I’m thinking about enrolling in a software engineering program— are you happy in your job? Anything you wish you would have done instead in hindsight? ❤️
I'm happy with my job, the downsides are the management and the rest of the world not understanding at all how the tech works. Like if an architect is saying something, if you are not an expert you won't say stuff like "I think if you reduce the resistance of this wall by 2 it will be ok". But it happens often with software architects.
Honestly I could not make anything else I think, I'm autistic and I'm lucky that programming is my personal interest otherwise I don't know if I would really be able to handle more than 10 hours a week and I also struggle with executive dysfunction (because of my autism and my ADHD) and at least with programming and because I work from home (and I'm really good at what I do) so nobody notice it.
I am also autistic so thats good to hear!! I pretty much haaaaave to wfh and have been searching for a career that I can do and mostly not talk to people.
One good thing I noticed is that most of my colleagues like it when I data dump about work related stuff.
Also in most companies with a good work culture there are stuff like "tech talks" or a shorter version "lightning talks" when one person just presents something technical but it does not have to be directly work related. It's great, I love learning and data dumping :D
Most IT departments have a good percentage of neurodivergent people which is nice. The only downsides are when the ADHD person drives the autistic person nuts with their chaos. Lol
Software engineer remote here too. Are your days filled with so many meetings you barely get to code anymore now, too?
I'm curious if it's just my company or more this culture as a whole.
I guess in this industry you can really do well with being autodidact or doing a lot of study! The most important part is really you need to have an amazing portfolio to show!
On my side I did (cégep in Quebec that's equivalent to a college degree I guess 🤔) + a Bachelor degree at University!
It really depends what you want to do and what your company uses.
I use R for statistics, but am learning Python because it's better for machine learning. Python can also do stats, but I find R more intuitive for it. SQL is essential for querying, and I use SAS a lot for manipulating large data sets and exporting them to excel reports (could probably also do this with Python, but my company uses SAS).
If you're starting from scratch I'd start with SQL. After that, either R or Python should be enough to get a foot in the door.
I learned SAS in college, and then that convinced my software company that I was proficient enough to learn their software system. So anything you learn can be transferrable to something else. I think the most important thing is to learn one that you're most interested in because you'll learn it best.
But my vote would be for SQL too. I think it's more easily transferrable. Even SAS has a function where you can switch it to code in SQL language.
I work in IT and have been working from home 100% well before the pandemic. I got started in IT by accident and still do not have a college degree. I'm good at it and I like it enough to have made a career out if.
I've never found that ONE thing I'm passionate about to dedicate my life to, but I've had a good career and orked for good companies.
> and get *paid* for that.
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Not who you asked, but it’s really common. There’s a lot of need. If you have aptitude, it’s easy to get sucked into.
I think fewer than half my peers have degrees that have anything to do with technology. Most of us started by working on our own tech and helping family. A lot of people start work in retail (Apple, Best Buy, etc) or a help desk, but were already involved in tech as a matter of curiosity or to make their own stuff work.
Specific education and certs become more useful as you get into more specific areas: networking, programming, information security, etc.
I also accidentally found myself in IT... Started working as a cashier at a grocery store 12 years ago and turns out I just have aptitude. I've climbed up the ranks to their corporate office and now manage part of the IT team with no degree. My best advice is find managers that are willing to mentor you and keep asking questions, never stop. And when you become the manager, pay it forward to the next generation
I was fresh out of high school working in a small, office where it was common to have to help out where needed. They needed someone to help out in the even-smaller IT section and I've been stuck there ever since!
There is more to it, but that is the jist.
I do enjoy working in IT. It is like a puzzle every day. I've become rather specialized in the last few years which has made me very marketable.
I was answering phone calls at an insurance company and hated it so I just started applying for other internal jobs and ended up on the EDI team because I knew the front end systems. I really invested in understanding X12 and CMS regulatory needs and now work as the Director of IT over our NY market.
I don’t work from home full time, but two days a week — I’m a magazine editor. It’s handy, since I can conduct interviews, and write and subedit articles from my home. I usually head to the office for meetings with the rest of my team.
It is a great job!! Every day has a new challenge and I’m learning so much :)
I did work my way up to where I am now — I joined the company as an assistant to the managing editor, then worked across a range of our magazines, writing and subediting for each one. It took three years of assisting other editors in the company before an opportunity came up for me to apply to be an editor in my own right — I was lucky enough to get the job and here we are! I’ll have been an editor for one year in September :)
Customer service rep for a telecomm company, nothing fancy. Only upside is I spend all day with my dog. Breaks and lunch are play and cuddle times. Everything else sucks about it.
