After all, when you’re logging in from your own front room, who is to tell you where your front room is anymore?

Could it be the beach café, a log cabin in the wilderness or a desk space in the world’s most exciting city?

Christopher Nye, Senior Editor at overseas relocation and homes website Property Guides, gives us the why, how and where of remote working.

Remote Working

It’s fascinating how remote working has changed over the past six months.

Are you still trying to have Friday post-work drinks on Zoom?

Do you all have to switch cameras on at your workplace or can you have early-morning meetings from your bed?!

Either way, it looks set to be the new normal, popular with 9 out of 10 workers, according to academic research.

At Property Guides we’ve been paying British people to write for us from far-flung corners of the world for 20 years, so we know a thing or two about remove working. Very remote working.

The first thing to mention is that the world appears – at first glance – to have just shrunk, along with your opportunities.

If Covid-19 hasn’t closed down relocation to your favoured long-haul destination, Brexit has just limited your opportunities in 27 of our near neighbours.

So, can you still do it?

Of course you can – and seeing how resourceful we’ve been in the pandemic, moving when it starts to ease will be a doddle!

First let’s look at how you do it, then where.

Visas

As of 1^st January you’ll be a ‘third country national’ in other EU nations and unable to live within the EU full time and work without a visa.

Even that’s not as limiting as it could be, because if you stay for fewer than three months at a time and less than 183 days a year, you won’t have to get a visa. January to March in Andalusia, anyone? Then late summer in Tuscany?

But assuming you want to live in one place full time, everywhere from Estonia to the Algarve you’ll need a visa.

Work visas traditionally require you to have a job offer from a local company, but several countries have cottoned on to the benefits of attracting talented, adventurous and hard-working people from around the world.

They have launched ’digital nomad’ visas, which let you work for a foreign based company.

If you have the money you could opt for a ‘golden visa’. This is where you invest in a country and get residency in return.

These are surprisingly cheap in some countries, including the US which requires an investment of $500,000 for an E2 Visa – and remember, you’re not losing the money, just investing it.

Golden visas often allow buying a property.

So you not only get to own a property from a home overlooking a palm-fringed beach; but work there too.

(Now you’ll more tempted to put the camera on for your work meetings!).

Another option, open to around 10% of Brits, is to apply for an Irish passport and thereby keep your EU freedom of movement.

If you can track down birth certificates for just one Irish grandparent, the processes of applying are relatively simple.

Where?

So if you’re ready to take the plunge, where are the best countries to move to for today’s remote workers?

Barbados

Barbados is one of several Caribbean countries offering digital nomad or golden visas, others including Antigua and Bermuda.

Barbados’s new ‘Welcome Stamp’ programme encourages remote workers to enjoy the island’s sunshine and beaches for up to one year.

You won’t need to pay Barbadian income tax either and applications cost around £1,500.

Cyprus

Cyprus can be like home-from-home, with a well-established British community if you want it.

It offers cheap and frequent flights home via easyJet, all year, and very reasonable living costs.

Taxes are low too and there are a range of golden visas available.

The Netherlands

The Dutch are keen to welcome digital remote workers.

They offer a special visa for independent entrepreneurs, including freelancers who are earning more than €1,270 per month and have at least one Dutch client and a viable business plan.

Estonia

Similarly, the country where Skype was born of course offers a digital nomad visa scheme for those working remotely for employers outside of Estonia or working as a freelancer for clients abroad.

You’ll need to show an income of at least €3,500 per month.

Germany

Germany was the first to introduce digital nomad visas, called ‘Freiberufler’.

This lets you freelance from anywhere in the country.

Berlin is one of the cheapest and most exciting of Europe’s capitals to live in. Munich is a pricier option, but so beautifully positioned for you to explore Europe.

In 2021, when we can travel again, the world will be your oyster.

Or will it be your øster, huître or устрица?

Summary

Thanks Chris!

A great article with some amazing points on remote working. Let’s be honest, if one good thing has come from Covid-19, it’s that people feel a lot more comfortable with remote work.

Both employers and employees alike.

