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Ask HN: Do you work remotely? How did you get that job?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you work remotely? How did you get that job?

#51

Post by kevstev »

I worked at Walmart Labs when they were actively pursuing remote as a strategy (2012-2015ish). There was a changing of the guard in senior leadership and they were more of a "button down tucked into their dockers" kind of crew and remote was then no longer being considered for new hires. I was asked to move out to Sunnyvale (I am in the NYC area), I politely declined, and then was laid off 3 months later, along with most other remote staff in my area.

I am now back in an office- I received an offer I couldn't refuse, and they unfortunately are hard-line, at least for the moment, about not allowing remote work on any consistent basis. I did receive offers that were ok with remote, and one that was a completely remote job. Unfortunately, they were all about 20% less than I was making before. Hopefully this job works out in the long term, but my main driver in taking it was to bank enough such that in all future jobs I can afford to take a pay cut (have retirement fully funded/become financially independent) and work remotely if I want to.

Anyway, to answer your question- Amazon supports remote work, as do a lot of consulting firms- NearForm, NodeSource, Joyent, etc. Auth0 is a fully remote firm as well.

Re: Ask HN: Do you work remotely? How did you get that job?

#52

Post by k__ »

I'm working remote for 3 years now.

I did it like that:

1. Saving money in my non-remote job where I worked for 7 years, so I didn't need to work for like 2 years.

2. Quitting my non-remote job, so I had time I could pour into working remote.

3. Doing some remote OSS work. Most OSS projects are remote anyway, people like free developer help, so this was an easy way to get into remote teams without much barriers like interviews etc. I also did a masters degree in computer science and had to do 2 projects, which were remote too. Never finished the master, lol, but still got that remote experience. Also I did a few projects, started doing all the coding at coffee shops etc.

4. Put my resume on online job websites that allowed me to say I only want remote jobs. Took me 4 months till I got a job, but I never wrote any company. Two companies wrote me and one gave me a job in the end.

5. Started working remote 2 years at a startup that was about 300km away from my home.

6. Quit the startup and started freelancing, which I'm doing for 6 months now.

---

I mostly learned about myself in the process. For example that the wish for remote work was just a wish for no bosses, more free time, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Do you work remotely? How did you get that job?

#53

Post by Simulacra »

I'm a lobbyist that does grassroots advocacy so maybe I'm not the best example, but here goes: I researched companies that had a large population of clients, students, employees etc. Then I researched which issues most affected all of that base. I then rang up the CEO or General Counsel and pitched them my services. I work with the employees etc. of each client company, motivating them to become politically active on behalf of the company. Part cheerleader part lobbyist. In the end it just took a LOT of research to identify the client, scope out their need, create the pitch, and start cold calling.

Re: Ask HN: Do you work remotely? How did you get that job?

#54

Post by joshontheweb »

philip1209 wrote: post #37

After we shut down my last startup, Staffjoy [1], I wanted to travel full-time. I realized that I hated going to an office every day. I also knew that I wanted to contract, and that the contractor market was broken on both sides. So, I started Moonlight [2], and started working for a variety of companies remotely on a contract basis. We're working to expand the marketplace, and are adding more projects every week. On…

Interesting. I wish I could browse the available skill sets before filling out the extensive form. For instance, I'm in need of a webRTC specialist. Preferably with experience using simple-peer.js. Is there a way to tell if you have anyone with these skills?

Re: Ask HN: Do you work remotely? How did you get that job?

#55

Post by good_vibes »

christophilus wrote: post #26

I work remotely for a 100% remote company. I'm a Sr software engineer, and was hired because I taught one of the co-founders while I was a teacher at a coding bootcamp. We've hired one Jr engineer who I knew personally beforehand (a former student). And we've hired one mid-level engineer whom none of us has ever met in person. My thoughts based on personal anecdotal evidence: - Hit the job boards hard and don't stop.…

thanks! I'll keep at it, the search alone is making me learn a lot about myself, the world, and where I can improve.

Re: Ask HN: Do you work remotely? How did you get that job?

#56

Post by good_vibes »

mikekchar wrote: post #31
good_vibes wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the goal for me too: travel, work, save, and serve all at once.

Travel and working is quite difficult in my experience. I work remotely full time and while I can do some kinds of travel, I have found that other kinds just don't work for me. If you have never done it before, it's easy to assume that there will be no problems, but finding locations where you are able to be very productive, have online communication, etc is much more difficult than it appears. Having said that I hav…

Noted. I'm glad I asked here because it nudges me in the right direction. I want to be taken seriously and this is where the serious developers discuss things.

Thanks:)

Re: Ask HN: Do you work remotely? How did you get that job?

#57

Post by amingilani »

If you have the skills to prove it, no prior remote experience, I absolutely cannot recommend Toptal[1] enough.

I went through their rigorous interview process which was definitely harder than any I've encountered, but once in, I've had the best work experience in my life.

My clients have been amazing, Toptal handles payments for me so no problems getting paid, and they're always there to help me out. I chose my hours, and rate, and being a part of the community alone has taught me so much.

Prior to Toptal my only source for questions was Stack Overflow, since I'm self-taught. Never before had I discussed the new features of a Rails launch in a Slack channel, or discussed the best ways to handle my SQL queries.

[1] Toptal Referal Link: https://www.toptal.com/#contract-just-respected-software-arc...

Disclosure: Shortly after joining the Toptal Network, I joined their Core team. However, their community and company culture is definitely the best I've ever seen.

Re: Ask HN: Do you work remotely? How did you get that job?

#58

Post by philip1209 »

joshontheweb wrote: post #54
philip1209 wrote: post #37

After we shut down my last startup, Staffjoy [1], I wanted to travel full-time. I realized that I hated going to an office every day. I also knew that I wanted to contract, and that the contractor market was broken on both sides. So, I started Moonlight [2], and started working for a variety of companies remotely on a contract basis. We're working to expand the marketplace, and are adding more projects every week. On…

Interesting. I wish I could browse the available skill sets before filling out the extensive form. For instance, I'm in need of a webRTC specialist. Preferably with experience using simple-peer.js. Is there a way to tell if you have anyone with these skills?

Hi Josh - this is a great point. We're working on our new task onboarding and will take this into account. Perhaps we could allow you to add tasks and see the number of moonlighters who match.

I wasn't sure about whether we have webRTC specialists, but I just queried the list of 1000 Moonlighters, and we do have a couple people who build real-time webRTC projects professionally. We can put you in contact if you fill out this form: https://www.moonlightwork.com/start

Re: Ask HN: Do you work remotely? How did you get that job?

#59

Post by iisbum »

I've been doing remote work for over 10 years, but my first remote position ... I was recommended for a position onsite, in NYC, which I interviewed for.

After my interview, circumstances changed and I needed to leave NYC, I told the company and they decided it would be ok for me to work remotely from Boston. Haven't looked back since, love being remote.

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