How Remote Talent helps job seekers find truly decentralized work remotely

As we make working from anywhere the new norm, finding remote job opportunities isn’t easy. According to the World Economic Forum, the number of global digital jobs that can be done remotely will increase by about 25 percent to 92 million, but the report does not highlight the difficulty of finding a truly remote job.

Although there are many job portals listing remote jobs, the definition of remote is rather unclear and varies from time to time. Gillian O’Brien, General Manager, Remote Talent, tells me that some remote jobs are more hybrid employment opportunities, or opportunities where you can work remotely but have to be within a certain mile radius of headquarters.

She argues that this is not really a remote job opportunity, and with Remote Talent they help job seekers find truly remote jobs or those that are compatible with the search criteria. Remote Talent may seem like just another job portal, but it is a platform for job seekers who are truly global in their search and looking for 100% remote or distributed work. A year after its launch, it shows the need for a complete rethink and a job board without location as a barrier.

Find really remote positions

What is the common challenge with traditional job boards? According to O’Brien, traditional job search tools are limited because they were developed before distributed work became mainstream, and 78 percent of applicants reportedly find it difficult to find truly remote positions. She adds that 40 percent see unclear salary ranges as another major problem.

The biggest challenge, however, is that jobs are advertised as “remote” but are either non-remote or limited to specific locations. To solve these challenges faced by job seekers, Remote, a US-based payroll, HR, tax and compliance solutions company, has developed Remote Talent to address these issues head-on.

“We designed our platform to clearly differentiate the work model of each role, whether remote or hybrid,” explains O’Brien. She adds: “We offer salary ranges in multiple currencies for each position, eliminating guesswork and allowing candidates to make informed decisions.”

Remote Talent also offers advanced search filters to find jobs specifically tailored to remote work, including options to filter by time zone and location requirements. When candidates log in to Remote Talent and upload their resume, the service displays specific job listings tailored to their resume, and they can set their resume to “viewable” to recommend it to employers on the site.

“It’s like skipping the line at the job fair,” she jokes.

Unlike other job boards, Remote Talent is ad-free and does not rely on sponsored posts or ads. It also has a cleaner interface for employers and job seekers and is specifically designed to meet the needs of remote and global hiring needs. But what makes Remote Talent special, according to O’Brien, is its integration with Remote’s HR platform. “This provides a seamless experience from hiring to onboarding to management, all within one ecosystem,” she explains.

O’Brien added: “This integration enables companies to effortlessly move from talent acquisition to hiring and from onboarding to payroll – all on a single platform. Once a candidate is hired through Remote Talent, employers can easily manage their onboarding process, set up local payroll, offer benefits and ensure compliance – all without leaving the dashboard.”

AI meets job seekers

Within a year of its launch, Remote Talent was attracting 2 million monthly visitors from around the world. The numbers are staggering for a company not at all known for helping job seekers, and O’Brien says that’s because there are thousands of truly remote, distributed jobs on the site at any given time.

She says about 200,000 candidates have created profiles on Remote Talent, while the platform also attracts a wide range of employers. She says job seekers can find nimble startups to large corporations on Remote Talent, and this rapid adoption is a clear sign that Remote Talent is meeting a real need in this evolving work landscape.

To ensure employers aren’t overwhelmed with applicants, Remote uses AI to help employers match the most suitable candidates. “Our goal is to make the hiring process more efficient and effective, saving time for both employers and candidates while enabling better matches,” she tells me.

The Achilles heel of most job boards is that they don’t go beyond keyword matching. However, Remote Talent uses AI to power its improved candidate matching based on skills and experience and to understand the nuances of a candidate’s background. AI is also used to write job descriptions, which is particularly helpful when advertising positions in multiple countries.

Accessible and effective

O’Brien doesn’t shy away from reflecting on the success Remote Talent has experienced in its first year. She says they’ve gained valuable insights that will shape the future of Remote’s job posting platform. “One of our key findings was the critical importance of transparency in job postings. We’ve seen firsthand how clear, detailed job descriptions lead to better matches and more satisfying outcomes for both employers and candidates,” she explains.

She adds that they also learned that their decision to forego advertising helped reduce application overload, resulting in a noticeable difference in the quality and relevance of applications. This is something that employers appreciate, but is a blessing in disguise for job seekers on the platform.

Remote Talent is also unique in its monetization strategy. Instead of relying on sponsored job postings or advertisements, Remote Talent offers employers a transparent pricing plan consistent with its focus on quality over quantity, providing value for both employers and job seekers.

O’Brien says: “Our north star will always be to maintain the integrity of our platform and ensure that all monetization efforts enhance, not detract from, the user experience.”

As O’Brien reflects on the first year, he also has an exciting plan to make Remote Talent even better. It starts with improving search and filtering capabilities to deliver even more relevant results and implementing AI-driven matching to improve the quality of connections between employers and job seekers.

She says the next big change will come in the form of expanded global reach and localization efforts to ensure Remote Talent is truly accessible and effective for users around the world. The goal, in their opinion, is to create the most effective global and remote recruiting platform that works regardless of location and language and deeply integrates into the remote HR ecosystem.

“As we continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of the modern workplace, we are excited about the future of remote talent and its role in shaping the future of work,” she adds.

To learn how Remote can help you with your planned move, download the Remote Relocation Guide here.