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The hardest part of remote jobs is finding one that will pay even remotely (hehe) what you could make at a local company. My experience with remote interviewin

The hardest part of remote jobs is finding one that will pay even remotely (hehe) what you could make at a local company. My experience with remote interviewing culminated in getting 3 separate remote offers for anywhere between 35-60% less than my asking salary or the local offers I received. Part of this might be that my area (Salt Lake City) has particularly high engineering salaries despite what most people expect, but it seems to be a thing across the board, because like others have said they are tapping into a worldwide talent pool where they can get talent that are happy with the company's salary budget.

derefr 9y ago
> The hardest part of remote jobs is finding one that will pay even remotely (hehe) what you could make at a local company. If you live outside the US, it's the opposite: the goal is to find a job that pays a US programmer's salary, which is usually far more (yes, even outside SV) than what you could make at any "local company."
- elliotec 9y ago
  That's very interesting, and makes sense.
cakedoggie 9y ago
Why should they pay the same, they aren't getting the same service. You aren't on site to consult with at any time of the day. You can't give feedback straight away.
- ilaksh 9y ago
  Communication with remote workers needs to be just as good as it is for onsite. If its lacking, there is little chance they can succeed at all. In some ways, it sometimes has to be better -- often very good written online skills are key. Whether there is a person literally sitting in a particular chair all day for a manager to randomly come by at any time is not a determining factor. If people need to be available sort of on call for feedback or meetings during the day (which for most of these jobs is not actually necessary) they can stay logged into text/video/audio chat.
njovin 9y ago
I'm in a high COL area with high engineering salaries and a few years back I got an offer from a company in Chicago offering about 20% more than I was making at the time (which was a healthy wage in my area). Their interview process was thorough and a bit stressful but I'd rate it excellent as far as screening goes. I ended up not accepting the offer, but it was a great experience and I actually felt a bit sad at having to turn it down. The company knew what they were looking for in a senior engineer and weren't looking to lowball anyone. I assume that many companies are in a position where their local talent pool is shallow or the market where they're at is so high that even hiring someone remote from another premium market can save them money, even if it's still a very fair wage.

derefr 9y ago

> The hardest part of remote jobs is finding one that will pay even remotely (hehe) what you could make at a local company. If you live outside the US, it's the opposite: the goal is to find a job that pays a US programmer's salary, which is usually far more (yes, even outside SV) than what you could make at any "local company."

elliotec 9y ago
That's very interesting, and makes sense.

cakedoggie 9y ago

Why should they pay the same, they aren't getting the same service. You aren't on site to consult with at any time of the day. You can't give feedback straight away.

ilaksh 9y ago
Communication with remote workers needs to be just as good as it is for onsite. If its lacking, there is little chance they can succeed at all. In some ways, it sometimes has to be better -- often very good written online skills are key. Whether there is a person literally sitting in a particular chair all day for a manager to randomly come by at any time is not a determining factor. If people need to be available sort of on call for feedback or meetings during the day (which for most of these jobs is not actually necessary) they can stay logged into text/video/audio chat.

njovin 9y ago

I'm in a high COL area with high engineering salaries and a few years back I got an offer from a company in Chicago offering about 20% more than I was making at the time (which was a healthy wage in my area). Their interview process was thorough and a bit stressful but I'd rate it excellent as far as screening goes. I ended up not accepting the offer, but it was a great experience and I actually felt a bit sad at having to turn it down. The company knew what they were looking for in a senior engineer and weren't looking to lowball anyone. I assume that many companies are in a position where their local talent pool is shallow or the market where they're at is so high that even hiring someone remote from another premium market can save them money, even if it's still a very fair wage.