Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Remote workers in a non-tech city, what's your experience?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–187 of 187 posts

Re: Ask HN: Remote workers in a non-tech city, what's your experience?

#181

Post by teunispeters »

strogonoff wrote: post #84
teunispeters wrote: post #73

Saskatoon: - the internet is decent. It is better in a hub city, but as long as one can live with occasional disconnects, it's fine. - Deliveries : add 3 days, weeks or months (depending) on time to delivery. "overnight" does not exist. International diplomacy makes a difference here - so ship from countries that are at least "not aggressively unfriendly". (fwiw : faster to get things here from China than from USA. O…

By the looks of it, Saskatoon is an hour further from the UK than New York is, no?

The assumption of it being about delivery time is correct, and having very little to do with actual physical distance.

Each delivery method has its own time as well. And stock in anything I need for work is not available at any store in the city I'm in, typically, so needing something means there's always a delay.

Re: Ask HN: Remote workers in a non-tech city, what's your experience?

#182

Post by [deleted] »

anticapit wrote: post #170
ashtonkem wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe. San Francisco has been where dreamers go to make their fortune since the mid 1800s. It’s clear that the pandemic will reduce tech employment there, but it’s far from clear that it’ll end the boom mentality that created Silicon Valley in the first place.

Agreed, the prospector mentality will never leave, but it is changing. You couldn’t mine gold from Utah, but you can certainly sell silicon snake oil from there. The pandemic seems to be is helping legitmize / mainstream “remote-first”. It is already facilitating the exodus of those who view the bay as an inconvenience imposed upon them. Read any article comments about the bay area here on HN and primarily there are…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Remote workers in a non-tech city, what's your experience?

#183

Post by kat »

digianarchist wrote: post #62
iainctduncan wrote: post #24

I've done it a bunch of times. The big thing to be aware of is that managing remote people requires better management skills, so you need a boss who cares about doing it right. I had two experiences go sideways, in both cases my manager got stressed and busy, and because I was their only remote report, they did a crappy job. Prior to them getting too busy to do a good job, it was fine. It really is a lot better if th…

It's easy to hire Canadians even non-remote positions. The TN visa requires only a job offer letter and detailed job description for software developers. There's no requirements for the TN visa holder reside in the same location as the business, to my knowledge. So a Canadian could reside in Washington and be employed in California.

I am a Cdn on a TN. There is very much an expectation that you will reside in the same location of the office. Its not as hard+fast rule (like the h1b1) but considering a random border guard could have a bad day and deny your TN based on whatever they feel like, I would strong caution against anyone living far away from their assigned office.

Also, if you're living in another state getting a US drivers license might be impossible (how do you prove residency if your work visa is for a different state?) . Some states don't require residency for a drivers license, (Oregon and CA don't) but you can get a RealID on your DL if you can prove residency. RealIDs are strongly suggested because you can use them to fly in the States, instead of your Cndpassport + work visa. Again, TSA agents have the legal ability to detain anyone on a work visa, so having a RealID lowers the chance of complications.

Re: Ask HN: Remote workers in a non-tech city, what's your experience?

#185

Post by iainctduncan »

kat wrote: post #183
digianarchist wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's easy to hire Canadians even non-remote positions. The TN visa requires only a job offer letter and detailed job description for software developers. There's no requirements for the TN visa holder reside in the same location as the business, to my knowledge. So a Canadian could reside in Washington and be employed in California.

I am a Cdn on a TN. There is very much an expectation that you will reside in the same location of the office. Its not as hard+fast rule (like the h1b1) but considering a random border guard could have a bad day and deny your TN based on whatever they feel like, I would strong caution against anyone living far away from their assigned office. Also, if you're living in another state getting a US drivers license might…

This is true, with TNs there is always have an element of chance. I've heard too many stories of people getting royally screwed crossing the border on a TN when it should have been no prob. If you are not working on US soil, the W-8BEN requires no one to "approve" you. It's just a form for them to justify not deducting tax.

Re: Ask HN: Remote workers in a non-tech city, what's your experience?

#186

Post by iainctduncan »

icebergonfire wrote: post #126
iainctduncan wrote: post #24

I've done it a bunch of times. The big thing to be aware of is that managing remote people requires better management skills, so you need a boss who cares about doing it right. I had two experiences go sideways, in both cases my manager got stressed and busy, and because I was their only remote report, they did a crappy job. Prior to them getting too busy to do a good job, it was fine. It really is a lot better if th…

As another remote worker from outside the United States who is currently making long-term plans for their career, thank you for mentioning the W8-BEN form. I think this might be one of those pivotal moments that will change my trayectory in a significant way.

No prob! It really does open doors. Last time I applied for work in the US I wanted remote and part-time. Literally almost no companies on stack-overflow careers ticked the boxes to say this was ok. But I fired out 140 applications in a week with a cover letter applying anyway and had a job a week later. Rules bend if you're a great fit! :-)

Re: Ask HN: Remote workers in a non-tech city, what's your experience?

#187

Post by wsinks »

kilbuz wrote: post #72
wsinks wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't believe that the Mayor of SF gets paid a $350k salary. I did not realize that.

What's not believable about that? High or low?

For me it was higher than I expected. Even with SF's cost of living, I didn't realize it would be out of the low 200's. Just a broken expectation.
Post reply on HN