4 ms·

What type of work do you do? Webdev, sysadmin or ? It seems remote working is only just becoming mainstream acceptable. How were you able to start doing so 17

by pcglue 11y ago

What type of work do you do? Webdev, sysadmin or ? It seems remote working is only just becoming mainstream acceptable. How were you able to start doing so 17 years ago? Has it been with the same company or many companies? Are you independent consultant? Sorry for so many questions, I just haven't been able to figure out how to work remotely full-time. The best I've gotten was 1-2 days a week. Appreciate your reply.

dba7dba 11y ago
'sysadmin' I used to think server/sysadmin was one job where you had to be there and that remote job was only for devs. But now with AWS and cloud computing, sysadmin for remote working is just as easy. Amazing how things change.
- phil21 11y ago
  This has always been the case for any competent sysadmin. I know of zero senior sysadmins that have worked on-premise on a regular basis over the past 20 years. You leave that for the remote hands guys who rack and stack stuff, not your senior level guys who's hours are much better spent doing harder things. We used to do this via remote serial console 20+ years ago, then we moved to IPKVM, and now ipvkm over integrated IPMI controllers. I've managed groups of sysadmins over the years, and the truly talented will outright refuse non-remote work. Since they can demand it.
  - dba7dba 11y ago
    All my previous employers required sysadmin onsite mainly because they didn't want to invest in the necessary infrastructure, like KVM with ethernet connectivity or networked powerstrips. Maybe I just haven't been blessed with working with crack team of sysadmins or a shop big enough to justify such investment. Oh, and I used to work with Windows servers...
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    > I've managed groups of sysadmins over the years, and the truly talented will outright refuse non-remote work. Since they can demand it. Sysadmin/Devops here. To confirm your point, I don't take any work that isn't fully remote, and I don't take any position for less than $100k/year USD (~15 years experience).
brianwawok 11y ago
I know someone who has worked over 20 remote years coding AS/400 for large corporations (last one I knew of was Whirlpool). Think she started on dialup. So it has been around for a while, but clearly has gotten more popular over time. Here is how to find a remote job.. find a remote FIRST company. Not a normal company you ask if you can work remote. Find a company that only hires remote people. Watching the companies that post on say weworkremotely.com and you will find something interesting. That said, remote jobs do tend to have more competition. Since anyone can apply to any remote job, I suspect they get 20x the resumes of a local job (would love to hear for someone who has worked both sides of HR to confirm). So you can't just apply to 2 jobs and assume you will get 1 of them. It will take more work.
- FireBeyond 11y ago
  I've gotten multiple jobs via weworkremotely.com - and hired from there. Our ad for a sysadmin got 100+ resumes, of which about 50 were trashable, and we had a dozen plus excellent candidates.
  - brianwawok 11y ago
    How does 100 compare to your average local ad posting? Seems high but not as high as I had expected.
    - kasey_junk 11y ago
      50% trashable from a web posting is amazingly good.
      - brianwawok 11y ago
        Maybe he had a low trash threshold ;)
      - FireBeyond 10y ago
        It may have been higher. But it seems that weworkremotely seems to have a good bar for candidates. Also: I'm counting candidates, not agencies and such spamming.
kingnothing 11y ago
I'm not the GP, but I've been working remotely for 5 years as a software dev. About 1/3 of the devs in our org are remote.
- brianwawok 11y ago
  Does that work out for you? I have not enjoyed being on the remote Minority of a project. Very easy to miss watercooler convos and totally be off tangent. People need to be very slack-first for the remote people to stay looped in.
  - eeeeeeeeeeeee 11y ago
    Remote works best when the entire company is remote. It needs to be embedded in the culture IMO. Or else the remote workers often become isolated from the rest of the company.
  - kingnothing 11y ago
    It works well for us and is very much a part of our culture. Of the people who work out of the office, I'd guess that only half go in on any given day. Basically all conversations happen in our chat client and all meetings are in Google Hangouts. Email or Google Docs are used for things that need to persist or be searchable in the future. We do insist that, in general, you work more or less in a US timezone so you're available for "face-to-face" meetings and standups. That hasn't been a problem for anyone yet.
solipsism 11y ago
My path: * Find a company that already relies on digital communication. Maybe they have a couple different offices, and employees communicate heavily over Slack. A company is unlikely to make this kind of change just for you, and I find it critical to working remotely with a team. * Work for a number of years at a company and do a good job. Become a person they want to retain. * Be an excellent communicator. Don't be the guy/gal who's hard to get ahold of because you're never logged into Slack, or because you check your email only once a day, or because you never answer your phone. * Be upstanding, honest, and forthright. Be self-supervising. Be the person your manager doesn't have to think about, while still knowing you'll do an awesome job. Give them nothing to fear regarding whether you'll continue to do a great job without supervision. * Be slightly underpaid for your market. That last one probably isn't something to seek out, necessarily. But it's a good bit of leverage to use when trying to convince your manager that you should be allowed to work remotely. If you can convince them that letting you work remotely is free for them but a perk for you that's likely to keep you at the company, you've won.
- BatFastard 11y ago
  I would much rather be a little underpaid and be able to work from home! Not having to suffer through traffic is worth at last 10k per year. Only downside is not being around people as much. Kind of a two edged sword. But it makes me very friendly at the grocery store and coffee shop. Been working from home since the 96 olympics. Hardest thing has been convincing my wife that when I am sitting at my desk and in the zone, that she should ask me a question every time she things of something new....
- dba7dba 11y ago
  This is exactly what I saw at my previous company 5-6 years ago. They had no remote work policy but made exceptions for a few key people. Those few were very good at what they did for years consistently and well liked (responsible, pleasant, mature). I consider whatever extra steps required (being nearly always available on IM, etc) for remote work is well worth it, because remote work offers so much benefits.

