Ask HN: Tips for getting your first remote gig? I've been applying to remote gigs since August of last year, and I have yet to get very far. My fear is the applicant pool is simply too large, so I will need to find something to set me apart. Still, it seems like most companies don't want to talk unless I have remote experience. Do you have suggestions on how best to present yourself to remote companies when you have no experience with remote? |
Yea, its hard to find a position, and if someone takes the gamble on you... try to take it seriously. Blowing it off makes it harder for those that will come after you.
good luck with the search.
Perhaps you need to find some different words, but a strong motivation with your application helps miles in getting a job.
Do you pay them more, too?
Do people usually mention on their resume when a position was remote? What about part time remote? I have a job where on an official basis its not a remote position at all, but we end up working from home a few days a month. When I work from home, its a full 11 hour shift just like any of my days in the office. I'm looking for a job with 50%+ remote work due to my long commute and some personal issues making my presence at home vital.
What would someone like me do to give employers the impression that, while I don't have a permanent full-time remote gig on my resume, I'm fully capable and experienced at being productive for full-length remote work days?
Been working remote for 6+ years and I agree. I can work hard as hell because of this... It's great!
I applied for several fixed-price jobs from UpWork and Freelancer(mostly preferred UpWork). Clients were generally happy with my work but hated the tiring process.
Luckily one of the projects did really well and I took up the offer to work with the client full time. I still work with the same client, love the work, the pay is really good(considering my PPP-India) and I get enough time to work on my side projects.
Soon after UpWork decided to suspend my account, never fought back even though I knew I did nothing wrong.
Now when I say I have previous remote work experience I generally get a good response.
Basically, you want to demonstrate:
1. You can work independently.
2. Good communication skills.
Easiest way is, as dyeje says, get that first remote position at current job.
Lacking that, you can highlight both ability to work independently and communication skills in your resume and cover letter in a variety of ways. Previous remote work is easiest way, but there others. For example, "I contributed to open source project", "I worked with distributed team at work", "I taught this class", "I designed this project end-to-end", "I helped customers debug problems remotely", etc..
Make sure to call these things out explicitly near the top: readers won't necessarily see them if they're buried in third paragraph of second page.
After that contract stopped I applied to about 20 jobs from job boards such as Weworkremotely and Remoteok with the proposition that I could work with them on a freelance base. I got only one callback out of those, did a technical interview and started working with them.
Since then I've switched several times, it gets easier as you build a network of people working remotely that can give you a tip once a position opens up and that will vouch for you.
Remote work relies a lot on trust.
I'm about to leave a startup after 9 years where I've been remote for the entire time of their existance. I've only visited their office twice (but daily standups via video). I had the benefit that I was friends with one of the founders and all the other founders went to the same University as me. But there's definitely been some difficult moments that were made worse by being remote.
The top things I look for in a remote resource is a person who can solve a tough problem in a concise fashion and an ability to show their work in a team setting.
Inexperienced workers may not have cultivated the discipline required for remote work and don't receive the benefit of the doubt.
If you really want to work remotely, mention your willingness and desire to embrace those ways of working - namely ways of holding you accountable; Hangouts/Zoom/Skype/Bluejeans what have you.
Even better, if I were trying to get started I'd get on Twitch and start building a community around what I know or interests me; live-coding, group problem solving (for the fun of it), and talking that up on social media.
One or two successful "conferences" with a few notable attendees should make a name for yourself.
github with code samples
blog about what you're learning, then post them on HN
do some small freelance jobs (even if they're cheap or volunteer) to gather work experience and references
start a youtube channel
- be good enough that someone wants to hire you no matter where you live
- be good enough to get a 2nd remote gig if the first one flames out