How to work remotely for American or European companies

Mauricio Vasquez
Jul 30, 2017 · 4 min read

There are possibly hundreds or thousands of ways of getting international clients. Some of these methods could be more efficient that others, and some people could probably be experts in these areas. I’ll describe what has been more successful in my experience. I warn you though… At first it was just pure luck.

Earning trust

As I mentioned in my previous post, most consulting companies in the US and Europe would rather hire an in-house developer if they can afford it. They see the overseas contractor as a really risky investment, even if the developers are from the same country(expats). A friend of mine from the UK lost his long time client after the company shot down. For a while, he was unable to find another client that was willing to let him work remotely.

So how do I earn the trust? The simple answer is by working with them for a few months with little to no issues. So how do I get to work with them so I can prove myself? This is what worked for me in the past:

  • Meet them in person. I believe you will multiply your chances by actually getting to know the person. Meetups, conferences and hackathons usually have a good amount of people that might need your help.
  • Follow up. I’ve seen some people give up after they don’t hear back after an interview. These companies usually have a lot on their agenda and believe it or not, hiring sometimes is not their top priority. Send them a friendly reminder a few days after your last call.
  • Be relatable. This might not make much sense to some, but you should have at least some of the company’s culture in your personality. Specially in the startup scene.
  • Know what they do. There’s nothing more awkward than getting asked regarding your thoughts about the company and not knowing what to say. Check out their website, download their apps, read their blogs.
  • Have a decent portfolio and be ready for the “technical interview”. This might happen at any time, specially when you first meet. You might just get one shot so make sure you know what you’re selling. Remember that most business cards are thrown in the trash.

If you manage to get somebody’s attention, they will usually start you off with a really shitty project. It might be a personal app that they want to finish, or maybe some project with some really crappy code that nobody wants to take. This is where you have to decide if the company you will be sweating over is worth the effort. If I see potential, I usually try to tough it out and hope to get new projects soon after I’m finished.

You could start locally

Something that really helped me early on was to work at the client’s office at the beginning on the project. Once the app was stable enough and they feel comfortable with you working on it, you can ask them to let you do home office once in a while. If that works out well then you can move to be fully remote. This is how some of my friends and I started our first consulting gigs.

Another reason to start locally is that you could possibly be the first developer to work remotely with that client. If you move to a country where the cost of living is much lower (like I did), you could subcontract people to work for the company. I will create another blog talking exclusively about how much the consulting companies in Latin American charge vs hiring the developer directly.

Be communicative

A common mistake that I see with people I’ve worked in the past, is the lack of communication. Project managers sometimes check the commits, but many times they don’t even check Github at all. The person that you’re billing could also start doubting if you’re actually working if they don’t hear from you all day. There are many Slack tools that you can use that posts all your commits and pull requests in public chats. Even if you do a daily standup, try to keep the whole team up to date with what you’re working on. Even try to participate when they’re just joking around. Aways make them feel you’re part of the team.

Daily builds

Seeing activity from your work on top of your commits will be a reassurance that you’re delivering, and that your location is not affecting them in any way. Include a very basic changelog (not too technical) and also post it for everybody on the team to see it. I recommend using Bitrise for continuous integration if you’re an Android or iOS developer, but there’re many other tools that do the same thing.

LinkedIn, Indeed and other recruiting sites?

I’ve never got a job or project of any type from an online platform. I personally feel that when you apply to remote jobs using any of these platforms, you’re competing with hundreds or thousands of people. Your resume will most likely end up in a huge pile of applications and your chances of getting that job are slim.

If you manage to pass the interviews, I’ve heard really positive things about Toptal.com . They filter out most applicants and keep the top 3% developers and find them descent paying jobs. If you’re willing to try it out give it a go.

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