A Look at Our Recent Event with Vrbo (formerly HomeAway)
When you convince more than 100 women in tech to come to an event on one of the coldest nights of the year, you want to have a stellar line up of executives from one of Austin's top companies discussing their diversity and tech initiatives. That's exactly what happened on January 17th when Vrbo and PowerToFly hosted an evening that included Vrbo's president, members of its executive team, and the CEO of Expedia, Vrbo's parent company.
For people who couldn't attend, we wanted to share a few quotes and anecdotes that moved the conversation forward in the room.
- Vrbo President, John Kim: "In the last two years, there has been an awakening in diversity and inclusion. We are not going back."
- Expedia CEO, Mark Okerstrom discussed how Expedia has made diversity a major initiative at the company by increasing the number of women on the Expedia board and expanding the number of women vice presidents.
- Tina Weyand, Chief Product Officer at Vrbo discussed how "ideas can come from anywhere." She detailed how feedback has been key to her career. In fact, feedback is so valued at HomeAway that managers and teams recently received six hours of training on how to give constructive feedback that is actionable and unbiased.
- Siobhan Burch, a Software Engineer at Vrbo, shared advice about returning to the workplace, something she herself has done after taking a five year break to raise her family. Burch leveraged her network of female supporters and kept herself sharp via internet courses to ensure that the transition back to the workforce was a successful one.
- Vrbo Senior Strategic Data Analyst Nikole Phillips also stressed the importance of ongoing education citing advice her single mother gave her growing up in a low-income neighborhood in Philadelphia. "People can take anything away from you but they can't take the brain out of your head."
- As one attendee, Violeta Albrecht, noted, it's important for women to not feel the need to hold back but to rather have a strong and equal voice at meetings, especially when you are one of the only women in the room. "I've taken myself off mute."
For more information on Vrbo's gender diversity initiatives and jobs follow their company page.
PowerToFly's Cristina Duke moderated a panel featuring Vrbo's female tech leaders
Best Work-From-Home Jobs to Apply to in 2021
If you're like me, and freelance, task-oriented remote jobs like article writing, data entry, transcription, or professional survey taking (yep, that exists), aren't your thing - don't worry. There are more full-time remote opportunities than ever before that offer you the freedom to manage your own time, the security of consistent monthly income, the support of a team, and the promise of growth. In fact, we've got close to 5,000 on PowerToFly.
So, if you're looking for a remote opportunity in 2021 that will push you to develop professionally, look no further than our list of the 10 best work-from-home jobs. And by best, we mean fun, challenging roles that will help you grow, while making a respectable income.
All the jobs listed have average salaries between 45 and 119k, and have average or higher-than-average growth potential (based off of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' predictions for growth from 2018 to 2028 and/or LinkedIn's 2020 Emerging Jobs Report).
10 Best Work-From-Home (Remote) Jobs for 2021
Jobs sorted from highest to lowest average salary. (Salary data taken from ZipRecruiter, Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and/or the U.S. BLS depending on availability and specificity to remote roles.)
1.Data Scientist
Who It's Good For: Detail-oriented stats masters skilled at identifying and understanding trends.
Sound Like You? Check Out: Remote Data Science Roles. Plus, watch this Chat & Learn with a data insights engineer to learn more about data-driven careers.
Why You Can Do It Remotely: With more data than ever before at our fingertips, companies know the value of hiring folks who know "big data" as more than just a buzzword. True stats buffs are hard to come by, so expertise often outweighs location.
Growth 2018-2028: 30.7%
Annual Growth: 37% (Data Scientist made LinkedIn's List of the top 15 emerging job for 2020)
Average Annual Salary: $119,000
2.Software Developer/Engineer
Who It's Good For: Self-directed (and disciplined) coding enthusiasts who love problem solving and having the freedom to work whenever they feel most focused.
Sound Like You? Check Out: 4,000+ Software Developer/Engineer jobs on PowerToFly and be sure to check out this Q&A with software engineer, Kasey Champion to learn about her experience working at a fully remote company and get her tips for acing technical interviews!)
Why It Can Be Done Remotely: Arguably, not only can programming be done remotely - it should be! Why? Writing code requires undisturbed blocks of time rarely found in traditional workplaces.
As computer scientist and entrepreneur Paul Graham observed in his essay on makers' vs. managers' schedules:
" Most powerful people are on the manager's schedule...But there's another way of using time that's common among people who make things, like programmers and writers. They generally prefer to use time in units of half a day at least. You can't write or program well in units of an hour. That's barely enough time to get started."
