Remote Nation

#7. Indeed

Pros

• Extremely Popular Job site (typically top ranking results for job searches)
• OK filter (enter “Remote” in location)
• Decent number of opportunities
• Good Mix of Startup + Corporate

Cons

• Is just an aggregator, you will have to apply on employer’s site
• Not Developer focused
• Lots of ‘noise’ to go through, and filter’s don’t work too well

Overall

Indeed aggregates from a huge amount of job boards, so it initially seems as if they have the most opportunities. However, since they only aggregate, interested job seekers will still have to apply on the listing companies site, which is a huge time waste if you’re applying to many opportunities. The search function only returns opportunities that have ‘remote’ in their subject line, but this still returns a decent amount. Overall, Indeed & similar job are average at best for finding remote Ruby jobs, but they have the potential to be a great resource if they add a “remote” search box

#6. Github

Pros

• Almost every developer uses Github as their code repository
• “Remote” works in Location
• Clean UI

Cons

• Extremely limited ruby choices

Overall

We expected Github to have more listings because of the huge amount of developers that already use the site, but it was surprisingly low. We’ve posted opportunities ourselves, and didn’t think the applicants were as strong as some other sites, so maybe it’s just not a feature that’s marketed well on github. Either way, if they decide to make this more of a priority and developers take to it, this could be a powerhouse site.

#5. WeWorkRemotely.com (37Signals)

Pros

• Only Remote Opportunities, No need to filter jobs!
• Well known for remote – 37Signals has written extensively on the topic
• Many Startup opportunities
• Simple to navigate – Simple UX / UI

Cons

• Should be more Ruby opportunities (for a site dedicated to it, by the guys who made Rails)
• Too Simple for employer profiles: There’s limited space to describe the position.
• Mostly Startup Opportunities: Lacking corporate jobs.

Overall

The posts are of good quality, but for a company that is such a large proponent of remote working, we think they should have more positions. Also, they have a ‘is this position not remote?’ flag, but they should manually be going through the job board each day.

#4. Authentic Jobs

Pros

• Built for Remote & Contract type Jobs
• Decent Mix of Startup & Corporate opportunities
• Best Filter among all of the sites we’ve reviewed.
• Good Design
• Good Quality Positions

Cons:

• Very few Ruby positions (3)
• No junior or entry level positions, only senior and experienced

Overall

This site has earned a reputation for the quality of its posts, and is well known amongst developers and designers. (i.e Employers can expect a decent # of applicants applying to their jobs) As with stackoverflow, there is a checkbox to tag the post as a telecommuting position, ‘Work can be done from anywhere (i.e. telecommuting)’. The other bonus here is filtering that allows you to separate out full-time jobs, contract, internship, etc. However, with all these great features, there’s only a limited # of Ruby opportunities.

#3. Linkedin

Pros

• Well known: Almost everyone has a Linkedin professional requirement
• Easy to filter (enter “Remote” in location)
• Huge # of opportunities
• Mostly Corporate jobs

Cons:

• Not Developer focused (lots of clutter)
• Too many choices, not good enough filters
• Most of the positions are posted by recruiters.

Overall:

We were surprised by the huge # of opportunities, but ultimately disappointed because 1/2’s of them were posted by CyberCoders (a tech consulting firm). However, since Linkedin has become the dominant social network for careers (and most people having a Linkedin Profile) it’s one of the most populous job boards. The best benefit (if you have a filled out profile) is you can apply directly to positions using your linkedin profile, so no resume is needed. Going forward, if Linkedin was to add a “remote’ checkbox as a filter criteria, we might move Linkedin to #1 on our list

#2. FlexJobs

Pros

• Most popular Remote job board (for all positions)
• Largest # of real ruby opportunities (very low on recruiters)
• Well known (good marketplace)
• Mix of Corporate and Startup

Cons

• Poor UI
• Have to become a member to apply
• COST (monthly fee to be a member)

Overall

At first, we didn’t think too much of flexjobs because the site looks a bit ‘spammy’ at first glance. However, they have a huge amount of Ruby Opportunities, more than every other job board site yet. The one giant glaring weakness is that they charge job seekers a monthly subscription fee to apply to their positions. This allows them to have cheaper prices for employers to post opportunities, but is also quite annoying when nothing is guaranteed on the job seeker side. Nevertheless, if you’re really looking to get a new remote position, the monthly fee is nominal if you actually do apply to a ton of opportunities and use your payment to it’s full potential.:)

The Winner: #1. Stack Overflow Careers

Pros:

• Number of remote posts (approx.): Highest (62)
• Quality of Employers: There’s some really solid employers posting great opportunities.
• Quality of Applicants: Through our experience hiring, we consistently found awesome applicants through Stack Overflow
• Application Management: Strictly for employers, but Stack Overflow has created a very simple way to manage applicants. Making it more likely that employers will stick with it.

Cons:

• Price: $495 a post for employers, which limits the pool size.
• Awareness: We think they could draw more attention to it for developers

Overall

We’ve posted to many different job boards to help clients fill technical positions, but have always gotten the best Ruby applicants and the highest volume through Stack Overflow. On the job seeker side, we found the highest number of opportunities, and it was a great mix of startup and corporate positions.

