What is remote work on the Internet and why is it so attractive. How to work remotely Freelancer experience. Free guide for beginners and advanced What is telecommuting
The employment process went like this: I applied for a job on HeadHunter and received test. It was designed for 30 minutes, but it took me 50. After the test, there was an interview stage. We agreed to convenient time and called on Skype.
So I ended up at Tilda and started working remotely from home. There were no difficulties: I worked half the shift, went about my business, and then sat down to work again. It was cool because I used to spend two hours a day commuting to and from work.
Most of the guys in support break their working day into two parts. During the break, I managed to get to the ocean to surf - it helped a lot to be less tired at work Three life hacks to help you find a remote job
1. Find out if you can switch to a remote format at your current job. This is the easiest and most comfortable option. Talk to your manager and explain the situation to him: you don’t want to spend an hour or two every day on the road to the office, so the only option that suits you is remote work. If this option is possible, agree on how the transition will take place. If not, think further about how to develop within this company.
2. Write to employers directly. It often happens that the company in which you would like to work does not have open vacancies on the site. Try writing a letter with an offer and a description of how you can be of service. There is a high probability that the company is ready to work with remote workers on certain conditions. Even if there are no open vacancies in your field, do not hesitate to offer your services.
3. Apply for vacancies with work in the office. Let's say you met a vacancy on HeadHunter or SuperJob that clearly states: work in an office, at such a metro station. Respond and send a letter in which you describe in detail your professional experience, how you can be useful and why you think that you should get this position. But specify that you live in Kursk and successfully work remotely. Even large companies will pay attention to the letter if the specialist really deserves it.
4. Features of working in Bali
Seva Petrov
I worked remotely from Rostov-on-Don, but I wanted to try . Therefore, when I found out that Ivan was leaving for Bali, I decided to follow him - when there are acquaintances in a foreign country, it’s already calmer. Before that, I did not travel to Turkey or Egypt, I was not in the near abroad - for me it was the first big trip.
About what our working day looked like: life on the island does not compare to life in the city. Now I look out the window, and there are concrete slabs, panel houses. And there are unusually beautiful views around: the ocean on one side, on the other - the sea, on the third - mountains, forests, rice fields.
It seems not workplace changes, and you change. The environment has a strong influence on you. It is more pleasant to work there, even if the conditions are worse than the city ones. For example, in Bali I didn’t have a special job: I worked at home at a coffee table or went to a cafe.
We had one advantage - time zones. We could get up early, go somewhere or go surfing, and at 11 am local time we sat down to work - at 6 am Moscow time. That is, we had 4-5 hours in the morning and 4 hours in a break to rest and explore the island.
Internet in Bali is worse than in Russia. Therefore, when there were connection problems, we went to warungs - small cafes where there is free wifi. And of course, we always had with us Mobile Internet, but it is quite expensive: 600-1,500 rubles for 30 GB of Internet, which does not always work.
Ivan Bystrov
Lead support specialist at Tilda Publishing, has been working remotely for 1.5 years.
When I got tired of working from Krasnoyarsk, I bought tickets to Bali, rented a hostel for the first month and went to a country that I knew nothing about before. All issues were resolved on the spot. Here are some tips that may come in handy for those who want to repeat our experience.
How to get a visa to Indonesia
You do not need a visa for up to one month. If you want to stay for a couple of months, then it is enough to pay at the airport for a visa on arrival. It costs $35 and allows you to stay on the island for up to 2 months without leaving the country. The only thing to do is to extend the visa after the first month. It also costs $35 if you do it yourself and $50 if you outsource it to an agency.
After the expiration of the visa, you need to leave the country and repeat the procedure for subsequent residence. In Malaysia, you can get a social visa (you need a letter from an Indonesian resident, you can do it through an agency) for 6 months at once. This visa can be extended directly in Bali, but you cannot leave the country - it will burn out.
Where is the best place to rent and how much does it cost?
Housing is no more expensive than in Russia, while the quality is better. The average option will cost about 3,000,000 Indonesian rupees - about 13,000 rubles per month. This is a guest house, in fact a small hotel. We lived in air-conditioned rooms with large beds and with all amenities. The kitchen is shared by 5 rooms. Near the bar, swimming pool, bike parking. The price includes Wi-Fi and cleaning once a week.
How to get around the island
Unexpectedly, but not in Bali public transport. Therefore, renting a bike here is as obligatory as finding housing. Prices range from 600 thousand rupees per month to 2 million. In rubles, this is 2,500–8,500 per month. For 2,500 rubles you will get a moped to move around the island, and for 8,500 you will rent a Kawasaki Ninja and enjoy the speed.
How much does food cost in Bali
Prices for locals and tourists may differ by an order of magnitude. For example, a coconut costs 40 rubles - you can drink it and eat it. A portion of rice with chicken - 60 rubles. That is, for 150 rubles you can have a good lunch and drink freshly squeezed juice, if you know where. I have seen such that the price of the same dishes increases up to a dozen times if you eat in a restaurant, and not in a cafe where the locals eat.
