Freelance Jobs For Computer Engineers – Remote work is no longer just a dream. If you can afford a decent laptop and internet access, combine that with solid job skills and it gives you a pretty good chance of finding remote work. Professionals in many industries, including entrepreneurs, marketers, writers and of course software engineers, have already chosen this path. In fact, software engineers were among the first professionals to receive the opportunity to work remotely thanks to the flexibility of their profession. With internet access and a laptop, I can devote myself to software development and writing code from anywhere. The details of the position do not require constant communication with colleagues from other departments or physical presence in the office. And a single software engineer or a team of software developers can perform their duties largely autonomously, separate from the company’s operations and centralizing communication within their group, which gives them an advantage over other professions when it comes to flexibility. Why work remotely? If remote work was once a privilege, it is now a regular practice adopted by many organizations and professionals. Its popularity is growing and scientists predict that by 2020, 30% of the workforce will be self-employed, outsourced or have the flexibility to work from home or anywhere else in the world. Telecommuting has been shown to have many benefits for both employers and employees, from lower maintenance costs (or not) and reduced commuting hours to improved mental health and lower stress levels. Studies have shown that telecommuting (or flexible working that allows you to work from home part-time) reduces stress levels at work and makes health and well-being a higher priority for employees. The respondents confirmed an increase in productivity when they are not distracted by colleagues and are not distracted by office life and politics. Employee performance is closely related to anxiety and stress at work, and improving productivity helps reduce it. The epidemic spread popularity of remote workers and digital nomads has occurred due to the development of technology that now provides cheaper access to faster internet; Many cloud-based tools that simplify remote team management even when everyone is in different parts of the world; More powerful computers that can perform more complex operations without additional hardware. Globalization has opened many opportunities for teleworkers to travel and settle in different countries that offer better living conditions or at least help reduce the cost of living while maintaining the same level of income. With changing social paradigms, living anywhere in the world no longer seems like a crazy thing and more like a justification for a high level skill set and business acumen. Remote work requires the employer’s trust and recognition, as well as the employee’s self-organization skills and great attention. Remote work has evolved a lot over the last few decades. If ten years ago working from home was synonymous with telemarketing or a minimum wage customer service position, today, thanks to the development of technology and access to the Internet, more and more talented professionals make it their permanent choice and base their career decisions on . on flexibility at work. Challenges Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world, which means that even great ideas, like telecommuting, come with a number of challenges. And the truth – remote work is not suitable for everyone. Remote work tests your productivity and self-management skills every day. When you’re not in the office, you might think you’re less distracted – no colleagues chatting or interrupting your workflow, no conversations at the water cooler, no constant ringing of the phone, etc., but if you decide to work from home, you need to be prepared for different types of interruptions. Housework, pets, family and loved ones can easily interfere with your productivity, taking your attention away from work. Add to that some people who do not take working from home seriously and try to communicate with you during working hours – and it can be quite disturbing. The best solution for remote work is to go to a local co-working space or a home office (if you don’t want other people around), create a clear work routine and separate work from everyday life. As much flexibility as telecommuting can give you, work is still your responsibility and should be your top priority. One of the biggest challenges in working remotely is communication. With technology allowing us to be available 24/7, nothing still beats a face-to-face conversation. And while 1-1 online communication with your manager or other team members can be quite easy, group communication, especially brainstorming sessions, can be difficult to do. Distributing a team also makes communication difficult if people are spread across the globe and work different hours. Where +/-2 hours doesn’t make much of a difference, +/-6 hours creates a real problem by not leaving enough time for the team to collaborate and the employee to keep in touch with the rest of the company. Establishing mandatory attendance hours ensures that there is a window of time long enough to maintain daily contact when needed. Due to the decentralized nature of remote work, teamwork becomes result-oriented rather than process-oriented as companies and team leaders entrust the process to employees. Although this can avoid unnecessary involvement of colleagues in the development process, it creates additional pressure on results and meeting deadlines. What matters is doing the work, not how you did it and measuring your performance against it. Limitations in communication worsen the quality of cooperation. Although in software engineering this may not be the most critical part of the development process, it can still affect the quality of work on the project. For many software developers who choose to work remotely, the social factor plays a significant role when deciding whether this type of work is right for them. As mentioned, software development does not require active communication with other departments in the company, which misleads people into thinking that software engineers are separate from social groups. Just like other people, software developers need to socialize, and given that work takes up at least ⅓ of your daily life, human interaction in the office seems logical, if not essential. Eliminating social interactions can go a long way in improving productivity, but it’s a major concern for professionals who enjoy an active social life. Last but not least, a challenge that greatly affects both the employer and the employee is cyber security. It’s easy to believe that tech giants like Yahoo or Google carry a high risk of data breaches and cyber attacks, but the truth is that every company, no matter how small or large, technical or not, is at risk of cyber crimes. Whether it’s customer data, financial operations, or any type of sensitive information you have, there’s always a risk that hackers will target your company. Remote work is the weak link that exposes the company to cyber threats. Unsecured public Wi-Fi, weak passwords, careless handling of personal data can cause unwanted attention to company data. To protect against cybercrime, companies create mandatory security protocols that serve as a set of rules that everyone must follow to reduce risk by monitoring and maintaining company-issued devices. This allows the company to anticipate security weaknesses and provide employees with the tools and means to maintain protected devices. Tools There are a wide variety of tools available online that simplify remote work. These tools generally make communication and project management easier and can make it seem like you never left the office at all. Slack Slack is more than just a chat service in the cloud – it enables document management and team communication in one place and contributes greatly to collaboration. Zoom Zoom is the leader in video communication. In addition to providing video conferencing software, Zoom has many convenient options for video recording, multi-user conferencing, mobile phone and chat. Skype Skype is a pioneer in providing software for video chat and voice calls between different devices over the Internet. It is used by millions of businesses and individuals. Google Hangouts Google Hangouts is a hybrid platform that replaces other communication applications developed by Google. It combines messaging, video conferencing and VOIP functions. GitHub GitHub provides hosting for software developers with several collaboration features such as task management, bug tracking, project wikis, and helps developers share and build better software. Screenhero As the name suggests, Screenhero is a real-time screen sharing and web tool. It basically works like Google Docs, but for apps where everyone can contribute at the same time. Trello Trello is an online project management tool, known for its lists. This is a web application that helps