Inequities in Remote Work: How Uvaro Coaches New Talent To Ask The Right Questions

The pandemic has changed the workforce as we know it.Forcing many businesses to close their doors forever, in some unfortunate cases. To continue operations, businesses globally were forced to pivot which birthed a new era of work style — 'working from home'. This allowed many employees globally to continue their jobs just in a different environment and many businesses found the transition to remote work surprisingly smooth. Nonetheless, a new problem appeared: inequities in remote work.

But before we get into that, let's talk about how the world has been adjusting to the 'new normal'. Many employees are now opting to work from home even as businesses open their doors once again. While some choose part-time remote work with a couple of office days a week, others feel they benefit more from full-time remote work. Not only did people report better work-life balance and enjoyed more time with their family during the lockdown, but skipping the daily commute also meant more savings in the bank.

Remote employees weren't the only ones with something to gain either. Employers also quickly caught onto the benefits of allowing staff to work remotely. From reduced overhead costs to increased access to a larger global talent pool; as of writing this post in late 2021, the option to work remotely has become the new norm — and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

The good news is, if you’re looking for a career in sales, many of the top companies are hiring and these positions come with remote work. But which of these companies enable their teams the best? In this post, we’ll teach you all about the inequities in remote work and how Uvaro coaches our members to ask the right questions during an interview to learn an organization's views on equitable treatment BEFORE you join their team. We even have a surprise for you at the end, so keep reading!

The Hidden Costs of Remote Work

Despite its many benefits, remote work doesn’t come without challenges for some employees. One of the important questions candidates want to uncover in the interview process is "does everyone really have an equitable working environment for remote work?"

Even though people love to make fun of office cubicles, the great thing about them is that everyone has the same environment to work in and to succeed in. Unfortunately, when it comes to remote work, that’s not always the case.

There are employees with big home offices and high-speed internet with no issues meeting the requirement of any remote position. They already have the ideal office space setup with second and even third monitors. Complete with ergonomic chairs and computers. These candidates are ready to be hired, all set up to be successful in their new roles.

On the other hand, many remote employees don’t have a dedicated office space at all. Instead, they’re working from their kitchens and bedrooms with unreliable internet. Why? They have to pay the other bills!

When it comes to the underemployed, many candidates spend all of their time trying to find job opportunities and take interviews from their smartphones. Since the majority of companies require you to have your own equipment to land a job, many people are risking their limited funds to invest in an expensive device — with no guarantee of even being hired!

How does any of this create a fair work environment? The fact of the matter is, it doesn’t! Not everyone’s circumstances are the same. This creates inequities in remote work that simply isn’t fair to new talent.It's not only up to employers to reevaluate their computing and internet requirements. But it’s also the responsibility of future remote tech employees to be able to determine which companies are equitable in their approach to enabling them — and which are not.

Asking the Right Questions

To determine if a business will be a good fit for you in terms of equity, you must learn to ask the right questions during the interview process. Uvaro members understand the importance of joining a company that has an equitable approach to enabling their team for success.

Take a look at these important questions our grads are asking:

1 - Do they have minimum computing/connectivity requirements for each department or role?

Sometimes a business will be very upfront about their computing and connectivity requirements in their job posting. However, this isn’t always the case. If they haven’t specified in the job description or initial interviews, this is a critical question to ask during the deeper level interview to determine the equity of the business.

While MOST companies are perfectly fine with providing teams with the laptop, some companies on the other end of the spectrum will rely on their employees using their personal computers. Quite often it will depend on your specific role, department, and or what you were hired to do. In our humble opinion if you're hiring someone for a full-time sales role — you should be providing them with the equipment for this role.

For sales roles, you are typically looking for an organization's computing requirements to align the minimum needs to the common tasks performed in the role. From there, you are hoping to see computers in use with similar power and capability to keep it even amongst the team.

2 - Are there stipends or supports available for internet costs to cover a portion of the cost for employees?

A great way to find out if an employer is willing to help cover expensive internet costs is by asking the hiring manager If you require your sales reps to have good internet so their calls don’t drop, do you have a program in place to financially support that need?” Of course, you can tailor the question to suit the specific role you’re applying for.

