Top 5 Tips for Working Freelance When Traveling

This week we have been featured on One World 365, a great site with loads of information about meaningful travel opportunities. You can see a short excerpt below, head on over to the site to read the full article:

I have been working and travelling as a freelancer for the past 15 months and I love it! My “offices” have ranged from a coffee table next to the beach to my lap on a very small aeroplane. I am trying to encourage more people to get started in online freelancing as the opportunities for travel are amazing. You can read more about my experiences travelling and freelancing at no9to5.co. Being able to work anywhere is really cool but it does have its own challenges. Here are some of my top tips to make your life easier while you are travelling.

http://www.oneworld365.org/blog/top-5-tips-for-working-freelance-when-traveling

What Does it Take to Work in Customer Support?

What Does it Take to Work in Customer Support?

It still astonishes me how little knowledge I had of computers when I started working in IT Support. I was 21 and it was my first serious job after university, the start of my career really and I only got it because of my cousin’s nepotism. However, I did start off on the lowest rung of the ladder; earning slightly more than the national minimum wage at the time. I was basically a tea boy.

I wasn’t allowed near customers to begin with and I mostly just watched my colleagues fix things and kept my mouth shut. Then, about 1 month into the job, 3 of the IT support team were suddenly out of the office. Left on my lonesome with the phone ringing off the hook, I built up the courage, reached out, picked it up and a career was born.

Sink or Swim

That might be a touch dramatic but it really was a case of being thrown into the deep end; sink or swim time. Thankfully I swam. I quickly learned that 50% of fixing IT problems is turning something off and then on again. And the other 50% is knowing how to Google stuff.

But I also discovered something far more interesting, and that was that my IT knowledge wasn’t the most important part of the job. Customers would call and ask for me time and time again after that first week. It’s wasn’t because I was the best IT person there, it was because they enjoyed talking with me and I reassured them that it was going to be OK. Even if I was thinking “Oh crap, oh crap, how does this work?!!!”

Are You a People Person?

My own experience and hiring others for customer support jobs has given me strong beliefs on what it takes to work in customer support. It’s not about experience and it’s not about technical knowledge, what it does require is personality, empathy and a need to help. And it’s not just me that thinks so. Take a look at any customer support job advert from some of the biggies out there; Buffer, Zappos, Basecamp, etc. Top of their list of requirements is that applicants are empathetic and want to help people.

What they won’t say is that they are looking for someone with a certain type of personality. Because they can't say that, but I would bet my favourite Boba Fett figure that these companies are looking for a certain type of person to fit their company culture.

Some Things Can't Be Taught... Most Things Can!

Doesn’t sound too hard does it? For some people it isn’t and there are certainly people that are more naturally inclined when it comes to customer support. There are obviously other skills that are useful; organization, self motivation, excellent written communication, and for some jobs you do need to have some technical knowledge. But my feeling is that all of that can be learnt, whereas teaching someone to be empathetic and natural at the same time is a considerably tougher task.

How to Get Started as a Freelancer

This week we have been featured on Digital Nomad Wannabe, a great site with information about how to make money online. You can see a short excerpt below, head on over to the site to read the full article:

Online freelance work is a great way to get started as a digital nomad and give yourself the freedom to work remotely. At no9to5.co we love freelance work so I am going to explain how to begin online freelancing and share some strategies on how to make money.

Whichever site you choose, you will need to create a profile and make some proposals. I have hired a lot of freelancers while working as a project manager and I can tell you that there are a ton of very dull, very similar profiles out there. Let’s talk about how to create a profile that will stand out and land your first remote job.

http://www.digitalnomadwannabe.com/get-started-freelancer-now/