Which certs to aquire?

broken73 · February 2014

This may seem like a pipe dream, but I know anything is possible. My ultimate goal is to work remotely from a sailboat via the internet in about 5+ years. I'm currently a DOD contractor and making the transition into the IT industry. I have three more certs to go for my MCSA.
My question is which IT field + certs would provide me the best opportunity to achieve my goal? I've heard database administrator, network admininistrator, and security. My experience to date revolves around 19 years of building and troubleshooting hardware and software as well as maintaining a home network. My current schedule is to finish Sec +, followed by CCNA then 640, 642, and 646 fo rmy MCSA. I'm leaning towards security, but am not sure. I just like working with computers and want a job working with computers remotely as in Mexico or from a sailboat. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Dan

cyberguypr · February 2014

I gotta say, most unusual goal I've seen here in a while.

linuxlover · February 2014

The only remote positions I've heard about were in Support. If you want to work from a boat perhaps you should be looking at self-employment.

Asif Dasl · February 2014

Not sure how realistic a goal it is, A) boats are expensive

you are in the water where there is little internet coverage and finally C) remote jobs don't pay as much as onsite jobs. But hey, you'd probably laugh off some of my goals too.

As for certs I think you are on the right track - testing the waters (pun intended

) with a little Cisco and a little Microsoft and see what you like best. MTAs are not a good guideline how Microsoft is IMO. So all you have to do is get started!

broken73 · February 2014

I had a friend tell me that if you're going to dream, dream big. My youngest child graduates in about 4 yrs. The Mrs and I want to head for the southern latitudes and will need additional income to augment my military retirement pay. Desktop support is my strong point, but I don't think that will meet my goal. I'm stepping up my effort to learn more and gain the certifications so that I can work in that field (whichever it may be) for at least 5 yrs before attempting to work remotely.

srabiee · February 2014

Win the lottery. Problem solved.

Asif Dasl · February 2014

@broken73 - Have you thought of the tax issues of this? What country would you be in and would you get taxed twice in the US and say Mexico? You'll need to plan it out fully - in detail - if you wanted to move country and earn money on top of your pension. Check that link anyways, it's all about retirement havens and living large with less money.

broken73 · February 2014

@Asif,
You have valid points. While I agree that taxes on income earned abroad is important I haven't spent too much time researching it yet. I briefly had a subscription to the International Living that you referred me to. They have great information.

My primary concern is figuring out which IT cert path I should be working towards that will allow me to work remotely. Ultimately, I will probably end up freelancing. Freelancing in what is the mystery. I'm still looking for opinions based on experience.

Jon_Cisco · February 2014

With a goal like that I would think you need to start a business that is run off the internet.
You can do the basic management from your remote location and rely on other services for any deliverable that are required.

Perhaps programming video games or something along that line.
It's not easy to find somebody else to pay you to work remotely on a boat.

Good Luck

unfbilly11 · February 2014

Somebody once told me never to tell anyone your dreams because they'll always come back with 10,000 reasons why it's stupid.

Anyways, it may be very difficult but if that's what you want to do, then I say go for it. Obviously, doing your research on it is a no-brainer. I think that you'll have the best luck in programming though...maybe some internet programming. Besides desktop support, I very rarely see jobs that are 100% work from home (outside of programming).

SweenMachine · February 2014

I still think the biggest issue will be internet. Most internet providers don't cover, oh lets say, the entire pacific ocean.. satalite internet would be spotty as well. If I was doing a sailboat business, I would do some form of retail.. my friend has a substantial amazon business, and they handle all his warehousing. You can do the entire operation from a sailboat, and internet can be spotty because you are never relying on a connection to be stable..

major problem is; its hard to predict tech 5 years in advance..

I mean, 7 years ago, if you said my goal in 5 years is to be on a sailboat, and someone told you 'phone apps" you'd be on that sailboat right now, programming apps and banking.. haha

-scott

broken73 · February 2014

@unfbilly,
Thanks for your input. I appreciate it. Unfortunately, you're right about the 10,000 reasons.

broken73 · February 2014

Scott,
I agree that internet connectivity is paramount and satellite internet is very expensive. Most islands have internet though. I realize there are no simple answers. Otherwise, everyone would be doing it.

So far, I'm hearing programming and retail. I appreciate everyone's input. Any other ideas?

sh run · February 2014

I have a friend who is a programmer and he has worked from home for several years now. He lives in CA but is moving to Iowa to be near family, and of course he is completely free to do that and retain his current job because it is 100% remote. He makes a lot of money, too. I'm sure he could easily work from a sailboat as long as the boat had Internet connectivity, but it appears to be pretty expensive. Maybe you could compromise and work from your sailboat while docked and in range of LTE/4G or dockside WiFi, then hit the ocean over the weekend and move on to another port? Probably also depends on your work schedule - if you're just required to put in a certain # of hours during the week you can put that time in in chunks perhaps - work four 10's, for example.

Anyway, sounds like a fun and worthwhile goal! Best of luck to you, and just remember, all else being equal, your passion and drive will determine your level of success.

Cert Poor · February 2014

* US Navy has boats and IT specialties, but probably not what you're looking for.
* Cruise ships most likely have on-board IT staff, but probably not what you're looking for.

Both of those options are not anywhere near the freedom of owning your own boat and doing your thing -- something I would imagine a retired person could do.

But if you truly want to WORK on a boat and not considering Navy or cruise ships, I second the programming/developer route. Heck, the Flappy Bird creator allegedly brought in $50,000 per day with a stupid app. I agree with maritime Internet connectivity being extremely expensive. It can be maybe $4/Megabyte or more and the throughput is very slow. There's not a lot you can do remotely via satellite that is bandwidth-intensive, so traditional VPN and RDP might be impossible.

Almost need to be your own boss and write code or something.

Or postpone the sailboat dream till retirement. Work hard now, save money, then retire early and play with boats.

broken73 · February 2014

@sh run,
Thanks for your input. Your explanation is pretty much what I was envisioning for dealing with connectivity. That sounds like a very viable solution.

broken73 · February 2014

@Cert Poor,
I recently retired from the Navy after 20 yrs. I've had my share of time at sea on a ship and satellite internet.
It looks like programming might be the best way to go for the flexibility I'm looking for. Thank you for your input.

shodown · February 2014

IMARSAT with 64K back in the day. When we finally got EHF onboard it was great. Then in 2006 we had 3T1's and a E1's worth of bandwidth, but it was 5500 people sharing it so it sucked. Don't miss those days one bit.

You can get by with programing or any jobs that let you do the majority of the work over CLI. I use to log into other ships routers and fix them over 64K connections back in the day. So linux jobs, some cisco and programming would be the way to go if your planning on being away.

N2IT · March 2014

Most freelance work is around development I do see proposal writing requested sometimes. I just don't see desktop support being that realistic on a boat, doesn't make sense. I hope you get your dream though it sounds very nice!

Which certs to aquire?

Comments