Do you need medical insurance
Necessarily. I didn’t need it, but my friend needed the help of doctors twice: because of poisoning and toothache. If there was no insurance, you would have to pay 80-100 thousand rubles. Health care here is very expensive.
5. How to organize work so as not to let clients and colleagues down
Ivan Bystrov
Lead support specialist at Tilda Publishing, has been working remotely for 1.5 years.
To communicate with colleagues, we use the chat in Telegram, it is convenient to exchange anything there. Periodically, we test other services as well, for example, we change platforms for schedules - we are trying to find the most suitable one.
We also try to meet with colleagues if we meet in some cities. Part of the Tilda team communicates in person, and we try to call each other in video chats. For example, on Fridays we hold video meetings where all support employees discuss the tasks for the week and say what needs to be added, what to pay attention to.
When a newcomer joins the team, we do not need to explain that we have a remote work - this becomes clear already in the process. We, in turn, help him gradually get up to speed. We are only "for" if the newcomer will ask questions and mark us in their tasks. We help and do not burden difficult questions on the backend until he masters the main points.
Alexander Marfitsin
Content Director of Amplifer.
For a specialist who wants to start working remotely, I can give three simple pieces of advice.
- Designate an area in your apartment where you will work. Don't let anyone in there for a cannon shot all day long. If you do not abstract, you will be pulled all day, and you will not work normally.
- Spare no expense on a good chair and table.
- Run, swim, go to the gym, play football, basketball, practice. Choose anything, but be sure to do some physical activity.
Seva Petrov
Lead support specialist at Tilda Publishing, has been working remotely for 1.5 years.
Most of our communication takes place in Telegram. But we also use the excellent Trello task manager. There we enter our wishes, tasks, bugs. And when the tasks are solved, we add new ones.
Sometimes there are non-trivial tasks, for example, when users ask for features that we have not even thought about. We look at the reaction of users: if 30-40 identical requests are collected, then we will definitely pass them on to the developers for consideration.
We have built a small hierarchy: we communicate with users, identify requests and bugs, and pass them on to front-end or back-end specialists. If for a good answer I need the help of a developer, then I send it to a special chat.
Tanya Abrosimova
Producer of the magazine "Knife".
It turned out to be very easy to build processes. For a year I worked remotely in Moscow, and now in Tbilisi. Everything work communication we focus on Telegram, complemented by Trello and Google Docs. It turned out that everything can be done remotely.
But there are some peculiarities: at a remote job, I lost my way, so I can wake up at 12 noon and fall asleep at 4 in the morning. Therefore, I can write to colleagues at 3 o'clock in the morning. But I never demand an immediate answer. If they have a different routine, they will just do the job when it suits them. It often happens that when I wake up, they have already sent me the results.
Alexander Marfitsin
Content Director of Amplifer.
To build processes when working with remote workers, you do not need to do anything unusual: just explain to them how everything happens. Any reasonable person can work remotely. And if he can’t, then he won’t be able to cope in the office either. To remain in demand remotely, you need to do the same as in a regular job: do your job well, be in touch and be able to communicate with people.
6. How to work away from the office and not feel disconnected from life
Sergey Bolisov
One of the frequent problems of remote workers, which many of my colleagues are familiar with, and I myself once experienced it, is a kind of isolation from the world. Personally, I have two ways to help with this. The first way - I artificially invent reasons for myself to leave the house. Even if I don’t need anything in the store, I will figure out what to buy so that I can walk for another 10-15 minutes. And the second way is .
Seva Petrov
Lead support specialist at Tilda Publishing, has been working remotely for 1.5 years.
Content Director of Amplifer.
If you compare the office and remote work, the office is still preferable for me. But the secret is that you can not work too long in one place. Office better themes, what is this special place where people come to work - you can’t lie on the couch in shorts. But if you sit in the office for too long, then productivity decreases. Therefore, when I freelanced, I constantly went to cafes, libraries, co-working spaces.
7. What will help you stay in demand as a specialist
Sergey Bolisov
Distribution director of Lifehacker, lecturer at Netology, evangelist at Tilda Publishing, has been working remotely for 12 years.
I have two tips from personal experience and the experience of my colleagues that will help you stay in demand. Both of these tips come from the fact that any remote worker is hidden from view. large companies and renowned HR professionals.
Go to public events
At least once in a while, once every six months or a year, go to a major conference in Moscow or St. Petersburg. This is an opportunity to ask questions to colleagues and experts, to learn something new, to get to know people. This will help you become more visible in your field.
Tell about your work
Everyone has something to say. Share interesting things from your experience on your blog, social networks, Telegram channel or YouTube. If you are engaged in SMM, tell us how you used new mechanics in social networks. Tell us about new approaches to infographics if you are a designer. Or show what interesting things happen in your work. Share this so that people around you and subscribers can see how you can be useful. And when they need to hire an employee with the same skills, they will remember you. Even if they are in Moscow, and you are in Novosibirsk.
Tanya Abrosimova
Producer of the magazine "Knife".
I have been working remotely for a year now, and in my opinion, this is the best thing that can happen to a person. But this realization did not come immediately.
