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You find a job that looks ideal and spot the word “remote” near the top of the role description…
The potential benefits of a commute-free routine start to play on your mind. You can start planning what you might do with all that extra time saved… Or do you?
You spot a line about travelling to the office once a month. Another job you’ve kept on your radar calls itself hybrid, but apparently the team only gets together every few weeks. What in-person cadence is really expected?
Then there’s the role with “WFH” bracketed in the title. This, at least, sounds fairly self-explanatory.
In fact, remote working, WFH and hybrid working aren’t quite the same thing – in spite of the fact you’ll often hear people use the terms interchangeably. Employers aren’t always consistent with them either.
So, what do they actually mean? And when you’re looking for a job, how can you tell what you’re signing up for?
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Remote working means doing your job somewhere other than your employer’s usual workplace.
Yes, this might mean your home. But, it could also refer to a coworking space or somewhere else entirely, depending on what your employer allows.
That last part is key.
A fully remote job doesn’t necessarily mean you can grab your laptop, chase your “best life!” dreams abroad and complete your work from a beachfront apartment or while on the road.
Your employer may very well have rules about where you can work, even if they never expect to see you in an office. Working abroad is sometimes ruled out for regulatory reasons and legislative complexity. See more info from the government – working in the EU for a UK employer.
It’s also not unusual to have two people doing identical jobs remotely but working in very different ways. One might spend every day in their spare bedroom while the other switches between home and a coworking space or cafe.
Both work remotely. Only one always works from home.
This one is more literal. WFH means working from home.
Your home is your workplace, whether you have a dedicated office or you’re still trying to convince yourself that the kitchen table counts as a desk.
This is where the terminology gets a bit messy, though.
Someone who works from home every day might quite reasonably say, “I work remotely.” An employer might advertise exactly the same arrangement as either a remote job or a WFH job.
So yes, there’s plenty of overlap.
The useful distinction is that remote working is the broader idea, while WFH tells you where that remote work takes place.
If you’ve seen the abbreviation in a vacancy and want to know more, our guide to what WFH means goes into more detail.
Hybrid working brings the employer’s workplace back into the picture.
You spend some of your working time remotely, often at home, and some of it at the office or another company workplace.
How much time?
That’s the question.
One employer might expect you in three days every week. Another might ask everyone to meet at the office once a fortnight. A third could leave individual teams to decide for themselves.
They can all describe their setup as hybrid.
If you’re applying for a hybrid job, then, the word itself only tells you so much. Our guide to what hybrid working means takes a closer look at the different ways companies can approach it.
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The easiest way to separate the three is to think about where you’re actually allowed or expected to work.
Simple enough on paper. Job adverts have a habit of making it less simple.
You might see “remote” at the top of an advert and then find an office attendance requirement buried halfway down. Or a company might proudly offer hybrid working, only for you to discover that means four office days and one at home.
The label is useful. The details are much more useful.
Imagine you live in Leeds and find a remote role based in London.
Perfect. The location doesn’t matter, right?
Maybe.
Scroll down and you might find that the employer wants everyone at its London office for a team meeting on the first Monday of every month. Suddenly, where you live matters quite a lot.
That’s why it pays to read beyond the location sitting underneath the job title.
Look out for phrases such as “fully remote”, “home-based”, “UK remote”, “occasional travel”, “office attendance required” and “within commuting distance”.
For hybrid jobs, look for actual numbers.
“Hybrid working” tells you very little on its own. “Two days a week in our Birmingham office” tells you exactly what your commute could look like.
The same goes for remote jobs. Check whether the advert mentions meetings, training days, client visits or other reasons you might need to travel.
If the details seem contradictory, don’t assume you’ve misunderstood them. The employer may simply have used “remote” rather loosely.
You’ve made it to the interview, but you still have no idea how often you’d actually see the office.
Ask.
You don’t need to dress the question up in corporate language either.
For a hybrid role, you could simply say:
Or:
For a supposedly remote job, try:
There’s another question that can tell you quite a lot:
Perhaps the company officially offers remote working but almost everyone on your prospective team goes into the office twice a week. You might want to know that before accepting the job.
And no, asking about the working arrangement doesn’t mean you’re trying to avoid work.
Your commute, travel costs and daily routine could all depend on the answer. Finding out now makes far more sense than discovering what “flexible hybrid” means after you’ve started.
Not automatically.
Your employer may still restrict where you can work, even if you never need to visit its office. Always check the job advert and ask if the location rules aren’t clear.
There’s a lot of overlap, and people often use the terms as if they mean the same thing.
Technically, WFH specifically means working from your home. Remote working is broader because the work can potentially happen in other locations too.
No. There’s no universal hybrid schedule.
One company might want you in several times a week while another only asks for occasional office attendance. Find out what “hybrid” means at the company you’re applying to rather than assuming.
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Remote, WFH and hybrid sound like three simple labels. The trouble is that two employers can use the same label and offer very different working weeks.
Remember the basic distinction: remote work can happen away from the usual workplace in different locations, WFH means working from home and hybrid involves both remote and workplace-based work.
After that, forget about trying to decode the terminology and find out what the employer actually does.
Read the full job advert. Look for office requirements and location restrictions. And if something still isn’t clear when you get to the interview, ask.
Found a role that sounds right for you? PurpleCV’s professional CV writers can help you put together an application that shows employers what you can bring to the role. Contact us today.
