Understanding the World of Remote Work
Search Job Opportunities
Make the Most of your Summer Break
Understanding the World of Remote Work
COVID-19 required many employers to transition their teams to work from home and test the feasibility of their staff working remotely. Even before COVID-19, remote work has increased dramatically with a 159% increase over the last 12 years (flexjobs). Remote work is here to stay as GitLab finds 86% of professionals believe remote work is the future.
As remote work becomes more prevalent, it can be an option for you to explore as you search for internship or full-time opportunities. It’s important to understand that there are a wide variety of ways that remote working opportunities are designed by the employer. Some companies may be completely remote, while other companies might have a hybrid approach.
To understand the world of remote work, it is important to educate yourself about the language, skills, and knowledge of the remote work landscape.
Understanding the World of Remote Work
- The State of Remote Work in 2020 & GitLab Remote Work Report
- Workplaceless: Remote Work Dictionary & Remote Work Competency Model
Remote Job Searching Advice & Resources
- How to Find Remote, Online, and Gig Work During the Coronavirus Pandemic
- Matt Mullenweg, Ted Talk
- How to Find(and Land!) a Remote Job that’s right for you.
- 25+ Fully Remote Companies that Let You Work from Anywhere
- How to Spot and Avoid Online Job Scams
- How to Find (Remote) Work in Tech – Even During the Crisis
Prepare for Remote Work
- How to Stay Connected While Working Remotely
- Grow with Google: Remote Work
- Working From Home? 12 Guides To Help Navigate The Remote Life
- New to Working Remotely? These Resources can Help
- 6 Biggest Challenges of Working from Home and How to Overcome Them
- Purdue University Global’s “Working From Home: 5 Environmental Factors Affecting Your Well-Being”
How to Search Job Opportunities
Companies that are looking to hire Michigan Engineering Students will post their opportunities in Engineering Careers, by Symplicity. The ECRC recommends using Engineering Careers, by Symplicity as your main job portal. To get started, log into your account at https://engineering-umich-csm.symplicity.com/students, and then select ‘Jobs’ from the left side menu.
Handshake, the system offered through the University Career Center, is a great supplemental resource. Handshake may be accessed at https://careercenter.umich.edu/content/introducing-handshake. Additional job search links can be found at https://career.engin.umich.edu/job-search-links/. Job boards can lead to success – search sites such as Indeed, Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and don’t forget about specialty job boards typically run by professional associations or geared toward engineering specific jobs.
Take a look at Remote Work Job & Internship postings:
- Remote in Tech Github List
- The 18 Best Remote Job Boards
- Remote Work Jobs Portal
- Dice Remote Jobs
- AngelList
- Still Hiring
- Parker Dewey
- Flexjobs (Cost for Services)
- Remotive
- Nodesk
- Jobspresso
- The Muse
- Stack Overflow
- We Work Remotely
- Working Nomads
- Google Job Search Platform
- JustRemote
- Pangian
Be Proactive
- Network with faculty, family associates, friends, classmates, and former colleagues to determine opportunities that may be available
- For additional information on how to conduct Informational Interviews see page 25 of the Career Guide
- Create or update your LinkedIn page to enhance your professional digital identity
- Review the ECRC’s sample LinkedIn profile for an example: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitch-igan/
- Update your resume and cover letter so that you are ready to apply when positions of interest become available
- Practice and enhance your interviewing skills
- Set up a Mock Interview Advising Appointment
- Utilize the ‘Mock Interview Practice Tool’ in Engineering Careers
- Invest in self-assessment and reflection activities (surveys/tools) to better understand your current strengths, preferences, and value to companies.
- Examples: Strengths Finder, MBTI, Strong Interest Inventory
- The University Career Center offers Career Assessment Tools at a discounted rate.
- Follow business/industry news to identify potential new opportunities and trends that will likely grow out of these extraordinary times.
- Prepare for any industry specific recruiting activities, such as:
- Consulting: Research case frameworks, practice case studies
- Technical Interviews: Sample coding challenges
Make the Most of your Summer Break
Develop New Skills
- The University of Michigan offers free online courses via Michigan Online where you can learn new skills
- Consider options to broaden your skill set or enhance your qualifications for your preferred position, employer, and/or industry. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following suggestions. Please note, the resources listed below are provided because of their potential interest to the Michigan Engineering community. Inclusion of a listing does not imply College of Engineering endorsement of the particular external program or opportunity described.
- Technical Skill Focused Opportunities:
- Online Learning Opportunities:
- Learning Foreign Languages:
- Engineering Challenges:
- Volunteer Opportunities:
- Events/Projects
Diversify your Experiences
- Consider job/volunteer opportunities unrelated to engineering that will allow you to build transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, organization, and leadership
- Non-technical jobs and volunteer experiences can show your additional layers as an individual, while also demonstrating responsibility, timeliness, and your ability to contribute to an organization’s goals
Focus on Self Care
Self Care Resources