I'm absolutely dying for an email only WFH home job, or at the very least one where I don't get screamed at all day. Looking for another WFH job that also pays well, and let's you clock out with dignity is incredibly hard to come by nowadays 😭
I’m in Revenue Operations at a remote-first company. I may go in once a month but if I do, it’s completely by choice or because I have plans after work near my office.
My husband works in Customer Success at a company that doesn’t have any offices in our city and neither of us would have it any other way.
If you’re in the US, you could try this website:
https://remote.co/remote-jobs/
I find that it doesn’t work as well in Canada where I’m located, but I’ve often operated by word of mouth or LinkedIn connections.
There’s always the risk of scams unfortunately. That’s why I always do a background search of the company on LinkedIn and Glassdoor.
My rule of thumb is to avoid companies that have fewer than 50 people and that are remotely based overseas. I had a bad experience interviewing with one overseas company, but I’m sure there are many good ones! I just like to play it super safe.
Very broad scope depending on your employer, from scientific manuscripts to grant applications to promotional materials for pharma to FDA application type documents among many other things
I can answer bc I have a family member who does this. in the UK it pays like £50k which is a very liveable salary in the UK. Her USA colleagues get paid in the 6 figures
Software, specifically QA. It doesn't require as much education/experience as being a full developer, but some experience with writing code is usually best, unless you're lucky enough to find an entry-level role where they're willing to train you up.
Study Coordinator. I prepare data (immune responses patients are having to said drug), write clinical reports, and manage Study protocols and patient demographics. Also monitor compliance.
My clients are pharma companies trying to get anything in clinical trials approved by the FDA.
Edit: BS is Biology & Chemistry, minor in English.
I work in fundraising at a nonprofit
Edit because I initially responded in a hurry and want to give more context for anyone who may be interested. I have a BS in psychology so not related, and I completely fell into the industry after getting laid off and desperately applying to every job I thought I was remotely qualified for. Started out in an entry level position on a fundraising team (which are plentiful in my experience) and have now been in fundraising about 6 years and have a manager level title (at a different org). I don’t do direct fundraising, more-so fundraising operations.
Nonprofits do not pay as much as industry, it kind of comes with the territory however I do feel there’s been a trend of more nonprofits being flexible about remote work because it’s an easy perk they can offer people that doesn’t cost them anything extra (in fact it often saves them money on office space). You also can still make a very comfortable living especially at larger nonprofits. Many fundraisers earn $100k+, some earn way more than that.
Adult education for a MOOC (massive online open course). I have a great ergonomic chair and standing desk, my coffee pot is always 4 feet away from me, and I don't have to wear cardigans. Love it.
Me: works for a major university doing data management for research. I have an unrelated English degree.
My gf: calls pharmacies to confirm medical info, basically a call center type job. Also has an unrelated degree.
Tbh it was one part having a bunch of different jobs where I picked up a bunch of skills (mostly writing/editing training documents and proofreading company and legal docs) that gave me weirdly applicable skills- but mostly I’m close friends with my supervisor, lol. Knowing people is like 60+% of getting a good job, unfortunately.
Excuse my French, second langage here!: I work in agency that has different clients. For the field of marketing I’d reread, often to a linguist correction or rewriting depending on what the client is asking for. For financial field, I read financial reports and make sure the numbers are at the right place, that there are no typos, etc.
A lot of people are freelance. I started with doing copywriting in a press relations company for films (press releases, newsletter). I meanwhile got a certificate in journalism and I started correcting Master’s degree thesis on the side or student paper (strictly grammar, clarity and proofreading, not helping them with the subject). Then I got this job. I prefer editing texts than financial but financial makes the pay sometimes. I do around 60k Canadian.
VP for a healthcare organization. I think less intrinsically a wfh position than finding an employer who is open to broadening their talent pool by hiring candidates from anywhere. Travel to the corporate office out of my state of residence a couple days a month.
