Remote jobs with no work experience

I started to program two months back. I have completed HTML and CSS so far and am now building one project a week on Github to polish my design skills. Be it bad design or good one, I post it on github anyways. I am also a traveler. I love the idea of getting work done while traveling to other states/countries. I hail from India. I am seeing most remote jobs posted online demand 2-4 years of work experience. But I have none. No real work experience as a developer. How do I get a break into remote developer job?Though I have recently started coding, I plan to focus more on the backend side with node js and sql data base as I already know it since school time. I have a bachelors degree in electronics engineering if that anyhow matters. So give your advice on how to find remote backend dev jobs.

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There are a lot of threads on this subject, but some salient points to consider:

  • you would be extremely lucky to find a junior remote job – it isn’t unheard of but it’s uncommon
  • you would be unbelievably lucky to find a remote job with that little experience
  • it is easier to train employees (and for employees to learn) in a one-on-one situation, on-site
  • there has to be a level of trust with a remote position, and that level is easier to reach with demonstrable experience (often significant experience)
  • software developers and software development are expensive things, so companies want to mitigate the risk of hiring duds; rightly or wrongly remote devs are often seen as a risk
  • payment of individual remote employees is trivial if they are citizens of the country the company they are employed by is based, it is non-trivial otherwise
  • software development isn’t different from any other high-skill in-demand job; there is a huge need for experienced developers, and many many companies will hire remote workers to plug specific skill gaps. But there is much, much less need for remote junior positions
  • people with unique or extremely in-demand skills are more likely to find remote work
  • design is an entire other field that takes as long to become highly proficient in as programming; it is very difficult to be good at both
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Essentially, the advice is to gain the necessary 2-4 years on-site experience before realistically consider a remote only job.

Dan outlined a lot of reasons why it could be difficult. I’ll add an disadvantage of being a remote junior if you are lucky enough to find such a position, specifically about upward mobility and experience. Fair or not, proximity can play a key role in the amount of experience you gain and thus impact your likelihood for promotion.

Software development is not always organized and structured. In fact, it is fair to say it is often chaotic to a degree. Random things occur and random problems can pop up that requires a quick solution. A lot of times it is simply easier to just reach across the cubicle or desk to discuss something or work together to solve some problem. A manager could be reminded of a project that’s perfect for you simply by seeing your face. So you have more opportunities for gaining experiences by simply just being around when needed.

Unless you have a disability that prevents you from working on-site, I’d recommend against targeting remote positions if you don’t have any working experience or speciality. The job market is already quite stringent without limiting the scope. You are already in some disadvantage competing with people that studies computer science and programming with established networks and experience.

Just to illustrate how limiting the remote criteria can be, I searched junior developer on Indeed and got 8038 results, I added the criteria remote, and the number dwindled to 55.

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