hiring me for the position.

When I look back at the 30-day remote job hunting experiment, this day stands out as one of the most important to me.

If I didn't follow up with them, I never would have gotten the job.

The Platforms that Worked Best

I tested a lot of different platforms during this experiment, and I have to say that some of them are definitely better than others.

Some of the platforms I tried were Upwork, We Work Remotely, LinkedIn, Indeed (with the remote filter), and Fiverr.

Upwork was my favorite in terms of steady work, but it's very important to have a complete profile before applying to anything since that's the first thing potential clients will see.

We Work Remotely had a lot of great opportunities, but it was very competitive, and you have to apply to jobs very quickly after they appear.

LinkedIn was a great place to apply, and a lot of companies actually responded well to applications sent from LinkedIn.

Indeed was inconsistent in my experience, but it still had quite a few remote jobs available.

When it comes to Fiverr, the platform was a little different from the rest.

Instead of applying to jobs, people sign up to be hired from Fiverr.

It took about two weeks before I actually got hired for my first order, but once I did, I was very impressed with the process.

The Remote Jobs that Gave the Most Responses

Out of the 50 applications I sent in total, I want to share with you all the types of jobs that got me the best results.

Customer support roles were the easiest to apply for and got me the most responses out of any category.

The competition wasn't very high, and companies were looking to hire quickly. If you can write well and remain calm and professional under pressure, you have a very good chance of landing a customer support position remotely.

I found that virtual assistant positions were a little hit or miss depending on who you were applying to.

Many small businesses were willing to take a chance on a new VA, whereas big corporations with their own HR departments weren't as easy to get past.

Applying to content writing and social media positions on sites like Upwork and Fiverr got me many more responses than applying to formal job listings.

Companies looking for a content writer or social media manager tend to be less picky about who they hire as long as they can write

Data labeling and AI training tasks on sites like DataAnnotation got me paid tasks consistently with very little competition.

They aren't the most exciting type of work out there, but they will pay you while you build up more experience.

The Numbers After 30 Days

50 job applications sent

14 responses received

7 interviews, introductory calls, or similar

3 paid projects completed

2 job relationships still ongoing

1 month of consistent effort

These numbers may not seem impressive at first, but they are exactly what I consider to be fantastic results for a first month of remote job hunting.

As you can see, my 30-day remote job hunting experiment wasn't something that became a reality overnight. It was a result of months if not years of self-motivation and discipline along with the actual hard work from day 1.

The reality of remote job hunting is that it isn't something magical and easy. It's a matter of simple math: more applications + better applications will equal results eventually, not to mention the follow-ups and time.

The Valuable Lessons Nobody Tells You About

I've always found that rejection is pretty brutal, but when it comes to remote job hunting, it feels even worse. There's no face to see, no hand to shake, and no "we'll be in touch" to hear.

You have to learn to accept the fact that you will get rejected, and you will eventually get past it.

Your profile is your first interview. Before you send in a single application, make sure that your LinkedIn and overall online presence are up to par.

If someone Googles you and finds your profile before opening your application, they will form an opinion about you based on what they see.

Small clients are just as important as big ones and can sometimes lead to much bigger opportunities.

Some of my biggest opportunities and first few clients were small businesses and independent contractors who were willing to take a chance on someone inexperienced.

Lastly, you have to manage your own energy.

Job hunting can be mentally exhausting in a way that very few people can describe until they've been through it.

Make sure to save your mental energy for the important tasks by doing the more mundane ones when you're not at your sharpest.

Applying to jobs late at night when you're burnt out and in a bad mood is not the best use of your time since it will show in the application itself.

The 60-day rule is a thing. Everyone I've talked to who's been through this and eventually found work has said that the first 30 days were nothing, and most of their results came from days 31-60.

I can honestly say that this rule is very real.

If you give up at day 28, you'll never know what could have happened on day 35 that could've changed everything.

What I Would Do Differently in the Future

There are some things I would absolutely do differently in the future, and some things I definitely wouldn't.

I wish I had built my portfolio before starting the job hunting process. I lost a lot of potential applications because I didn't spend the necessary time putting together samples.

I would also have focused on 2 platforms rather than the 5-6 I was using.

I would've followed up sooner and with more confidence.

And laslty, I would've stopped waiting to apply for jobs until my resume and portfolio were perfect.

I'm a firm believer that good enough is good enough, and something is always better than nothing.

If You Are Planning to Start Your Own Experiment Now

Do it this week, not next year.

You don't need to wait for the perfect time to start.

You don't need to put it off until you have a better resume, until you have a better portfolio, until everything is perfect.

You need to start right now, and once you start, you need to keep going even when you feel like nothing is working.

You need to learn and grow from your failures and successes, but most importantly, you need to learn how to persevere.

My 30-day remote job hunting experiment has opened my eyes to a lot of different things, and I'm genuinely grateful for every single experience, even the bad ones.

Your 30-day journey can start today.

Did you like this post? Make sure to share it with someone who keeps saying they're going to get looking for remote work "soon".

Also, be sure to check out more beginner guides to finding a job from home, AI hustle opportunities, and much more on this blog!