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I underestimated how high the competition is for remote work. All my attempts failed so far despite having well customized application materials. I didn't submi

I underestimated how high the competition is for remote work. All my attempts failed so far despite having well customized application materials. I didn't submit to hundreds maybe around 20. Most of the time I never even reached a technical test at these companies which I thought would be the hardest part.

imglorp 8y ago
You're not competing with your locality but with an entire country, or more. You need to stand out somehow.
- dubya123 8y ago
  How is this any different than a job at Big Tech in SF or NYC?
  - imglorp 8y ago
    Because there, you're _only_ competing with local SF/NYC applicants, within like 1h drive radius or whatever.
    - dubya123 8y ago
      SF and NYC attract the top talent from around the world.
      - krupan 8y ago
        Not all of it, just the top talent that doesn't mind the living conditions in SF and NYC
        notoriousjpg 8y ago
        Exactly, not all talent is prepared to up and move country. Age and family all factor into it.
    - lazyasciiart 8y ago
      Everyone I know who lives in SF moved there when they got offered a job there.
- jfroma 8y ago
  This. I'm from Argentina, what worked for me was to start a blog about the problems I was solving back then for my current job, worked in opensource stuff, responded questions for an opensource tool in a forum (there was no stackoverflow back then) and somehow built a "personal brand" for some niche technologies. It all happened like 10 years ago in the span of 3 months. I got my first remote job offer for an small software firm in Europe because they read a blogpost I wrote about solving a problem they had. I've worked since then for 3 different companies from Europe and the US. I wasn't looking for a remote job to be honest, but it happened. I honestly didn't know I could work for a company remotely back then, I was very young and had not idea about the paperwork, transactions, etc. There are a lot of players in this, some are just looking for cheap labor, but there are also companies that understand that talent is everywhere and they are looking for that.
- eeZah7Ux 8y ago
  Certainly more than an entire country. Yet, you can receive offers from the whole world.
nicolashahn 8y ago
I think the way to get a remote job is to start with a non-remote job and slowly convert it to remote. Haven't pulled it off successfully yet but it seems like a much easier path, so long as you're willing to put in the time.
- Klathmon 8y ago
  I want to warn against this. My biggest "issue" with remote working is always when there are differing amounts of remote work within teams. When you have half the engineers in office, and half remote, the 2 sides end up with communication issues. In-office meetings where a few are remoted in are awful unless the company spends the money on a real remote-conference setup, having co-workers that don't like to pick up the phone and call the remote guy ends up keeping remote workers away from the problems. I will never work at a remote company that isn't actively working on maintaining a remote workforce. Because even though I absolutely love remote work, it's not easy, even for those that are heavily invested in it.
  - pier25 8y ago
    This is absolutely true. I lead a dev remote team and I have to actively communicate with people on the office to know about things going on. There is a shitstorm happening and we don't know about it until they need something from us.
- kokey 8y ago
  I've done it a few times. This works better since you get a lot of the relationships, culture and company knowledge established before you spend less time in the office and if you do it slowly you all learn and fix what needs to be put in place to make it work well. It doesn't work in all companies, but you can often work this out in advance. A good sign is obviously if some people already work remotely, but I have found where this works best is if the company already has teams spanning multiple locations and time zones and have the management structure and communication tools developed to do that properly.
taternuts 8y ago
Everyone is different but having actually worked for this company is the reason I won't ever work remotely ever again.
- castlecrasher2 8y ago
  How come?
  - taternuts 8y ago
    High turnover, low loyalty, low pay. There's plenty of guys and gals there that are great there and not everyone was treated badly but I don't think it is the majority.
ParanoidShroom 8y ago
Why is remote such highly requested? I work remote but, not cause I HAVE to. My team is just all fully remote.
- kowdermeister 8y ago
  Working on great products, great money (compared to local offers) while I don't have to restart my life in a new country.
- strikelaserclaw 8y ago
  Personally, I've done remote and decided after a while i didn't enjoy full time remote. The advantages? Getting to choose where i live, freedom in working my own schedule as long as deadlines are met, working in my boxers ?
- anotheryou 8y ago
  I want to be able to move whenever I want. Especially as my partner might change cities a few times in the next years. On day-to-day basis I enjoy good coffee, self-made and more healthy food and the possibility to have a quick nap when really needed. I can also take a big break and stretch the workday a bit if I stay available and feel like it. edit: oh and I forgot: silence or good speakers.
- Draiken 8y ago
  Honestly, saving 1-4 hours of commute every single day equates to an absurd amount of extra time. People underestimate how long commuting takes away from your day. Just the time you take getting ready, waking up early to get breakfast first or even getting out to eat lunch. Normally people don't add those times to the commute total and count only the actual car/bus/metro time. No matter small those are, they add up and you don't ever get that back. Even if you only take 1 hour a day commuting (rare in my experience) you will get at least 5 hours extra in a week that you can use to... live. Be it learning time, family time or even just relaxing time, it's 5 hours that seemingly come from out of thin air.
  - closeparen 8y ago
strikelaserclaw 8y ago
I've managed to get a remote gig at some point, and i'm sure i can go 100% remote at my present employer. Seems to be the best way like someone above mentioned is to get a non remote job, prove yourself to be a valuable asset and then negotiate remote, never failed in my case.

