Comparison between different platform and websites as well as some tips for during the interviewing process.
There are many job posting websites and platforms for vetted contractors/freelancers. They all claim that they hire only the 1% or 3% of the best freelancers. Over the last almost three months I went through many of them. Here is a short(ish) summary of what I have found and some tips for what to do before and during the interviews. I hope it saves you some troubles when looking for remote work.
Platforms for job postings
We Work Remotely
My favorite so far! By far.
Pros :
+All companies I have contacted for job postings on this website were fast to +respond.
+All had a quickly moving hiring process.
+It has several types of jobs — marketing, programming, etc.
+It also has the benefit of showing where candidates must be located for the job.
Cons :
-It doesn’t allow an easy apply like other entries on the list.
#### Stack Overflow jobs
Tied for the first place.
Pros:
+It has the most job postings per day. By far.
+It also allows you an easy apply option by enabling you to save your CV as well as a short introduction for every job that uses the stack overflow application form.
+It also shows you that you have applied for the ad, even if the company re-post it.
+It allows you to filter postings by certain perks, tech, compensation, etc.
As of April 2022, Stack Overflow jobs has been removed. You can read more about it here.
Remote Tech Jobs
Built as a replacement of Stack Overflow jobs, based on their description.
Pros:
+It has much better filtering capabilities than other options, to find what you are looking for
+All jobs get taken down after 30 days at most, ensuring fresh listings.
+Has a lot of open opportunities. Almost 5 000 at the time of writing, which when the previous point is considered is a lot of activity from companies looking for candidates.
+Has an easy apply option.
+They also aggregate jobs from 11 other platforms, aiming to be the go to place of finding remote work. However, when tested with several postings from We Work Remotely, they didn't appear in the results of Remote Tech Jobs.
Linked In
Pros:
+The most obvious candidate for everyone.
Cons:
-It has mostly permanent and few remote positions.
-I would recommend contacting headhunters or recruiters and discuss with them if they work with a company that are looking for someone with your qualifications.
Dice
Pros:
+It has many postings per day.
+The companies are also active and it allows easy apply like in Stack Overflow.
Reed.co.uk Experteer.co.uk Cwjobs.co.uk Jooble
Pros:
+All of them offer remote work filtering and job offers.
Cons:
-Despite that, all of them I have tried required the candidate to be based in the same country and most of them want you to be at the office for at least 1 day per week.
No Desk
Pros:
+It looks and works great.
Cons:
-It has a few job openings.
-Over 60% of the companies that I have contacted had actually forgotten they have posted a job there and the positions was actually filled.
Remotive
It has the same problem as No Desk — many openings are filled, but the company has forgotten to take down the ad.
Remote Work Hub
Most of the website is restricted to paying users only. Would not recommend.
Platforms for freelancers
The hiring process typically is confidential so I will only say which are my top picks, why and list the rest. The process for most is slow and on occasions it feels unprofessional.
Pilot
So far my favorite. The hiring process was interesting and their platform is really well made and professionally looking. You can be surprised how many other platforms have terrible web platforms. They are also understanding and fast.
Upstack
My other favorite. They are also really responsive and easy to talk to. They have the benefit of having a test 2 weeks period for every job. If the client decided that you aren’t fit for any reason you will receive either full or half of the payment, depending on what you did during the trial period. However they can be a bit unprofessional.
Gun.io
It works through invites to their slack channel. Job postings and discussions are posted mainly on Slack. Has few opportunities.
Toptal
Toptal are proud of their rigorous and hard to pass hiring process. Depending your qualifications it may not be that hard. I advise you to try it. Even if you fail you could learn a lot by it. This is valid for all other platforms as well. One con of Toptal is that while they use the same trial period as Upstack — 2 weeks to check if you and the client are a good match, if the client doesn’t like you will not get paid.
Gigster
One of the most fun interviews I had for a vetting company. Keep in mind they are based in the states. If you are in Europe, the call can be quite late.