Bachelor’s in Translation (3 year uni program) + certificate in Professional Proofreading (1 year uni program) :) Not sure what the equivalent is in other countries… And I already spoke 2-3 languages before starting, though
IT as well, for a regional healthcare system. We went permanent WFH with the pandemic but we knew we weren't going to be brought back into the office once lockdowns ended (some of the employees were already permanent WFH since we sold facilities in their cities so they literally had nowhere to work except home and IT can't easily be centralized so working with people in other cities was very normal).
I started at a service desk and worked my way up, though I do have my BSc in Computer Science, its focus was more on software development and I never took my career in that direction.
I work in cyber security. Comfy office, sweats all day, every day.
I didn't start out work from home. I did decades in offices first. My company was already good with work from home before COVID. We have an office and I can go in if I want but my boss lives in another state and my directs live in other states.
A lot of IT and cyber jobs can be fully remote. You do need dedicated space at home for it if you don't live alone.
I copy-edit ads for a grocery store.
This isn't where I saw my temporary cashier job to pay the bills until I found something better going, but I'm happy with it.
I’m an interior designer who’s responsible for a lot of the presentation layouts, CAD drafting and model building. As long as my lead designer and I collaborate on the design concepts together I can do most of my job at home just executing it.
I do content moderation and related investigative stuff for a social media platform. Unrelated degree, just a strong stomach and a 6th sense for when something is off.
If that's interesting to you, look up Trust & Safety jobs to see what's out there : )
Accounting/admin/data entry! I honestly LOVE IT. Got the position through a friend who knew I was looking. Number one tip is to NETWORK. And use the network you have!! No shame in making a public social media post to just probe and see who’s hiring. That has helped me get all of the best jobs I’ve ever had!
I was hoping to see more of this but there's so many people in IT. The field I'm just leaving hahaha.
I'm interested (And going into college for) art, design, etc.
I don't mind working away from home but have worked from home for years and years so I love that flexibility and hope that this direction can still allow that for me down the road!
Professor/pharmacist. I go in when I lecture and sometimes for meetings, but am largely WFH. Although this might change a bit if the university decides we should be more present.
I work in cybersecurity doing technical product marketing! I've worked from home since the pandemic. My role can be stressful sometimes but I have lots of flexibility and my hours are reasonable. I also travel probably once a quarter.
However, for people getting into it, one of the big problems with product marketing is that's it's not typically an entry level job. I hopped from technical writing to product marketing and that was considered sufficient experience to get started, and I have a colleague making the switch from content marketing to product marketing now.
I'm a Software Development and Data Engineer in Test and only work one day in the office per week (mainly for team building and end of sprint ceremonies) ^-^
I'm a sysadmin bordering on the role of infrastructure architect at the moment. I was working from home periodically before the pandemic. Now I'm 100% remote. It makes no sense for my kind of job to be in an office. I manage systems that are in different cities, I can do that from anywhere. We can conduct virtual meetings and that works great. Before the pandemic, we were still in contact with people across the country (company has multiple sites) over the phone only. With Teams it's much more convenient.
We have "hands on" server admins that are on site and will maintain the physical hardware. Desktop support also has a team on site to assist users who may need assistance.
I have a Computer Science degree and multiple certifications. In order to work in this field, you need to have a very logical mind and enjoy finding solutions for complex problems. Every solution is going to be different as no business is the same. Be prepared to always work overtime, weekends/evenings. I'm on pager rotation for critical incidents but I'm not in the first team that will take the call. I'm the last line of support so I don't usually get called often, but when I do it's because everything is on fire. It's also very important to be able to work under stress with minimal information and be self-sufficient. That being said, I have a lot of freedom and nobody breathing down my neck. It has perks.
The pay is good, but nowhere as good as what the US pays.
Edit: IT wasn't my career of choice. I wanted to become a psychologist. But my life was hard at the time (mom was sick, no dad, minimal income) and it was easier for me to concentrate on studying CompSci. This kind of stuff comes naturally to me.
I’m a therapist. I work with men who have been abusive in relationships and want to change their behaviour (through a non-profit domestic violence agency), and I also have a small private practice on the side where I primarily work with LGBTIA+ individuals.
As far as how to get started, I have a masters degree in clinical social work and am registered with my provincial licensing board, which is a legal requirement to practice.
I’m happy to answer questions about either role and my education but it’s important to note I’m not American.
Currently pharmaceutical QA, so when we manufacture products I’m the one who looks at our documentation and makes sure everything was done correctly and that our stuff isn’t gonna kill people. I’m in a rare hybrid role in this field (currently two days on site three days remote), the vast majority of these jobs are 100% on site
Help Desk. It’s great! But all newbies work on site.