At the very beginning, it was hard when I had to learn how to switch from the state of "I'm resting at home" to the state of "but I'm already working." I did not have a workplace, and the sofa was so conducive to just lying down. Friends gave advice on self-organization: set up a workspace in order to make a clear distinction, start a work circle, and even change into work clothes. Highly good advice which I did not use. It turned out that the most effective thing for me is to make a list of tasks, complete them and cross them off.
Lack of socialization. In the office, between tasks, you could chat with colleagues, exchange jokes, play games, and go to a bar in the evening. A large open space was conducive to this - many colleagues, many friends. And when you work remotely, during the break between tasks, you can go to the kitchen at most to fry cutlets.
If we compare the results of remote and office work, then outside the office is higher. What was a plus in terms of socialization turned out to be a minus: when colleagues distract you with laughter, and they flood in the chat, the probability of working intently rolls down to zero. Therefore, I used to do most of the tasks at home, when no one writes or bothers me.
Remote work is becoming increasingly popular with both employees and employers. This approach allows you to realize your potential to the fullest, I'm sure Valeria Timofeeva, project and operations manager with expertise in building remote teams.
10 years ago, when I started working remotely, it was unpopular. People around me looked at me more with regret than with approval. The main argument against was isolation. Below in the article I will tell you how to easily get rid of this drawback.
“If you are an employer and are looking for people only in your region, you risk not finding the best. If you are an employee and you only choose companies that are closer to you, you are missing out on a better job.”
This is a quote from Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, Remote. An office is not required. Jason and David are the founders of 37 signals (they released the Basecamp job scheduler). The company's staff is working remotely.
What is remote work?
This is work for the company, but without reference to the office. The specialist works in the state, receives a salary, but does not go to the office. And the work is done from a convenient location.
Remote work is different from freelancing. The last one is one-time projects with a fixed or hourly payment. The person completes the project, receives a fee, and the collaboration ends. Even if there are 2-3 such projects in one company, this is called freelancing.
A freelancer is a specialist who works on demand. When cooperating remotely, the employee works in the company's staff. This is a permanent employee.
What is the reason for the rise in popularity?
With the development of technology. To have a meeting, we no longer gather together in the same office. For this we use Webex, Go To Meeting, join.me, Zoom, Skype. Company documentation at your fingertips in Dropbox. Current materials are created and edited in real time in Google Drive. Issues that need to be resolved within a couple of minutes are discussed in thematic channels in Slack.
It is impossible to work fully in an office. Office in working time- last place,where to be if you want to work. This is the break zone.
The office even with 10 employees is like a food processor - staying here cuts the day into pieces. 15 minutes here, 10 minutes there, 20 here, 5 there. And each such segment is filled with teleconferences, meetings, meetings and other standard, but optional interruptions in terms of work.
Meaningful, creative, complex work requires long periodsconcentration, when nothing distracts and you can immerse yourself in business. In today's office, the possibility of not being distracted by anything can not be dreamed of. On the contrary, they are constantly distracted.
Where do you work when you really want to get results?It is unlikely that the answer will be - "in the office during business hours."
Excuses and myths
Miracles happen when we're together
When employees gather at the same table live, only then effective brainstorming occurs. Yes it is. But how many such brilliant ideas do you need to bring the matter to fruition? 2-3. The solution is to meet live 3 times a year.
How do I know if they work if I can't see them?
If you do not allow employees to work at home for fear that they will be lazy without supervision, then you are a nanny, not a manager. Strengthen your management skills.
At home people are constantly distracted
The first reason is the low value of the work. Admit there is a problem and change jobs. Or properly organize the workspace (cafe, library, park).
The second reason is burnout. The solution is to do nothing for a couple of weeks. That's how long you'll lie on the beach or explore Paris. But then it gets boring. Most people want to work because it is energizing and fulfilling.
Only in the office can you ensure digital security
There are simple and reliable methods for this (and you don’t need an office for this):
Safe mode on sites;
disable automatic login;
exit from "sleep" mode only by password;
blocking after 10 minutes of inactivity;
long and complex passwords (1password for help);
lock code in smartphones and tablets;
2-factor authorization.
And who will answer the calls?
The willingness to occasionally answer the phone at 11 pm or 5 am is a small price to pay for the freedom that comes with distant work. The solution is to distribute employees across different time zones.
Big companies don't do it, why should we?
Do you think these companies* are big enough?
Deloitte - 86% of employees (min 20% of the time)
Intel - 82%
NASA - 57%
Accenture - 81%
Bureau for registration of patents and TM - 85%
protection agency environment - 67%
*Source: Remote. An office is optional” by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson.
The rest of the staff will be jealous
The best way to beat off arguments like "all are connected by onepolitics" - remind the boss, yourself and those who doubt that you are aloneteam. Yes, you play on the same field and are looking for the best ways toget the job done, and creating the most efficient and favorableworking conditions can help.
What about corporate culture?
Corporate culture is not a football tournament or new Year party, and the attitude to quality, the concept of workload, communication with customers. The stronger the culture, the less control employees need.
Need an answer now!
