I’m homeless and living in a shelter. I had recently attained a remote WFH tech support job which was perfect because I wouldn’t have to pay for transportation and they were providing me with the equipment I needed. I was sent a PC and monitor and I had tried setting it up in a semi obscured place in the shelter but the supervisor there informed me that I couldn’t continue to work this way because “they don’t know what I’m doing on it” which is a load of shit imo because they don’t know what anyone is doing on the internet.
I had to be connected to the internet via an Ethernet cable. I tried:
- going to the library (inaccessible router)
- going to a cafe
- going to a local college (company blocked captive portal)
- using a travel router (company literally blocked the connection once I set it up, called coworkers and they said the same thing)
I was finally able to find someone who was offering a private room just for work but by the time I was set up I had already received a notice of termination in my email.
I’m beyond furious at the shelter staff and I don’t know what I could have done to prevent myself from getting fired. I was to move into a place next week contingent on me keeping the job and getting my first paycheck but I had to contact my would be landlord yesterday to let him know that I can’t move in. I keep replaying this scenario and I don’t know what I could have done to not get fired. I guess I’ll go fuck myself.
location canada if relevant
I am not homeless, but rent a room in a shared house. I prefer ethernet connections, but my landlord wouldn’t allow it and even removed the ethernet wall plug from an empty bedroom where I used it for 10 minutes to set up a raspberry pi. It wasn’t you, but the ethernet requirement.
I don’t want to sound judgmental. I’ve never been in your position.
One potential way to approach this would be to “bring the shelter staff on the juorney”.
- Tell them as soon as you confirm the job.
- Thank them for their support.
- Explain that you will be getting some equipment, and that you will need to connect it to Ethernet.
- Give them the great news, that you have organised housing for yourself, once that first paycheck comes in.
- Let them feel yes excitement, at the prospect of getting some momentum in your life.
- If they express concern, invite them to sit with you while you work, show them you are trustworthy.
This is a people problem, not a technical one. People that run shelters, especially volunteers, a good people. But they likely have been burned in the past; they will not blindly trust.
Right. I feel like there was a lack of communication here (just from what I gather - I have not been in this situation myself).
I think that communicating with the shelter staff about what is happening would have helped here. They have probably had folks take advantage of them, and so they’ve got to be on guard constantly.
But communicating about what’s going on and allowing trust to develop and grow is what could have potentially prevented something like this from happening.
I have been in a similar position and will vouch this is solid advice. Best to build some kind of rapport over time when computers/working in IT is involved. Some people know extremely little about it, and some people are quite afraid of what they don’t know. The best way to overcome that fear is understanding, simply having a decent trust for you as a person probably won’t suffice.
Edit just to say I nearly teared up reading your post, I really feel for your experience. Remembering tomorrow is a new day always helped me when things were worst. I bid you success in all you try.
Probably not. It seems reasonable for a remote job to expect you to have a reliable internet connection ready to go on day 1.
Not sure there was anything you could have done differently, but there is plenty that you learned. Don’t give up, think of it like an extended interview process that you got further in, but didn’t work out. If you got one, you can get another. Next time ask for a setup with wifi, preferably a laptop. Most companies do laptops in my experience anyway. The fact that this last company insisted on wired AND blocked your travel router goes to show how incompetent they were. You might have dodged a bullet. If the next company insists on wired, now you can choose to explain your situation or jump straight to the private room for work.
You should’ve communicated to them that your housing situation is unstable and wouldn’t have access to internet for a week. From their perspective you were just being unreliable and sketchy.
Also, most cities have coworking spaces, which should be your first choice over library/cafe/college for a full work day.
I disagree about telling an employer about instability in your life. they simply won’t take be understanding.
Coworking spaces cost money.
Is your situation that you have literally $0 and no credit? In that case, I don’t think remote work is realistically feasible. In the future I’d just be honest and communicate your situation with your employer. Realistically though, until your situation is stable, I’d try to find an in-office or hybrid job. Remote work is generally harder to get so if you were able to get a remote job I’m sure you could find something in-office or hybrid.
This, plus the office can come with some perks that might be useful to you or help you save some money - mine offers soup, bread and fruit, and also showers + deodorant (for people who like to cycle or jog to work).
Maybe you could find a privately owned small Internet cafe and explain the situation. They might let you run up a tab and pay once you start getting your paycheck.
Isn’t it possible to strike a deal if you tell them of your predicament?