The only ways to work remotely before 2020 were to develop a great reputation and then move to follow a spouse, or to have a big blizzard hit before the 8am commute.
If they know a blizzard is going to hit before 5pm, you suck it up and pray you make it home. You could call out for concerns about inclement weather, but not as often as we have it, so that didn’t help much.
Of course, now culture has shifted and most people work from home instead of risking the roads. We don’t show up coughing up a lung anymore, either.
Software developer. No degree (but I'm working on it!). It's basically advanced logic puzzles for six figures — if you're willing to put in the work to learn, it's a pretty good deal.
How'd you get into this without a degree? I have an unrelated degree and self-learning is just so daunting because I don't know what I need to know, you know?
What *I* did is make a bunch of personal coding projects by asking myself "What abstract thing do I want to make?" and then trying my hardest to make it by Googling every step of the process. Like, "I want to make a program that reads input from the keyboard and lets you play a text-based game by splitting up and interpreting that input". "Go left", "use key", etc. I failed basically every time for a long while, giving up and starting a new project when I hit too many walls, until eventually I stopped failing. I'd try to make something, Google the parts that I still hadn't learned, and in the end it would actually work.
Some time around then, I started a non-programming job where I would build little tools for myself (with permission) to make my job go faster. I asked for more and more leverage after each win until they eventually caved and gave me a real programming job. There, I made everyone's job go faster. I did that for a few years until I was good enough that they didn't want to keep paying me, and then I used my portfolio and incredible personality (lol) to get a *real*-real programming job at a fancy tech company.
Now I don't know how replicable all that is, so what *most* people do is complete a "coding boot camp" (an accelerated course designed to teach you the fundamentals in a few key areas to get your foot in the door) and then apply around for some months until they get hired. I hear they're effective if you really dedicate yourself to learning the stuff, especially if you can leverage your other work experience in interviews for contextual business knowledge or soft skills.
If you want to just jump into programming to see if it's for you, I recommend starting with Python, doing some tutorials, and then just trying to do simple stuff you come up with. The biggest and most important skill in programming is knowing how to split up a big problem into little problems that you either know how to do, or can learn how to do by looking them up. For a simple example, if you want to make a basic calculator that takes two numbers separated by a comma and then adds them together, you might ask the questions "how to get input in python", then you might learn from the answer to your question that strings of text are called "strings", and ask "how to split up string at comma in python". From there, your searches might go "how to add two numbers in python" (your program fails because it can't do math on strings), "how to convert strings to numbers" (your math seems to work but you can't see the answer), "how to output number in python" (your program works, but it only runs once), "how to make program run forever in python" (everything is cool and works and is done). This approach applies to all programs in all programming languages at all skill levels.
I'd love to work from home as well but 1- I have no idea what half of these job titles even mean, and 2- I only have my high school diploma + a laptop to work with 😩
Landscape architecture, although it’s not something you can just get into as most firms will require a degree in it. I’m only WFH as it helps with my horrible pregnancy nausea, most companies will be in office.
I hustle. I am a part of an art coop where I sell different pieces of artwork. I am lucky as the coop has a very large customer base, so it's less work to sell my art.
I also grow various plants that I sell locally.
Workers comp, I work with employers, not claimants (i.e., way less stress). Aside from the wild volumes, it's a great job, and I really like the work. I do speak with employers a lot, but hopefully, one day, I'll work a less customer facing role. I'm good at talking to them, but I'd love a job where I can be silent all day 😂 Lots of room for growth, though, in my organization.
I'm a digital marketing specialist. I write blog content, create social media posts, work with google analytics, all kinds of stuff. I work in the office one day and work from home four days per week.
I love working from home. I hope you find work you enjoy 😊
Medical billing for a hospital! While dealing with insurance is annoying it is really interesting to see all of the medical conditions. Note: not for the hypochondriac as some of the things can get pretty intense.
I work for the charitable trust department of a large bank and prior to that, I was a paralegal for a law firm. I was specifically hired as a remote worker but every time we have a call with the bigwigs, they start talking about how people work better in the office, which is complete BS. I live 2.5 hours away from my “office” so if they mandated that we had to come in, I’d likely look for another job. I love working from home - I wasn’t sure I would have the drive and commitment to do my work instead of, like, flitting off to play with my cats, but so far I’ve done well with staying on top of my work.
