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Ask HN: How to make a career working remotely?

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Re: Ask HN: How to make a career working remotely?

#61

Post by mtalantikite »

I've been working remote for about 9 years now and I'd really recommend getting your own space to work out of, somewhere that isn't your home. I didn't get my own space until a year or so ago and I wish I had done it sooner.

When your home is also your workspace it's very easy to never stop working. Being a New Yorker with most of my co-workers in SF or the valley, your 5 pm quickly becomes 9 pm. It's also very easy to isolate yourself at home, particularly during the winter. Being able to tell your co-workers you need to head home puts up boundaries.

If you live with someone the interruptions you'll get during the day are far more personal than if a co-worker comes over to talk or ask questions. People that don't code often don't realize the amount of concentration you need to get good work done, to them it's just you working on a computer, so what's the big deal if they interrupt you with life questions or tasks? It compounds and can become an issue if you're not careful.

For me a co-working space like WeWork doesn't fit my needs, but I went in on an old loft space in Brooklyn with some friends and it's great. I have a place to walk to every morning, I have a workbench with tools for any hardware things I want to hack on when I don't have client work, I have all my math and cs books here, I can take lunch with people in the space if I feel like it, etc.

And if the weather is bad or I'm feeling sick, I can always opt to work from home for the day.

[p.s. we have a couple desks that just opened up if any HN people in NYC need space!]

Re: Ask HN: How to make a career working remotely?

#63

Post by late2part »

1. Choose a career/specialty that allows you to work remotely. Physicians can't, SW Devs can.

2. Embrace occasional travel, invest in relationships when you travel. Spend time at their office(s), take people out for lunch and dinner

3. Actively invest in relationships online with slack/hipchat

4. Be at work before people and leave after them, make yourself visible. If folks see your emails and messages, they'll know you exist; if you are quiet, out of sight, out of mind

5. Choose a company that supports remote workers; or as we call it "employees." Whether it's remote first, or remote supported, make sure they really embrace it

6. Be top 5% of your profession or higher. Many will argue that being remote encumbers communication causing a handicap; overcome any perception of this handicap by being excellent at your job

7. Be excellent at your chosen specialty. Make your indispensable by not pissing people off while still being known as an independently minded principled thinker. Do things that benefit the business - add tangible value that is measurable. Don't be a sheep in a team - that makes you indispensable. Be the innovator and efficiency improver.

I worked on-site the first 10 years of my career, then at a remote office of a company, then remotely. I think the first 10 years allowed me to build the experience, skills, and relationships to allow me to work remotely.

Re: Ask HN: How to make a career working remotely?

#64

Post by matchagaucho »

First, it's important to legally separate yourself from a company so that you can dictate where and how work is completed.

In the U.S. this requires establishing a S-Corp, LLC, or C-Corp.

Second, don't consider it freelancing. Professionals are independent consultants or contractors. They manage their own sales, marketing, invoices, billings, healthcare, tools, and benefits.

Third, working remote is actually your home office. Deduct a portion of your rent/mortgage to sub-lease space for your office.

There are easily 10 more items I could add to this list, but these 3 establish a legal point of no return for making a career working remotely.

Re: Ask HN: How to make a career working remotely?

#65

Post by cagmz »

junto wrote: post #53

I've been remote working for 12 years. My opinion as to a successful remote working relationship is as follows: - Trust. You need to build it on both sides. Your employer needs to trust you to deliver what they expect. You need to trust your employer to build their team to include you even though you're sometimes not so visible. - Space. Get yourself out of the home office and into a local coworking space. You'll tha…

What's the difference between being onsite and working 'remotely' at a coworking space?

Re: Ask HN: How to make a career working remotely?

#66

Post by nextos »

pimterry wrote: post #21

One thing to look out for is remote-first companies, not just remote-ok companies. Zach Holman has a good post on this: https://zachholman.com/posts/remote-first/ If you're one of few people in the company working remotely (or worse: one of few in your team), you get cut off really easily. Remote practices won't be up to scratch (because most people aren't using them), meetings will happen in person and dialing you i…

Would it then make sense to join a company that is mostly composed by remote workers?

Not sure how easy that would be in case of ML. But in other areas it's not impossible. E.g. GitHub.

I'm sure other HN readers will have much more info.

Re: Ask HN: How to make a career working remotely?

#67

Post by ghufran_syed »

ep02leda wrote: post #62

I'm actually on the lookout to recruit Machine Learning PhDs, specifically to work remotely, either on a temp fixed time or more permanent contractor basis. :) How can I best reach you to pitch you what I had in mind?

Post a reply to this month's "Who's Hiring?" and be sure to mark it as REMOTE https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12846216

Re: Ask HN: How to make a career working remotely?

#68

Post by kowdermeister »

cagmz wrote: post #65
junto wrote: post #53

I've been remote working for 12 years. My opinion as to a successful remote working relationship is as follows: - Trust. You need to build it on both sides. Your employer needs to trust you to deliver what they expect. You need to trust your employer to build their team to include you even though you're sometimes not so visible. - Space. Get yourself out of the home office and into a local coworking space. You'll tha…

What's the difference between being onsite and working 'remotely' at a coworking space?

You get to pick 'everything'. Your desk, chair, co-working space, schedule. On-site can be 1-2 hours of commute, while you can find a co-working space in 15 mins of walking distance maybe.

Re: Ask HN: How to make a career working remotely?

#69

Post by mtberatwork »

matchagaucho wrote: post #64

First, it's important to legally separate yourself from a company so that you can dictate where and how work is completed. In the U.S. this requires establishing a S-Corp, LLC, or C-Corp. Second, don't consider it freelancing . Professionals are independent consultants or contractors. They manage their own sales, marketing, invoices, billings, healthcare, tools, and benefits. Third, working remote is actually your ho…

> In the U.S. this requires establishing a S-Corp, LLC, or C-Corp.

Also check your county regulations on whether or not you need to apply for a business license.

Re: Ask HN: How to make a career working remotely?

#70

Post by pmontra »

junto wrote: post #53

I've been remote working for 12 years. My opinion as to a successful remote working relationship is as follows: - Trust. You need to build it on both sides. Your employer needs to trust you to deliver what they expect. You need to trust your employer to build their team to include you even though you're sometimes not so visible. - Space. Get yourself out of the home office and into a local coworking space. You'll tha…

The coworking thing depends on how you setup your life outside work. Find many things to do and you'll be OK. But if you work at home and spend the rest of your time at home, that could be bad.

Spending one or two days at a coworking space could still be good to find customers, if you're a freelancer, or just to chat with somebody at the coffee machine.

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