
Ask HN: What worries you when selecting a remote worker? - fcanela
In order to increase my chances to get my ideal remote job I am trying to anticipate and solve the common concerns the employer may have. I have listed some like &quot;Is the timezone compatible?&quot;, &quot;Does this person have a history of working remotely successfully?&quot;. Which others concerns&#x2F;screeners am I missing?
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byoung2
I just went through a remote-only job search and the most common question was
"have you worked remotely before?" (I have, for the past 3 years). Know the
challenges of working remote (schedule, communication, distractions, etc.) and
how to address them. Get familiar with the various videoconference apps
(gotomeeting, zoom, hangouts, etc.) and have them installed and tested before
any interviews. It makes you look more experienced if you can say "sure let's
jump on a zoom/gtm right now" versus "hang on I don't have the plugin
installed".

Another thing to be aware of is that there are different kinds of remote jobs.
One is a central office with a few remote workers, and the other is a
distributed team. The first kind will ask you things like what hours can you
overlap with the office and if you're nearby, can you come to the office
occasionally. I avoided these companies. The second kind is where everyone is
remote. These have more flexible hours generally, especially if the team is
international.

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fcanela
Thanks for your answer, byoung2. I have been working remotely a similar number
of years so I hope I can sort that filter.

Thanks too for the tip as I have not considered it. I did not know about
gotomeeting. I am going to install and test after I click the reply button.

I share the "being a remote-first company" screener too and I expect to dodge
that "bullet" :). I have the concept of what kind of company I want to join
very clear... what really worries me is passing their filters. I have no
problem with the initial screening in my country... but this is the first time
that I face global competition!

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cimmanom
Good at working independently and managing their own time.

Excellent communication skills, especially via text-based media.

Proactive about communicating status, progress, and blockers; and about
reaching out when they need clarification on goals and requirements.

Takes ownership of a project instead of acting as a contractor who requires a
detailed spec and will implement it without thinking it through.

Easy to get hold of and diligent about indicating when they won’t be
available.

Able to collaborate effectively without physical proximity.

For overseas workers there are also concerns about language barriers and
cultural barriers.

Edited to add: these qualities are also important in people who work face to
face in an office. But people who are in-office, if they’re missing a couple
of these qualities, can be still be highly effective with a bit more
supervision. Remotely, any one of them can spiral into a major problem much
more quickly.

~~~
fcanela
Thanks, cimmanom, this list is definitely helpful. I noticed that you
mentioned communication twice! I will work harder on improving my
communication skills meanwhile.

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anotheryou
Do you think being "under german law" complicates things? Workers rights and
social taxes are both quite strong here and I think a foreign company has to
obey these terms to hire me when I live here (right?).

(btw: I'm looking for a remote product manager job, maybe someone of you knows
something)

~~~
seekingcharlie
They only have to “obey” if you are an actual employee. In my experience, it
is more likely that you will be a contractor and need to be self-employed in
Germany and pay your own taxes.

I’m an Australian living in Germany and working for US companies for 6 years.

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muratk
When we hire I am worried about these things, in no particular order:

1) Can't communicate.

Particularly in written form. Should be easy to show/confirm, but still.

Why it matters? In an office I can walk over and communication will be much
easier. We do video calls instantly—but located together you can still
compensate for a bigger gap.

What you can do: Make it a point to communicate well (precisely, concisely,
verifying your assumptions).

2) Ego

Not open to feedback. Or assuming that other are evil, or stupid or both. Or
not interest in changing. It takes many forms, but at the heart it destroys
communication and improvement. Let's say I give feedback, calmly and fact-
based, add some humor, really work hard and show it that I mean no evil—and
the other person gets all emotional and then jumps of the call and doesn't
react anymore. Or, a colleague writes a mail, which could be read as sarcastic
(or not), and someone else jumps at it.

Why it matters? When located together, there is no running away. (Technically
there is, but then it's quite bad.) You also bump into each other, which helps
in casually addressing things. When remote, communication is never happening
by accident, only intentional. Again, when co-located the wiggle room for
immaturity is bigger.

What you can do: depends on your ego ;)

3) No drive / ownership / bias to action

Why it matters? No social pressure from office mates to keep you going during
the day. If you're going to surf FB half the day at home, you're quite free to
do so. You're also not going to get anything done.

What you can do: First, know yourself. If it's a problem, first make it a
point to find the /times/ when you're super productive and protect them
against everyone and everything. Second, prioritization, goal setting, read
up. Third, if you need social pressure, that's fine—but then it's your job to
get it. For example, make it a point to grab a work buddy for a few
afternoons.

4) Can't get organized

Things get overwhelming, your own life, work todos. And _then_ there is a
stressful day. Some people then turn into headless chicken.

Why it matters? When remote it's both harder for me (as team lead) to notice a
headless chicken—some people are very good at maintaining an “all's alright”
image—and even when I do it's way harder to reassure someone.

You'll be aware how you fare on those topics after a while—that's why
employers prefer experience. To be sure, the above concerns can be addressed
with talking, and that's simply harder remote—or more precisely most people
are not yet used to or skilled at communicating remotely. An eagerness to
communicate, particularly for problems will help you make a success out of
your remote work.

Here's not a worry, but might be something to consider for you: For a
professional first impression and only _IF_ you're not used to doing video
calls I'd recommend you becoming aware of how you are perceived over video. Do
a call with someone elsewhere and have them record it.

* Audio: Is your hamster wheel in the background being picked up—you never thought _that_ would be a problem? Is the street way louder than you thought, your microphone much less crisp than advertised?

* Video: Where is the camera? (Are people staring up your nose?) What are your video habits? (Is your face constantly disappearing?)

Long blah blah—but I hope it helps you. Let me know in the remote case (pun
intended) that you have any questions. Good luck, have fun! :)

edit: formatting