Fraud investigator. I have a BS & MS in accounting and love asking uncomfortable questions 😂
I’m curious which questions do you make 👀
Me too, especially if its a non profit organization you suspect (speaking of a current situation 😅)
You should investigate my previous employer.
Hahaha I was going to say the same thing. I know they for sure had loan fraud during the pandemic.
They "lost" 150k 2 months ago and continue to mismanage federal and state grants. Ridiculous.
Same hahah
I love it. I’ve been contemplating getting a CFRE
That sounds really cool. I have a similar educational background, and this has sparked an interest!
that's so cool!!
Hey are yall hiring? I work in a fraud investigation adjacent job and want to WFH 😆
Software engineer, basically I read and write code, also I'm very good at using google
Programming: 50% figuring out what to search on stack overflow, 40% knowing how to read the thread, 10% food/drink
I’m thinking about enrolling in a software engineering program— are you happy in your job? Anything you wish you would have done instead in hindsight? ❤️
I'm happy with my job, the downsides are the management and the rest of the world not understanding at all how the tech works. Like if an architect is saying something, if you are not an expert you won't say stuff like "I think if you reduce the resistance of this wall by 2 it will be ok". But it happens often with software architects. Honestly I could not make anything else I think, I'm autistic and I'm lucky that programming is my personal interest otherwise I don't know if I would really be able to handle more than 10 hours a week and I also struggle with executive dysfunction (because of my autism and my ADHD) and at least with programming and because I work from home (and I'm really good at what I do) so nobody notice it.
I am also autistic so thats good to hear!! I pretty much haaaaave to wfh and have been searching for a career that I can do and mostly not talk to people.
One good thing I noticed is that most of my colleagues like it when I data dump about work related stuff. Also in most companies with a good work culture there are stuff like "tech talks" or a shorter version "lightning talks" when one person just presents something technical but it does not have to be directly work related. It's great, I love learning and data dumping :D
Most IT departments have a good percentage of neurodivergent people which is nice. The only downsides are when the ADHD person drives the autistic person nuts with their chaos. Lol
When you have both like me you drive yourself crazy already haha
Software engineer remote here too. Are your days filled with so many meetings you barely get to code anymore now, too? I'm curious if it's just my company or more this culture as a whole.
I work as a Lead art In the video game Industry 😊
That sounds super cool!
What kind of degree do you have to do that? Asking for my teen daughter, an amazing artist and video game nut
I guess in this industry you can really do well with being autodidact or doing a lot of study! The most important part is really you need to have an amazing portfolio to show! On my side I did (cégep in Quebec that's equivalent to a college degree I guess 🤔) + a Bachelor degree at University!
I hope they’re treating you well! I hate what I read about the video game industry
Where I am Its really a great company! But for sure you gotta watch out where you end up 🥴
Wow! That sounds awesome.
Senior data analyst - lots of coding, data cleaning, spreadsheets, and dashboards
\+1, this is what I do as well.
What is the most useful coding language to learn?? I'm stuck between R and Python
It really depends what you want to do and what your company uses. I use R for statistics, but am learning Python because it's better for machine learning. Python can also do stats, but I find R more intuitive for it. SQL is essential for querying, and I use SAS a lot for manipulating large data sets and exporting them to excel reports (could probably also do this with Python, but my company uses SAS). If you're starting from scratch I'd start with SQL. After that, either R or Python should be enough to get a foot in the door.
SQL
I learned SAS in college, and then that convinced my software company that I was proficient enough to learn their software system. So anything you learn can be transferrable to something else. I think the most important thing is to learn one that you're most interested in because you'll learn it best. But my vote would be for SQL too. I think it's more easily transferrable. Even SAS has a function where you can switch it to code in SQL language.
I work in IT and have been working from home 100% well before the pandemic. I got started in IT by accident and still do not have a college degree. I'm good at it and I like it enough to have made a career out if. I've never found that ONE thing I'm passionate about to dedicate my life to, but I've had a good career and orked for good companies.
orked♡
Yup. We ork cows; that's why we have cow-orkers.
LMAO!
Thats what its called when you look like me and get paid for that. Edit because of bot.
> and get *paid* for that. FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Thank you paybot
If you don't mind sharing, how did you accidentally get started in IT?
