Remote Positions/Next Steps

adam220891

I know this has been discussed before, but I feel like I'm in a position that's new to me and I'm struggling to cope with it. I'll try to keep my thoughts clear/concise.

Background:
-Graduated from CC with AAS in IT in December 2013; accepted first job a few days after and stayed until August 2015
-Went to new role; significant pay jump and strictly networking. Great experience and no complaints
-Earned BS at WGU in IT Security during my time at this position
-Left in April 2017 to relocate to a warmer climate; significant pay bump

Current Situation:
-Not overly happy at new job after 1.5 years
-Much bigger organization (3,000) and no structure, workflow procedure, ITIL compliance, etc.
-Working to secure training/development for colleagues, fix up years of neglect, etc.
-Job is fairly flexible with commute and pay is better (but not good enough) than other opportunities
-Not many openings in current market

Desire:
-Happy with location, but think I'd rather go further south; not 100% on any specific location but have a short list
-Can try and find jobs in the city of choice and move when I do but honestly struggling with the idea of a strict 8-5 cubicle position; did not get job offering 15k more after it was clear I was not up for the commute and in-office experience in the current market I live in
-Degree is in security; familiar with NGFWs, ISE, and threat-hunting (latter due to certification only; not on the job). But my bread/butter skill set is networking (including voice, LAN/WAN, firewalls, etc.)

What's the way to deal with finding a job that's 100% remote or flexible? I did not really know this position was until I started. I'm all about it now, and it's become a pain point for me. I've brought it up on a few interviews but it's not gone over well. I've had a few interviews with the CDWs of the world, but that sort of contract-to-hire work seems high stress and not what I'm looking for. My girlfriend works from home 100% (with a decent amount if travel required however) and is able to move anywhere, but admittedly the kind of cities we are targeting won't offer a ton of job opportunities (or if they do, it's a lengthy commute and not something I could tolerate 5 days a week).

I know I'm asking for a unicorn, but is there a way to narrow the search? I'm at the point where I would take a sacrifice in pay for the flexibility, and even more so if the position was very low stress. As a baseline, I am looking at around $100k for a "regular" in-person full time job. I would have no issue working at a lower rate (like $85k) as a trade-off for the work environment I seek.

For reference, we are looking at locations like Ana Maria Island and Cape Coral. They aren't terribly far from Sarasota and Fort Myers, but I don't think I'm up for commuting in the office 5 days a week. I don't mind a couple of days; I'm productive in different ways when in the office vs. remote. But I'm over having to beg to work half the day from home due to a lunchtime dentist appointment or sitting in traffic for an hour each way every single day. I know - I'm soft. I've come to terms.

I search for things like 'remote network engineer' but most of the jobs are actually in-person. I could focus on the locations I'd live near and then hope we can reach a flexible arrangement, but there's dozens of jobs on that search vs. thousands country-wide. I really don't mind in-person; I'm jut not looking for it 5 days a week. But I would also do 100% remote. I want to search efficiently but not limit my options.

I'd appreciate any input.

AtlasSolutionsPlus

What is your current job description?

TechGromit

So let me get this straight. You have less them 5 years experience, wants a job that pays 100k+, that's 100% remote, in addition to a cheaper area to live like Florida. Well I for one don't think your asking for enough, why not demand 18 weeks vacation a year and huge bonuses, because you after all deserve it.

paul78

adam220891 wrote: »

.....
What's the way to deal with finding a job that's 100% remote or flexible?
.....
I know I'm asking for a unicorn, but is there a way to narrow the search?

There's no particular secret way to do it. The best way is to know someone. A company that's willing to hire someone that's remote is more likely to rely on a referral. At least, that was true when I was building remote teams.

Your skillset is somewhat generic so for every remote job out there, there's probably 10x more people that would apply for it.

A couple of years back when I wanted to expand a couple of the teams quickly, I opted for remote teams and as I recall, we probably got about 100-200 resumes for every open position. These were mostly software engineering positions so I imagine that for networking roles - it would be similar if not more competitive.

Usually though - we ended hiring only people that were referred to us.

scaredoftests

My husband works remote, has to do some travel. He didn't start that way, he worked for it. I think it was about 12 or so years before he got into that type of remote work. Pay your dues first.

EANx

So you have less than five years of experience, haven't stayed at a place more than 20 months and you want remote work or 100k, in a state where the employers are known to try to pay staff with "sunshine"? I suppose 100k is possible depending on the location but it's one of those where the trade-off would probably be a much-higher cost of living or a horrible commute. As others have said, the best way to get a remote job is "to know a guy."

adam220891

I appreciate the replies. I didn't think the replies would be overly supportive, so expectations have been met.

I don't see the issue with the salary. I left my first job to go from $34k to $57k. I took this one at $75k and all parties realized after a year that wasn't exactly fair compensation for job responsibilities + skills offered. We've made strides, but haven't fixed it entirely (I should be in the $90s shortly as I am supposed promoted to Sr. Engineer but I don't have total faith). Money alone won't, we have deeper issues that won't be resolved unless several people saw their time end here. So, what I'm saying is the salary I'm seeking isn't unreasonable in my eyes. I can understand that remote work will pay less, or I'll pay a 'sunshine tax' if I move down that way (I also live in South Carolina now, which isn't exactly a high paying area). I think I was fairly transparent on that in the beginning of the thread, though.

