How to become a digital nomad
So you want to be an digital nomad, but not sure how to get there?
I sat down with Maya, a 28 year old digital nomad, to ask her how she got her job.
So, what do you do?
I’m a Client Account Manager, working remotely. I work in digital marketing and I handle client communication, project management and reporting on campaigns.
What did you study at uni?
I studied a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Communications at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Do you think you need this degree to get into digital marketing?
I don’t think you need it, but I know having those three words on my resume helped me to get the jobs that led to this job. But I don’t think the degree actually taught me anything to do with this job.
Could you have become an remote client account manager with just your degree?
No, because you need to have experience working in digital marketing agencies to do what I do, and when I came out of uni I had none of that experience. I didn’t study marketing. My degree was meant to segue into journalism so I was way off base, which is why I needed experience in an agency to get the job I have now.
Okay, so how did you get this experience?
Buckle in kids:
Graduated uni and fellow to USA and stayed there for two years working in hospo and retail
Flew to Melbourne in 2017, working in retail for a couple of months before transitioning into an entry level events management role (my first desk job!). My experience working at Disney World world managing guests and performers played a huge role in me getting this job
Moved back to New Zealand and got a job in sales at copywriting agency and mentioned to management that I loved the company but hated the job (sales is not my things)
Transitioned into a fulltime copywriting position which had always been my dream. I had previous volunteer experience writing for my uni magazine, a film review site and my own blog, so I wasn’t totally green
Then, I came back to Melbourne for a really good friend of mines wedding and decided to stay. I got a job as a client account manager/copywriter at a digital agency
I started looking for a different job about 10 months into that role and applied for a role with a really cool remote company based in Canada. Unfortunately, after the final rounds of interview, Covid impacted their decision to expand and that was put on the back burner
Left job and travelled on savings to NSW and then QLD and then TAS. Kept in touch with the cool company in Canada by emailing them and letting them know I was still keen and eventually got the job!
Now, I have two main clients I work with and have just moved to sunny WA.
So, the path to this job was very windy!
What are the main challenges of your role?
Dividing my time between both clients. I really enjoy the freedom of working remotely, but there is still a lot of hours sitting a desk in front of a laptop. It’s amazing being able to go shopping or meet friends whenever I want, but you still have to put the hours in. It definitely is more freedom than an office job, but you’re still restricted.
Where can you see your career going?
I know this isn’t my forever job but its probably the best job I’ve had in this industry and I do really enjoy it, but it does come with it’s own stressors and challenges.
My forever job… I really do love writing - memoir, novelist, poetry rather than copywriting so could see myself pursuing that at some point. But I am also really passionate about mental health and depression so I would like to work in the mental health space in some capacity.
What piece of advice would you give someone looking to become a remote client account manager?
This is where I say, it is an incredible job, but don’t be fooled. It is still a job and you still have to put the work in.
Make sure you’ve got a white wall behind you and quiet space for meetings (hostel common rooms are not it).
You always need to have at the very least phone reception so you can hotspot off your phone and invest in a good portable charger.
Get used to navigating timezones.
If you want to work at the beach, keep your laptop out of the sun. If working in the car feels good, do that. You have the freedom to work where you want!
Maya has used the Good Friend Cover Letter Writing Guide to cover letters for the past few years, and before she started working remotely she regularly landed interviews at digital marketing agencies!