Working Remotely?

I know that we all dream of it, but I know it isn't always practical. I'm just getting started in the IT field and will complete my A+ this week. I do find myself interested in Networking/System Administration, but equally interested in learning coding and web development. At this point, I'm just trying to look for whatever opportunities come my way.

I'm from the Boston, MA area (30 minutes north in NH). Ultimately, I would really like to move north closer to the White Mountain Region. There are very few systems administration jobs in that area. I was thinking that perhaps web development might be an option for me. I know that there is heavy competition from people with low cost of living in other countries. That being said, I am within a driving distance to Boston, MA, so I could visit clients or work on-site 2 days per week without going crazy. I think that being within driving distance to a major city and being a native English speaker would be worth something.

I know that many of the people on here are in help desk, system administration, infosec, and networking positions, but I have also seen many people list backgrounds in programming and web development. Any ideas on this and what has worked for you in the past? The only other thing that I have to mention is that I am 25 years old and changing careers. So, I would likely be looking for a help desk position for a few years either way, so I have the option to go either direction. I can learn web development in my spare time until I make the final decision.

Any thoughts?

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Comments

NetworkVeteran

SteveFT wrote: »

I know that we all dream of it, but I know it isn't always practical.

If you're good at your field, it's rather easy to achieve in most roles. I have plenty of colleagues who work-from-home 95% of the time, even at large companies with policies forbidding such. My experience is that companies prefer employees to come to the office 4 days/week unless/until they've proven they're above-average performers who can work independently.

--chris--

I have no IT field experience, but I have two friends that work in IT. One works from home 4/5 days a week, and only shows up for a weekly meeting as a requirement. He said its pretty common if you have the know how and perform well. He does project managment on accounting software and a tiny bit of DB admin.

The other is a IT consultant/outside IT personnel. He remotes in from the office they work out of 90% of the time, and does very little on site work. He said he would remote in from home, but with 2 little kids and a stay at home wife....that doesn't work.

I would say its very possible, but id stay within an hour or so of anywhere you want to work just in case you need to get on site for whatever reason. Im sure you could do contract work for someone, located anywhere in the world...but id rather be somewhat near my employer if it was a full time gig.

gunbunnysoulja

I work from home and absolutely love it. My DoD contracting company created the position for me when I moved to FL. Best thing that ever happened to me.

--chris--

gunbunnysoulja wrote: »

I work from home and absolutely love it. My DoD contracting company created the position for me when I moved to FL. Best thing that ever happened to me.

Congrats you lucky bastard

Renewed

I haven't worked remotely full-time but have done a lot of PT remote work. Good stuff, but you NEED to be disciplined and it's definitely not for everyone IMO. It can also be as stressful as on-site at times as well depending on what you're doing.