imglorp 8y ago

You're not competing with your locality but with an entire country, or more. You need to stand out somehow.

dubya123 8y ago
How is this any different than a job at Big Tech in SF or NYC?
- imglorp 8y ago
  Because there, you're _only_ competing with local SF/NYC applicants, within like 1h drive radius or whatever.
  - dubya123 8y ago
    SF and NYC attract the top talent from around the world.
    - krupan 8y ago
      Not all of it, just the top talent that doesn't mind the living conditions in SF and NYC
      - notoriousjpg 8y ago
        Exactly, not all talent is prepared to up and move country. Age and family all factor into it.
  - lazyasciiart 8y ago
    Everyone I know who lives in SF moved there when they got offered a job there.
jfroma 8y ago
This. I'm from Argentina, what worked for me was to start a blog about the problems I was solving back then for my current job, worked in opensource stuff, responded questions for an opensource tool in a forum (there was no stackoverflow back then) and somehow built a "personal brand" for some niche technologies. It all happened like 10 years ago in the span of 3 months. I got my first remote job offer for an small software firm in Europe because they read a blogpost I wrote about solving a problem they had. I've worked since then for 3 different companies from Europe and the US. I wasn't looking for a remote job to be honest, but it happened. I honestly didn't know I could work for a company remotely back then, I was very young and had not idea about the paperwork, transactions, etc. There are a lot of players in this, some are just looking for cheap labor, but there are also companies that understand that talent is everywhere and they are looking for that.
eeZah7Ux 8y ago
Certainly more than an entire country. Yet, you can receive offers from the whole world.

nicolashahn 8y ago

I think the way to get a remote job is to start with a non-remote job and slowly convert it to remote. Haven't pulled it off successfully yet but it seems like a much easier path, so long as you're willing to put in the time.

Klathmon 8y ago
I want to warn against this. My biggest "issue" with remote working is always when there are differing amounts of remote work within teams. When you have half the engineers in office, and half remote, the 2 sides end up with communication issues. In-office meetings where a few are remoted in are awful unless the company spends the money on a real remote-conference setup, having co-workers that don't like to pick up the phone and call the remote guy ends up keeping remote workers away from the problems. I will never work at a remote company that isn't actively working on maintaining a remote workforce. Because even though I absolutely love remote work, it's not easy, even for those that are heavily invested in it.
- pier25 8y ago
  This is absolutely true. I lead a dev remote team and I have to actively communicate with people on the office to know about things going on. There is a shitstorm happening and we don't know about it until they need something from us.
kokey 8y ago
I've done it a few times. This works better since you get a lot of the relationships, culture and company knowledge established before you spend less time in the office and if you do it slowly you all learn and fix what needs to be put in place to make it work well. It doesn't work in all companies, but you can often work this out in advance. A good sign is obviously if some people already work remotely, but I have found where this works best is if the company already has teams spanning multiple locations and time zones and have the management structure and communication tools developed to do that properly.

taternuts 8y ago

Everyone is different but having actually worked for this company is the reason I won't ever work remotely ever again.

castlecrasher2 8y ago
How come?
- taternuts 8y ago
  High turnover, low loyalty, low pay. There's plenty of guys and gals there that are great there and not everyone was treated badly but I don't think it is the majority.

ParanoidShroom 8y ago

Why is remote such highly requested? I work remote but, not cause I HAVE to. My team is just all fully remote.

kowdermeister 8y ago
Working on great products, great money (compared to local offers) while I don't have to restart my life in a new country.
strikelaserclaw 8y ago
Personally, I've done remote and decided after a while i didn't enjoy full time remote. The advantages? Getting to choose where i live, freedom in working my own schedule as long as deadlines are met, working in my boxers ?
anotheryou 8y ago
I want to be able to move whenever I want. Especially as my partner might change cities a few times in the next years. On day-to-day basis I enjoy good coffee, self-made and more healthy food and the possibility to have a quick nap when really needed. I can also take a big break and stretch the workday a bit if I stay available and feel like it. edit: oh and I forgot: silence or good speakers.
Draiken 8y ago
Honestly, saving 1-4 hours of commute every single day equates to an absurd amount of extra time. People underestimate how long commuting takes away from your day. Just the time you take getting ready, waking up early to get breakfast first or even getting out to eat lunch. Normally people don't add those times to the commute total and count only the actual car/bus/metro time. No matter small those are, they add up and you don't ever get that back. Even if you only take 1 hour a day commuting (rare in my experience) you will get at least 5 hours extra in a week that you can use to... live. Be it learning time, family time or even just relaxing time, it's 5 hours that seemingly come from out of thin air.
- closeparen 8y ago

strikelaserclaw 8y ago

I've managed to get a remote gig at some point, and i'm sure i can go 100% remote at my present employer. Seems to be the best way like someone above mentioned is to get a non remote job, prove yourself to be a valuable asset and then negotiate remote, never failed in my case.