Office culture was designed with managers' schedules in mind, and thus makes adhering to a maker's schedule extremely difficult. Remote work, alternatively, is much more conducive to this. After all, it's a lot easier to snooze your Slack notifications than it is to ignore your boss literally hovering over your shoulder.
Growth for 2018-2028: 21%
Annual Growth: 35% for full stack engineers, 30% for backend developers, 25% for javascript developers (all three made LinkedIn's top 15 emerging jobs)
Average Annual Salary: $111,781
3.Designer (Web, Graphic, Product, or UI/UX)
Who It's Good For: Designers who do their best work independently or from the comfort of their own home.
Sound Like You? Check Out: Remote Design Roles
Why You Can Do It Remotely: No doubt there's value in brainstorming with your team, but once you know the needs of a project, most design work can be done independently and then shared. With tools like Zoom, Jira, and Slack, it's easier than ever before to share your work, get feedback, and hit deadlines. (And, like programmers/developers, designers are also more likely to benefit from a maker's schedule!)
Growth for 2018-2028: The BLS predicts only 3% growth, but others predict significantly higher growth based on the length of time UI/UX roles stay open before being filled.
Average Annual Salary (for UX Design): $98,816 according to data from ZipRecruiters
Average Median Salary (for Graphic Design): $50,370 in 2018, according to the U.S. BLS (not specific to remote roles)
4.Product Manager
Who It's Good For: Anyone who loves big-picture strategy and building products that users will love.
(If you enjoy more nitty-gritty task oversight, consider project management instead — both roles can be done remotely! You can learn more about the differences between the two PM roles here.)
Sound Like You? Check Out: Remote Product Manager Jobs (Plus, practice these product manager interview questions to help you land the gig!)
Why You Can Do It Remotely: As more and more software engineers and other tech professionals work remotely, it only makes sense that the PMs coordinating with them work remotely. If you're a virtual communication wiz comfortable communicating online and using tools like Zoom, GitHub, Jyra, Slack, and Asana (the list goes on...), then you're all set!
Annual Growth: 24%*
*Based on expected growth for Product Owner from LinkedIn's emerging jobs report. The BLS doesn't currently track growth specifically for Product Manager positions.
Average Annual Salary: $81,149
5.P.A., Nurse, or Nurse Practitioner
Who It's Good For: An experienced medical practitioner ready to swap 12 hour shifts for a more flexible schedule.
Sound Like You? Check Out: Remote Nurse Jobs and subscribe to job alerts from Flatiron Health for future remote roles!
Why You Can Do It Remotely: New technology is changing the way healthcare is delivered. You can provide wellness and medical education, patient-centered care, and treatment virtually, all while collaborating with a multi-disciplinary team of engineers, physicians, and medical assistants.
Growth for 2018-2028 (Nurse Practitioner): 26%
Average Annual Salary (Remote Nurse): $73,374
6.Technical Writer
Who It's Good For: Top-notch communicators (writers) who can explain complex topics succinctly and clearly. (It's helpful if you have expertise in at least one technical subject.)
Sound Like You? Check Out: Remote Technical Writer Jobs
Why It Can Be Done Remotely: Like programmers, technical writers are makers - they need large, undisturbed blocks of time to create content. Technology and the nature of remote work can help ensure writers are able to communicate efficiently with their teams and organize meetings when they'll be constructive, not distracting.
Growth for 2018-2028: 8%
Average Annual Salary: $68,,454
7.Customer Success Manager
Who It's Good For: Good communicators who love helping others and problem-solving.
Sound Like You? Check Out: Remote Customer Success Roles
Why It Can Be Done Remotely: Most customer service needs can be met over the phone and online. With a computer and good internet connection (and enough patience), you can handle all your customers' needs from wherever you are.
Growth for 2020: 34% annual growth rate (The BLS doesn't share data specific to customer success, but thanks to the growth of SaaS, Customer Success Specialist made LinkedIn's 2020 list of the top 15 emerging jobs)
Average Annual Salary: $67,371
8.Marketing Manager
Who It's Good For: Folks who are equal parts creative and analytical.
Sound Like You? Check Out: Remote Marketing Manager Jobs on PowerToFly
Why You Can Do It Remotely: Analyzing industry trends and crafting strategy can be done from anywhere. And with teams becoming more and more spread out, you can coordinate cross-functionally with sales people, engineers, and more using Zoom, Slack, and other online tools.
