Beat out the competition for remote jobs! Knowing these insights will help you gain an advantage and clarify your thinking as you continue your job search (don’t sleep on number 3).

You’ve likely heard about it. Week after week we’re learning about another return-to-office (RTO) mandate and the push back and anger employees in remote jobs have been expressing about the changes. But despite all of this, there are plenty of companies that fully embrace a remote-work culture and frequently hire qualified candidates to fill vacancies for great-paying remote jobs.

Don’t despair. If you desire to continue with or secure a remote job, you have plenty of options. The issue for you won’t likely be a lack of remote jobs. You may not be able to get one at some companies and organizations. But we live in a big wide world, and what one company won’t do for you, another one will.

The issue, however, could be your understanding—or lack thereof—for what it’s really like to work remotely. To reinforce understanding or fill any gaps before your next job interview, I recommend you take note of the following insights.

1. What are Remote Jobs?

At the most basic level, remote jobs are those that afford you the opportunity to work at a location other than the company’s worksite for one or more days a week. But, depending on a company’s policies, the expectations and definitions of what a remote job is can get complicated.

It’s your job to ascertain how any given employer defines its remote jobs. Further, the onus is on you to ensure that your understanding lines up with any potential employer. You don’t want to be happily moving along with interviews and a job offer only to learn that the parameters for a particular remote job you are pursuing don’t align with your expectations.

What means hybrid to you could mean something different for the employer. What means work-from-home for you might not mean the same thing for the employer. And the way you envision work-from-anywhere may vary greatly from how the employer intends it. Clarity matters. You’d be the one on the losing end of any remote-job misunderstandings between you and your new employer. So here you go.

2. Four (4) Different Types of Remote Jobs

Most of us probably have a pretty basic understanding of remote work. You figure you’re in a remote job if you are authorized to perform your work from the comfort of your home or some other location outside the workplace during the week—right?

Things can get a bit tricky.

1. Let’s say you must go into the workplace two or three days a week. Is that still considered a remote job?
2. What if your employer restricts the authorized offsite work location to that of your home address—does this matter to you?
3. What about locations that aren’t deemed your home. Can you work from you mom’s house, your friend’s house or a coffee shop? What about the beach?
4. Can you work remotely from a park or library while on a family vacation or at a personal event? Would that be okay with your employer?
5. Can you work while traveling to another state on personal business?
6. And, precisely how far can you live from the workplace while working remotely? Are you free to move and how far?

Remote Jobs: hybrid, work-from-home, work-from-anywhere and digital nomads.

There are four remote-job distinctions that I first outlined in a separate article. You might find these definitions helpful as you initiate dialogue with potential employers about the parameters of any remote job you are considering. For clarity, get your understanding of the different types of remote jobs and confirm whether there are any gaps with a company’s remote-work policies or expectations.

• Hybrid: With hybrid remote jobs, you will be required, and expected, to work in the office on some days and be permitted to work from home on other days. The company typically outlines a split and lets you know which—and how many—days you are required to report to the worksite. You’d then be free to work from home on the other days.
• Work-from-home: With work-from-home remote jobs, you would be permitted to work from your home base most, if not all, days. With this type of arrangement, you wouldn’t be required to split your time between the worksite and your home. The expectation (with little exception) is that your regular reporting location would be your home base and that you’d attend in-person work meetings or events when required.
• Work-from-anywhere: With work-from-anywhere remote jobs, you can do precisely that—work from anywhere. While there may be an expectation that you typically work from a home base, there is no strict requirement that you do so. You could work from anywhere that you can reasonably and effectively get the work done. This could be from your home base, from the beach, from the islands, from a hotel, from a coffee shop, etc. There may be expectations that you reside within a certain distance of a worksite or that you live within a certain city or state boundaries. Work from anywhere doesn’t necessary mean travel or live anywhere while doing it.
• Digital nomads: This is similar to the work-from-anywhere arrangement with one big distinction. Digital nomads can work from anywhere that they can reasonably and effectively get the work done while also traveling and living from most anywhere. There are very few (if any) restrictions on where the work gets done or where the employee lives or travels while doing the work.

The point here is that there are different types of remote jobs. Some are hybrid only, some are work-from-home and some are work-from-anywhere jobs from local to anywhere in the world. The difference could really matter to your employer. Don’t just assume that having a work-from-home job means you can work from the coffee shop, the library or the beach. It might mean that you must either be working from your home address or onsite at the workplace. You need clarity.

3. The Realities of Remote Jobs

You can beat the competition by knowing this! When you get an interview, use these reality points to speak coherently about your understanding of remote work. By sharing what you’ll experience and what you need to do, you can put interviewers at ease and leave them feeling that you know how to succeed in the remote job.

To experience success working a remote job—and in your next job interview—consider what it really means to agree to such a working arrangement. Remote jobs can be great for certain people and not so great for others. Here are some of the pros, cons, expectations and demands that come with having a remote job. Are you ready for them?

You may experience:

• the option to work from your home or elsewhere (depending on the employer policies and expectations).
• greater flexibility with your schedule as employers who embrace remote work tend to define remote jobs such that what you deliver for the organization is prioritized above how long it takes you to produce it.
• improved work-life balance.
• having a quiet place away from colleagues when you need to engage in deep thinking for your work products.
• reduced drive times and commutes.
• being presented with a key set or priorities and deliverables and being expected to put in whatever hours necessary on a given day to complete your work.
• longer work days sometimes but, often times, the load balances out with lighter work days occurring at other times.

You will likely need to:

• be a self-starter and demonstrate self-discipline. Successful remote workers lead and manage themselves well, and they can train their minds to focus and think better with fewer people around.
• be resourceful and be comfortable seeking out help (tools, people, information, resources, etc.).
• have really good time management and organizational skills.
• be comfortable with frequently working alone and find that you are more invigorated by this type of situation as opposed to drained by it.
• be an excellent communicator. Despite working a remote job, it’s critical that you have exceptional communication skills. You will have to discern information using fewer sources of communication senses. You will need to be good at picking up all the nonverbals of communication without being in the same room with others.

A remote job might not be best for you if:

• you are particularly interested in getting more timely feedback, face-to-face time, informal networking and having opportunities to expand your portfolio with increasingly challenging projects.
• you thrive when working directly with others more frequently where you can collaborate and quickly bounce ideas off other people.
• you find that you gain energy and momentum when working in person with others.
• you are inspired to think and strategize more in an in-person atmosphere where comradery abounds.
• you find that you’re in a regular battle—and especially a losing one—with getting yourself going each day, with focusing your mind, with silencing distractions and noise or with compelling yourself to act, to do, to deliver and to produce.

How do you feel about remote jobs after reading this? If you’re still interested, move full speed ahead and apply for the remote jobs that match your qualifications and interest. But if this information gives you pause, that’s fine. Reflect a bit on your career goals and the type of work collaborations and experiences you want to have.

Remote jobs are not better or worse than traditional, in-person work. They’re just different. You get to decide. You get to make the choices that work best for your life and career.

Recommended reading:

10 Remote Jobs Paying $143,000+ Available Now: Full Time With Benefits

Nail The Interview: Answer ‘Why Should We Hire You’ Like A Pro

Trump: Federal Workers Will Be Fired Unless They End Remote Work And Return To Office Soon