As Covid-19 swept the globe, 2020 became the first year of remote work, with Twitter and Facebook both announcing that employees could work remotely permanently. According to the latest LinkedIn data, remote job openings in the US have grown 4.5-fold, and applications for remote positions now account for more than 15% of all applications. In light of this unstoppable global wave of remote work and the demand behind it, web software development company 5xRuby shares its hiring criteria for this new era.

[Caption] Separating your work space from your living space is one way to work remotely more efficiently.

Photographer: Vlada Karpovich, Link: Pexels

 

Hiring Key 1: Does the candidate show Ownership and Leadership?

Whether working remotely or in the office, a candidate's professional skills usually start from the baseline of being "good enough for the job." But as hybrid work arrives, candidates need to present themselves in a different way. Tsehau Chao, co-founder of 5xRuby, believes two traits are especially important: Ownership and Leadership. Ownership means treating your tasks as your own responsibility and actively working toward a better outcome. Leadership means having a positive influence on the team through your work attitude and the way you get things done; it is not just about leading a team. Both traits come down to whether you can make a We Deliver commitment to the goals of your clients, projects, team and organization—doing what you say you will do—and in turn become a benchmark for others.

 

Hiring Key 2: Does the candidate have a We Deliver —do what you say— sense of mission?

We Deliver is 5xRuby's company culture: it describes the expectations and sense of responsibility the company holds itself to in its work. It sounds basic, but living it takes strong, unwavering conviction, and that is what makes "high self-discipline" and "mutual trust" possible when working remotely. Chao notes that even before working from home became the norm, 5xRuby already had a culture of "four days in the office, one day remote." She found that, to make that one remote day more flexible, employees with a sense of mission made better use of their four office days and completed their tasks efficiently. This created a virtuous cycle for the hybrid model and gave the company more confidence to let employees grow in the way that suits them best. Now, with the pandemic bringing international talent back home to look for work, competition among job seekers has intensified, and candidates who embody the "We Deliver" spirit stand a better chance of being noticed.

 

Hiring Criterion 3: Do new-era candidates know how to find solutions to problems?

Asked how these traits can be spotted clearly in an interview, Chao admits there is no direct method, but whether a candidate is passionate about their own work comes through in how they express their ideas. In today's era of information overload, she also places great weight on "participation in tech communities." Knowing how to filter information, ask the right questions, and digest what you learn from online exchanges and turn it into nourishment is an essential skill for engineers in this new era. Of course, candidates who have side projects, have contributed to open source projects, or have even presented real work at tech forums or conferences are showing passion for their projects, and that counts for a lot. Job seekers in the new era no longer simply hand over a standard résumé and portfolio; they show confidence in their work and can find "solutions to problems" by taking part in tech communities.

 

Working remotely, can you effectively switch from OFF to ON?

Finally, to be excellent at remote work, beyond making good use of digital tools and creating a favorable work environment, you need to know how to create a sense of ritual and establish a "boot-up mode" that takes you from OFF to ON. Sho Chang, Executive Director of 5xRuby, reveals that she has to draw her eyebrows before she can get into work mode at home; if she skips this, she feels she lacks the energy to face the day's work. Chao also shares her own experience: she chooses to keep her work space and living space separate and follows a routine just like a normal office day, changing clothes before starting work, eating lunch on time during the lunch break, and enjoying leisure activities after work. Chao believes a regular routine builds better remote work habits. Whatever the method, being able to switch effectively between OFF and ON is how you build your own productivity.

 

The way we work has changed, but the essence of work attitude has not

Even as the workplace shifts from the office to the home, Chao hopes every job seeker will remember three keywords: self-learning, communication and responsibility. In the narrow sense, this means growing your own professional skills; in the broader sense, it means finding and knowing what you really want. When you clearly understand why you are doing what you do, you will naturally seek out solutions, fulfill the We Deliver commitment, and become the best fit for the remote work era.

 

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About the Company

Founded in 2014, 5xRuby Co., Ltd. is one of Taiwan's most representative companies specializing in the Ruby programming language, building web services primarily on the Ruby on Rails framework. Its brand clients span Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and beyond. The company has helped an overseas startup build a cross-border e-commerce service that went on to raise a Series A round, and has developed apps and web services for many publicly listed Taiwanese companies. Through technical advisory and enterprise technology consulting, it gives brands a solid foundation for web development and delivers professional web solutions.

 

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