Growth for 2018-2028: 8%
Average Annual Salary: $62,788 (according to data for remote professionals from ZipRecruiters)
Average Median Salary: $134,290 in 2018, according to the U.S. BLS (not specific to remote roles)
9.Recruiter
Who It's Good For: A people-person skilled in market research, project/time management, and negotiation.
Sound Like You? Check Out: Remote Recruiting Roles
Why You Can Do It Remotely: As remote work takes off and fully remote teams become more common, it only makes sense that recruiters at these companies would be remote as well. Although recruiting saw a dip at the start of the pandemic, the number of remote recruiting roles is steadily increasing as companies ramp back up their hiring goals—we have hundreds of open remote recruiter roles on PowerToFly!
Growth for 2018-2028: 5%
Average Annual Salary: $59,474
10.Sales Development Representative
Who It's Good For: A self-starter with previous experience or an interest in Sales, or anyone who's just starting out and eager to prove themselves!
Sound Like You? Check Out: Remote SDR Roles
Why You Can Do It Remotely: You don't need to be in a particular location to make sales calls, deliver pitches, send follow-up emails, or manage your sales team. And if you have to fly from an office to meet a client, you can just as easily fly from your hometown.
Growth for 2018-2028: 5%
Annual Growth: 34% (LinkedIn lists SDR as one of its top 15 emerging roles for 2020)
Median Annual Salary (not specific to remote) for SDRs: $45,937
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Interested in one of the roles above? Check out these resources for landing your dream remote job and get ready to reap the full benefits of remote work in 2021 - doing what you like, where you like. Good luck!
[A version of this article was originally published on Dec. 19, 2018]
Lifting Latin Voices All Over the World: Learn more about Our Partners, Sponsors & Speakers
We want to extend a HUGE thanks to our Gold sponsors Pluralsight, UnitedHealth Group, Autodesk, Smartsheet, PwC, NGA, and American Express plus our Silver sponsor dv01. (All of those companies are hiring, by the way) This summit would not have been possible without the contributions of our Influencer sponsors Techqueria, Latinas in Tech, and APCO Worldwide.
Also, don't forget to visit our Merch Store and grab yourself some PowerToFly apparel, we donate 100% of the proceeds from our sales to TransTech Social, supporting transgender people in tech.
Registration for our last Diversity Reboot 2021 summit: Supporting Military and Veteran Spouses is now open! If you're a veteran or a military official looking for a civilian role that will leverage your prior skills and experience, or a spouse looking for a job that can accommodate your mobile lifestyle, we hope you'll join us to hear directly from companies committed to supporting military members and their families!
Special Moments from the Summit
Rep. Ritchie Torres: "If We Don't Care Enough to Fight, No One Else Will"
"If We Don't Care Enough To Fight, No One Else Will" www.youtube.com
Fostering a DEI Community as a Latin Leader
Fostering a DEI Community As A Latin Leader www.youtube.com
Claudia Romo Edelman: Creating Support Networks in the Latin Community
Creating Support Networks In The Latin Community www.youtube.com
When You're Aligned with Your Passion, "Magic" is Not Enough To Describe It!
When You're Aligned With You Passion, "Magic" Is Not Enough To Describe It! www.youtube.com
Dr. Anthony Ocampo's Take on Queer+Immigrant Identity
Dr. Anthony Ocampo's Take On Queer+Inmigrant Identity www.youtube.com
Our Gold Sponsors
Pluralsight
Founded in 2004 and trusted by Fortune 500 companies, Pluralsight is the technology skills platform organizations and individuals in 150+ countries count on to innovate faster and create progress for the world.With assessments, learning paths and courses authored by industry experts, our platform helps businesses and individuals close skills gaps in critical areas, innovate faster and deliver on key objectives.Our technology skills platform helps companies create life-changing products that better the lives of their customers. It empowers technologists to dream big and do big. And this is what motivates us every day.
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UnitedHealth Group
UnitedHealth Group is on a mission to help people live healthier lives and to help make the health system work better for everyone. A Fortune 6 company, they're focused on helping people live healthier lives while making the health system work better for everyone. Here, they seek to empower people with the information, guidance and tools to make personal health choices.They work harder and they aim higher. They expect more from themselves and each other.
