Why a remote work candidate’s passions are as important as their skills (podcast episode)

While remote work comes with many benefits, it can be hard for employers to create an environment that fosters a sense of belonging that encourages employees to stick around.

In today’s episode of the Brains Byte Back podcast Eugene Garla, VP of Talent at Index, a company building a global talent platform of vetted full-time remote engineers, joins us to discuss how enterprises can stop treating tech talent like handymen, and make them loyal in the long term.

Listen to this podcast on Spotify, Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, Listen Notes, PodBean, and Radio Public.

In the episode Garla shares why employers need to shift their perspective when it comes to remote work, advocating that no longer is this working style strictly for digital nomads traveling the world. 

Instead, he argues that those who work remotely should be seen as equal to other types of employees and that the only difference, for many, is the fact that they do not go to an office. 

Garla also encourages those looking to hire remote workers to be transparent with their job advertisements. 

He highlights that promising tech talent can be discouraged when jobs advertise themselves as remote but instead offer hybrid work with the expectation that they regularly come into the office. 

Additionally, Garla explains why it is important to take into consideration the passions and interests of the tech talent you are interviewing to understand what drives them, instead of primarily looking at their skills. 

As Garla puts it not all developers are passionate about crypto and making another coin.

And finally, Garla, who speaks four languages, shares advice and tips on how to learn a new language. 

Disclosure: This episode includes a client of an Espacio portfolio company