The odds of getting a remote job

levels.io

6 points·ScottFree··3 comments

Having recently finished a successful remote job search, one of the most frustrating aspects I found was that recruiters at the front of the pipeline would often promise a far higher degree of remote friendliness at the company than I would actually encounter as I progressed through the interviews. A very common caveat as I made it to later stages was always, "we will hire you as long as there are no other acceptable candidates willing to work on-site," which in practice always worked out to "we will not actually hire remote."

As with most job searches, the things I found helped the most were personal referrals, and focusing on companies which already had a strong remote component to their work. This includes many companies not headquartered in the Bay Area, which often have to accept remote work to access a sufficiently large hiring pool.

Glad it was a success!

I have found that the reason many companies fail to embrace remote workers is that they can't handle the office workers they already have - who are often stressed in major areas by the lack of flexibility and the required commute (with increasing travel times).

It would be prudent for companies anxious in employing remote workers to start with senior and above, as these will often show the most promise and demonstrate that it is worth hiring for.

> they can't handle the office workers they already have - who are often stressed in major areas by the lack of flexibility and the required commute (with increasing travel times)

Not to mention the cost-cutting measure disguised as "collaboration encouragement" which is the open plan office.

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