And, at the end of the day, they're doing a lot of good for more than 142 million people worldwide.
Their biggest point of differentiation is their people - and the collective talent, energy, intelligence and drive their force of 305,000 individuals around the world bring to our mission every single day.
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Autodesk
They make software for people who make things. From the greenest buildings to the cleanest cars, from the smartest factories to the biggest stories, amazing things are created every day with Autodesk. Over four decades they've worked together with their customers to transform how things are made, and in doing so, they've also transformed what can be made. A car's performance now inspires the method of its manufacture, a city's infrastructure helps predict the unpredictable, and the creation of ever-bigger universes shapes ever-bigger stories.
Today their solutions span countless industries empowering innovators everywhere. But they're restless to do more. They don't believe in waiting for progress, they believe in making it. By combining and recombining technologies. By blurring boundaries, reinventing rules, and merging fields. By unleashing talent and unlocking insights across industries. By helping their customers converge on solutions to the challenges they all face today. At Autodesk, they believe that when they have the right tools to work and think flexibly you have the power to transform what actually needs making. The power to design and make a better world for all.
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Smartsheet
In 2005, Smartsheet was founded on the idea that teams and millions of people worldwide deserve a better way to deliver their very best work. Today, the company delivers a leading cloud-based platform for work execution, empowering organizations to plan, capture, track, automate, and report on work at scale, resulting in more efficient processes and better business outcomes.Smartsheet went public on the New York Stock Exchange in April 2018 and currently enables collaboration, better decision making, and accelerated innovation for over 76,000 domain-based customers in 190 countries, including 96 of the Fortune 100.Smartsheet is a passionate team of 1500+ employees spanning offices in Seattle, Boston, London, Edinburgh and Sydney.
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PwC
Join their community of solvers. They're inspiring and empowering their people to change the world. Here, you'll learn with purpose, lead with heart and put your skills to work to make a meaningful difference in the world. As part of a diverse team, you'll build trust and create innovative client solutions in unexpected ways. Their purpose, vision and values are what connects the more than 284,000+ people across the PwC global network of firms and helps distinguish us in the marketplace and with our clients. Discover more about the firm including our impact on society, our commitment to creating a culture of belonging, and how we are investing in technology and our people.Discover their new ways of working at PwC. Their hybrid work model includes three ways of working: virtual, flex and in-person. They're expanding the availability of the virtual option to eligible client service staff and new hires. Now, you can live anywhere in the continental US and work for PwC.NGA
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NGA
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) delivers world-class geospatial intelligence that provides a decisive advantage to policymakers, warfighters, intelligence professionals and first responders.Anyone who sails a U.S. ship, flies a U.S. aircraft, makes national policy decisions, fights wars, locates targets, responds to natural disasters, or even navigates with a cellphone relies on NGA.NGA delivers world-class geospatial intelligence, or GEOINT, that provides a decisive advantage to warfighters, policymakers, intelligence professionals and first responders. Both an intelligence agency and a combat support agency, NGA fulfills the president's national security priorities in partnership with the intelligence community and Department of Defense. For information about the NGA's mission, vision, and goals, click here.NGA is headquartered in Springfield, Virginia and has two major locations in St. Louis and Arnold, Missouri. Hundreds of NGA employees serve on support teams at U.S. military, diplomatic and allied locations around the world.
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American Express
As a global company, it is vital to our success that our employees are as diverse as the customers and communities we serve. American Express has built a diverse workforce and an inclusive workplace— a culture we are committed to continuing.Through our Global Diversity & Inclusion strategy, we're able to channel our efforts in specific ways. We aspire to continue to develop a talent pool that brings together unique perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. We foster a workplace culture where differences are valued and expressed freely and all employees have the support they need to take risks, learn, and collaborate.
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Our Silver Sponsor
dv01
They are dv01, the leading capital markets fintech driving technological innovation and transparency in structured finance. They built the world's first data management, reporting, and analytics platform tailor-made for lending markets to help prevent a repeat of the 2008 global financial crisis.
On their engineering team, they'll collaborate closely to create and develop products that promote accountability, data reliability, and transparency. They're looking for dreamers, thinkers, and doers to help us modernize Wall Street's tech stack.
