During my last few months of university, I landed a job at a large Silicon Valley tech startup. The salary was good (especially for a new graduate), I had a comprehensive benefits package, I was getting a month off in between graduation and my official start date, AND it was completely remote.
Working from home can be great. The part early-career people miss is that remote work also changes how you build relationships, learn the job, and get noticed. If you are choosing between remote, hybrid, startup, big company, or public-sector work, use this with startup vs big company, government vs private-sector stability, and Explore Career Paths.
I loved working from home. I’m a massive introvert, and the pandemic only made that worse. I could eat snacks when I wanted, I could hang out with my puppy, I could see my boyfriend who worked from home in the other room, and I could do laundry in between emails. I didn’t have to painfully try to socialize with people.
It was glorious, at first.
My Obvious Realization
After having been in COVID-induced isolation for the last year and a half of college, I didn’t really feel like I needed additional people in my life. I had my boyfriend, I had my close few friends, I had my family, I had my dog. This may seem modest to some, but for me, I was perfectly happy.
I am still happy, but I realized something.
Work sucks when you don’t talk to anyone, and I took the whole work-from-home thing perhaps a little too seriously. Once the world began to open up, my company started having in-person meetups. Now, I certainly don’t regret missing out on most of them. Any big gathering resulted in everyone getting sick.
However, we also rented office space downtown. Optional, but it was there if we wanted.
I never went. Ever.
I didn’t see a point. At least, not until recently. Even as an introvert, as someone happy with a small circle, I began to feel lonely amongst my colleagues. Everyone had a person, or a few people, they were close to. They called each other nicknames on Slack. They joked around on Zoom calls.
I did try to get closer to people. It’s hard when you aren’t as socially inclined. Also, this was my first serious job out of school. I was still learning what is normal to talk about at work, what I can and can’t say, and how much personal stuff is too much. I didn’t want to cross boundaries.
Shaking Hands and Smiling
The biggest difference, though, wasn’t that all of my colleagues were social butterflies (though, a lot of them were).
Most of these people had met with each other in person. They’d been able to connect face-to-face.
I hadn’t. In fact, I’d only met a few people from my department of over 100 employees.
This changed recently, when I got the opportunity to go to our first company-wide event in over a year.
It was scary, and stressful, and intense, but I am so glad I went. And it changed my opinion on working from home.
I’ll confess now, the title of this post is a lie. Working from home is awesome, and I don’t want to give it up. Being able to accommodate my life while getting my work done is a blessing, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
But you should definitely go meet your colleagues. In person. Shake hands, give hugs. I don’t want to sound like my mother, but real, human connection is really taken for granted these days. I didn’t realize how much I truly missed it, and how far it could push the creation of closer relationships.
I know you may value being able to roll out of bed 5 minutes before work, and trust me, I do too. Take it from me, a serious introvert: choosing isolation will leave you isolated.
If remote work is part of a bigger career decision, GradSimple Insiders can help you compare what different paths look like from the inside before you choose based on perks alone.
FAQ
Is working from home bad for early-career professionals?
Working from home is not bad by itself. The risk is missing the casual learning, feedback, relationships, and visibility that often happen faster in person.
Should new grads choose remote or hybrid work?
Hybrid can be a good middle ground if you want flexibility and still need mentorship, office context, and closer relationships with coworkers. A fully remote role can work too, but you need to be more intentional about asking questions and staying visible.
How do I avoid feeling isolated in a remote job?
Schedule regular one-on-ones, join optional meetups when you can, ask teammates how they prefer to communicate, and find one or two coworkers you can build real rapport with.
