Are you thinking of permanently working remotely? It’s not a new concept.
Over 15 years ago, I had employees permanently working from home, whether in town with me in Kansas City while working for Sprint, a former Fortune 500 company, or across the U.S. in the D.C. area and Dallas. As a manager, I assessed with individuals on my team, whether it was a good fit. It was split, whether they wanted to work remotely. Some people enjoyed being in the office for camaraderie, creating work-life balance, or minimizing potential distractions at home. In the end, we had full-time remotes, and some, like myself, would work from home one day per week. I didn’t observe any negative impacts, while some of my peers forbade the practice. And, keep in mind, we all worked for the same company. I thought you hire competent people, observe their productivity, and have a conversation to uncover a resolution if there’s an issue. Guess what? I never rescinded remote working flexibility.
19% Remote Workers
If there’s one positive about COVID, there’s never been a better time to work remotely. It’s now more widely accepted, and companies, for the most part, have pivoted, including FANG tech companies Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Alphabet (Google).
According to a July 2020 survey of 283 large employers in North America employing 4.4 million, companies expect that the proportion of their full-time employees who are working from home will level off at around 19 percent from the pandemic crisis peak at almost 100%. Nineteen percent is 3x more remote employees compared to last year, how times have changed.
Just One Year Ago
Last October, I was consulting remotely for one month while enjoying living on the beach in Málaga, Spain. With October fastly approaching, I’m reflecting on what a difference 12 months make. Clueless back then on what would transpire in 2020 — economy in free fall, healthcare crisis, political turmoil, and diversity upheaval smashing the breaking point.
Back then, I wrote two blogs about working remotely globally, never realizing what the future had in store for us.
Today, I was booked to fly to Greece for a month, but E.U. travel restrictions canceled the plan. The good news is that as Americans, we can still travel within the U.S. Taking advantage of that freedom, I’m off to our home in Austin, Texas for the Winter, escaping Seattle’s seasonal dreariness. In effect, I’m working remotely in another state. Granted, it’s easier since I’m self-employed.
Tips for Remote Job Seekers
Did you know you could curate remote positions? From networking to job search tools, you have several options. Below are ideas to kick start your remote quest.
Executive Recruiter
Most executives network or have search companies contact them. It’s ideal for nurturing contacts to become a virtual CXO. I have two clients currently in remote executive roles. In fact, their entire leadership team isn’t at what you would consider a traditional headquarter.
When I checked today, there are 1,841 remote executive jobs listed at this site within the U.S. Either click on the URL above or follow the steps below.
Access the “Job” tab in “Search for your next job,” after entering your dream job title, enter “remote” in the “city/state/zip” field. Then, you can save that search as a “job alert.”
Voila! Remote jobs will be sent to your email on the frequency you selected.
Indeed
This isn’t a site for executive searches per se. There’s not an executive-level type job drop-down, although within the senior level there are 806 jobs within the U.S. After entering your title in the “what” field, enter “remote” in the location field. Finally, save this search.
Interview Speech Creation
Just because a position is located within a particular city doesn’t mean you have to work there. Especially within the current remote trend. I recommend being armed with the rationale for staying put. Create a positioning statement regarding benefits to the company for working remotely; i.e., what’s in it for them? Develop four concrete reasons:
- Statistics: You can cite research statistics regarding your industry.
- Experience: Highlight your career experience managing remote teams across the U.S. or globe.
- Savings: Explain they will save on corporate relocation expenses.
- References: Obtain former leadership recommendations on your virtual prowess.
Land your remote dream job; you deserve it!
