Is We Work Remotely legit and worth your time? This We Work Remotely review details how it works and shares the best tips for finding remote work using the platform.
The internet didn’t just change how we work. It also changed how we find work. Now you don’t have to read newspaper ads and send physical letters to potential employers. You barely even need to send emails.
All you need is to know a decent job board, and you are halfway there. There are plenty of them out there, by the way. Some focus on specific niches while others aren’t so selective. The more popular ones are either job search engines like Indeed.com or marketplaces.
A good job board has plenty of job opportunities and has measures in place to protect its users from scammers. It also has job categories and a simple process of filtering through the job pool.
Unfortunately, it is not all easy to find the complete package. Some platforms have all the jobs but are littered with scam listings. Others are accessible to users from specific regions only. And there are those that have discriminative payment options.
If you are contemplating joining We Work Remotely but don’t know if it ticks off your preference list, you’re in the right place. I did my research and wrote an in-depth We Work Remotely review to help you make a guided decision.
What is We Work Remotely?
We Work Remotely is a job board that connects employers with potential employees. All listings on the platform target remote jobseekers, though it’s not uncommon to find posts about on-site jobs.
There are no limitations on the kind of jobs that can be posted on We Work Remotely. New job types pop up on a daily basis.
Thanks to the platform’s advanced search function, you can easily confirm the presence or absence of the exact opportunity you are looking for with a few mouse clicks.
You can filter jobs by type (full-time or part-time), category, location, etc. Clients are also asked to include keywords and make their listings as detailed as possible to ease the work for job seekers.
Without even clicking on a listing, you can tell if it’s available in your location and whether or not you are qualified for it. This makes job browsing a walk in the park and the general user experience friendly.
If you are only getting started on We Work Remotely and haven’t really figured out how to maneuver the platform, you can use the Top Remote Job Searches function to view the most searched jobs and use the keywords to perform more accurate searches.
Perhaps the one thing that ruins all the effort to simplify job searching is the lack of a chronological order for the job listings. Featured jobs always appear at the top, and finding the latest postings may require a little scrolling.
Who Owns We Work Remotely?
We Work Remotely was founded in 2013 and is now fully owned by Tiny Company – the same company that owns Dribble, MetaLab, Pixel Union, Creative Market, FourSixty, Yopify, Rehash, and dozens of other companies.
Its current CEO, Kevin Kirkpatrick, is a well-known Washington-based entrepreneur and product leader, at least according to his LinkedIn profile.
Is We Work Remotely Legit?
We work remotely is a legit job board, having been in business since the early 2010s. It receives over 4 million visitors and provides over 900 new positions monthly. It also carries immense repute among users, if its rating on review sites like Trustpilot is anything to go by.
Like any job board, We Work Remotely has its worshippers and slanderers. It is easy to develop an inclination towards one of the sides depending on what you came expecting, but the best way to tell whether the company is legit and delivers on its promises is to actually use it.
If that’s too much to ask, you can look at who and how it charges its service fees. We Work Remotely doesn’t charge job seekers. It charges employers per post.
A spinoff effect of this is that scammers are almost automatically filtered out, much to the delight of chary jobseekers.
In our opinion, We Work Remotely is a legit job board. You may not be lucky to find a remote job through it, but that won’t be because it is a scam platform. It would be because your profile is not good enough or there is a scarcity of the kind of opportunities you’re looking for.
Can You Really Find Work Remotely Using We Work Remotely?
Just because a freelance platform or job board is legit doesn’t mean it has work for you. Is We Work Remotely legit? Yes. Can you find work on it? Let’s find out.
The simple answer to this question is yes. You can find work on We Work Remotely, but it depends on how your profile looks from the viewpoint of a potential employer.
Your chances may also be affected by your resilience and your own standards. Of course, if you expect a higher salary than the other people qualified for and interested in the same jobs, employers are likely to pass you up.
Similarly, if you are only interested in full-time opportunities, you will likely miss out on part-time contracts, and vice versa.
The idea is to make yourself available for as many opportunities as possible.
I searched the internet for people who have worked on We Work Remotely to verify my conjecture.
This Reddit thread captures an experience disparity that I would like to break down:
The question was, “Has anyone here taken a job posted on WeWorkRemotely.com?”
The first user’s response, if true, is evidence that you can indeed find jobs and good ones for that matter.
The rest weren’t as lucky, clearly, but we are left to wonder whether their lack of resolve may have contributed to their misfortune.
The second user seems to have had their fingers crossed for an affirmative word for a single application that they submitted “a couple of years ago.”
The last one can’t even remember what they applied for, and it’s evident they also sent just one application.
That, for lack of a better phrase, is setting expectations too high and doing too little to realize them.
Tips for Finding Work on We Work Remotely
1. Brace up for the competition
We Work Remotely is a remote job board with no practical entry barriers. This means it’s crowded, and standing out may require you to do something out of the ordinary.
Generally, employers in remote work job boards are most interested in a candidate’s self-drive and ability to work under minimum supervision.
So your profile and applications need to show you are honest, trustworthy, disciplined, organized, self-sufficient, and focused.
2. Keep learning
The more skillsets you have, the more likely you are to find a job on We Work Remotely. It’s only wise to keep updating your CV to increase your competitive advantage.
You may also want to learn your way around as many communication apps as possible to ensure you’re ready in the event a picky employer comes knocking on your door.
3. Create a digital portfolio
We Work Remotely offers jobseekers enough room to describe themselves and showcase their skills. But potential employers will appreciate a more detailed description perhaps on a separate dais such as a personal website.
It doesn’t cost much to set up a website, and content management systems such as Wix and WordPress can help you build one even if you have no coding experience.
