The Complete Guide to
Remote Work for Engineers

Remote work isn't as simple as "writing code in your pajamas at home." From finding a job to salary negotiation, taxes, and "the loneliness of working from home" — every piece has its own bar to clear. This is the full breakdown: the difference between the 3 remote models, how to find overseas jobs, how to negotiate salary, and what daily life actually looks like.

※ The tax / legal sections here are general concepts, not formal advice. For your actual filing, consult a qualified accountant. Overseas salary figures are based on public market data; your real results depend on your own ability and on market swings.

First, bust 3 romantic myths

01 "Remote = freedom"

Partly true, but not entirely.

Reality — remote engineers usually work longer hours, not shorter.

Why:

• There's no "commute home" to act as a natural boundary, so it's easy to keep working
• Cross-timezone sync meetings can land in the early morning or late at night
• Nobody sees you, so you have to be more proactive about proving you're producing

Remote does give you freedom (flexibility in location and hours), but it's not relaxation.

02 "Overseas salary × Taiwan cost of living = living the dream"

Reality isn't that pretty:

• Overseas companies know you're in Taiwan, so they'll anchor to "Taiwan market rate × 1.2-1.5" — not Silicon Valley rates
• Many remote companies use "location-adjusted pay" — they adjust your salary based on where you live
• US companies that won't hire overseas directly go through an intermediary like Deel / Remote.com, which takes a 10-15% cut

Real numbers — for a senior engineer in Taiwan working remotely for a US/European company, annual pay usually lands at USD 80-150K (roughly NT$2.5-4.5M), depending on the company's stage and your negotiating leverage.

That's genuinely higher than a local Taiwanese startup, but it's not "rich without working" territory.

03 "Remote jobs are easier to land"

Wrong.

Remote roles are 5-10x more competitive than local ones.

Why:

• A single remote opening at an overseas company gets applications from all over the world (you're up against engineers in Poland, India, and Brazil)
• Remote companies have a higher bar (self-discipline, async communication, English)
• Plenty of companies fill openings with internal referrals first

To make remote work, you need to proactively build credibility plus a differentiated skill set — you can't just spray applications everywhere.

The 3 Remote Work Models

Finding cross-border remote jobs — 5 sources

01 Remote-first job boards

• Remote OK (remoteok.com)
• We Work Remotely (weworkremotely.com)
• Remote.co
• Working Nomads

About 90% of the listings on these sites come from remote-first companies that won't ask you "can you come into the office?"

02 General platforms + filters

• LinkedIn — filter for "Remote"
• Hacker News Who's Hiring (posted at the start of each month; search the comments for "REMOTE")
• AngelList / Wellfound — startup jobs

03 Niche communities

• Ruby on Rails — rubyonremote.com
• JavaScript — React and Vue each have their own Discord
• Rust / Go — Reddit subreddits

These places have less competition and higher quality — because you have to become a familiar face in the community first.

04 Cold email directly

The method nobody talks about — proactively email the hiring manager at the company you want to work for.

A template:

• Which post on their company blog you've read
• What relevant project you've built (with a link)
• What concrete problem you can help them solve
• "Do you have any remote senior openings?"

This kind of cold email gets a 3x higher reply rate than a LinkedIn DM — because it shows you've done your homework.

05 Building a presence on Twitter / X / GitHub

Plenty of remote-company CTOs and hiring managers find people on X / GitHub.

What to do:

• Share technical observations on X (you don't need to go viral, just have a footprint)
• Contribute consistently on GitHub (you don't need 100K stars, just regular activity)
• Write technical posts (solving real problems you've actually hit at work)

After 6-12 months, you'll start getting DMs like "We've been reading your posts on X — interested in chatting?"

Salary Negotiation — 5 keys

01 Don't name a number first

When HR asks "what's your expected salary?" in the interview — turn it around: "What's the budgeted range for this role?"

Most US/European companies have salary bands, and HR will give you a range.
Whoever names a number first = sets the ceiling.

02 Back it up with market data

Resources I recommend:

• Levels.fyi — salaries by level at big companies
• Glassdoor — ranges worth referencing
• Salary.com
• Remote companies that publish open comp (GitLab, Buffer, etc.)

In the negotiation — "According to Levels.fyi, the range for this level in your region is X-Y. I'd like to land near Y, because [my specific accomplishments]."

03 Another offer is your nuke

A competing offer gives you the most leverage.

My advice — before going after your dream company, interview at 1-2 others first and get an offer in hand.

Then tell the dream company: "I have an offer from X. I'd rather work with you, but your offer needs to match it or beat it."

A lot of people feel awkward about this — but it's standard practice in the industry, not rude.

