

Ask HN: Remote Jobs. How to get started? - k__

Dear HN,<p>I&#x27;m a (web) front-end&#x2F;UX-developer from Germany. I&#x27;m finishing my master degree right now and will have to get a job the next months, so I&#x27;m considering remote jobs, since I don&#x27;t want to be bound to my workplace.<p>Most companies in Germany are rather conservative and want their people to be in-house most days a week. In other Europe countries this seems to be only a &quot;bit&quot; better.<p>Can I just apply for jobs all over the world and still stay where I want to work from there? Like USA or Canada?<p>Where do I need to pay taxes then?<p>Do I need a work visa for the countries I live in or the countries I have the job in?<p>If I don&#x27;t want to do contract&#x2F;freelancing work, how is my employment status if I got a job in another country, like the USA?
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mtmail
In other countries you will need a work visa. For the USA and Canada that can
be a long process (if you want to work there several months). The 90 day
tourist visa doesn't allow you to work in the US though I know people who
regularly work from there one month per year. As a German you can work from
any other European country.

You need to pay income taxes where you live. For example if you lived in
Germany for 8 months, then Italy 2 months and Spain 2 months you would need to
file three income tax statements and each country is interested in the total
you earned that year. Double-taxation agreements exist between most countries
so even if you pay twice there is a legal way to get money back from one
country.

On hackernews you read about digital normads who go to Thailand or Marocco to
work from there. Most are ignoring the local tax laws, use a tourist visa and
write their invoices with a business address from their home country (e.g.
Germany).

With sales tax (VAT, MwST) you need to pay that for any client in Germany. For
clients in the rest of Europe the client needs to pay the sales tax in their
country (so called reverse charge, applies to cross-border software
development). For clients outside of Europe you don't need to pay sales tax.

~~~
BSousa
Just a couple quick notes:

a) USA has also 90 days business visas that are very easy to get.

b) I can't vouch for all countries in the EU, but in many, you only need to
fill a report if you lived for more than 6 months there (168 days I think). So
in your example, you would need to file tax in Germany, but for all income of
the year (including the 2 months in Spain or Italy). It is different if you
work for a company in Italy and Spain for those months, but if you are a
'nomad' for yourself, usually you only need to file in one country.

~~~
mtmail
Excellent points. You're right: self-employment makes both options easier.

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loumf
I just started a remote job in November -- I am in the US working for a US
company, but this advice still applies.

When I was looking for a job, the best source of remote jobs was StackOverflow
careers. If you need an invite, write me. There was a large variety and many
would hire from Europe (some were in Europe). The place I work, Trello, hires
from Europe.

There are other remote job sites (weworkremotely.com) to check out. They
weren't good for me -- but, they may be good for front-end/UX.

You should ask the place you apply, but anywhere with an established remote-
friendly environment will set things up so your taxes are as close to possible
to what it would be if you just worked for a local place. This is something to
work out with their accountants and yours, but it would be a good sign if they
already had German employees.

The biggest impediment to you being hired remotely is that you don't have a
track-record (I assume) of working remotely for others. It would be good to
prepare an answer to why you would be disciplined enough to do this for your
interviews -- it will come up -- in any case, you should bring it up, because
they will be thinking it.

~~~
avinassh
SO Careers requires an invite?

and one more question, is this your first job? Or first job as remote?

~~~
k__
Yes it does. I can send you one, if you like.

~~~
BSousa
Does careers require an invite or the "My Profile" part requires one? I have a
careers account where I found my last job (but don't remember if I was invited
or just signed up) but still need an invitation to create a "My Profile"

~~~
k__
I don't know. They just told me one day, that I should use careers and gave me
5 invites.

~~~
BSousa
if you have then, can you send one my way? ;)

~~~
k__
Consider it done.

~~~
BSousa
It does seem the invitations are for the profile section but you can still
register normally.

In any case, thanks!! Seems like an interesting way to create a profile.
Wonder how 'valuable' this is compared to LinkedIn or a simple webpage.

~~~
k__
I don't know. Never got a job with this :\

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avinassh
I have a question. Is it okay to go for remote in early career? There was a
discussion in Reddit, and people had suggested that during initial years lots
of nurturing happens and it cannot be done via remote. And also it's effective
to work under a mentor, physically, for a beginner. So basically they were
against going for remote for an absolute beginner.

How true is that with employers?

(In my case, I have working experience of 10 months. Later I had to resign my
job for some personal reasons. Soon I will be looking out for jobs. Should I
consider remote or not?)

~~~
dalerus
I think this is very true. Go work, spend as much time as you can learning in
person. After a few years, you can work out an arrangement to work remotely.

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siscia
Hi :)

I am trying to put together a little team and right now I am looking also for
front end developer.

It will be more a free lance position than a standard position, but if you are
interested feel free to write me, you should see my email in my info
contact...

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dangerousd
You need to approach the company and provide them what you can offer to them,
it shouldn't be the other way around "what can your company offer me?"

