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Sources to Find a Remote Job as a Software Developer

88 points by wnm 12y ago

tiagocesar 12y ago
Great article, thanks.
frankblizzard 12y ago
there is also http://remoteok.io/ http://remoteok.io/ which launched recently
mmcgowan27 12y ago
What about the traditional marketplaces like sologig, elance, o-desk, etc.? Losing favor among quality talent?
- eatonphil 12y ago
  I think you will find there is a connotative difference between the words "freelance" and "remote". That is, "remote" is often intended to mean full-time work from home as an employee or 9-5 contractor. Whereas freelancing is... freelancing. In any case elance, o-desk, sologig, etc are for freelancing and not for finding 9-5 work, generally speaking. Nevermind the fact that elance, o-desk, etc are just price war races to the bottom...
  - PaulHoule 12y ago
    Not necessarily true. You occasionally find the client on elance or odesk who knows you get what you pay for, but it is not hard to find the guy who wants you build a "site like facebook" for $500. On the other hand,, you can find that guy on Craiglist too.
    - jgroszko 12y ago
      That could be a cute business model, build Facebook once and then sell it over and over again to every guy that wants it for $500... "No but what I want is different!" "Yep, uh huh, sure, removes duck animation"
atiffany 12y ago
This is a shameless plug, but we have several remote developer positions we are hiring for as well: https://www.twintechs.com/about-us/contact-us/careers/ https://www.twintechs.com/about-us/contact-us/careers/
- ttola 12y ago
  Sorry, just before I continue, does your remote also include international developers.
  - atiffany 12y ago
    Sorry to say it, but in most cases we require US citizens. There are a few rare exceptions, but overlapping typical US business hours is always required.
hawski 12y ago
I decided, that my next job will be remote. But it's hard to find something allowing european timezones, that would not be web dev.
meraku 12y ago
It's a pity there aren't more Senior .NET developer positions for remote workers. The vast majority of them seem to be for Ruby on Rails.
- S4M 12y ago
  I think it's because RoR allows one developer to make an app quickly while .NET is more for a team. If you're someone who needs only one developer for your Rails app - because you were the only developer and have to move on to do something else or your current developer is leaving, you are more likely to tolerate his not being onsite if you can give him high level instructions; however, a remote team is much complicated to handle.
  - meraku 12y ago
    I'm not sure I that I agree with this. I've worked on plenty of projects utilizing ASP.NET during my days as a freelancer where I was the only developer. However, it might be that this is primarily a perception problem, where the types of companies using .NET simply prefer to have their team on-site, as opposed to companies utilizing RoR which may be younger and more forward-thinking, resulting in them being more open to remote workers.
- teh_klev 12y ago
  Or do as I've been doing, tailoring my skills to match the market, it's no bad thing and makes life interesting.
  - arenaninja 12y ago
    I've tried doing this by practicing NodeJS lately... But it looks like I need to publish code in GitHub to prove that I'm not a charlatan. It's rough doing that in addition to a job and a side project though
    - jakenberg 12y ago
      Why don't you find a way to work Node into your side project? If you modularize what you build in node nicely, you can break it out into its own repo and post it. :) Also, I personally take advantage of failed side projects from the past by open sourcing them. Really helps in interviews!
arenaninja 12y ago
The last time I was looking for a job I tried pretty hard to find a remote job. I tried to match my interests and skills pretty closely to the jobs and came up with a small list, all of which ultimately fell through. One of them was close and gave me a fair chance with interviews, but most of the rest simply e-mailed back saying that they were looking for someone who already had remote experience. Great catch 22
- joshavant 12y ago
  IME, the best way to get that is to work at a larger, more developed company that's remote-friendly. For example, I used to work for LivingSocial. They're based in DC, but have offices + developers around the country. I worked in their SF office with a handful of developers and the other half of our team was at the headquarters in DC. Also, developers on related teams were scatted across the country. Occasionally, getting help from someone meant snagging their time over Skype/Hangouts. Now, I can put on my resume that I have remote experience. This link lists some companies that would be a good start (CMD+F 'remote DNA'): https://github.com/lukasz-madon/awesome-remote-job https://github.com/lukasz-madon/awesome-remote-job
  - arenaninja 12y ago
    Thanks for the pointers! I'll take these into consideration next time I'm on the market (which might be this year... I'm not a huge fan of my commute)
avinassh 12y ago
> There are two places to find jobs on HackerNews. First, the official job board, where you can find job listings from YC companies. I haven't seen any remote jobs from YC funded startups. And also, I thought YC startups don't favour remote work, by reading responses/replies on HN.
ffn 12y ago
Great article, going to come back to this in like 3 months when I'll be looking for work again.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
infecto 12y ago
Not exactly relevant but maybe someone with experience sees this. I am really trying to break into freelance work and having an impossible time putting the pieces together. Any tips for newcomers to the freelance world? Looking to just get a few gigs under my belt and not sure what sites/sources are best to find work.
- metasean 12y ago
  I'm not in the freelance world, but I've heard good things about the "Freelancers' Show" from a friend who is - http://devchat.tv/freelancers http://devchat.tv/freelancers
  - infecto 12y ago
    looks promising, thanks!
cfontes 12y ago
I've worked remote for 2 years and I miss it deeply today. I keep trying to find another position like that but most of them pay a lot less the on site. So...
MichaelCrawford 12y ago
http://www.warplife.com/jobs/computer/telecommute/ http://www.warplife.com/jobs/computer/telecommute/