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Speaker Spotlight
For your next bookclub:
Hispanic Stars Rising: The New Face of Power by Claudia Romo Edelman
Hispanics are 100% Hispanic and 100% American. They believe in the American dream and are incredible contributors to this country. US Hispanics represent 60 million people, 18% of the population, 12% of the country's GDP, $1.7 trillion of purchasing power, the youth population - and the list goes on! Yet, they are often invisible, negatively portrayed, seen as takers. Hispanics contribute so much to America, and now it is time for others to see just how beautiful and resilient they can be. Hispanic Stars Rising: The New Face of Power shares the stories about the experiences, challenges, and successes of Hispanic Stars nationwide. It showcases the diverse backgrounds, obstacles and contributions made by this strong and resilient population nationwide and shines a light on the beauty of this fundamental American community.
The Amazing World of Aviation by Jacqueline Camacho-Ruiz
This compilation of stories includes some of the most important names in aviation and space exploration. From the Wright brothers, who invented the airplane, to Sally Ride, the first American woman in space and the first to flyin the space shuttle, these stories will offer the readers the chance to understand how curiosity and hard work (and a little bit of fearlessness), allowed ordinary individuals to become extraordinary. Learn about how their actions contributed to the progress of humankind and how they became an inspiration for every person that has had an impossible dream.
The Latinos of Asia: How Filipino Americans Break the Rules of Race by Anthony Ocampo, Ph.D.
Is race only about the color of your skin? In The Latinos of Asia, Anthony Christian Ocampo shows that what "color" you are depends largely on your social context. Filipino Americans, for example, helped establish the Asian American movement and are classified by the U.S. Census as Asian. But the legacy of Spanish colonialism in the Philippines means that they share many cultural characteristics with Latinos, such as last names, religion, and language. Thus, Filipinos' "color"―their sense of connection with other racial groups―changes depending on their social context.
The Filipino story demonstrates how immigration is changing the way people negotiate race, particularly in cities like Los Angeles where Latinos and Asians now constitute a collective majority. Amplifying their voices, Ocampo illustrates how second-generation Filipino Americans' racial identities change depending on the communities they grow up in, the schools they attend, and the people they befriend. Ultimately, The Latinos of Asia offers a window into both the racial consciousness of everyday people and the changing racial landscape of American society.
Family Is Everything (Disney Encanto) by Luz Maria Mack
Disney Encanto tells the tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a vibrant town, in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift from super strength to the power to heal—every child except one, Mirabel. But when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she, the only ordinary Madrigal, might just be her exceptional family's last hope. Girls and boys ages 4 to 6 will love this Step 2 Step into Reading leveled reader based on the animated feature film. Step 2 readers use basic vocabulary and short sentences to tell simple stories. For children who recognize familiar words and can sound out new words with help.
B.R.A.N.D. Before Your Resumé: Your Marketing Guide for Veterans & Military Service Members Entering Civilian Life by Graciela Tiscareño-Sato
Student veterans, military spouses, veterans in their first, second, or third career transitions will all learn valuable self-marketing skills, guided by a veteran who knows the transition chaos (and success!) firsthand. This book is essential if you're joining the ranks of veterans choosing the entrepreneurship track, if seeking your first career after leaving the active-duty force, or pursuing your first internship or full-time job after completing your degree as a student veteran.
Readers will complete the "extracting product attributes" exercise, see ample examples of great branding created by veterans Graciela has personally coached, and be able to write their own authentic personal branding to influence their intended target audience. Graciela teaches the reader a repeatable marketing messaging process that will be useful for years to come.
Those who wish to collaborate live with Graciela who will coach them to perfecting their branding and/or discussing their business startup idea will be offered the option to do so.In this marketing guidebook, Graciela guides you in becoming an epic storyteller of your unique value, long before you write your resumé which she reminds us all is a marketing deliverable. Taking this approach as she did during her career transitions means that your audience for your new forward-looking branding will be so intrigued by your value that they'll ASK for your resumé!
You'll be empowered to confidently communicate your value to make things happen, as Graciela did during her transformation from military aviator to technology marketing manager. Graciela freely shares the communication process she followed during her highly successful military-to-civilian transition, in which she was mentored by women veterans every step of the way.
Stop going at it alone.
And most importantly, stop listening to those pushing you into writing your resumé (or worse yet your LinkedIn profile) before you've done the essential work to understand your personal values and interests, your value to civilian organizations and the target audience you need to attract.
Learn to B.R.A.N.D. Before Your Resumé with a marketing-savvy fellow veteran at your side.
Learn about other companies that joined us:
US Economic Development Association
