I had the pleasure of speaking to Sharon Koifman, founder of Distant Job about obtaining a retaining a remote job. Before I go into an in depth discussion about obtaining a remote job I would like to talk about Sharon. Sharon’s company is a remote recruiting company for technology firms in North America.  Sharon has written the best seller called “Survive Remote Work”.

If you are currently working at a job there are many companies that are starting to offer remote work due to the corona virus. If your company does offer this benefit then you should focus on becoming more valuable to your firm. The way to do this is by developing a specialized skill set. Take the time to self-educate or study to become better at a skill set.  If your company doesn’t offer the ability to work remotely you should focus on becoming specialized in a particular skill set.

If your company doesn’t offer the ability to be ability to work remotely then you should look at applying to another company. The types of positions that offer remote work are tech, marketing and admin positions. Only a few accounting positions are being added remotely because of the slow integration of technology in this industry. In the accounting industry a lot of the work that requires an accountant to be on site can be resolved by simply having someone scan and upload documents to the cloud.

Now that the types of industries/jobs that are available remotely let’s discuss other aspects of remote work. If you are applying to a local company to work remotely you should be able to command a comparable salary to an in the office position. When applying or working for a remote job dress appropriately. Every day cannot be casual Friday! Invest some of your own money or the money provided by a company as a stipend into getting good technology and equipment. A great example of this is buying a walking treadmill. This could be expensive but if you’re going to be working remotely for a long period of time investing in your home office could pay dividends. Another thing that you could invest in is VR Goggles like the Oculus Quest 2. You can create a great workout with this technology investment.  When Sharon said to set up your home office he said a great quote that I will include below.            

“Try to get the experience you have physical, the connection between one person as if they set in front of you on zoom.”

When preparing for a remote interview there are several things that you should to prepare yourself. Make sure that you dress as nicely as you would for a regular job interview. Sharon has said that a lot of candidates will dress in a casual fashion just because the interview is remote. Another important point is to be punctual. Show up 10 to 15 minutes early for your interview. When you are preparing for a remote interview check your internet connection and technology beforehand. Have a practice “interview” wit one of your friends and make sure that you sound and look great. Also check for dead zones in where ever you are going to do the interview. You don’t want to go to your interview and drop off the “call” for five minutes due to poor connectivity. There are two questions that you are going to have to answer if you are going to work remotely. The first question from any employer is why should I let you work remotely? I would stress identifying that you will be more productive and provide concrete examples of out performance versus other potential employees. The second question you will be why should I hire you? You should emphasize the skills and expertise that you have to differentiate yourself from the other applicants.

The one thing that I discussed with Sharon that was particularly impactful to me was to focus on your social experience while working remotely. You can do this by focusing on booking a social experience with your coworkers/friends. One of the things that you could do before the corona virus was to grab a cup of coffee with a friend. Now that the corona virus is here you can go for a walk with your coworkers/friends. This is one of the most important things that you should focus on if you’re working remotely.

If you want to learn more about obtaining a remote job you can find out more at Sharon’s website.

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