Traveling Technician Job

Has anyone ever held this position before? If so could someone explain what the pros and cons were and how to better navigate to a better position. I just accepted this position as a PC Technician with 100% travel. They pay is okay and it gets my foot in the door but I also have a wife and kid. Any info? Thanks

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pinkydapimp

nava87 wrote: »

Has anyone ever held this position before? If so could someone explain what the pros and cons were and how to better navigate to a better position. I just accepted this position as a PC Technician with 100% travel. They pay is okay and it gets my foot in the door but I also have a wife and kid. Any info? Thanks

I have been doing a Field Engineering position for about 7 years. The benefits: if you like to travel like i do, then you will enjoy seeing different places. Also, you arent in the same place everyday so it is less monotonous as an office environment. Also, you get lots of exposure to different environments and infrastructures where you can see what works and what doesn't. i find that to be invaluable. also, i truly believe IT positions are moving to this type of position. So having that experience should prove helpful in the future. The cons: if you dislike traveling, it can be a drag. Also, can be difficult when you have a wife and kids. If your travel policy has you staying in subpar conditions or has a tight budget, i could see this being a pain as well. Luckily, our travel policy is pretty flexible.

All in all, i enjoy my time in the field and do not look forward to going back to an office environment. Good luck!

SteveLord

Can you elaborate? This isn't one of those contract gigs where you serve a 30mile radius and get paid like $30 per visit and pay your own gas is it?

nava87

SteveLord wrote: »

Can you elaborate? This isn't one of those contract gigs where you serve a 30mile radius and get paid like $30 per visit and pay your own gas is it?

No it's actually with a major health care company. They pay for plane, hotel and rental car. They also reimburse you on the food you eat. It pays about $17/hr and I work 40hr/week. Leave town on monday to whatever location and come home friday and then do the same thing again on monday.

nava87

pinkydapimp wrote: »

All in all, i enjoy my time in the field and do not look forward to going back to an office environment. Good luck!

How often are you in the field? I think I'll be on a plane at least twice a week (not a big fan of flying

)

pinkydapimp

nava87 wrote: »

How often are you in the field? I think I'll be on a plane at least twice a week (not a big fan of flying )

My job is 100% travel as well. So im flying at least twice a week on average. Do you get to keep your airline and hotel miles/points? That is a huge perk. Free vacations!!

nava87

pinkydapimp wrote: »

My job is 100% travel as well. So im flying at least twice a week on average. Do you get to keep your airline and hotel miles/points? That is a huge perk. Free vacations!!

Yes I do. I dont know much about them but it seems exciting.

N2IT

I had a former employee who did contract work for Dell for 8 dollars an hour. He had to go into shady areas and fix G620's and D series laptops. He said it sucked bad.

Glad yours is a lot different. Do you do mostly break fix type work or deploy servers and routers?

nava87

N2IT wrote: »

I had a former employee who did contract work for Dell for 8 dollars an hour. He had to go into shady areas and fix G620's and D series laptops. He said it sucked bad.

Glad yours is a lot different. Do you do mostly break fix type work or deploy servers and routers?

My job as I was told will be to upgrade computer systems or to install new computer systems. I would like to know how I could transition into the networking area with this opportunity. If you have any suggestions I would appreciate it.

nava87

pinkydapimp wrote: »

My job is 100% travel as well.

Do you mind if I ask what specialty you are in with the field engineer? (help desk, networking, etc)

pinkydapimp

nava87 wrote: »

Do you mind if I ask what specialty you are in with the field engineer? (help desk, networking, etc)

My job is a mixture of everything. I work helping companies implement enterprise software. So essentially, its a cross between desktop, network, server support and consulting/project management. For me, this experience gives me the opportunity to break into many different fields.

Whether it will allow you to break into networking really depends on he exposure you will have at this job. Hopefully you get some exposure to it and it allows you to move on.

To maximize your frequent flyer miles and points go over to the flyertalk forums. Good info over there.

fbsurfing

My name is Frank. I have an extensive background in Systems (Microsoft Server, Exchange, Active Directory) and Networking (OSI 1-4). I want to find a position travelling and be base out of Nashville, Tn. preferably. Can anyone help me or tell me where to start. Thanks.

pinkydapimp

fbsurfing wrote: »

My name is Frank. I have an extensive background in Systems (Microsoft Server, Exchange, Active Directory) and Networking (OSI 1-4). I want to find a position travelling and be base out of Nashville, Tn. preferably. Can anyone help me or tell me where to start. Thanks.

look for jobs with similar titles as: field engineer, systems engineer, sales engineer, solutions architect, etc. Plenty of hardware and software out there that requires a customer facing role. Actually i may have something for you. PM me your resume. Good luck!