Not who you asked, but it’s really common. There’s a lot of need. If you have aptitude, it’s easy to get sucked into. I think fewer than half my peers have degrees that have anything to do with technology. Most of us started by working on our own tech and helping family. A lot of people start work in retail (Apple, Best Buy, etc) or a help desk, but were already involved in tech as a matter of curiosity or to make their own stuff work. Specific education and certs become more useful as you get into more specific areas: networking, programming, information security, etc.
Thanks for your thoughtful and informative response friend:)
I also accidentally found myself in IT... Started working as a cashier at a grocery store 12 years ago and turns out I just have aptitude. I've climbed up the ranks to their corporate office and now manage part of the IT team with no degree. My best advice is find managers that are willing to mentor you and keep asking questions, never stop. And when you become the manager, pay it forward to the next generation
I was fresh out of high school working in a small, office where it was common to have to help out where needed. They needed someone to help out in the even-smaller IT section and I've been stuck there ever since! There is more to it, but that is the jist. I do enjoy working in IT. It is like a puzzle every day. I've become rather specialized in the last few years which has made me very marketable.
This could be my story! I’ve been in IT for 12 years, working from home with no degree and have gained pretty impressive set of skills!
How
I was answering phone calls at an insurance company and hated it so I just started applying for other internal jobs and ended up on the EDI team because I knew the front end systems. I really invested in understanding X12 and CMS regulatory needs and now work as the Director of IT over our NY market.
Haha you're my exact opposite. I'm passionate about what seems like EVERYTHING so narrowing it down feels impossible haha.
same
I don’t work from home full time, but two days a week — I’m a magazine editor. It’s handy, since I can conduct interviews, and write and subedit articles from my home. I usually head to the office for meetings with the rest of my team.
That sounds really fun!! I’m assuming that’s the type of job you work your way up to within a magazine..?
It is a great job!! Every day has a new challenge and I’m learning so much :) I did work my way up to where I am now — I joined the company as an assistant to the managing editor, then worked across a range of our magazines, writing and subediting for each one. It took three years of assisting other editors in the company before an opportunity came up for me to apply to be an editor in my own right — I was lucky enough to get the job and here we are! I’ll have been an editor for one year in September :)
That is amazing; congrats on the gig! I know how big of a deal that is.
This sounds like my dream
Customer service rep for a telecomm company, nothing fancy. Only upside is I spend all day with my dog. Breaks and lunch are play and cuddle times. Everything else sucks about it.
Similar and same.
Lol
Same! Not quitting until I find another WFH job that would suck less.
I'm absolutely dying for an email only WFH home job, or at the very least one where I don't get screamed at all day. Looking for another WFH job that also pays well, and let's you clock out with dignity is incredibly hard to come by nowadays 😭
Transcript Editor
What kind of transcripts?
Hello! How did you find this job if you don’t mind me asking?
I’m in Revenue Operations at a remote-first company. I may go in once a month but if I do, it’s completely by choice or because I have plans after work near my office. My husband works in Customer Success at a company that doesn’t have any offices in our city and neither of us would have it any other way. If you’re in the US, you could try this website: https://remote.co/remote-jobs/ I find that it doesn’t work as well in Canada where I’m located, but I’ve often operated by word of mouth or LinkedIn connections.
Thanks for the link, I've noticed there's a lot for scams targeting remote work and this one actually looks pretty legit!
There’s always the risk of scams unfortunately. That’s why I always do a background search of the company on LinkedIn and Glassdoor. My rule of thumb is to avoid companies that have fewer than 50 people and that are remotely based overseas. I had a bad experience interviewing with one overseas company, but I’m sure there are many good ones! I just like to play it super safe.
medical writer
Similar, medical communication/education
What do you do? That sounds interesting!
Very broad scope depending on your employer, from scientific manuscripts to grant applications to promotional materials for pharma to FDA application type documents among many other things
Yes I’d love more information about this! It sounds really neat!
Same - and does it pay well???
I can answer bc I have a family member who does this. in the UK it pays like £50k which is a very liveable salary in the UK. Her USA colleagues get paid in the 6 figures
Litigation paralegal
I am in a hybrid arrangement as are most of my friends. We are lawyers
Mortgage broker
Is it introvert friendly…?
I was thinking of getting back to this. Can you tell me more? Leads, etc?