04 Don't just negotiate base — negotiate the whole package

The salary structure at US/European companies:

• Base salary (annual)
• Bonus (year-end, usually 10-20% of base)
• Equity / Stock (vesting over 4 years)
• Sign-on bonus
• Benefits (health insurance, retirement, equipment, learning stipend)

Don't fixate on base during negotiation — sign-on bonus and equity are easier to move (they don't affect the long-term cost structure).

05 Accept that the first one can be low

If this is your first overseas remote job and you're unsure of your leverage — it's OK to accept a somewhat low offer.

Spend year one building experience plus an overseas company on your resume; switch in year two — and your leverage changes completely.

Most people's mistake is "insisting on a high number for the very first one" — and they end up getting no offers at all, losing 6-12 months.

Taxes & Regulations — what you must know

The following are general concepts; the specifics depend on your contract and on local regulations.

Types of status

• Employee (through Deel / Remote): overseas company → Deel → you. You get paid in Taiwan and pay tax in Taiwan. You keep Taiwanese health insurance.
• Independent Contractor: you sign a contractor agreement directly with the overseas company. The income counts as "foreign service compensation" and is reported as overseas income.
• Your own company: you incorporate, and the overseas company pays your company. Good for high earners, with room for tax optimization.

Filing essentials

• Overseas income above NT$1M must be rolled into your personal income tax
• File it under the "overseas income" category, attaching remittance records / your contract
• I'd recommend hiring an accountant — paying a few thousand NT$ the first year saves a lot of headaches

Common traps

• Not filing — the tax bureau has your bank remittance records; if you're caught, you'll owe back taxes plus penalties
• Getting paid via PayPal / Wise — these platforms report to the government, so don't count on slipping through
• Not keeping your contract — if you're audited, explaining yourself gets expensive

Real Life — 5 things nobody tells you

01 Set a "clocking-out ritual"

Home = workplace — and your brain can't switch off.

The fix:

• When the workday ends, shut the laptop and put it somewhere out of sight
• Change clothes, or go for a 10-minute walk
• Refuse to look at work messages in the evening (unless you're oncall)

02 Set boundaries on cross-timezone sync meetings

You're in Taiwan, the team is on the US West Coast — their 10:00 AM is your 1:00 AM.

Set rules:

• At most one "off-hours meeting" per week
• Do most communication async (Slack, PR comments, Loom)
• Clarify the meeting expectations during the interview

If a company won't adjust meeting times for you, it isn't a fit.

03 Working from home gets lonely

This is the wall 90% of remote engineers hit.

The fix:

• Work from a co-working space / café at least once a week
• Join a local engineer meetup / Discord
• Find 1-2 friends for regular lunches / gym sessions
• Get a pet (it genuinely helps)

04 "Out of sight = not working" is real

In the office, you write code and your boss can see it.
Remote, you write code and your boss can't.

So you have to show your work more proactively:

• Write detailed daily standups
• Send your manager a weekly update
• Attach a full description to every PR
• Proactively share what you've learned in the team channel

Remote engineers who aren't good at showcasing their work get rated low — even when they do plenty.

05 Digital nomad life isn't as great as you'd think

A lot of people dream of "writing code in Bali" — then they actually do it and discover:

• Spotty internet → laggy meetings → annoyed clients and bosses
• Timezones get even messier (you're off in Europe, your teammates are in the US, your clients are in Asia)
• With no concept of "home," your quality of life drops
• Taxes get more complicated

My advice — do remote from a single city for 6-12 months first, then consider the nomad life. Remote ≠ digital nomad.

The Prep Path — a 6-month plan

Month 1-2: Build your resume + a public footprint

• Clean up your GitHub and write good READMEs
• Switch your LinkedIn to English, emphasizing your remote-readiness
• Start writing a technical blog (1-2 posts a month)

Month 3: Practice async communication

• Practice writing clearly: have a friend review each technical post
• Practice 5-10 minute Loom videos (record yourself explaining something technical)

Month 4: Start applying

• Find 30 openings from the 5 sources above
• Customize your resume for each one
• Run cold email + LinkedIn DMs in parallel

Month 5: Interviews + mocks

• Technical interviews (LeetCode + System Design)
• Behavioral interviews (get fluent with the English version)
• Have a friend run mock interviews with you in English

Month 6: Negotiate + offer

• Get 1-2 offers
• Confirm the salary range with Levels.fyi
• Negotiate sign-on / equity
• Talk to an accountant about taxes

One last reminder

Remote work isn't about escaping the office — it's about choosing a different way of working.
It demands that you be more independent, more proactive, and better at communicating in writing.
The people it suits will thrive; the people it doesn't will slowly burn out.

A way to test whether it suits you — ask your current boss for "2-3 remote days a week" and try it for 3 months.

After 3 months, ask yourself:

• Did your output drop?
• Did your mood get better or worse?
• Do you reach out to chat with colleagues?

The answers will tell you — whether you're suited for 100% remote, hybrid, or whether the office is better for you.

Don't idealize a way of working — test it.