The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Online Work

If you travel more than a few weeks of the year, you’ve probably realized the need to maintain an income while you’re away from home. The two basic ways to do this, if you’re not drawing disability or retirement income, are gig work and online or remote work.

Gig work includes any independent contracting work that you have to be physically present for. Examples of gig work would include DoorDash, Uber, Lyft, Amazon Flex, Draiver, etc. For each of these jobs, you have to physically leave your house and interact with other people, whether in your vehicle, or at a delivery site, or in a travel situation. As an independent contractor, you are free to choose which assignments you will complete, and you get paid only when you work. The good news about gig work is that you can work while you travel! If you have a vehicle, you can drive for DoorDash or Uber in any market. Other contractors may have other policies about working outside of your home region.

Online work is often as an independent contractor. If you have any kind of four-year degree, you can teach or tutor online, both with US students and with students around the world. As an online teacher, I can put a few props and a laptop in my backpack and teach from any private space. I’m not allowed to teach from a coffee shop or a park, but I’ve used bathrooms, hotel conference rooms, the back deck, and even my vehicle, in a pinch. I just hang a shower curtain as a background, put a few ring lights on my face, and go to work!

Remote work is usually through your traditional employer. If you have a ‘normal’ job that can be done from home, it can probably also be done from anywhere else in the U.S. It is the employee’s responsibility to ensure he or she has appropriate equipment and the best internet speeds possible. With a job like this, you may even have medical benefits and paid time off! But your sight-seeing time will be limited by the hours you need to spend to complete your work assignments.

The good things about online work:

Travel: You can travel whenever and wherever you want, constrained only by internet speed and access to electrical outlets for your devices. There are jobs that require no additional degrees or certifications.

No vehicle: These jobs do not require a vehicle, so they’re a great option if you fly to your destination.

Flexible hours: If you want to do more sight-seeing, or if you’re traveling for a family event such as a wedding or a funeral, you can adjust your work schedule to accommodate those hours. I’ve worked from midnight to 7am some weeks, and from 10am to 4pm other weeks. It takes time and skill to develop that kind of flexibility, but it can be done.

The bad things about online work:

Time: While you can mostly choose your own hours, you really do have to give some time, somewhere, from your vacation, if you want to maintain an income. As an independent contractor, you only receive pay when you accomplish projects.

Space: You really do need a private space to work. If you’re transcribing, you might only need silence so you can hear well. But if you’re teaching or doing other video-based work, you’ll need a quiet place with some kind of background behind you. You can hang a sheet in the garage if you have to, but you have to have something. This can be a bit limiting, if you’re visiting somewhere with noisy kids or where you can’t be loud and wake the baby. 😊

The ugly things about online work:

Internet: If your internet goes out, you lose money. Contractors have varying consequences for missed assignments. For some, you will simply not be paid. As an online teacher, you could actually owe the company money, if you cancel too close to the class time.

Cancellation of contract: As an independent contractor, you have zero recourse if your company closes its doors or chooses not to continue your contract. Twice this fall, I’ve received emails from online teaching companies stating that “all future classes have been canceled. We are no longer in business.” Yep… the teachers who were depending on those contracts for future income were suddenly left in the lurch. And these closings affected hundreds of thousands of teachers, not just me.

Intensity: Your income depends on your hustle. If you don’t consider yourself to be a salesman, your income could suffer. I’ve been able to replace some of my previous income with private online students. But that entails me contacting parents, encouraging them to purchase classes, bringing my best product in every session, and asking them for referrals to other parents. As an independent contractor, you need to be spending a few hours EVERY week figuring out what you’ll do when this job ends. You must diversify, not just into different companies within the industry, but into different industries within your expertise. If you’re good at teaching, try to find some proofreading. If you’re a good math tutor, start a YouTube channel with helpful math tips and hacks.

Online work has been an answer to prayer for me. Physically, it allows me to work and make an income even when my body is not at 100% strength. Mentally, it is both challenging and fun. Emotionally, I feel like I am making a difference in lives. I love that I can scratch that ‘teaching itch’ and make a few bucks doing it.

Online work has also been as stressful as any other job I’ve ever held. I’ve had to learn some technology I didn’t really want to learn. I’ve had to interact with some parents I didn’t care for. And I’ve had to let things go when a company closed and I suddenly had no further access to my favorite students.

Independent contractors are expendable. The companies that use this model know that they can find other contractors by placing a few more facebook ads. They’re not committed to you as a worker. Their commitment is to their bottom line. This commitment is how they stay in business, which is how they give you a job. Just be aware, they don’t owe you two weeks notice, and they don’t have to respond to your complaints or suggestions. The company is here to do a job, and the independent contractor is simply a cog in that machinery.

That said, I’m grateful that I can travel because of my online work. I highly recommend independent contractor work, both in gigs and online, to anyone who wants to increase their travel!

What suggestions do you have? What companies have you worked for as an independent contractor? Let us know in the comments!