Not every question requires an immediate answer, and in this case, expecting a colleague to immediately spend time is the height of impudence. If the case suffers, it is better to ask the question by e-mail. Questions that require an answer within a few minutes, ask using instant messaging systems (Slack). In the event of a crisis that deserves the definition of "everything collapses", use an old invention called the "telephone".
But I will lose control!
For many, being a leader means having control over people. This is part of their personality. Such alpha males (and females) need to literally see their direct subordinates. They think: if I see them, then I can control them. The question for you is whether you want to work under such people.
We paid a lot of money for this office
The most stupid argument ever. Does the office allow you to work more efficiently? If yes, then it makes sense.
Real disadvantages: what to do with them?
Above, we examined a number of excuses that have nothing to do with reality. But there are some downsides to working remotely. Here's how to solve them.
Fear of isolation
A logical state when you constantly work alone. Just put in more effort if it's uncomfortable to work that way. Go to a coworking space, for example.
Graph loss
The lines between work and life are blurred. You work around the clock, and there is a risk of burnout. To set the right schedule, at the end of the day ask yourself the question: “Did I do a good job today?” and draw appropriate conclusions.
Ergonomics
Being outside the office walls, it is easy to become a hostage to a situation when you have to work in inappropriate conditions - on a bench in a park, at a high table in a cafe, etc. So make sure you buy the right desk chair, desk, and screen.
Hypodynamia
The problem is global for the 21st century. In the office, a person moves, also walks along the road from the car to the building. When working remotely, this problem is exacerbated. Use a fitness tracker and remember the minimum 10,000 steps per day.
Breaking when no one distracts
It will pass, don't focus on it.
How to organize?
Negotiate on the beach
Job responsibilities, growth prospects, the size and revision of salaries should be negotiated before the conclusion of the contract and the start of work.
Show results regularly
The only measure of employee evaluation here is the result. It just means something. The employer does not care when and how you work. What matters is what you produce.
Be available for communication
Allocate time slots in the day when you are in touch to discuss current issues. Stick to this schedule.
How to build a working day?
Set up a daily routine
Allocate clear and equal periods of time for work. Separate work and home even while at home 🙂
Morning at home, afternoon at the office
If the office is in your city, try to alternate. Work from home in the morning, go to the office in the afternoon. Or select 1-2 attendance days.
Get a couple of computers
One computer for work, another one for other purposes. Thus, there will be no temptation to be distracted during work.
Loneliness in the crowd
To avoid feeling isolated, work in a library, co-working space or cafe.
How to stay motivated
“Encourage people to work on what they like, and only with people who care about them” (c) from the book Remote. It sounds tritely simple, but it's true.
nomadic freedom
"I'm going to retire and travel." Don't put off life for later.
Change of scenery
Work from different places, not only when you feel isolated.
Time for loved ones
Make time for family and friends. Watch out for recycling.
How to get a job?
cover letter
How well the cover letter is writtencollaboration depends. This is a pass.
Test
Perform quality tests. Do not agree to do the test for free.Trial is paid.
Personal acquaintance
Before signing a contract, it is important to get to know live, if not with the team, thenat least with a responsible manager and owner of the company.
Freelance is the best school
2-3 short-term one-time projects will give you the opportunity to experienceprinciple of remote work.
If you feel that remote work is what you dreamed about, feel free to downloadsite list with remote work vacancies. Please note that knowledge of English is required.
Excuses will not work, but you already know how to get settled and organize a working day.
Hello dear friends! While I was busy filling the blog and clearly following the goals as part of my 100 days, my knee suddenly hurt. For I am actively preparing for the half-marathon distance, and my body, apparently, begins to slowly act up because of this.
I'm not going to give up, but can someone tell me what to do with this? Please write in the comments.
In the meantime, I’ll tell you a little about what remote work on the Internet is, how it is done and “what it is eaten with”. In a word, you will learn everything you need to understand the essence of the phenomenon. I hope that the information you read will help you decide if this type of employment is right for you.
In working on this post, a copywriter girl helped me. Here is what she wrote about herself as her own review:
“I am 20 years old, and I have been working as a copywriter for a year (i.e. writing articles to order). As for me, this is not such a long experience, but it is quite enough to be imbued with deep sympathy for remote work. At the same time, I study at the university, music school, in general, I do everything that interests me and helps me to realize myself. Working 3-4 hours a day (or about 25 hours a week), I earn 3,000 hryvnias a month, which is a little more than $120. In general, quite modestly, but in proportion to the time and effort spent.
It doesn't seem to be thick. But for a full-time student, this is a very good addition to the scholarship, and without the need to unload the cars or run for days as a promoter with leaflets at the ready.
Remote work (synonyms: telework, remote work) - the form labor activity in which the employee and the employer are at a significant physical and geographical distance from each other. At the same time, everything Required documents, tasks and results are transmitted by the parties to each other using modern means of communication (formerly fax, today Internet).
It is clear that with such an organization of labor, a lot of technical and psychological features arise, which, under certain consideration, can turn out to be both pluses and minuses.
In my consulting practice, I distinguish 2 types of remote work.