Stack Overflow has positioned itself so well by creating two simple check boxes: one for employers, one for job seekers. In the job posting form (for employers) the following statement is below the ‘Telecommute’ checkbox–‘Check this only if you are considering candidates who will work entirely remotely’. Job seekers have the option to select ‘Allows remote’ in their locations

Summary

We’ve posted opportunities on many of these sites & other team members have used them in the past for new opportunities, but we were quite surprised by the results. A few “Ruby Only” job boards that we’ve used in the past either didn’t have remote opportunities, or only had a handful of actual positions. Further, some developer job boards we’ve used in the past (some very large ones..) simply had awful searches for remote ruby positions, but we assume this is a reflection of the market & the types of companies that post to those sites. Nevertheless, we expect this list to dynamically change over time, and we will update it to reflect these changes.

Post in the comments if you think we’re missing any great resources & why!

How long have you been working remotely?

Since June of 2011. Well, let me clarify: I’ve been working at Fullstack since June 2011, but when I started I worked out of the main office in Iowa City. The first time that I truly worked remotely was right around Thanksgiving 2011. I worked out of Clarksville, Missouri because we were visiting family in Louisiana, Missouri, and Clarksville had the closest cafe with Internet.

Tell us about your typical work day.

I get up at 6:00 PST every day and get to work by 7:00, which is a change from my time schedule when I worked out of Iowa [when I got into the office around 8:00]. It’s nice to be on by 7:00 because I know that I will get at least an hour or two in before the East coast heads to lunch. The most constant thing in my morning ritual is coffee, but I also try to take 10 minutes at the beginning of the day to just write some code for fun or just write in general. It’s like the first pancake: I burn something that doesn’t matter to kind of get the juices flowing.

Why did you choose to work remotely?

It was a combination of just wanting to work at Fullstack, regardless of the fact that it was a completely remote company, and also at the time I knew that I wasn’t planning on staying in Iowa for more than another year or two. At my previous job, they had bad experiences with people working remotely which I think was more a comment on the job than remote work in general.

Other than your home/office, where else have you worked from?

Co-working spaces have been the best experience since they tend to be more reliable than your average coffee shop. Sometimes [cafe wireless] just cuts out, and then it’s not a conducive place for work.

What is the biggest benefit to working remotely? Biggest challenge?

I think the biggest benefit is that I feel extremely comfortable in my work environment. I don’t work in the nude or anything: I still try to treat it like a ‘job’, otherwise I don’t think I would take my job seriously. I know exactly what is around me—it’s hard to describe the feeling. I know that if I need to focus, I can. I can be very intentional about my environment.

As for challenges, there is nothing like a water cooler, so you don’t just happen to see someone and ask them how their weekend was. You have to be a little more deliberate about [getting to know people]. It’s not an obvious thing to do, especially when you first start working remotely. Communicating effectively in general is just a little more difficult when you have to either write something or speak but you can’t demonstrate or read body language.

When you are sitting with somebody in a meeting, you can look at them and most of the time you can tell if they’re frustrated, but when you’re on a call there could just be silence on the wire and you have no idea that they are sitting behind the screen steaming mad.

How do you minimize distractions while working from home/office?

There are two ways that I can get distracted. One of them is environmental factors. Right now the maintenance people are sawing stuff right outside of my apartment. It’s a little distracting and there’s not much I can do about that, but then there are other distractions which I might divide into two categories:

1. Skype conversations which are potentially relevant to what I am doing, but sometimes I don’t want to have my attention taken. So I’ll be sensitive to that and twiddle with notification settings. Maybe I want a half hour of complete silence over Skype unless somebody talks to me directly. I’ll basically tell Skype to not pop up in my dock.
2. If I find myself distracted by Twitter or my feeds, I try to use that distraction as a feedback mechanism. “Why am I tempted to look at this stuff?” Usually it’s because I either don’t want to do what I am currently doing or it’s just that I don’t know enough about what I am doing and I need to ask someone for guidance or clarification.

Which app could you not live without for remote working?

Google Docs. I use it in two ways that I find indispensable:

1. As a really quick whiteboard that I can use on calls. I know there are probably actual apps that can act as whiteboards between several parties, but Google Docs is the lowest barrier to entry out of anything that I have seen. You can send anybody a link and they can edit it.
2. As my own personal place to dump ideas—I just find it a good environment for writing. When I use it as a dumping ground, then I won’t necessarily share the document with anybody else. But if I do, there is no friction to sharing.

What do you wear to work?

Usually jeans and a sweater. I do wear slippers to work– ‘Slipper Driven Development.’–my feet might as well be comfortable. If I wore, like, PJs I don’t think that I would take my job very seriously.

Silence or music? Rdio or Spotify?

It really depends on the day. There are some days where I need to have music. I use Spotify.

Any pets that work with you?

I have a cat sleeping on my desk right now, his name is Cashmere.

Any advice you would give to others who are considering working remotely?

You’re not going to enjoy working remotely if you don’t already enjoy what you do in the office. Be aware of the additional work you’re going to have to put in to communicate effectively with all of your coworkers. That said, if you have the opportunity to try it out, I would really recommend doing it because there is not a great way to approximate it without actually doing it.

Thanks Brian!

It was nice catching up with Brian and getting some insights into his remote working story. I work with Brian pretty regularly, but it was nice to hear how he runs things out in San Francisco.
Keep tabs on Brian and follow him at twitter.com/bcobb