88 points by wnm 12y ago

tiagocesar 12y ago

Great article, thanks.

frankblizzard 12y ago

there is also http://remoteok.io/ http://remoteok.io/ which launched recently

mmcgowan27 12y ago

What about the traditional marketplaces like sologig, elance, o-desk, etc.? Losing favor among quality talent?

eatonphil 12y ago
I think you will find there is a connotative difference between the words "freelance" and "remote". That is, "remote" is often intended to mean full-time work from home as an employee or 9-5 contractor. Whereas freelancing is... freelancing. In any case elance, o-desk, sologig, etc are for freelancing and not for finding 9-5 work, generally speaking. Nevermind the fact that elance, o-desk, etc are just price war races to the bottom...
- PaulHoule 12y ago
  Not necessarily true. You occasionally find the client on elance or odesk who knows you get what you pay for, but it is not hard to find the guy who wants you build a "site like facebook" for $500. On the other hand,, you can find that guy on Craiglist too.
  - jgroszko 12y ago
    That could be a cute business model, build Facebook once and then sell it over and over again to every guy that wants it for $500... "No but what I want is different!" "Yep, uh huh, sure, removes duck animation"

atiffany 12y ago

This is a shameless plug, but we have several remote developer positions we are hiring for as well: https://www.twintechs.com/about-us/contact-us/careers/ https://www.twintechs.com/about-us/contact-us/careers/

ttola 12y ago
Sorry, just before I continue, does your remote also include international developers.
- atiffany 12y ago
  Sorry to say it, but in most cases we require US citizens. There are a few rare exceptions, but overlapping typical US business hours is always required.

hawski 12y ago

I decided, that my next job will be remote. But it's hard to find something allowing european timezones, that would not be web dev.

meraku 12y ago

It's a pity there aren't more Senior .NET developer positions for remote workers. The vast majority of them seem to be for Ruby on Rails.

S4M 12y ago
I think it's because RoR allows one developer to make an app quickly while .NET is more for a team. If you're someone who needs only one developer for your Rails app - because you were the only developer and have to move on to do something else or your current developer is leaving, you are more likely to tolerate his not being onsite if you can give him high level instructions; however, a remote team is much complicated to handle.
- meraku 12y ago
  I'm not sure I that I agree with this. I've worked on plenty of projects utilizing ASP.NET during my days as a freelancer where I was the only developer. However, it might be that this is primarily a perception problem, where the types of companies using .NET simply prefer to have their team on-site, as opposed to companies utilizing RoR which may be younger and more forward-thinking, resulting in them being more open to remote workers.
teh_klev 12y ago
Or do as I've been doing, tailoring my skills to match the market, it's no bad thing and makes life interesting.
- arenaninja 12y ago
  I've tried doing this by practicing NodeJS lately... But it looks like I need to publish code in GitHub to prove that I'm not a charlatan. It's rough doing that in addition to a job and a side project though
  - jakenberg 12y ago
    Why don't you find a way to work Node into your side project? If you modularize what you build in node nicely, you can break it out into its own repo and post it. :) Also, I personally take advantage of failed side projects from the past by open sourcing them. Really helps in interviews!

arenaninja 12y ago

The last time I was looking for a job I tried pretty hard to find a remote job. I tried to match my interests and skills pretty closely to the jobs and came up with a small list, all of which ultimately fell through. One of them was close and gave me a fair chance with interviews, but most of the rest simply e-mailed back saying that they were looking for someone who already had remote experience. Great catch 22

joshavant 12y ago
IME, the best way to get that is to work at a larger, more developed company that's remote-friendly. For example, I used to work for LivingSocial. They're based in DC, but have offices + developers around the country. I worked in their SF office with a handful of developers and the other half of our team was at the headquarters in DC. Also, developers on related teams were scatted across the country. Occasionally, getting help from someone meant snagging their time over Skype/Hangouts. Now, I can put on my resume that I have remote experience. This link lists some companies that would be a good start (CMD+F 'remote DNA'): https://github.com/lukasz-madon/awesome-remote-job https://github.com/lukasz-madon/awesome-remote-job
- arenaninja 12y ago
  Thanks for the pointers! I'll take these into consideration next time I'm on the market (which might be this year... I'm not a huge fan of my commute)

avinassh 12y ago

> There are two places to find jobs on HackerNews. First, the official job board, where you can find job listings from YC companies. I haven't seen any remote jobs from YC funded startups. And also, I thought YC startups don't favour remote work, by reading responses/replies on HN.

ffn 12y ago

Great article, going to come back to this in like 3 months when I'll be looking for work again.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

infecto 12y ago

Not exactly relevant but maybe someone with experience sees this. I am really trying to break into freelance work and having an impossible time putting the pieces together. Any tips for newcomers to the freelance world? Looking to just get a few gigs under my belt and not sure what sites/sources are best to find work.

metasean 12y ago
I'm not in the freelance world, but I've heard good things about the "Freelancers' Show" from a friend who is - http://devchat.tv/freelancers http://devchat.tv/freelancers
- infecto 12y ago
  looks promising, thanks!

cfontes 12y ago

I've worked remote for 2 years and I miss it deeply today. I keep trying to find another position like that but most of them pay a lot less the on site. So...

MichaelCrawford 12y ago

http://www.warplife.com/jobs/computer/telecommute/ http://www.warplife.com/jobs/computer/telecommute/