Types of remote work
In general, remote work is a very broad concept that combines many different types activities. But the essence is always the same - you are removed from the employer, office, "work" place, i.e. stay at a certain physical distance from them. This means that you can work almost anywhere: at home, on a bed or chair, in a park or cafe, on the beach or even on a hike.
I would like to immediately dispel the stereotype that remote work is. This is not true. It can be different: with a normalized schedule and without, with enrollment in the staff and complete independence, with varying degrees of responsibility and workload. Everything, as always, depends on what you do, how and under what conditions.
Workplace in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka
Work for one permanent employer
For example, you may be an employee in a certain company and perform your labor obligations at home or in another place convenient for you: receive calls, program, draw or even sew.
Today, many companies are switching to this form of employment, especially from the IT sector. Thus, the employer can save the cost of renting your workplace and give you more space for creativity and self-organization.
More often than not, you won't have a free schedule; work will need to be done at certain hours. But there are also cases when it is necessary to do a specific task for a certain time.
When, after my enchanting job, I moved to a new workplace, one of the ways to organize work was just remote cooperation. I, however, used it only in moments when I did not want to go to the office at all.
Freelance
Freelance worker employed by natural or legal entities to perform occasional tasks. About that, I wrote a separate detailed article, please take a look.
I must say, this is my favorite type of remote control:
- maximum freedom in choosing activities, customers, volumes of tasks and deadlines for their implementation.
- the ability to work from anywhere in the world where there is Internet
- independence from the volatility of economic markets (it is simply impossible to fire you)
For reference, with of English language“freelance”, if you break the word into two parts (free and lance), then a free spear comes out or, without scoffing, a free spearman, a hired worker (freelancer). That is, a person with certain skills and abilities, hired for long-term projects or one-time work.
Today this is the most famous type of remote work, especially popular for IT specialists, rewriters, smm and seo specialists.
What is the advantage of freelancing?
In my opinion, it is very important to change the relationship between employer and employee. They are transformed into customer-performer or client-performer relationships. Notice what the point is?
That's right, in the hierarchy, there is much less of it or not at all. Ideally, the client and the performer are equal partners working on a project or task, where each plays a role.
Working from home on the Internet, you choose your own type of activity that matches your interests and skills, choose a customer, project, payment, terms. You are an equal participant labor relations and all aspects of your work are now agreed with the client directly.
Freelance pros:
- even more degrees of freedom
- the ability to choose projects for yourself
- maximum opportunities for self-realization
- freedom of movement and mobility
- lack of bosses, bosses, hierarchies and offices
Favorite photo, reflecting the essence of remote work
Another important detail is communication with customers, which most often occurs through Internet correspondence (less often Skype interviews), which means that your gender, age, appearance and other aspects of your personality do not play a role, which can become grounds for discrimination when hiring for a real job.
I also talk about the problems that aged applicants face.
By the way, when looking for a job, be aware that it is illegal to indicate the gender or age of the applicant in the ad.
How to find a dream job?
Sometimes it’s enough to google “freelancing” and in return you will get a lot of links to different ones. Another option is regular job search sites. On most of them, you can select the type of employment in the search filter. I think you already guessed that you need to check the box next to "remote work".
However, everything is not easy! It is impossible for newcomers to break through on the exchanges, and no one answers the sent response letters ... The start is always the hardest. Therefore, we recommend starting not from scratch, but by learning from professionals. To do this, I spend 1 time per month. Sign up!
Results
I told you what remote work is and how it happens. As a result, I would like to separately highlight the advantages and disadvantages of this type of activity.
Advantages
- The ability to work in any comfortable place, and if you work via the Internet, you can be located almost anywhere in the world.
- Saving time and money on travel and quite serious: 1-3 hours every day. Where to put so much free time? You decide!
- The ability to independently organize your working day (in most cases), and ideally, complete control over the workflow.
- Lack of control from the authorities, which causes a wonderful feeling of freedom and inspiration.
- Save on the dress code, even work in slippers and shorts!
Flaws
For example, it is not so easy for all people to organize themselves and force themselves to work. For me, this is periodically a real disaster, because of which I delay the work as far as possible. An important nuance for many people is the lack of colleagues with whom you can talk and consult.
It also entails other disadvantages, such as the lack of a sense of belonging to a common cause, a sense of team. According to many experts, remote work slows down and professional growth, because the Feedback from the employer does not always arrive on time.
Weigh, choose, analyze and decide! In addition to free working conditions, remote work will provide you with an excellent opportunity to find your own business and develop professional skills.
Or it can become a real way of life for you, when you build your life not around your working time, but in between your favorite activities.
No related articles
I am convinced that remote work is the future of our planet. Not in isolated manifestations, as is happening now, but on a scale of the entire population of the Earth. Today, technology is developing at a frantic pace, and sometimes it seems to all of us that we are the heroes of some futuristic book.
Technological progress is stunning, amazing, inspiring and scary at the same time. But one thing can be said with absolute certainty: never before has a person had so many opportunities in any area of life. This is especially true of work - the main component of human life. In this article, I want to take a closer look mind-altering phenomenon of the 21st century is an opportunity remote work.
