

Ask HN: What questions should I ask when considering a remote position? - pandemicsyn

I&#x27;m considering leaving a $BigTechCo to start working remotely for a well funded but still small startup in a technical role (DevOpsy stuff). They do already have a few remote employee&#x27;s.<p>What are some things I should be asking in regards to how to they work with&#x2F;handle remote team members?<p>Are there any warning signs or red flags that I should keep an eye out for when meeting with them that might indicate working remotely would be problematic?
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glanotte
I have been working remotely for the last year after working in an office for
~14 years.

The largest potential issue that I have run into is is communication and how
it is handled.

The most important thing I would ask would be how many of the people on the
team you deal directly with are remote. That will give a pretty good gauge on
what it will be like.

I would also ask why they chose to open up remote positions. Is it a last
resort to get people hired or is it because they just care about the quality
of the hires. You may or may not get an honest answer here, but I would ask it
any way.

The other I would ask is what is the primary means of communication in the
company. If they say "Campfire", "Flowdock" or something along those lines -
ask how many rooms they have and how active they are. The key here is
asynchronous communication, with remote positions come different schedules,
removing the need for instantaneous response is nice.

Along those lines I would ask about hours that people work, are there core
hours or is it 8-5 Pacific time, etc. If there is a rigid schedule, that is a
bit of a red flag for me.

I would also ask how often the team gets together, this should be a priority
and I think once a quarter minimum would be a good time frame.

You mentioned a devops role, so this might not be as big of a thing for you,
but I like to see them using pull requests (or similar methodology) for
feature merging. In my experience thus far, those have really helped keeping
team members up to speed. That isn't a deal breaker, but a good thing if I see
it.

~~~
pandemicsyn
Thanks for the feedback! Any other tips for transitioning from an in office
gig to remote?

I'm considering getting a desk at my local coworking space to make sure I
don't turn into a hermit and to stay in touch with the community in town.

~~~
glanotte
A coworking space is an option but find what works best for you and try
different options. I personally work best at coffee shops, but I split my time
between coffee shops and home.

I would just add that you should be wary of burnout. For that I diligently log
my time and try to manage my schedule. We have flexible hours which sounds
nice but it is easy for me to work all the time. So, go to work (even if it is
just a home-office) and then go home. I have a space at home that is
exclusively for work. having those clean lines is what has kept me sane.

------
iSloth
Personally I'd ask for the contact details of the other remotely working team
members so you can have a chat with them, you'll probably find that they had
the same worries and thoughts as you did before they joined. Also these are
the people that you might be working with soon, so also serves as a good idea
to see how well you get on with them.

As for specific questions:

\- How is work allocated to you, and who is allocating it

\- How are they going to keep track of your work, do you have to do
daily/weekly reports?

\- What's the typical internal communications method, eMail, IM, Skype

\- Timezones, are your colleagues in comparable zones so you can actually have
a chat with them at reasonable times

\- Is there any monthly/quarterly/yearly meet-up with the whole team?

