Submitted by grey_jedi in AskRaddle

I'm trying to find a way to work remotely so that I have more time in the day to spend with family/friends instead of commuting for 2 hours a day and I would be able to take care of my living space while I'm on the clock instead of after getting home.

I currently work in IT in an entry-to-mid level position with a couple years of experience.

I see 2 potential paths towards fully remote work:

  1. Get IT certifications in IT security (Net+, Sec+, Pentest+, eCPPTv2, OSCP) and move towards network-based pentesting over the next 2-3 years. Maybe move onto exploit development a few years later.

  2. Go back to school while working to finish my B.S. in Computer Science over the next 3-4 years and do some sort of software development after I graduate. I can likely go to school for free, or nearly free, due to extenuating circumstances

Any thoughts on these paths? Modifications you would make to either? Any paths I might be overlooking?

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kore wrote

given that your current field probably provides a decent salary i would also try to save as much money as possible. less consumerist lifestyle, learn to cook, learn self sufficient skills/ other hobbies that create value. fwiw if youre already in IT you might just be able to self study CS or do a bootcamp for a year and get a job instead of having to finish an undergrad degree. id personally recommend university of helsinkis full stack open. good luck, i am striving for this as well

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LostYonder wrote

I do not know the IT field at all, but if you can go to school for free, I'd opt for the B.S. degree - more possibilities down the road to diversify your career path.

I've been working remotely the past year and a half - it has made a world of difference in my general well being. While there are some sacrifices (like sociality) they are made up in other areas. I have much more time and energy to focus on home projects, my own interests and hobbies, and am even more productive with my work.

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plasticspoon wrote

Your current IT job can't be moved to being a from-home job?

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grey_jedi OP wrote

I wish. I work for a big corporation known for selling entire groceries . Head of the company is adamant that we return to working in the office full-time soon.

I need to find a new job if I want to work from home 100% of the time.

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grey_jedi OP wrote

I'm definitely considering going back to school. IT, unfortunately, has a tendency to be terrible for work-life balance, at least with Support and Sys Admin stuff.

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of work or field are you in that allows you to work from home?

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grey_jedi OP wrote

I'm vastly underpaid in my current job based on where I live. My rent, insurance, bills, and groceries take about 90% of my monthly income, so it's difficult to save :(

Thanks for the suggestion with University of Helsinki. I'll check out their program.

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moonlune wrote

Depending on where you live, there may be laws that would help you get education while still getting a salary (paid by your employer).

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loukanikos wrote

Just for what it's worth, I work as a developer and I have no formal degree. I did a bootcamp a few years ago but honestly it was kind of a scam and most of what they taught me I was learning online already. I just didn't have confidence to apply to the gigs. The only thing the bootcamp really helped with was database design I think. Maybe you don't need to go back to school? There's a lot of resources around.

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grey_jedi OP wrote

Thanks for the insight!

One of the reasons I have been thinking about going to school again is because of getting past the thing I see in most job applications:

Required qualifications:

Bachelors degree in Computer Science or related field

Now I'm starting to realize that it's silly to waste years working towards a formal degree just to get past the Hiring Manager. Maybe I'll refresh my C and Python knowledge so that I can start making some projects for a portfolio or something

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kore wrote

sometimes communties centered around specific languages/frameworks will have job boards/forums where you can see the user that posted the job. in that case you can message them directly and say "hi i applied for the job on your website, i'm really interested in the job, here's my resume" and that will get you flagged to skip the first filtering round.

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Fool wrote

The thing to remember is they put up "requirements" for a preferred candidate. Often nobody matches the "requirements".

I have over 10years of experience in IT, and never been asked about a degree.

I want to make the comment, often there are two types of jobs; Experience jobs - places that pay shit, but you get heaps of exposure and experience because they can't hire people with more experience/skill.

Money jobs - places that pay well but don't provide much intellectual stimulation. There are plenty of skilled people around, and there are strict processes, so there isn't as much room for messing around and learning.

I might suggest if you want training in IT Security, maybe aim for SOC position at a big company, put yourself on some expensive training and leave once you have certs... Most countries they can't stop you from leaving even though they say they can, not so sure about US. I've known a few people to do this.

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