How Arthur Landim Costa landed a remote job at Pythonic

Reading and listening to inspiring stories can provide the fuel you need to follow a similar journey. That's why, we’re sharing stories of people who landed international opportunities with Olby’s support. 

Today's story follows Arthur Landim Costa, a tech wizard and senior software engineer passionate about remote work and global collaborations. As the CTO of Elephant and a Senior Software Engineer at Pythonic, he has a wealth of experience working with international companies and a lot of things to share. In our conversation, he discusses his experience as a remote developer and provides tips for individuals seeking remote job opportunities. 

Get ready to be inspired and take your career to new heights with Arthur Landim Costa. 

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Tell me about the journey to working in tech

It all started when I was uncertain about whether to pursue law or computer science during my time in college. But my father was also a programmer, so that helped me make a choice. Even though I had no prior experience with programming, having someone in the field already guided me in that direction.

So I went to college, graduated in 2007, and even pursued a master's degree initially. However, I eventually decided to drop out of the master's program and have been working ever since, with 22 years of experience now.

So, you started working in Brazil, right?

Yes, I began my career in Brazil, where I embarked on internships at local companies associated with teachers. Among these opportunities, I had the privilege of working for a really good research and development company called Instituto Atlântico. I worked there for ten years and I was able to work with different technologies and different projects. I worked with embedded C, Java, C#, etc. 

That's when I discovered my affinity for backend development. Additionally, over there I had my first contact with international clients, working on projects for HP. And I had the opportunity to visit clients, so it was my first contact with people from other countries.

Can you share a little bit about the transition from working in Brazil to joining an international company? How was the experience, and how did you secure your first position?

The transition occurred when my wife had to relocate to the southern part of the country due to a job opportunity at Banco do Brasil. As my previous position required in-person work, I had to find an alternative. I took the opportunity to look for remote work options with foreign companies since I already had contacts with people abroad.

Watch the entire conversation (in Portuguese):

So, that transition wasn't too challenging for you, correct? You were already prepared...

Yes, I was prepared to work in international jobs. However, I wasn't fully prepared for the entire selection process, particularly the aspects specific to remote work, which differ from the hiring process in Brazil. But in this case, I was lucky because it was a referral. So at first, I didn't have to go through all that difficulty of the process. 

Now, I want you to talk a little bit about how you came to know Olby. 

I always had a philosophy of maintaining good connections with recruiters. While some people may find it annoying when recruiters reach out, I like to maintain a friendly relationship with them.

One day as I was browsing Twitter, I came across a message from Marília mentioning a job opening that perfectly matched my profile. So I reached out and said “I'm here, I'm the one for the job!”

From that point, the selection process at Olby commenced, and it went smoothly. That's when I saw the difference between Olby and other companies because Olby only recommended me for positions that were truly suitable for my profile. 

They showed genuine concern for my career trajectory, never proposing random roles simply to fill a position. Instead, they offered a position that made sense for the career path I was following. So, through the meetings I had with Olby, I saw that they really had this concern about my preferences.

And what did you think of the selective process at Olby? The interviews and technical assessments?

I found it to be quite different from what I was used to, you know? Usually, we have a meeting with a recruiter just to outline the profile, but at Olby, it went beyond that. I had a technical meeting with a few people to understand how well my career path aligned with the company's requirements. There were also mock interviews, which I found very interesting. 

In addition, they also evaluated my LinkedIn to see if it was well-crafted, and we know that's very important, especially when presenting yourself to a foreign company. So it went beyond what I imagined. It was more than just finding a good candidate and wanting to place them in a position, but rather working with a good candidate to truly make them stand out in this process.

Now that you're living a reality that many people still dream of—working remotely and earning in dollars—can you discuss how remote work has influenced your quality of life? What differences do you perceive compared to when you worked locally? Lastly, do you have any tips or insights to share with someone currently seeking a similar position?

Working remotely allows me greater flexibility with my time, although I see remote work as being in the office at home. So, for me, I like to stick to schedules, but we have the flexibility to deal with any issues that arise, to be able to step away if needed.

In particular, working for a company where everyone is remote is crucial to me. This ensures that everyone respects and embraces this flexibility. And it's something I always made clear to Olby and everyone else: I only work for companies where everyone is working remotely. I don't want to work for a company that has an office and I'll be the person left out of all the decisions.

The dynamics and communication within an office are different and often leave remote people out. So, if everyone is remote, I see that I can participate in the company, and participate in decisions.

And this flexibility also allows me to take care of my personal life, my cats, my house, and my wife. For instance, I can easily go to the gym. 

Of course, dealing with different time zones can sometimes pose challenges. Some meetings may coincide with lunchtime, which can be a bit annoying, but there are also some advantages.

For example, since I'm ahead of California in terms of the time difference, I can calmly do some releases in the morning without disturbing anyone. So we can use the time zone difference to our advantage, cutting the need to work at midnight just to do a deployment.

 Great tip!

For those who are starting to look for remote jobs, the first tip I would give is to imagine yourself as a company that is selling a service. Show results on your LinkedIn profile. 

Companies want to see not just a programmer, but a programmer who can see what they're doing and the impact and results for the company. We don't have much of a culture of self-promotion here in Brazil. We tend to be humble, but abroad, you have to highlight your results. So knowing how to sell yourself and understanding the impact of what you do on the company's results is very important. 

Practice interviews a lot. Don't just apply for positions that you're interested in, but also take tests and apply for positions that you're not as interested in, because, at the beginning, you'll see that legacy.

Interviewing is a lot like muscle memory. You have to keep working on it, working on it. When you come back to it, you may be a bit rusty, but you'll catch up quickly too.

Mastering the interview process is just like any other skill, and you have to work on both the interview and live coding parts. In the end, part of the job is actively looking for jobs. 

To wrap up, I want you to share your social media for anyone watching to follow.

If anyone wants to follow me on Instagram, @eusouarthur.dev. You can also find me on TikTok.

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Want to see your story told here? Apply to Olby today, maybe you'll have your international remote job sooner than you think. At Olby, we connect Brazilian people to international and remote opportunities that pay in dollars.

At Olby, we also provide you with training sessions for interviews to boost your chances of success during an international selective process. And as we understand the importance of having a solid resume, we offer profile reviews to our talent. This will help you stand out to potential employers and increase your chances of landing your global career. Join Olby today!