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I just took a fairly large pay cut (more than 8%) to work remotely. Is there a distinction between working remotely and working from home?

elliotec 10y ago
I think so, traveling and adventuring through the world while working seems more worth a pay cut than just not needing to drive to an office.
- grecy 10y ago
  > traveling and adventuring through the world while working I have been trying to do this for years, and it's much harder than it sounds on the surface. I'm in West Africa now, for reference. When you work for a company (or even just take a contract of some form) the company wants you to be available on their schedule. So you have to live the hours of the country you're "working for". This gets really hard when you have travel days (or weeks), when you want to go someplace remote, have limited or no connectivity, want to do something with locals in the plae you're in, want a social life, etc. etc. Maybe you can do it if "traveling and adventuring through the world" means staying put in a large city in a more-or-less developed country, but otherwise, it's very hard.
- clueless123 10y ago
  few people do it to travel the world.. most stay at home close to the kids.
- jimmywanger 10y ago
  But how would they know? As long as you're in the same time zone (as another commenter has alluded to) and have decent internet, what's the difference between working from a suburb of Chicago and Mexico City?
nathan_f77 10y ago
Are you sure that the pay cut was necessary? As a freelancer, it's possible to make much more than a Bay Area salary if you are a good developer.
- jimmywanger 10y ago
  TLDR; Well, it was a good situation and my skill set is not ideally suited for a freelancer, as I'm a predominantly backend engineer. If you want details, I'm going into them now. 1) Good situation The entire team is pretty much remote now. Working at the office is the exception, not the norm. Trying to be the first remote worker on a team is a chore, not only do you have to come up to speed, but you have to institute a remote culture as a newcomer, which is not easy. A fight I don't want to have. 2) Skill set I've been focused on backend systems. I don't have any front-end experience, especially stuff that you can put in a portfolio and wow potential clients with. That tends to cut down on freelancing. If you don't mind me asking, what hourly rate do you generally charge your clients? And what true hourly rate, factoring in meeting clients and writing RFPs? Freelancing is looking increasingly attractive to me. 3) Personal connections Somebody who I used to report to referred me to the job, and I enjoyed and will enjoy working with him. It's always nice to know somebody on the inside who vouches for the team and can show you the ropes.

elliotec 10y ago

I think so, traveling and adventuring through the world while working seems more worth a pay cut than just not needing to drive to an office.

grecy 10y ago
> traveling and adventuring through the world while working I have been trying to do this for years, and it's much harder than it sounds on the surface. I'm in West Africa now, for reference. When you work for a company (or even just take a contract of some form) the company wants you to be available on their schedule. So you have to live the hours of the country you're "working for". This gets really hard when you have travel days (or weeks), when you want to go someplace remote, have limited or no connectivity, want to do something with locals in the plae you're in, want a social life, etc. etc. Maybe you can do it if "traveling and adventuring through the world" means staying put in a large city in a more-or-less developed country, but otherwise, it's very hard.
clueless123 10y ago
few people do it to travel the world.. most stay at home close to the kids.
jimmywanger 10y ago
But how would they know? As long as you're in the same time zone (as another commenter has alluded to) and have decent internet, what's the difference between working from a suburb of Chicago and Mexico City?

nathan_f77 10y ago

Are you sure that the pay cut was necessary? As a freelancer, it's possible to make much more than a Bay Area salary if you are a good developer.

jimmywanger 10y ago
TLDR; Well, it was a good situation and my skill set is not ideally suited for a freelancer, as I'm a predominantly backend engineer. If you want details, I'm going into them now. 1) Good situation The entire team is pretty much remote now. Working at the office is the exception, not the norm. Trying to be the first remote worker on a team is a chore, not only do you have to come up to speed, but you have to institute a remote culture as a newcomer, which is not easy. A fight I don't want to have. 2) Skill set I've been focused on backend systems. I don't have any front-end experience, especially stuff that you can put in a portfolio and wow potential clients with. That tends to cut down on freelancing. If you don't mind me asking, what hourly rate do you generally charge your clients? And what true hourly rate, factoring in meeting clients and writing RFPs? Freelancing is looking increasingly attractive to me. 3) Personal connections Somebody who I used to report to referred me to the job, and I enjoyed and will enjoy working with him. It's always nice to know somebody on the inside who vouches for the team and can show you the ropes.