Finding Remote Jobs at Companies That Hire Remotely

Remote-First vs Remote-Friendly: Why It Matters

Remote-first companies are designed from the ground up around distributed work. Everyone, including executives, works remotely, and all processes, communication, and decision-making happen through digital channels by default. Companies like GitLab (1,500+ employees, fully remote since founding), Automattic (1,900+ employees, the company behind WordPress.com), Zapier (800+ employees), and Buffer (85+ employees) are examples. Working at a remote-first company means you are not at a disadvantage compared to office-based colleagues because there are no office-based colleagues. Promotions, visibility, and opportunities are designed for remote workers.

Remote-friendly companies have offices but allow some or all employees to work remotely. Examples include Shopify (declared "digital by default" in 2020), HubSpot (offers a hybrid model with fully remote options), Salesforce (offers "Work from Anywhere"), and many others. The remote experience at these companies varies significantly by team, manager, and location. At their best, remote-friendly companies offer the benefits of a large established employer with remote flexibility. At their worst, remote employees feel like second-class citizens compared to office-based peers who get more face time with leadership. Research the specific team and manager's approach to remote work during your interview process, not just the company policy.

Hybrid-required companies technically offer remote work but mandate a certain number of office days per week (usually 2 to 3). If the listing says "hybrid" or specifies required office days, it is not a fully remote position. Be precise about this distinction when job searching because accepting a hybrid role when you expected fully remote leads to frustration for both sides.

Best Job Boards for Remote Work

We Work Remotely is the largest remote-only job board, with listings across programming, design, customer support, marketing, sales, and management. All positions are fully remote. The site is free for job seekers. Listings skew toward tech companies and startups, which tend to offer above-average compensation and progressive benefits.

FlexJobs ($9.95 per month, $24.95 per quarter, or $49.95 per year) is a curated job board where every listing is manually vetted by staff to verify that the company and position are legitimate. FlexJobs screens out scams, MLM schemes, and misleading listings, which saves significant time compared to filtering through unvetted boards. The subscription cost pays for itself quickly if it prevents you from wasting time on even one scam application.

Remote.co focuses on customer service, marketing, and administrative remote jobs. It provides company profiles, salary information, and remote work culture reviews alongside job listings. Remotive curates remote jobs in tech and startup roles and sends a biweekly newsletter of new listings. Himalayas is a newer remote job board with company profiles that include remote work policies, tech stacks, and employee count information.

LinkedIn has expanded its remote work filtering significantly. Use the "Remote" filter under location when searching, and set up job alerts for remote positions in your field. LinkedIn's advantage is the ability to research the hiring manager, check mutual connections, and see company culture signals before applying. Indeed also supports remote filtering and has the highest volume of listings across all job types and experience levels.

For industry-specific remote jobs: AngelList/Wellfound focuses on startup roles (engineering, marketing, operations), Dribbble job board focuses on design roles, GitHub Jobs and Stack Overflow Jobs focus on engineering roles, and ProBlogger and Contently focus on writing and content roles.

How to Evaluate a Company's Remote Culture

Before applying, research how the company actually treats remote workers, not just whether they allow remote work. Check Glassdoor reviews filtered for remote employees specifically. Search for phrases like "remote culture," "work from home," and "distributed team" in reviews. Look for patterns: do remote employees feel included in decisions, do they report career growth, or do they mention feeling isolated and overlooked?

Check the company's careers page and handbook. Some remote-first companies publish their employee handbook publicly (GitLab's handbook is the most comprehensive example). Look for documented policies on: meeting norms (asynchronous by default versus meeting-heavy), communication tools and expectations, onboarding process for remote hires, home office stipend or equipment policy, professional development and conference budget, and how performance is evaluated for remote workers.

During interviews, ask direct questions: "What percentage of the team works remotely?" "How does the team handle time zone differences?" "What does a typical day look like for someone in this role?" "How are promotions and performance reviews handled for remote employees?" "Is there a home office stipend?" The specificity and enthusiasm of the answers tell you more than the company's marketing page.

Application Strategies for Remote Positions

Remote positions receive significantly more applications than office-based roles because the candidate pool is national or global rather than local. Standing out requires more effort than a generic application.

Tailor every application to the specific company and role. Reference something specific about the company's product, culture, or mission that resonates with you. Mention your remote work experience or, if this would be your first remote role, explain your preparation: your home office setup, your experience with remote collaboration tools, and examples of self-directed work you have completed successfully.

Demonstrate remote work skills in your application materials. Your resume should highlight: self-management (projects you completed independently or with minimal supervision), written communication (any role where clear writing was important), experience with distributed teams or cross-functional collaboration, and measurable results (remote hiring managers want evidence you deliver outcomes without close oversight).

Include a portfolio or work samples when possible, even for non-creative roles. A marketing professional can include campaign results. A project manager can include a redacted project plan. A customer service candidate can describe their approach to a complex customer scenario. Work samples demonstrate competence more effectively than resume bullet points, and remote hiring managers value demonstrated ability over claimed experience.

The transitioning to remote work guide covers how to reframe in-office experience for remote applications if you are making your first move to remote work.

Companies Known for Remote Hiring

The following companies have well-established remote work programs and actively hire remote employees across multiple functions. This is not exhaustive but represents companies with strong reputations for remote work culture:

• Technology: GitLab, Automattic, Zapier, Buffer, Basecamp, InVision, Toptal, Doist, Close, Help Scout
• Ecommerce: Shopify, BigCommerce, Etsy, Chewy
• Software and SaaS: HubSpot, Elastic, Twilio, Okta, Datadog, Confluent
• Customer Service: Amazon, Apple (At Home Advisors), TTEC, Concentrix, Liveops
• Healthcare: UnitedHealth Group, Humana, CVS Health, Anthem
• Finance and Insurance: American Express, Capital One, Progressive, USAA
• Education: K12/Stride, Connections Academy, Coursera, Chegg

Many of these companies have dedicated remote career pages. Bookmark and check them regularly, as new positions are posted frequently and the best roles fill quickly.