Meet Paige Bennett - A Senior Design Researcher at Dropbox
Below is an article originally written by PowerToFly Partner Dropbox. Go to Dropbox's Page on PowerToFly to see their open positions and learn more.
Q: What is your name, what office do you work out of and how long have you been at Dropbox?
A: My name is Paige Bennett, I work out of San Francisco and I started working at Dropbox February 2018.
Q: What is your current role at Dropbox?
A: I'm a Senior Design Researcher. I create and manage research projects for the Customer Growth team. My job is to understand the questions we are trying to answer and create research that can answer those questions, all in an effort to design the best experience for our customers.
Q: What is something that you have done/accomplished at Dropbox that you're proud of?
A: I am brand new to Dropbox, but on my second week, I jumped in and joined the Tuck Shop hack week team. I didn't know anyone on the team, so it could have been intimidating, but I looked at it as an opportunity to meet new people, learn about a part of our company that is so important and work on a project that touches many people.
Q: What are your hobbies? or what can we find you doing on the weekends?
A: I am a new mom, so much of my weekend is spent with my nine-month old in the park, strolling around our neighborhood or enjoying San Francisco treats like the California Academy of Sciences.
Q: What does feminist energy mean to you?
A: Feminist energy means that I get to exercise my strength as a woman and advocate for creating opportunities for other women. It means fighting for, speaking up for and supporting women. It also means understanding that I am privileged and am speaking from a privileged place. Therefore, I need to listen and better understand how I can support those who are not in places of privilege.
Q: Are there any present-day inspirational Women figures in your life?
A: I'm inspired by women who are creating space and resources for other women to grow and thrive. I'm especially inspired by the number of mothers in tech that have been speaking out. Mothers who are not ashamed of their drive to succeed and recognize that it's not a choice between being a good mother and being a badass at work. Some women that I've currently been inspired by Sara Mauskopf (co-founder of Winnie), Susan Fowler (who spoke up about the abuse she endured at Uber) and Roxane Gay (author of Bad Feminist).
Q: Do you have any thoughts/suggestions on how we can better celebrate Women throughout the year
A: Celebrating women is also about providing the resources and support for women to thrive. It can't be enough for us to want women to grow, thrive and lead in the workplace. We have to create the resources in order for them to be supported in this.
Q: What is something interesting about you that not a lot of people know?
A: I lived and worked in the Middle East for three years as the only woman in my company. I would often work with men who had never worked with a woman before (not an exaggeration). I remember vividly coming into a meeting and having a man look at me and say, "I've never worked with a woman. Will I have to work with you?" My response, "yes, you will. Let's get started." It taught me to call upon a strength that I didn't know I had and prepared me for the strength I would need as a working mother in tech.
In this role, I was trained in hostage negotiation. Not really a skill I get to use on a regular basis (thankfully).
Paige with her son at Point Reyes, CA
The Best High-Paying Remote Jobs
We—we being the internet in general, as well as PowerToFly specifically—often talk about remote work as this glorious thing: you can find professional fulfillment, friendly co-workers, and career growth potential from the comfort of your own home. All while collecting a check!
But where should you look if you want that check to be as big as possible?
Start with this guide to the best high-paying remote jobs. These career choices (and the example companies hiring for them) don't skimp out on paying remote workers well, and you'll still get all the work-from-home flexibility you're looking for. I've linked to specific job posts for each category below, but also look through the 300+ remote jobs on PowerToFly's always-updated remote job board for more.
As you apply and interview, keep these work-from-home interview questions in mind. If you find yourself with a salary offer that's good, but not quite as good as it could be, reference these salary negotiation tips for remote workers to advocate for what you deserve. And when you get the job with a great salary, make sure your home office is set up for success. And then send me a note to tell me how you're doing!
1. Senior Software Engineer
Business woman using laptop
Who It's Good For: Anyone who's a pro in programming languages (Java, Javascript, C++, Python, and SQL, to start, among others) and knows how to drive the development of products. If you like complex engineering challenges, have experience working with different systems and products, and have the discipline to program without a PM physically hovering over you (Slack hovering's allowed, though), this is for you.
