The Biggest Mistakes That Keep You From Landing a Remote Job
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This blog post is inspired by an email I recently saw and it absolutely blew my mind, in a bad way. It went something along the lines of:
Hello,
I found your company through an interview that you completed. I am currently accepted to the Remote Year program; however, I have yet to acquire the remote job that is necessary. After reading the interview and looking over your site, I believe that I would be a great fit for your company and wanted to inquire if you are hiring. My portfolio is here and my resume is here.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
I'm speechless...
It might as well say,
"Hey, I want to work remotely so I can travel the world and need some money, so do you think you could hire me?" or, "Hey, I see you have a great benefits package and pay well. Could you hire me?"
NO. Absolutely no.
That is what NOT to do.
I've had more than one remote employer say that they ignore emails when it's clear the person just wants a remote job.
Why? because it shows you don't care about the company itself or about adding value.
If you want to land yourself a remote job, it's critical you approach potential employers in the right way. Here are some of the biggest mistakes people make when they reach out to a company that operates remotely.
Not Researching the Company
Make sure you have a good understanding of the company you are reaching out to. Do your research. When reaching out, make specific references. This shows you did your research and are truly interested in the company.
Making it About Your and Not Them
Potential employers don't care about what you want. You want to join Remote Year? Guess what? They don't care. They care about their organization. So, make it all about them. Think about:
- Where does this company want to go?
- What are their goals?
- What challenges are they facing?
- What are they looking for?
When reaching out, touch on or ask questions about these points.
Not Offering Value
After you understand the organization and what their goals and challenges are, think, how can I offer value to this organization? how can I help them? how can I add value? Even more so, consider how your value fits into their organization. Sure you could maybe help them but do you fit into the company? Consider what aspects make you a good fit for the role and the organization.
For example, I once worked for a company, and upon my research, I saw they helped with education in a third world country, and I had recently just booked a volunteer trip to help with an educational project in a third world country. Right away we share some common core values. Not only do we share values, but by making this mention the company could see I did my research on the organization. It's about taking things a step further.
Mentioning you're looking for Remote Work
But here's what you can ask instead...
So, you've done your research and found a company that operates remotely. If you already know this, there is no point in mentioning remote work or your reasons for wanting to work remotely - they don't care. You need to make it very clear that you are interested in the organization and show how you can provide value to them.
If you are trying to gauge is a company operates remotely, first try and look it up online. If you don't find anything online, consider asking questions such as:
- "What tools does your team use to communicate?" Hint: If they use tools that remote companies often use such as Zoom, Skype, Slack, etc you might be in luck.
- Or you could ask, "What do your employees love most about working for you?
This is a better way to uncover if a company works remotely but is also asked in such a way that shows interest in the company and not just in the fact that you want to work remotely.
However, leave these questions until you have already engaged in conversation. This is unnecessary when initially reaching out to a company.
In Summary
At the end of the day, don't put your self-interests ahead of the organization. Make it about them and how you can provide value.
Do you work remotely?
Let me know in the comments below how you landed your remote job.
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