Cross Over
It has really bad reviews online - between 1 and 3 out of 5. The vetting process is a hectic. At this point I wouldn't recommend them.
Tips for the interview process
Do some research on the company. It will help you with your cover letter. It will be appreciated by the HR when you talk with them and in turn can make the whole process easier. And it can also give you some insights on whether or not you and the company will be a good match.
Take the time and write a good cover letter. Many companies don’t require cover letter but have it as optional in the submission form. It makes a difference in the response rate of companies. Of course you can reuse parts of it depending on how many jobs are you applying.
Your talk with the HR is not the only test for your personality. If the interviewers like you as a person the whole interview will go a lot smoother.
This is a two way street. Notice anything you can during the interviews so you can decide if you and team/company culture are good match. Especially during the interview with your immediate supervisor. You will be communicating a lot with them so you have to be sure you can talk with them without any tension or misunderstandings.
Don’t get nervous during your technical interview. Think out loud. Most interviewers will be a lot more confident in your skills if they can hear your thought process. This way even if you make a mistake during the interview the developers you are talking with will ignore it depending on your thought process.
During live code interview — If you don’t know something — ask. Trying to understand the depth and details of the problem will be appreciated. It will also save you time going in a wrong direction while solving the problem.
Have prepared examples of difficulties from your previous employments and how you overcame them.
Have prepared examples of what you have done at your previous works places that has save time or resources or improved the company in any way. How you came to the solution, what was the impact and how was implemented.
Be prepared on what compensation you are expecting. Have information on what is the typical pay globally, for the country/city where the company is based and where you are based in it is needed for comparison.
Try to have prepared questions for the different steps during the interview process. Showing interest and listening to your previous interviewer will make a nice impact and can help lead the conversation to your advantage.
P.S. Everything written above is from the perspective of a JavaScript developer and a team lead that has interviewed and hired people before. It may vary for different disciplines. I would love to discuss what other have come across while searching for job opportunities in the comments bellow or on twitter
Top comments (16)
Crossover takes a webcam pic every 10 mins and a screenshot every 2 min, plus they monitor keyboard hits and clicks, it is not worth it.
Definitely! Sounds like they don't trust the developers they vetted. Thank you for sharing!
Is that even legal?
even if that wasn't bad enough the environment is toxic stack-ranking at its finest, I don't know if it's legal but I would like to hear it isn't
900+ Startups hiring Remotely in 2019 - by Remotive.io
They certainly have an interesting approach with the newsletter and google sheet. Their website also looks great. I will keep them in mind!
I think CodementorX could probably be also interesting. They have a nice interview and onboarding process, it's a bit like Toptal for tech people only.
Thank you for the tip! The description of their process on the website sounds great (especially for businesses) and the profiles of developers they made public on their websites are certainly impressive!
Unfortunately I waited until I found a job that I love, before making the list. I will try CodementorX in the future.
Have you had any experience with them?
I applied to CodementorX last year and did the interviews, it was really nice.
I also interviewed for a project, but I didn't get it.
Had a project from somewhere else then and didn't bother to interview for more later.
Sounds awesome! Nice interviews are a great sign. There are too many terrible ways to interview a developer.
Thank you for commenting here! I hope someone else tries CodementorX because he/she saw the comments :)
Thanks for sharing!
At 6nomads we're also developing a tool for engineers who are looking for a full-time remote job in a tech company, because we firmly believe the future lies with distributed teams.
Looks like Pilot is invitation only. Any advice on the best way to connect with folks who are part of that network?
Hi James,
I contacted them from here pilot.co/become-a-partner -> How can I Join blue button -> airtable.com/shrveOg0AxkypCnQk
I filled up my data, and in about a month, one of their co-founders contacted me over on linked in.
I hope it helps :)
Ok, that is somewhat helpful to know. I think I submitted their form a few weeks ago. Thanks so much!
No worries! I am not sure why they are invite only, but I did like them best, compared to others. And they are backed by Y-combinator which is a good sign.
Hi Kristian!
Thanks for all the tips :)
You may want to check out workew.com
All the best.