It’s definitely a setback, but you learned two important things:
- You can get an entry level job
- You need a place where you can work
The ONLY reason it didn’t work out this first time is because 1. and 2. were not sufficiently close in time. I wouldn’t have known either (and now I do, so thanks for the learning experience!). I’d probably start looking for a similar position (maybe with a company that is less weird about infrastructure, although you only know after you get the job) AND an office-type place at the same time.
I would guess a lot of the less-than-five stars motels would be happy to give you a heavy discount if you only use your room during the day and don’t need to stay at night, ever. They are really selling the nights.
It must be incredibly frustrating to be in your current position, but I am really happy that you found a way to make it better. I think you got the right solution for you, it’s just a matter of iterating it until it sticks. I was in your shoes and I wish I had had as clear a plan as you have.
Can you explain the Ethernet requirement more? Was that just that the computer didn’t have WiFi, or was it set up such that only the wired interface worked with their VPN, or…?
Can you explain your travel router situation? Did you use the travel router to access WiFi and provide an Ethernet port for the computer (I think this is called “WISP mode”)? Or was this an 4G/5G router?
In any event, at least on Android you can connect to WiFi and tether to a computer over USB. It’s very useful for setting up a computer without WiFi drivers, as Linux will almost always recognize the shared Internet (so, it’s functionally a USB wifi dongle with very good driver support).
Ethernet is a hard requirement for most remote call center jobs, and they will use network analysis to make sure your connection is within specific latency and jitter requirements and fire you if your internet Isn’t good enough.
Was there an option to go to an office, and you chose to WFH to avoid paying transportation costs? As others have said, being upfront and communicate your availability during the interview or at the first sign of issue with your employer may have at least delayed things for you.
It’s a remote company, so I doubt it. I was working alongside people based in the Philippines and South Africa.
And I’m not going to tell them I’m homeless or having issues with internet, they’ll just hire someone else. It’s an entry level position.
Fair, but in practice the outcome is now that they are hiring someone else anyways because of those Internet issues.
Really shitty situation though, sorry that happened. But from both your perspective and their perspective, I don’t think there was anything else to be done.
At least you know someone out there is willing to hire you for what you can offer, and now it’s just a matter of finding a place to work that is the right fit.
Edit: typo
First off, specifically to answer your question, it is to ask for more time before your start date because you’re in the process of “moving to a new place”.
It’s a rough situation, but you more have to focus on what went wrong and learn from that for next time. Rather than stress too much upon what you could have done to prevent whatever, because there are some (as you say, bullshit) things you just weren’t able to anticipate ahead of time.
Now at least you know the jobs are out there, it’s not an impossible task to land one so you can do it again. Your next job might end up being an inperson instead of remote, whatever, be flexible and just be ready. Have time on your side.
Also, if you’re in Vancouver and this sort of predicament is about to happen again, DM me, and perhaps we could figure something out.
If you needed to be connected through an ethernet cable, you could have used a router and set it up as a wireless extended access point. Then plug your ethernet cable into the router and into your PC. Voilla the Wifi is now ethernet.
Not sure if that is what you wanted.
What kind of travel router were they able to block if you were connected to it over ethernet? I would think connecting by ethernet to a travel router that connects to a wireless router as a repeater would work.
The reality is that you had access to reliable internet, but they would only allow certain types of reliable internet. So you would need to communicate what your options were and work with them, or chalk it up to being an incompatible match at this point.
It doesn’t sound like the shelter staff is at fault if they’re just following procedures. Perhaps showing them an offer letter would have made them feel comfortable in allowing it for a little while longer.
I hope you keep trying and find a good match. I wish you the best of luck!
The connection may be good enough to surf, but if a company says you must have Ethernet to work in their call center, they will be monitoring latency loss and jitter and wifi will be noticed, even if it’s some kind of tether / travel router.
I would think all you could do is a co-working space which the company may be able to pay as an expense. It they require you to be on the internet then they should pay for the internet. It’s hard to expect any network(library/shelter) to allow you to wire your random computer to their close network. Like your bypassing firewalls and physically bringing the PC in. I’m not IT but I feel like it’s similar to bringing random USB from a parking lot and connecting it to a company computer.
It they require you to be on the internet then they should pay for the internet.
You may think that, but you’re using logic, and that’s a mistake.
I’ve worked remotely for 22 years or more, now, in my secondary job. At absolutely no time did they even suggest they were gonna pay for my net. I’m not gonna fight them on that.
I dont know if your location in canada is similar, but i know the mega churches (and some smaller churches) around me have an open door policy and allow anyone to be in their lobby to use their internet during the daylight hours. Some even provide coffee and snacks all day.
Dont know if thats any sort of option for you, and you might have people from the church approaching you at times, but maybe it could have worked out?
