Dear new developer,
Remote work is fantastic. You avoid a commute, have control over your work environment, and save money on lunches. However, it has downsides. You need a fast internet connection, you must be disciplined, over communicate and stay on task. You have to be OK with relative solitude.
My desire to work remotely has changed over time. Frankly, for my first job, there’s no way I would have been happy working remotely. I enjoyed the collaboration, the camaraderie, and a place to go every day where there were interesting people. Even now, with Slack, Zoom and other modern tools, I’ve seen some new developers have similar concerns.
I do think that 100% remote work is different than “work from home once a week” or “work from home when you need to”. 100% remote work requires a different workflow, communication mechanism and concept of availability than those other options. Both of the latter options are really about providing flexibility and showing trust. They are great, low cost benefits for any software company to provide to developers.
Here is a one question test for anyone considering remote work. You can ask yourself this question and if the answer is yes, a remote position will likely work well for you. If the answer is no, then I think you’d be happier with an onsite position. By the way, some people are never going to want to work remotely for a variety of reasons, and that is no big deal.
That question is: “Are you comfortable asking a dumb question in public?”
You must ask questions that appear dumb when you get up to speed in any new company. Developers of all levels do this. Often it’s two levels of questioning. The first is “who can help with this?” and then the second is the actual question.
In a remote company you’ll have to accept that you are “interrupting” people and/or asking questions into a Slack channel. I have observed that both of these are more difficult when I can’t see the mental state of other people (as you can in an office).
You’ll need answers. So you have to be prepared to do ask these kind of questions, in public or interrupting someone you think might have the answer, over and over for the first couple of months of your remote job. Public questions are better for the team but harder on my ego.
If that thought of asking basic questions in public makes you uncomfortable, congrats, you’re human. But if it makes you want to run away and hide, then perhaps you aren’t ready for remote work. If you are interested in the flexibility and freedom of 100% remote work, wait a few years, practice asking questions and internalize the fact these kind of questions may feel dumb, but actually are just part of the process at any job.
Sincerely,
Dan
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