What is remote work
It would seem that everyone understands that remote work is when an employee is not tied to his workplace, and performs his professional function “remotely”. The opportunity to work remotely appeared with the development of the Internet, when participants in the intellectual labor market realized that it was possible to transfer the results of work and receive new tasks using a computer and the global network, without the need to sit at a specific table in a specific office.
The concept of remote work was developed by American Jack Nilles. In 1972, he proposed the idea that it was not necessary to keep employees in the office, since modern facilities connections allow you to maintain contact between employees at a distance. The authorities showed interest in developing the idea of remote work, seeing it as a solution to transport problems that were acute in cities. New organization labor could allow to solve these issues, and at the same time provide jobs for the population of remote rural areas.
However, in many cases people who work remotely are still looked at with a squint, identifying them with anything but unfair work. Most people do not understand the phrase “remote work” at all, despite the fact that this same majority daily uses all the benefits of the Internet.
Believe me, I know this firsthand. Every other day they ask us: “How do you work remotely? Do you have your own business? What do you do? How exactly do you earn? People seem to be under the impression that remote work is for a select few. This is not true! Remote work is not a business, it’s not a hack, it’s not a scam. It’s just that people are divided into two types: those for whom the Internet is entertainment, and sometimes a time killer, and those for whom the Internet is a sea of opportunities and a tool for making money.
Remote work is the usual work with employment contract, schedule, weekends, paid vacation, bosses and subordinates, workdays, stress and deadlines. Everything is like in a classic office job, only outside the office.
How is remote work different from freelancing?
I noticed that many people confuse remote work and freelancing. Nikita is often referred to as a freelancer, although he is not. In fact, remote work and freelancing have only one common feature the Internet as a means of communication. Everything.
The word "freelancer" literally translates from English freelancer as a free worker. This means that the freelancer is not associated with any company, he works for different companies, different clients, and looking for them on their own. Perhaps the freelancer is registered as individual entrepreneur, he has his own website, where he describes his services, or the fame of him circulates on the Internet, and clients find him themselves. Perhaps he is an active participant in such specialized sites as fl.ru or freelance.ru where customers and performers of any service find each other.
Freelancer is in free flight, he has no schedule, no boss, no team, and most often no permanent job. There is different projects- one-five-twenty a month - which bring him income. It already depends on the specialization and credibility of the specialist. The remote worker has a permanent contract with one company, a fixed working day and a fixed monthly salary. He is not free to choose projects and tasks, he does what his supervisor tells him to do. Maybe he's in charge himself. Indeed, today there are entire "distributed" teams, where all employees work from different cities and even countries.Why remote work and earnings on the Internet are different things
There is another big confusion in terms. And I really want to dot all the "i". What is remote work, you already understood. Now let's understand what is earnings on the Internet.
Working on the Internet is the performance of certain actions that bring profit, but the process of work and the results of labor do not go beyond virtuality. I won't consider everything possible ways earning money on the Internet, I will give only examples. There are special sites where any Internet user can complete tasks and receive money for them: put likes, leave comments, subscribe to publics; in addition, there are sensational binary options and other financial transactions, understanding which you can receive money; there are all kinds of information products - courses, lectures, electronic books whose authors also earn.
What is the difference between remote work and freelancing? The Internet in such work is not just a communication tool, but directly a material for earning. Roughly speaking, remote work and freelancing are possible without the Internet.- specialists perform the task at home (for example, make cadastral calculations or accounting reports) and personally bring them to the office on a flash drive or send documents by mail. Internet is not needed. Namely, "earnings on the Internet" without the Internet is not possible.
Myths about remote work
Myth 1. Remote work is very difficult to find.
Reality: Finding a remote job is just as difficult as finding a regular job. It all depends on your knowledge, experience, personal qualities, goals, etc. For remote positions, you also need to pass interviews, tests, show a portfolio.
Myth 2. Remote work is not for everyone.
Reality: The remote labor market is developing every day. I'm sure that in a couple of years, even typically "applied" professions like doctors, teachers and even cleaners will find themselves in remote work. The spectrum of remote vacancies is much wider than we used to think.
Myth 3. Remote workers earn less than office workers.
Reality: Perhaps at the dawn of remote work as a phenomenon, such discrimination took place. Now this is not so.
Myth 4. A remote worker cannot build a career.
Reality: If you understand the main thesis of this article, then this myth is no longer relevant for you. A remote worker is a regular worker, and if he is worthy of a promotion, he will be promoted.