So, when you’re feeling nervous about applying for overseas roles, or remote work in general, don’t.

Face it head on, take yourself on an adventure. It’s nowhere near as impossible as you may think.

While there’s no way of predicting exactly what you’ll be asked at an interview, these answers to our 10 challenging questions might just help you out of a tight spot.

Why are you leaving your current job?

If you left, or are leaving your job because of a personality conflict, never try to explain the situation. You can say that you saw this job advertised and that you believe you would be very well suited to it, or you might explain that you’re looking for new challenges in the workplace.

How do you respond to taking direction from superiors?

Here you need to emphasise your ability to work as part of a team and talk briefly about how all teams need to take direction from a manager.

How well do you handle criticism?

Here you get to show your human side by talking about how we all make mistakes, and that we can all learn from constructive and positive criticism.

What motivates you?

This is not where you talk about ‘money’ and ‘fast cars’. Mention instead, how being immersed in a working project which delivers regular results motivates and drives you forward.

How long would it take before you make an impact if you started today?

You can always say you’d hope to contribute from day one, but you also need to be realistic and explain that it might take a couple of months before you fully understand the inner workings of the company to a sufficient extent that you could make a noticeable impact.

Have you attended other interviews?

This is a great question that you can really turn to your advantage. A candidate in demand will naturally appear more appealing to any hiring manager. So, say you are actively looking for a new position but don’t give them the impression you’re more interested in landing another job than the one you’re being interviewed for.

What do you know about the company?

This is where your pre-interview research pays off. Outline briefly what you’ve learned about the company and appear keen to hear more.

What can you offer us that the next candidate can’t?

This is where you get to show off what you’ve got to offer. Talk about your achievements to date and the areas of the business you feel you could work with and where you feel you can make a positive impact.

We’re concerned you may be a little overqualified for the position, how do you feel about it?

Explain that you’re eager to establish yourself within the organisation for the long-term. You can say that you believe your experience will enable you to make significant contributions to the company from the outset and that ultimately you feel very well suited to the position on offer.

What aspect of this job least appeals to you?

Less is more when answering this one. There’s really only one answer: that you’ve read through the job spec thoroughly and there is no aspect of the job that doesn’t appeal to you. Then, move along, quickly. Remember, the interview table is no place for moaning.

Now equipped to answer any challenging questions, make sure you make an overall great impression during your interview. 

There is a big difference between a good and a bad CV so here are a few tips on how to avoid the many pitfalls of CV preparation.

Students often ask Careers Advisers for examples or templates that they can use to prepare their own CV. This is not a good way to start, as it is very unlikely to be tailored to your strengths or the position for which you are applying.

There is strong evidence that the most effective CV’s are those that are tailored or customised to a specific occupation or job. You may need to think of creating a collection of CV’s rather than just a single document.

When you start the process of constructing your CV, there are two things you should consider very carefully:

Your own skills, knowledge, experience and attributes you can offer to an employer and your evidence/proof of these abilities.

The requirements of the occupation, employer and the position you are aiming for.

Within your CV you need to try to show how your skills and knowledge fit the requirements of the potential employer. The following categories are typical ways of organising the content:

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Biographical Information: Name and Address, home telephone number, mobile number. Even a small photograph of yourself can be added (usually to the top right of the first page). Other information may be added but only if it is relevant to your ability to perform the job.

CAREER AIMS OR PERSONAL PROFILE (OPTIONAL)

This should be a short concise summary of you as an individual.

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

This provides details of your educational achievements to date, giving particular prominence to those most recent and/or relevant to the job. It is often best to list your education and qualifications in reverse chronological order, and good practice to provide some details of your degree.

EMPLOYMENT/WORK EXPERIENCE

This includes details of work, voluntary work, weekend or evening jobs.

ACHIEVEMENTS

This section provides an opportunity for you to sell yourself pointing out your key activities, strengths, interpersonal skills and any related activities and achievements.

INTERESTS AND LEISURE ACTIVITIES

A brief list of your interests, hobbies and pastimes.

REFERENCES

It is normal to list two, ideally one from University and the other from an employer.