4. Find a good work-life balance
The thing about remote working is that it forces you to create your own schedule, which might prove a bigger task than it appears.
Unless you have fixed responsibilities, it would be best to have a flexible schedule. Otherwise, state clearly when you can’t work so potential employers can decide if you are a good fit for them or not.
5. Keep sending applications
Writing job applications isn’t exactly the most effortless assignment. But it may be what sets you apart from other candidates who have similar qualifications as you.
Avoid the urge to await responses to previous applications before drafting and sending others. Make it a habit to browse the job pool and apply for as many of the openings that suit your skillsets as possible.
What Does Work Remotely Offer? And How Does it Work?
We Work Remotely provides a meeting point for job seekers and recruiters. It doesn’t price listings, assign orders, or provide escrow services. It simply brings employers and job seekers together and lets them find matches on their own.
Central to this structure is the recently-introduced advanced search functionality, which lets you filter listings by companies, locations, categories, time zones, and keywords.
A proper messaging feature would have complemented this function, but We Work Remotely opted against introducing one.
As a job seeker, you can be sure to see a few hundred new posts every month. Some will be in your niche. The bulk of them won’t.
The best part is that job listings remain live for up to a month, so it’s possible to review each listing individually before sending an application.
So how does We Work Remotely work? How do you get started on the job board?
How to Join We Work Remotely
- Open the We Work Remotely website.
- Hover your mouse over the Job Seekers button. A menu will appear.
- Select Create Account. Enter your email address and password and click Sign Me Up.
- On the page that opens, state your full name, job status, work experience, and preferred salary range. You’re provided with choices for the latter three options.
- Choose your preferred category and skill, your preferred time zone, and the regions you are able to work in.
There, you are done creating your account. Note that you don’t need an account to access WWR. A profile simply helps the platform know you better and match you with recruiters more accurately.
Searching for Work on We Work Remotely
You can always visit the home page if you don’t trust the site’s algorithm to capture all relevant job listings. Otherwise, use the Curated Jobs button to view opportunities that are tailored for you.
The basic search feature will help you filter the job pool manually using keywords. Here is how my results page appeared when I searched “Customer Support.”
The newest listings won’t always appear at the top. Relevant featured posts will, instead, while the rest of the list will be a random mix of old and new listings.
Sending a Job Application on We Work Remotely
I opened the top post from the above screengrab for illustration. The recruiter had a very detailed description of the job. They stated their company vision, the job description, its perks, and candidate requirements.
I didn’t qualify, but I clicked Apply this position and proceeded anyway. The action took me to another job site, which – by my guess – had the recruiter’s initial application.
Again here, I was required to provide my email, location, linked profile address, experience, and expected salary. I was also asked to upload my resume.
Following Up a Job Application
What I learned when I opened another job post is that We Work Remotely minimally involves itself in the application phase.
Employers have the freedom to choose a desirable communication channel going forward without consulting the platform.
The job board won’t notify you about the progress of your application either. In fact, they won’t know if you have an active application or not. All communication henceforth will be via a third-party service.
Reviews and Complaints
While We Work Remotely is a fairly busy job board, people outside its forum didn’t have much to say about it when I set out in search of opinions. Still, I managed to pick out isolated reviews, which spread well across the satisfaction spectrum.
Some guys like this one on Software Advice had both positive and negative things to say about the job board.
The user’s dissatisfaction with the lack of SSL encryption was not repeated anywhere. I reckoned this could have been a rare or one-time issue that few to no other users have encountered.
The other complaints I bumped into were about the site’s apparently poor user experience.
What I Like About We Work Remotely
- Jobseekers can join and use the job board for free.
- Account verification is instant. There are no lengthy sign-up processes.
- The job board doesn’t discriminate. All listings are visible and accessible to all job seekers.
- The platform has an advanced search feature, through which jobseekers can sieve their search results.
- The company is legit and protects jobseekers from scammers by charging employers per listing.
- It has a Top Remote Job Searches page, which helps jobseekers identify the most searched jobs and borrow keywords for their own searches.
- The job pool is frequently updated.
- The job board offers many useful resources for remote workers, including apps and books. Jobseekers can also sign up for the platform’s intermittent job fairs, meet-ups, and other online events.
What I Don’t Like About We Work Remotely
- The number of opportunities on We Work Remotely is relatively low.
- The platform doesn’t let you filter jobs by date posted, which might keep you viewing the same listings over and over.
- It’s difficult to communicate with the platform’s support team.
- Most of the listings are about software development openings. Jobseekers outside this domain may experience even more difficulty finding jobs.
- The job board doesn’t have a built-in messaging function.
Is We Work Remotely Worth It For Jobseekers?
We Work Remotely is a decent platform that you can trust to link you to real paying job openings. It may not have as many job opportunities as LinkedIn or freelance sites like Fiverr and Upwork, but it is more affordable and less demanding.
Jobseekers aren’t required to pay anything to join the platform or view jobs. Service fees are imposed on employers, and all you have to worry about is creating a profile that will lead you to relevant opportunities.
To increase your chances of landing a remote job on We Work Remotely, make a point of creating a digital portfolio for marketing purposes. You may want to create profiles on other job boards too.
If you want to use We Work Remotely as your sole source of job opportunities, make sure to be a highly active user.
The platform takes down most listings after a month, but some employers delete theirs as soon as they find their ideal candidate. You want to be an early applicant to avoid missing out on some jobs.
Conclusion
Finding work on an online job site is often easier said than done. There is simply too much competition, and dishonesty from job seekers makes it near impossible to let your know-how speak for itself.
This We Work Remotely review should help you determine if it’s worthwhile to join the job board. I hope your questions have been answered.