Sound Like You? Check Out: Sr. Principal Software Engineer at Dell, Senior Front End Software Engineer at Plectica, Senior Software Engineer at CloudBees
Why You Can Do It Remotely: Like most heads-down-and-create work, developing software and programming are best done with minimal distractions. You'll collaborate with your team for check-ins and bug fixes, but you'll be able to focus on your project work from a home office.
Average Annual Salary: $131,875
2. User Experience Researcher Manager
Young adult woman working with laptop at mobile app
Who It's Good For: Proven researchers who know how to understand the behaviors and motivations of customers through feedback and observation, who have experience synthesizing insights into a brand story, and who have managed teams.
Sound Like You? Check Out: Senior Research Operations Program Manager at Zapier.
Why You Can Do It Remotely: As UX researcher Lindsey Redinger explains in her helpful Medium post, remote research allows companies to reach users all over the world, not just within driving distance to their headquarters, and can be cheaper for companies and easier for participants.
Average Annual Salary: $105,810
3. Senior Product Designer
Female graphic designer smiling at desk in office
Who It's Good For: Creatives with technical chops who like the challenges of evolving and improving the production of current products, leading designers, and collaborating with other parts of the business.
Sound Like You? Check Out: Senior Product Designer at SeatGeek.
Why You Can Do It Remotely: While design teams definitely need to share lots of feedback, there's technology out there to make that easy. The Help Scout design team has shared their favorite tools and tricks to collaborate remotely, which includes recording daily videos of new designs to explain features and ideas in a way a photo file just can't express. (They're also hiring! Check out open Help Scout jobs here).
Average Annual Salary: $107,555
4. Senior Security Analyst
Developing Concentrated programmer reading computer codes Development Website design and coding technologies.
Who It's Good For: Thoughtful, vigilant thinkers who enjoy identifying and fixing gaps in a company's security posture, including through ethnical hacking (hacking a company's system before outsiders can, and addressing the weak points found) and incident response (containing the negative effects of a system breach or attack).
Sound Like You? Check Out: Data Protection Security Analyst at Deloitte.
Why You Can Do It Remotely: Not all security analyst positions are remote-friendly; sometimes they require working with very sensitive data that can be compromised if taken off-site or accessed from a VPN. But with the right data processing policies—like using a privacy filter over your laptop, only using secured wifi, and encrypting your data, all suggested by WebARX security's all-remote team—remote work as a security analyst is definitely possible.
Average Annual Salary: $108,463
5. Technical Project Manager
A strong wifi connection makes for a strong relationship
Who It's Good For: Tech-friendly jack-of-all-trades with a sweet spot for spreadsheets and other organization tools.
Sound Like You? Check Out: Technical Project Manager at Avaaz.
Why You Can Do It Remotely: Project management can sometimes be like herding cats, but you don't need to be in the same room as your feline team members in order to direct them around. With collaborative software (and a highly organized home office, like PM pro Patrice Embry recommends), you can PM the most complicated of projects from wherever you're located.
Average Annual Salary: $95,129
Other Industries
Other high-paying remote-friendly jobs include certain roles in healthcare (like nurse practitioners and psychologists, who can check in with patients via video conferencing and phone calls), app developers for both iOS and Android products, actuaries and tax accountants, and data scientists.
And remember that even jobs that don't seem remote-friendly at first, could possibly be done from home or on the road. If you find a well-paying, exciting job that doesn't offer remote work immediately, it might be worth negotiating a more flexible schedule with a 1-2 day work-from-home option. Both you and the company can see what remote work actually looks like in action, and if it goes well, you can make a pitch to transition to remote work full time.
Other resources you may want to check out in your quest for meaningful, well-paid remote work:
6 Programs You Should Download Right Now if You Work Remotely
Productivity Tips for Remote Workers
Home Office Design Tips for Remote Workers