Pros and cons of remote work for an employee
| pros | Minuses |
| Freedom of movement: a remote employee can work at home, in the park, in a cafe, on the beach, travel around the world. | Constant search good internet: any fabulous place to work can be hell for a remote worker if the internet is bad. |
| A comfortable workplace: a warm bed with hot cocoa, a hammock between palm trees, the sound of the surf - anything for your inspiration. You can work naked, in pajamas, without makeup and hair. | The cost of water, toilet paper, electricity and the Internet is your concern, the company does not pay for this.  You also provide yourself with the necessary equipment for work. |
| Save time on the road and fees: no need to get to the office with traffic jams or the subway. Plus, no morning stress. The saved time can be spent on family, self-education and recreation. | There will be no more fun drunk corporate parties with colleagues. Although, for some, this is a plus. |
| There are no unnecessary distractions from the work process: a colleague at the next table will not get anecdotes, but lunch break you can no longer devote to discussing the New Year's gift to the boss. | You will not have New Year's and any other gifts. But in a noisy cafe, they can also interfere with your productive work. |
| If you are an introvert, then it is impossible to imagine a more ideal job for you. | If you're an extrovert, you'll miss tea time, social gags, and the opportunity to make new friends. Although you can also make friends remotely. |
Pros and cons of remote work for the employer
| pros | Minuses |
| A remote employee is more motivated: he does not have to sit in the office for eight hours. He completes his tasks, the faster he completes them, the more personal time he will have. As practice shows, more often remote employees work even more than eight hours, because. they are passionate about the task and want to complete it. | Setting up a competent work of a “distributed” team is not so easy. It is necessary to carefully consider the system of reports, communications, online meetings, and so on. |
| The choice of an applicant is not limited to one city: you can choose the most talented specialist in the industry to join your team, even if he lives in another country. | The personnel department should be ready for the procedure for formalizing remote employees. This entails additional operations, for example, sending a contract, processing money transfers, etc. |
| Saving costs on renting a workplace and equipment wear and tear, as well as other accompanying expenses: a remote employee takes on costs, for example, for a computer breakdown. | If the employer does not provide the employee necessary equipment he has no right to demand certain things. For example, in case of force majeure: a computer breakdown, a power outage or an earthquake in the place where the employee works, work will be temporarily suspended, and this should always be kept in mind. |
Rating of demand for remote professions
I studied several of the largest Russian and international sites that regularly publish new remote vacancies, and also analyzed popular pages with current job offers on social networks. Based on this study, I have compiled a ranking of the most in-demand remote professions today.
- Information Technology: programmers, all kinds of developers, HTML layout designers, SEO specialists and others.
- Financial sector: bank specialists, accountants, estimators, financial project managers and others.
- Sales: sales managers, call center operators and others.
- Education: all kinds of tutors, coaches, authors of student papers and others.
- Administrative area: assistants, application collection administrators, transcribers, database operators, and others.
- Media, marketing, advertising: PR-specialists, SMM-specialists, copywriters, journalists, Internet marketers, website editors and others.
- HR: recruiters, HR managers and others.
- Design, photo, video: graphic designers, web designers, illustrators, photo and video shooting, video editing, video clips creation and so on.
- Consulting: project managers, consultants and others.
- Other: translators, tourism managers, insurance agents and others.
Ways to find remote work
For most people, finding a remote job is an unknown mystical ritual, seasoned with wild dances and joining a sect of the elite. Many told me that remote work is available only to residents of megacities, although the idea of remote work just breaks any connection to geolocation. Let's look at three main ways to find a remote job.
- Talk to your boss. He may want to transfer you to a remote position with a visit to the office once a week, and then without participating in the weekly meetings at all. Personally, we had such an experience, it works in practice. Even if your company does not yet have a single remote employee, you can become a pioneer.
- Browse numerous job search websites. Even on the same HH.ru, more than 12 thousand remote vacancies are currently available. There are specialized sites for finding exactly remote work. I will write about them in a separate article, because. I have accumulated a good base of cool resources.
- Contact specialized specialists, which professionally prepare people for remote work, help to retrain, if necessary, consult, train and help with employment. Today, there are many free remote work consultants, as well as webinars, books, articles in which experts share the secrets of finding remote work.
The company conducts unique trainings that help people find them strengths and apply to earn money in a new area for themselves. Company motto: “Remote work is for everyone” which I fully agree with.
Conclusion
Remote work allows you to manage your life, gives you more freedom, more opportunities, and this is exactly what the average middle manager in any country dreams of. Large international corporations have long been practicing a partially remote schedule for employees, and young effective startups rarely consider standard offices as a workflow space.
In Russia, remote work as a phenomenon is just beginning its journey. In big cities, more and more companies are opening remote positions, and people are increasingly striving for just such a job. But in our mentality, such a strange approach to work still does not fit yet. As evidenced by numerous misunderstandings, myths and stereotypes regarding remote work.
Unfortunately, I did not find any surveys or specific statistics on this matter. I can only say from personal experience that among the youth of the whole world, remote work is not just a fashionable trend, but the most acceptable way of life in which work, family, travel, leisure and hobbies are combined in a balanced way.
I have been collecting information and my thoughts on this for a long time, so the article turned out to be large. I hope you take it as a basis for reflection and your own conclusions, and not as the ultimate truth. Share in the comments what you think about remote work? Do you have similar experience? What would you add to my thesis?Next article
Hello friends! Today we’ll talk about the main topic of my blog and find out with simple examples what remote work is, whether it’s real or a scam. Why work from home is becoming more and more popular and now is the time to explore new activities that allow you to earn money via the Internet.