Depending on your provider, internet costs aren’t cheap — even more so if the company you’re interviewing for expects you to upgrade to high-speed usage. Which isn't fair to ask of new hires who may have been underemployed for some time. Not only that, but the cost of a monthly high-speed internet bill does add up over time!

The truth is, if you were working in-office, the employer wouldn’t expect you to pay to use the company phones and wifi. It’s only fair that a business can cover at least a portion of the cost of home internet costs if basic internet isn’t sufficient for the role you’re being hired for. This is one of the biggest problems with inequities in remote work.

3 - Is there a WFH budget that an employee can use to make their home-work environment more productive and more ergonomic?

Asking this question is a great way for team members to get what they need for their space. We all have unique requirements when working from home. Not everyone is equipped with a full ergonomic office setup. Some employees may very well require an additional budget to upgrade their workspace.

If you work eight-hour days from Monday to Friday from your laptop hunched over at the dinner table without a proper ergonomic setup, imagine the consequences that your work environment will have on your body a year from now. Repetitive strain injuries, such as carpal tunnel and tendonitis, aren’t uncommon when it comes to remote work.

By knowing you have access to a WFH budget from the start, you're able to improve your setup to truly see success from the start. On the other end, budgeting for a proper ergonomic homework environment will also benefit the employer by minimizing the chances of any type of injuries occurring and by watching overall productivity levels increase!

4 - Do you provision computers to all work-from-home staff, with guaranteed delivery before their start date?

As we said above, most businesses will provide their staff with the use of in-office computers. So why should you be expected to supply your own computer when you work remotely? If a business isn’t willing to invest in these important upfront costs for their employees, that's a problem.

Often, working from home and being forced to use your own computer gives a negative onboarding experience. Depending on the time from when you were hired, and shipping nightmares aside (there is no shortage of these) teams who have remote work employees will have standardized their onboarding packages and capabilities to get employees their machines ready to go for day 1.

The good news is, many tech companies are getting used to the mindset shift of higher upfront costs on equipment that will save them money over time. If an entire team has proper computers with an optimal ergonomic setup and reliable internet, productivity levels skyrocket. By investing in more powerful computers upfront and getting employees set up for day 1, companies can save several thousands of dollars and hours of productivity in the long term.

What other questions?

The above four questions are the most important questions. Ask them during the interview process to ensure you get hired at an equitable tech business.If you're preparing for an interview and want to be better prepared, check out our 40 sales interview question guide!

Remember, salary is a big piece of the puzzle, but it isn’t everything. A decent salary is great, but it begins to look a whole lot better when there are other perks of the job. And by the way, we’re not talking about ping pong tables and beer fridges. These days, it’s all about working for an equitable company that sets each of its employees up for success for the long term!

Uvaro is "Your Career Success Company"

Are you interested in a career in tech sales? Then you won’t want to miss hearing about this opportunity to get your foot in the door at no upfront cost to you.

Our non-traditional educational approach can teach you how to double your previous salary and launch a new career within weeks! With flexible course options, our tech sales curriculum is designed to give members an equal opportunity. Everyone can learn beneficial business skills for a fulfilling career in tech sales.

Get a Free Chromebook from us.

We started Uvaro because the old approach to hiring in tech is broken! Rather than contributing to the inequities in remote work, Uvaro aims to give every member a fair and equal opportunity to start their careers. One way we ensure this is by allowing students to complete the program without paying until they graduate and get hired at a sales company. We don't want to let money be the barrier to our members receiving the education they need to start building their careers.

As we look to start the new year and enable even more members to turn the page towards new beginnings, we’ve created a campaign where students who want to start a career in tech sales but are technologically challenged — stand a chance to receive a free Chromebook from us.

This gesture is meant to give every student a chance to study and work remotely. Especially those who wouldn’t have been able to without their own working laptop.

So, if you’ve been considering a career in sales and are interested in our Chromebook offer, contact us today. Speak with an admission consultant to learn more. This could be your life-changing opportunity and an incredible start to the new year. Overcome your inequities in remote work today!