A career insight!

[lawRathod]

You have been working at FCC as a remote dev and I am really curious about:

1. How did you come across this opportunity at FCC?
2. Is remote work as fun as working in an office space? (I know its subjective but you can speak for yourself or generally I guess)
3. What are the most important qualities to have a remote career?
4. Should a graduating student look for remote work and what are the chances of securing a remote position for students in India (someone like me) ?

I know it's a lot of questions but I am really inspired by you and knowing these things would help me a lot.

[raisedadead]

Thanks for asking these excellent questions.

1. How did you come across this opportunity at FCC?

I started contributing sometime in 2015. Volunteering for freeCodeCamp since its early days, alongside my full-time day job at a MNC was quite interesting & rewarding.

I think 3-4 months into it, I was asked to join the core-team (the current community moderator team) by Rex - a fellow mod, and in 2018 Quincy reached out when we needed more hands on the staff to help manage the infrastructure.

If you are interested in learning about the hiring policy, you should checkout our about page.

2. Is remote work as fun as working in an office space? (I know its subjective but you can speak for yourself or generally I guess)

Yes and no - I have been on both sides of remote & traditional at-office jobs.

Working remotely, I get to decide my own work hours (40 hours / week) and am able to spend more time closer to my family than I normally would. I could not trade that for anything else.

But then I do miss the times from working at one of the largest companies in the in the world. Fun outings with my team and being able to see other faces, talking to someone not inside a screen has a rewarding effect on you.

But again, this is strictly my own view and experience. It may or may not be similar for you.

3. What are the most important qualities to have a remote career?

Discipline & Organization skills - Because no one is watching you work like in an office, you would need to enforce some of these yourself. You would get frustrated without these when you are supposed to deliver the assignments.

Flexibility - You would need to put more efforts than usual to maintain a balance between meetings across time zones & your personal life. The key is not to overwork or exhaust yourself.

Make no mistake, remote work is hard.

4. Should a graduating student look for remote work and what are the chances of securing a remote position for students in India (someone like me) ?

Remote work is gaining traction in India. However, you do need proven skills.

First and foremost, concentrate on your study work. Your grades do matter for your first work opportunity.

If you are a student, you should definitely consider contributing to open-course. There are several outreach initiatives like GSoC, etc. that could help add that extra validation on your resume.

Build a portfolio.

If you like coding, then side-projects will help showcase your skills. Or start a YouTube channel or a blog if you like speaking & documenting (don't worry about subscribers, or quality of content).

Getting a remote job challenging like cracking any regular job interview - you need to build up your experience as a newbie.

That said, it is very much possible. You should not need to question your abilities because you are a student.

I know it's a lot of questions but I am really inspired by you and knowing these things would help me a lot.

Thanks a lot for your kind words. I am humbled and glad to be of help.
Stay safe.

[lawRathod]

Thanks for answering them all. Gives me much more clarity and understanding on this topic.