16% of US companies are already operating as fully remote. 26% of the US employees are working remotely. This figure might reach 40% by 2025. A lot of corporations have woken up to the fact that it’s possible to have remote teams without losing productivity or profitability. Of course, hiring strategies have changed to find good fits for remote roles. As a remote work seeker you need a strategy too. There are things you need to consider before joining a remote position. Then there are places where you’ll find remote opportunities with rather ease.
Definition of a Remote Work
A remote work is a job that you perform without visiting the office premises of the company you work for. You may be working from home, or from a different location, you might be located in the same city as your company or in a different continent. Work from home, telecommuting, working from a different city, everything comes under remote work.
How to prepare for a Remote Job?
Since the relocation element is eliminated from the equation, it’s rather easy to prepare for a remote job. Then again, there are some cons to the right set of amenities, you should be good.
Unfaltering internet
Remote jobs can be very stressful with a faulty internet connection. This is one thing that you cannot compromise on. Make sure you get a fast and reliable internet connection. Be prepared to use your mobile internet if at any point the broadband connection falters. Data packages can come in handy if you are forced to use mobile internet extensively.
A reliable computer and phone
In a remote work situation, your personal computer is usually your work station. So, take good care of it. If your machine is old and slow, consider upgrading before going remote.
Have a good smartphone as a backup as well as an auxiliary device. When your devices work smoothly, you’ll find, work becomes much easier.
A little peace and quiet
When you work from home, there’s a chance that your co-habitants wouldn’t treat your work environment as an office space. They might call you, ask you to run an errand or two. While it’s great to be easily accessible in case of an emergency, you must make sure that your availability isn’t taken for granted.
A remote job is a job after all and you’ll have just as much work to complete in a day as an on premise job, if not more. If you don’t work with undivided attention, there’s a chance you’ll end up spending more hours on work and compromise your work-life balance.
Also, you’ll be attending meetings and interacting with colleagues and clients, so having a noise free environment is a basic requirement.
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Discipline is the key
It’s incredibly easy to get distracted when you are at home. It’s very easy to start work late, procrastinate, and overwork when a deadline approaches. Discipline will help you avoid being burnt out.
Fix the timeline, leave enough room for sleep, recreation, and fun with family and friends. The last thing you want is to get into a schedule where you wake up, work and go to sleep.
Enough of preaching. Now, let’s walk through a few channels that will lead you to remote job opportunities.
1. FLEXJOBS
This portal hosts more than 20,000 remote job postings at the moment covering 20 remote job categories from freelance gigs to executive positions. This is a good spot for you to start your remote job search.
2. REMOTE.CO
This is a useful portal to search remote jobs by job categories. You’ll find jobs around web development, design, customer service, and sales.
3. JUSTREMOTE
A great source for remote job seekers, this site lets you filter jobs by location. It mentions whether a job requires time-zone overlaps. If you’re someone who likes to work at night, you can easily browse jobs according to your preference.
4. Virtual Vocations
This is a place to find paralegal, technical writing, and telecommuting positions. The site is run by a remote team. They have a very insightful blog as well that you can check out.
5. ARC
It is a remote only job listing site that focuses on entry level opportunities for developers and software engineers. It’s a good place to start if you are new to the Tech industry.
Apart from these, you can try EuropeRemotely for jobs in the European continent. You can try out sites like Weworkremotely, and Working Nomads, for more opportunities.
Wrapping up
This is a good time for remote workers. Your job market basically spans out to the entire world. There are opportunities galore. It all boils down to how well you prepare yourself for a seamless work-life. Remember, discipline is the key to cracking virtually any remote job situation.
