Interview Question: How Do You Feel About Working From Home?

Whatever your secret remote weapon, working style, office set-up, or ideal daily schedule is, you’ll need to really think it through before your remote job interview. Practicing how you’ll respond is important when going for any job interview but especially so when it comes to remote work. The logistics of the interview itself and the increased demands on you to be independent, extra communicative, and technically adept won’t leave you much time for beating around the bush. When you get this question, it’s easy to jump into all the reasons remote work is going to make YOUR life better. And you should definitely tell the boss what special life circumstances are keeping you out of the office. But you’ll really wow the hiring manager if you can tell not JUST why remote work is going to improve your life, but why you do your best work remotely. In other words, explain how working remotely makes you shine and makes you a smarter, more effective, and more efficient employee.

The day I watched Marie Forleo’s video on separating tasks into Important versus Urgent, my life changed. Not ALL remote jobs are at fast-paced startups, but a lot of them are. Remote teams can be made up of people working different shifts and all around the world so you won’t necessarily be stuck in the 9-to-5 if that’s not your thing. And remote jobs are often flexible as far as day-to-day routines are concerned. So you can also arrange your work in the way that’s best for you – as long as you get it all done. In interviews for remote jobs, you’re FAR more likely to get questions about how you function on a daily basis than how big your dreams are.

Employee Engagement During COVID-19: The Surprising Truth

This could mean working from a local coworking space, from home, at a coffee shop, or in a city across the world. You might be tempted to move meetings so you’re able to hold them while you’re in the office, but that might just make your next day at work more challenging if you over-stuff your schedule. Instead, use video conferencing tools to hold live meetings from home so you’re able to keep up with your workload even if you take advantage of working from home.

The shift to remote work affects a significant slice of the US workforce. A study by Chicago Booth’s Jonathan Dingeland Brent Neimanfinds that while the majority of all jobs in the US require appearing in person, more than a third can potentially be performed entirely remotely. Of these jobs, the majority—including many in engineering, computing, law, and finance—pay more than those that cannot be done at home, such as food service, construction, and building-maintenance jobs. Japanese workers are reportedly still mostly opting to go to the office, even as the government promotes remote work. Among European executives, a whopping 88 percent reportedly disagree with the idea that remote work is as or more productive than working at the office. The findings of his research do not entirely contradict those of Barrero, Bloom, and Davis, however.

The Best Companies for Remote Work

We want people that are looking to keep a consistent work routine, and be available when they’re expected to be available. Remote employees tend to do their best work outside of the office. They are more inspired by their surroundings and can filter out environmental distractions as they see fit. In fact, the opportunity to work remotely alone brings a new perspective to a remote workers’ position. They see it as motivation or a reward for their excellent work and are stimulated to continue to surpass their goals in order to continue living the lifestyle that they’ve come to love.

Get motivated for some home improvements with these tips and recommendations for smarter ways to work from home. I think many companies will need to start implementing a WFH Policy as part of the new norm, whether they want to or not. And yet back in March we were all forced to work from home and then it wasn’t a problem nor was there a policy in place. What an idiot company…lol They even told me they need to consult with there lawyer. You know what nevermind, packed my things and left after 7yrs of working for the company.

FlexJobs Is SO Much More Than Just a Job Board

As much as team messaging apps are excellent venues for socializing, they tend to create distractions, too; check out these tips on how not to get overwhelmed by Slack. There are apps, such as TimeOut for Mac and Smart Break for Windows, that let you set a schedule for when you’ll lock yourself out of your computer. RescueTime also has a pause feature that lets you time 15-minute and one-hour breaks. Set an alarm or timer on your phone, or mind the time with a standard clock. No matter how you track your breaks, make sure to take them in their entirety.

• A lunch hour and two 15-minute breaks seem to be the standard for full-time US employees.
• Having worked remotely in the past is a plus, but too many freelance jobs isn’t.
• Preparing food ahead of time ensures you can use your meal times to eat and that you aren’t performing non-work tasks that spend energy better used at your desk.
• You’re more likely to be asked if you use Google Calendar than how you would describe yourself in 3 adjectives, and you probably won’t get asked a lot of hypotheticals.
• Your coworkers will understand you if they know how you hold all the threads together in your head.

This includes not just the physical infrastructure like computer, internet and software but also softer aspects such as having the right mindset and processes. Many people prefer to set up their desk against a window because it gives a nice view. But the movement outside the window can be distracting for many. If you set your desk against a wall, your voice may reflect off the wall and create an echo during conference calls.

employee engagement ideas for remote workers

Regardless of your motives, address it head on and be sure to position it favorably in a way that benefits the employer. Someone who has already shown they can handle the challenges of remote employment is a good bet to continue performing well. When it comes to your health, working from home can be a challenge.

So if you pay for an internet service that is also used by your spouse and children—and by you for non-work-related matters—you can’t deduct the full cost—only the portion that is exclusive to employment-related matters. The Python Developer Job Description same goes for office supplies, telephone bills, and utilities. If a work-from-home opportunity requires you to pay a fee upfront or buy a “start-up kit” or make any other sort of sizable cash outlay, it’s probably a scam.

Work-Life Balance Working Remotely

Marie says to classify your to-do list with “I” and “U” for important or urgent tasks and do the important ones first. You always finish urgent things on time anyway because they’re urgent! So, make the most of your brain power and use your energy on the important things. If Sally can’t operate without all of the facts, but Shana gets majorly overwhelmed when you give her more than she Job opportunity: *AWS Cloud Engineer needs to know to complete a task, it can quickly send the whole team into shambles. By asking this question about the tools and situations, your interviewer wants to know if you are familiar with them and savvy about what to use when. To convince your future boss that you are cut out for remote work, you need to understand exactly WHAT habits and characteristics make you qualified.

• When teams work remotely, culture can be harder to define and implement.
• Organizations scrambled to put the right tools in place to enable remote work when the pandemic began.
• Committing to one assignment during the wash cycle and another during the dry process can train you to work smarter on tasks that you might technically have all day to tinker with.
• There are apps, such as TimeOut for Mac and Smart Break for Windows, that let you set a schedule for when you’ll lock yourself out of your computer.
• Get ready for work the same way you do when you’re going to the office.

Verily Magazine calls these tasks „small acts of success,“ and they can help build your momentum for the heavier projects that are waiting for you later on. So, just as you’re encouraged to overestimate how much work hours 15,000+ Help Desk Engineer jobs in United States 359 new you’ll spend doing one thing, you should also overestimate how many things you’ll do during the day. Also, many have found it helpful to shut off social media notifications during the hours they work from home.

We’ve found that it is imperative to find candidates that have a social foundation outside of work. People that rely on work for this tend to be unsuccessful in remote positions, so we focus on finding people that gain their social side of life from other avenues. We always ask candidates about what they enjoy doing outside of work as this glimpse into their activities and hobbies provides a solid indication for assessing this trait. One of the most common traits is previous experience with remote working. This helps the new team members fit in easier and also helps us learn from their experiences.