by pcglue 11y ago

dba7dba 11y ago

'sysadmin' I used to think server/sysadmin was one job where you had to be there and that remote job was only for devs. But now with AWS and cloud computing, sysadmin for remote working is just as easy. Amazing how things change.

phil21 11y ago
This has always been the case for any competent sysadmin. I know of zero senior sysadmins that have worked on-premise on a regular basis over the past 20 years. You leave that for the remote hands guys who rack and stack stuff, not your senior level guys who's hours are much better spent doing harder things. We used to do this via remote serial console 20+ years ago, then we moved to IPKVM, and now ipvkm over integrated IPMI controllers. I've managed groups of sysadmins over the years, and the truly talented will outright refuse non-remote work. Since they can demand it.
- dba7dba 11y ago
  All my previous employers required sysadmin onsite mainly because they didn't want to invest in the necessary infrastructure, like KVM with ethernet connectivity or networked powerstrips. Maybe I just haven't been blessed with working with crack team of sysadmins or a shop big enough to justify such investment. Oh, and I used to work with Windows servers...
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  > I've managed groups of sysadmins over the years, and the truly talented will outright refuse non-remote work. Since they can demand it. Sysadmin/Devops here. To confirm your point, I don't take any work that isn't fully remote, and I don't take any position for less than $100k/year USD (~15 years experience).

brianwawok 11y ago

I know someone who has worked over 20 remote years coding AS/400 for large corporations (last one I knew of was Whirlpool). Think she started on dialup. So it has been around for a while, but clearly has gotten more popular over time. Here is how to find a remote job.. find a remote FIRST company. Not a normal company you ask if you can work remote. Find a company that only hires remote people. Watching the companies that post on say weworkremotely.com and you will find something interesting. That said, remote jobs do tend to have more competition. Since anyone can apply to any remote job, I suspect they get 20x the resumes of a local job (would love to hear for someone who has worked both sides of HR to confirm). So you can't just apply to 2 jobs and assume you will get 1 of them. It will take more work.

FireBeyond 11y ago
I've gotten multiple jobs via weworkremotely.com - and hired from there. Our ad for a sysadmin got 100+ resumes, of which about 50 were trashable, and we had a dozen plus excellent candidates.
- brianwawok 11y ago
  How does 100 compare to your average local ad posting? Seems high but not as high as I had expected.
  - kasey_junk 11y ago
    50% trashable from a web posting is amazingly good.
    - brianwawok 11y ago
      Maybe he had a low trash threshold ;)
    - FireBeyond 10y ago
      It may have been higher. But it seems that weworkremotely seems to have a good bar for candidates. Also: I'm counting candidates, not agencies and such spamming.

kingnothing 11y ago

I'm not the GP, but I've been working remotely for 5 years as a software dev. About 1/3 of the devs in our org are remote.

brianwawok 11y ago
Does that work out for you? I have not enjoyed being on the remote Minority of a project. Very easy to miss watercooler convos and totally be off tangent. People need to be very slack-first for the remote people to stay looped in.
- eeeeeeeeeeeee 11y ago
  Remote works best when the entire company is remote. It needs to be embedded in the culture IMO. Or else the remote workers often become isolated from the rest of the company.
- kingnothing 11y ago
  It works well for us and is very much a part of our culture. Of the people who work out of the office, I'd guess that only half go in on any given day. Basically all conversations happen in our chat client and all meetings are in Google Hangouts. Email or Google Docs are used for things that need to persist or be searchable in the future. We do insist that, in general, you work more or less in a US timezone so you're available for "face-to-face" meetings and standups. That hasn't been a problem for anyone yet.

solipsism 11y ago

My path: * Find a company that already relies on digital communication. Maybe they have a couple different offices, and employees communicate heavily over Slack. A company is unlikely to make this kind of change just for you, and I find it critical to working remotely with a team. * Work for a number of years at a company and do a good job. Become a person they want to retain. * Be an excellent communicator. Don't be the guy/gal who's hard to get ahold of because you're never logged into Slack, or because you check your email only once a day, or because you never answer your phone. * Be upstanding, honest, and forthright. Be self-supervising. Be the person your manager doesn't have to think about, while still knowing you'll do an awesome job. Give them nothing to fear regarding whether you'll continue to do a great job without supervision. * Be slightly underpaid for your market. That last one probably isn't something to seek out, necessarily. But it's a good bit of leverage to use when trying to convince your manager that you should be allowed to work remotely. If you can convince them that letting you work remotely is free for them but a perk for you that's likely to keep you at the company, you've won.

BatFastard 11y ago
I would much rather be a little underpaid and be able to work from home! Not having to suffer through traffic is worth at last 10k per year. Only downside is not being around people as much. Kind of a two edged sword. But it makes me very friendly at the grocery store and coffee shop. Been working from home since the 96 olympics. Hardest thing has been convincing my wife that when I am sitting at my desk and in the zone, that she should ask me a question every time she things of something new....
dba7dba 11y ago
This is exactly what I saw at my previous company 5-6 years ago. They had no remote work policy but made exceptions for a few key people. Those few were very good at what they did for years consistently and well liked (responsible, pleasant, mature). I consider whatever extra steps required (being nearly always available on IM, etc) for remote work is well worth it, because remote work offers so much benefits.