Ask HN: Where to look for junior level remote positions?

15 points by oblomovshchina 7 years ago | 14 comments

Hey everyone. To the point: I want to become a good programmer.

This year I went to a bootcamp and spent the rest of 2018 writing full-stack apps for my personal use/development. I've been using Linux on the desktop since 2006, and I am comfortable using new technologies and languages whenever needed. I believe and have been told by people in the industry that I am qualified for a junior or level 2 position as a software engineer. Getting a job seems like the obvious next step to keep accumulating experience, but there are two obstacles:

* I can only work remote, for a variety of reasons, and * I am not a Western citizen, which I believe disqualifies me from working for companies in the EU or North America.

I am not interested in what the salary might be: what I am looking for is experience and tasks with which to fill my days and occupy my mind. With this in mind, how do you think should I go about finding a 'job' under these circumstances, if its even feasible? I considered opening up shop by myself and offering pro-bono services to local charities/NGOs, but I feel like it would be an inefficient learning environment. Is it feasible to find a full-time 'post' in an open source project? Or does open-source work asynchronously as opposed to having team dynamics?

I don't even know where to begin looking for the answers to my questions.

tldr: third-world citizen wants a remote job, doesn't know where to look, has no prior work experience but is unconcerned with the salary, how to approach this situation?

Thank you

siscia 7 years ago |

I am in the (slow) process to create database binding for RediSQL (https://redisql.com) for several different languages.

My lack of time make it impossible for me to work on these projects but if you are interested I can definitely arrange something!

Eventually I was hoping to release SQL bindings for python, golang and maybe Ruby but any language will do. For each of those I will be able to pay just 200€ that I know is a misery but I can't afford much more.

All the code will be open source, there won't really be deadlines, and is just going to be an informal thing.

If you or anybody else reading is interested feel free to hit my email.

xchaotic 7 years ago |

I can only work remote, for a variety of reasons - what are they? With a visa or some other arrangements you could work non remotely first, which would equip you better to working remotely later in your career. I am 100% remote now, but I believe the first few years non remote taught me a few thing about corporate culture and politics which are hard to guess from far away. If you gel with company culture well, that really helps, remote work or not.

If you start remote first, I don't think you have a good chance of picking up those subtle, soft things

oblomovshchina 7 years ago | |

>what are they?

I have a disability. On-site work decreases my quality of life too much for the trade-off to be worth it.

paktek123 7 years ago |

You have a few options:

- try contracting (online) , have a portfolio to show clients of projects you worked on, charge a low rate to undercut the market. Difficult part will be to sell yourself due to lack of experience.

- find a remote job, very difficult due to junior dev status. Not many firms will hire a remote junior dev when they can hire non remote ones. You can maybe sell yourself but they might be disappointed at lack if experience

- find a non remote job, not sure what tech scene is like where your based but sometimes you have to travel or move out of comfort zone to achieve your desired career and passion.

- try another career outside IT, remote business admins etc are now a thing or whatever floats your boat

- start your own start up, not easy, very risky and without experience it'll be difficult but maybe try solving problems in your local community or city and sell that.

hackermailman 7 years ago |

You start out doing customer support or something similar, then make your way into development once you get hired. Any of those remote job board sites like weworkremotely.com or jobspresso.co check to see if they're also hiring support https://careers.hotjar.com/o/hotjar-customer-support-america... (note, says Americas, but that's just the timezone you're willing to work (EST))

Elastic Search is another company you could try, I assume you speak a second language this will also help for any of these entry positions

meric 7 years ago |

There are a number of open source projects looking for contributors. I know wesnoth.org is one. The downside of contributing to open source projects full time is you will have to find alternative income.

ojm 7 years ago |

We just had one of our remote developers resign yesterday (moving into a new exciting role), so are looking to hire. Drop me an email.

christopher8827 7 years ago | |

Hey, I'm around Sydney looking for a role too! Just sent you an email. :)

jkaye2012 7 years ago | |

Love this attitude! Keep it up

justdebb 7 years ago |

If you enjoy teaching others or helping others solve their programming issues, you can apply to be a mentor on Codementor (https://www.codementor.io) and start building your profile and experience there.

sedeki 7 years ago |

Try Toptal. I know some people here dislike that company (just search for reviews), but I like it.

InGodsName 7 years ago |

Email me your resume, we operate in ad tech space.

We are based in Europe+Asia

Our team is 100% remote.

sumgup 7 years ago | |

I am also looking for remote job, sent you resume. See if you can help.

letorruella 7 years ago | |

Are you open to other applicants? I’m also looking for a remote job.