Remote work is a method of employment in which a person (performer) performs tasks remotely, contacting the employer via the Internet.
That is, any work that can be done at a distance, it is not necessary to be in the office for this, can be called remote.
I would also like to highlight a separate format for remote work - . Freelance - when you work remotely, but you do not have a permanent employer and you are always looking for orders.
Let's explain with examples what the principle of such activity is and who will pay you for what.
What should be done and who will pay?
Remember, in I talked about the circulation of money, and where they come from. Now everyone who sells various goods or services does it using the Internet. Because people spend a lot of time here, communicating, looking through the necessary information, looking for answers to their questions, and so on.
To do this, we use different sites, services, programs and applications. Have you ever thought about who creates them? Behind all this are millions of people, some of whom work remotely.
Take, for example, my blog, where you are currently reading this article. On the initial stage to make it come into being, I paid people to make it. And I have never seen these people, our communication was only in text correspondence.
The first person is the designer. He drew the design of the blog - what you now see on the screen of your device. The designer spent a total of about 2 weeks on this work, and I paid him 25,000 rubles.
The second person is a layout designer. He assembled a functioning site from the picture that the designer made, using the program code. I paid him 18,000 rubles for 3 days of work.
All of them perform simple, understandable tasks for which they receive money.
There are dozens of different ones, the knowledge and skills of which can be applied to remote work.
Who can work remotely?
I used to think that only programmers could make money this way. But when I began to look for what to do, I realized that there is a lot of work here, for every taste and color. Though for the student, though for the pensioner. For a long time in such a huge variety could not choose a direction.
FROM complete zero without experience, I mastered several professions and reached a stable monthly income that exceeded my offline salary. It took me six months.
Of course, it will be more difficult for older people who do not have basic computer skills. But I think you understand that neither age, nor gender, nor social status, geographic location or anything else does not affect whether you can or not.
I can give dozens of examples of guys who had a situation many times worse than you have now.
In addition, many do not need to change their specialty and learn something new. Most conventional professions are suitable for remote work, such as an accountant, sales manager, marketer, journalist, and so on.
What are the prospects?
In comparison with ordinary work, a lot can be revealed. But today I want to tell you about the prospects that I saw in my time.
For the first time, I encountered remote work somewhere in 2011, but then I didn’t realize at all that it was possible to earn a stable income from this. I went to college and did an internship with a private entrepreneur. Engaged in the installation of video surveillance and security systems.
He had his own company for the sale and installation of security equipment, which, like everyone else, needed customers. Realizing that from social network You can get clients on VKontakte, he offered me for 1,000 rubles a month (at that time it was good money for a student) to invite people to his group.
This group (https://vk.com/club16076182) still exists.
So for about five months I invited participants in the evenings in my free time. A task that any student can handle.
It’s a pity that I didn’t realize then that there could be a lot of such work. The more unique the services that you can provide (make websites, write texts, design, manage projects, lead a team, and so on), the more you can earn.
Technologies are developing, many companies no longer have offices, their employees work remotely and are located all over the world. It is not profitable to maintain workspaces, knowing that it is possible to hire a person who will do the same from home.
When traveling, I often meet Russian-speaking guys from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, who work via the Internet for Russian and foreign companies.
If you know English, then the world of remote work is even wider for you. It is more profitable to receive a salary not in rubles, but in dollars or euros.
Technology replaces people in production and therefore there is a reduction. Some professions are beginning to die out, because they are no longer relevant in the 21st century.
At the end of 2014, I realized this. I realized that I need to develop, learn new skills, keep up with the times, so that I don’t twist wires for 20,000 rubles all my life and don’t walk up to my ears in the dust, working as an electrician.
Where to begin?
It's great that thanks to the Internet we get unlimited access to knowledge from all over the world. To master the skills that will bring 40,000 - 50,000 thousand rubles a month, you do not need to study for 5 years at the university and spend hundreds of thousands of rubles on education.
According to statistics, the guys who start learning on ours, on average, make the transition in 3 to 6 months with maximum return.
The most difficult thing is to decide on the direction you want to pursue. Very often it happens that a person rushes back and forth and from this marks time, starting anew each time.
It is difficult to give some unique advice on choosing a profession, since everyone has different level development and range of interests, an individual approach is needed. The easiest way is to go to, take tasks to find out what works and what is generally difficult and incomprehensible for you.
For beginners, everything will seem complicated. As it once seemed difficult for me to make a website, a banner in Photoshop or write an article. Now, having certain knowledge, it will not be difficult to do this.
Also, dozens of new vacancies are published daily on the exchanges. Vacancies, as well as tasks, can be found with different employment, complexity and method of payment. In the first project I worked on, I had free schedule and piecework pay. At a distance, the employer is primarily interested in the result.
Conclusion
I hope now you understand correctly what it means to work remotely and what are the prospects here. Learn, learn to learn, learn new knowledge and skills, switch to remote work and travel. With the Internet, you can do this without investment.
If you need help and support, then come to our express course “Start in remote work and freelancing”.
In the comments to this article, you can ask your questions and leave feedback about your experience of remote work. I will be happy to answer them and share my advice.