I have never been able to stay anywhere that long because it didn't make financial sense.

Jobs:
1. Start has Jr. Network Admin - really just JoAT grind work at the beginning. Awesome experience. MSP was let go, I was the only guy that pursued Cisco certifications (on my own dime) and started handling the switches/firewalls/etc, (including 3AM DR situation). Manager recognized the pay gap, company would not budge. Left for over $20k raise. Why stay?

2. Pure network job. Lots of work setting up new ASAs, moving dozens of tunnels, adding UCS chassis + SAN zoning, introducing BGP for routing convergence, taking over the CUBE and all call related issues. I left for an opportunity in an area I wanted to live in and for higher pay. They offered to match the day I put my notice in, but it was equally about the new location

3. This job...kind of sucks. Hired remotely, came down and realized entire department all works at a small satellite office (not where I work) and knows each other from a previous job (this department is new)
-I show up to the campus (1300+ users here; 3k+ globally) to find there's never been a network person here. Network runs sometimes go directly into the switch. Labeling is total crap. No diagrams or documentation or tracking of IPs; had to get all of that done
-20 hour days replacing 10 year old switch stacks; installing cable management because there was none; rack space didn't account for it so there was another hurdle
-Migrating to Data Center with new NGFW vendor, so had to sort a decade of junk from all the office firewalls and consolidate. Phasing out the old web proxy solution and replacing VPN solution in one go with new MFA + cert authentication
-Standing up new MPLS network so all the routing is changing. We've also opened several offices during this time
-Only person sorting out Cisco ISE (works well now; lots of growing pains and long days fixing things your remote guy breaks but doesn't care since he's not answering the end users yelling at you)
-No monitoring; had to justify NetFlow server and get it set up; still working on SNMP server
-I could go on and on. The point is the hours are long here and we have no vision. The help desk ticketing solution is a joke and there is no KB. Constantly getting tickets without basic info (when did the problem start? What's the IP address?). I'm mentally checked out.

The good thing is I've learned a ton. It's been a great experience. I do enjoy the flexibility. I've made documentation and got approval for training + certification reimbursements for our techs. Hired a jr. network guy as well. So, I'm able to get a lot done without showing up every day. I don't feel bad either. Just drove back 5 hours after spending the weekend in the data center. I don't think I can do this forever though. It's frustrating and stressful.

It's not really just money. I don't need stress. There's plenty of VARs that pay $130k+ for ISE folks to someone with a specialty in some capacity. I'm not interested in tracking billable hours and dedicating my life to one specific technology (not yet, anyway).

In my opinion, we're all trading our time for money. You need to decide what you want and go get it. I see these options:
-High pay but high stress - You decide if this is for you (your financial situation might help you make the decision)
-Average pay/stress and no perks - Probably the most common; it's where I've been. Then I experienced perks and flexibility and desire that
-Average pay/stress but great perks - This is a good spot to be. It's where I want to live. My current job was like this until I decided I wanted to be the difference maker. The experience has been great, but now it's high stress and sightly above average pay. Why live in this range? Might as well go high stress/high pay, right?
-Low pay/stress - Nothing wrong with this if you can afford it. Rich doesn't always mean money
-Low pay but high stress - Don't live in this zone. You deserve better. Maybe it's necessary for a short stint (unexpected layoff, new to industry, etc.) but this isn't a permanent solution

I'll just keep on looking. I need to settle on an area and then target jobs there. Can't move somewhere where there isn't a job if I haven't found something remote. I don't have children or a mortgage, and my girlfriend is great and on the same page, so maybe I have more flexibility on this than the average person

I'll just add that my girlfriend hated her job. It paid higher than her last one, but she didn't enjoy it. She was found on LinkedIn and now works for an awesome company who paid her $15k more and she works from home entirely. If you're patient and willing to change jobs, you can land that awesome opportunity. I'm unhappy where I'm at and not going to be the disgruntled guy who sees a decade go by unfulfilled. It's a new feeling for me but I hope I can overcome.

paul78

adam220891 wrote: »

... So, what I'm saying is the salary I'm seeking isn't unreasonable in my eyes. I can understand that remote work will pay less, or I'll pay a 'sunshine tax' if I move down that way (I also live in South Carolina now, which isn't exactly a high paying area).

I don't believe that I said that. Remote work doesn't equate less compensation. It's just that the supply is higher so you have to compete with a bigger pool.

adam220891 wrote: »

If you're patient and willing to change jobs, you can land that awesome opportunity. I'm unhappy where I'm at and not going to be the disgruntled guy who sees a decade go by unfulfilled. It's a new feeling for me but I hope I can overcome.

Seems like you have the right idea. A lot of it will be patience and perseverance. But I meant what I said, it really does help to get out there and network. Referrals have always been the best way for me to find good opportunities.