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What is Remote Work? Who are Remote Workers?
Remote work is any job or position where you don’t need to work at your company’s office or location. You can - instead of that - work from any remote location.
For example, a bridge operator works at a remote location 30 miles away from his bridge. He or she can monitor the bridge via cameras and other sensors and operate the bridge with his remote tools.
Another example is the astronaut working in Houston, who’s remotely working with a satellite.
Another example is the project manager of an IT project, who works from his boat in the middle of the ocean busy with a trip around the world in 365 days, and manages remotely five software projects with three different companies.
Here is another one. A single mum Holland is maintaining the appointments and agendas of the boar of directors at Microsoft, Redmond, USA.
If you’re party of a team, you or anyone else might have the possibility to work in the office and/or have the possibility to work (partime or partly) remote.
Anyone, who works at a company full time, part-time, (sub) contractor, or freelance can work at the office, or remotely (or mixed. For example, work four days remote and one day at the office).
Where do remote workers work?
Remote workers can work in principle everywhere … in theory.
It depends on several factors.
If you have an agreement that you work part of the week remote and the rest of the time you work at the office, then your options are a bit limited.
If you work as a VA (Virtual Assistant), you need to choose a location, where you have fast internet. That might be in Thailand, Hawaii, North Pole, South Pole or anywhere between, as long as you have fast internet available.
If you work as a freelancer or contractor, without the need to be constantly available for the other team members of your team, you can literally work on the moon and sometimes need to be connected with the internet to report your status or submit your work.
The Buffer 2019 State of Remote Work Report found that 84% of remote workers worked primarily in their homes. 8% utilized coworking spaces as their primary place of work, and 4% reported coffee shops as the place where they do most of their work.
There are remote workers, who work together in coworking space. Those are office setting where remote workers and small companies can collaborate. They are usually set up like traditional offices – giving you the feel of an office space without the hassle. If you like an office environment, you can get those same water cooler chats while keeping your independence as a remote worker.
According to that same Buffer-study, 44% of remote workers said they spent one week to one month travelling and working during the year. An additional 19% reported doing so one to six months a year.
Flexible hours?
Do remote workers have flexible hours?
Yes and no.
No. If you work as a Virtual Assistant, you have for sure no flexible hours! A VA worker supposes to be online with the client (the company) like all other workers in the office.
No. Can you imagine that you live and work from home, which is located in the UK and your client is situated in New York, you’ll be confronted with the time differences? That means that your workday starts 5 AM, while it’s 8 AM in New York.
No. Often people who are working full- or part-time in a company have or get the permission to work remote, but only for certain days. That means that they still are bound to the working times of their company.
The only advantage they have is the transit time of traveling to the office and traveling back home from the office at the end of the working day.
Yes. But … if your work assignment - while working remotely - does not require you to work at office times, only then you have the flexible working times. You can work in the evening or night if you want.
Yes. If you work as a contractor or freelancer, without the need to work during the working hours of the office and/or the team, and you’ve a certain deadline, you have indeed flexible hours to do your job.
And for the perspective of the employers:
A 2014 survey by PGi found that 69% of remote workers reported less absenteeism overall.
Lower real estate costs as they don’t need as much office space
Lower utility bills as they’re catering to fewer people
Reduced equipment and maintenance costs
Fewer allowances such as meal and transport compensations
But there are disadvantages of remote work
When working remotely, you need to rely on online communication tools to get in touch with your team members, especially if they’re in different time zones.
When you work from home, it’s easy to get distracted.
While remote working has been growing, there are still a few common misconceptions about it.
Since remote workers work from home, they’re busy watching Netflix all day, right? Remote workers do work, and they might even work harder than their office-going counterparts. When you work remotely, you need to make your own schedule and guide yourself through tasks. And that means self-discipline.
Another thing about remote workers is that people seem to think that remote workers earn less. That’s not true. Buffer 2019 State of Remote Work Report found that 19% of remote workers earned $75,001-$100,000. And, even better, 30% earned $100,001-$200,000!
How to find remote work?
Common positions with remote workers include:
Software development
Marketing
Customer service
Accounting
Administrative services
Sales
Data analysis
Quality assurance (QA)
Social media management
If your job fits into one of these fields, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding potential positions!
One way to look for remote positions is to check job boards for remote jobs. You can have a look at job boards set up specifically for remote positions, such as:
Flexjobs
We Work Remotely
Remote.co
Workingnomads.co
Remote Age
You can also try more traditional job sites, such as LinkedIn or Angel.co. Most offer tools for filtering job postings for remote work to help you find the perfect fit.
Don’t overlook freelancing job postings that you come across freelance platforms like Upwork and Freelancer. Freelancing can be a good way to get into a telecommuting job, even if it’s just part-time at the beginning.
And not to forget the fact that if you hear about companies with remote teams, there’s a good chance that there’s a remote position available there.
Some tips for finding remote work
In the above links in this site, you’ll find enough tips, which helps you find a remote job. The main thing of finding remote work is that you come over as a professional. That means that you know what you want, and you know how much your fees are, that you’re ready with payment processors, have a professional website and offer direct answers to their questions.
And be prepared to be interviewed remotely with video conferencing tools like Google Hangouts or Zoom.
I know of a person who did so much preparing work and found a certain number of potential companies looking for remote workers. That person was shocked when she was confronted with a Google Hangouts session to directly talk to the manager. She was so shocked to be confronted like this, that she couldn’t say much during the interview.