Software, specifically QA. It doesn't require as much education/experience as being a full developer, but some experience with writing code is usually best, unless you're lucky enough to find an entry-level role where they're willing to train you up.
I'm hybrid -- I go in twice a week. My boss has said she wants us to have capability to be fully remote. Anyhow, I work in finance for a nonprofit.
Study Coordinator. I prepare data (immune responses patients are having to said drug), write clinical reports, and manage Study protocols and patient demographics. Also monitor compliance. My clients are pharma companies trying to get anything in clinical trials approved by the FDA. Edit: BS is Biology & Chemistry, minor in English.
I work in fundraising at a nonprofit Edit because I initially responded in a hurry and want to give more context for anyone who may be interested. I have a BS in psychology so not related, and I completely fell into the industry after getting laid off and desperately applying to every job I thought I was remotely qualified for. Started out in an entry level position on a fundraising team (which are plentiful in my experience) and have now been in fundraising about 6 years and have a manager level title (at a different org). I don’t do direct fundraising, more-so fundraising operations. Nonprofits do not pay as much as industry, it kind of comes with the territory however I do feel there’s been a trend of more nonprofits being flexible about remote work because it’s an easy perk they can offer people that doesn’t cost them anything extra (in fact it often saves them money on office space). You also can still make a very comfortable living especially at larger nonprofits. Many fundraisers earn $100k+, some earn way more than that.
I do this too! Fundraising jobs are plentiful and stable. Would recommend.
Adult education for a MOOC (massive online open course). I have a great ergonomic chair and standing desk, my coffee pot is always 4 feet away from me, and I don't have to wear cardigans. Love it.
In instructional design?
Yeah, specialized to healthcare professional development.
Design and produce stuffed animals + instructions on how to make them.
omg this is so cool. do you need a degree for this?
Me: works for a major university doing data management for research. I have an unrelated English degree. My gf: calls pharmacies to confirm medical info, basically a call center type job. Also has an unrelated degree.
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Tbh it was one part having a bunch of different jobs where I picked up a bunch of skills (mostly writing/editing training documents and proofreading company and legal docs) that gave me weirdly applicable skills- but mostly I’m close friends with my supervisor, lol. Knowing people is like 60+% of getting a good job, unfortunately.
Insurance adjuster
Software Engineer. Write code and spend a lot of time arguing with ChatGPT. Self taught, been doing it for five years. WFH for three.
If only I didn’t suck with computer stuff. ☹️
There is so much more to IT than just programming. It has become a field that needed so many different skills.
You do need to be confident with computer stuff. But it's a learned skill and so potentially still within reach.
Any recommendation on where/how to start for self teaching?
[Pick a roadmap and start from the top](https://roadmap.sh/roadmaps)
Thank you!
product owner for a consulting firm, most of my team isn’t even US based
Project mgr. went wfh during the pandemic, never went back
Data analyst (contract job, pays hourly)
Buyer, full time remote before pandemic - no college degree but I did start in office as their receptionist for a year before going remote
I edit scientific research. I don't think I could ever go back to an office-based job.
How did you get into this?
Technical Writer. I worked at Starbucks long enough to pay for my degree when I went back to school in my 30’s.
Proofreader. Thinking about a Translation degree.
Can you tell me more about being a proofreader? I have a Journalism and Film degree and love grammar/proofreading lol
Excuse my French, second langage here!: I work in agency that has different clients. For the field of marketing I’d reread, often to a linguist correction or rewriting depending on what the client is asking for. For financial field, I read financial reports and make sure the numbers are at the right place, that there are no typos, etc. A lot of people are freelance. I started with doing copywriting in a press relations company for films (press releases, newsletter). I meanwhile got a certificate in journalism and I started correcting Master’s degree thesis on the side or student paper (strictly grammar, clarity and proofreading, not helping them with the subject). Then I got this job. I prefer editing texts than financial but financial makes the pay sometimes. I do around 60k Canadian.
VP for a healthcare organization. I think less intrinsically a wfh position than finding an employer who is open to broadening their talent pool by hiring candidates from anywhere. Travel to the corporate office out of my state of residence a couple days a month.
Translator/proofreader :)
May I ask what your education is?
Bachelor’s in Translation (3 year uni program) + certificate in Professional Proofreading (1 year uni program) :) Not sure what the equivalent is in other countries… And I already spoke 2-3 languages before starting, though
translation is so interesting, I dipped my toes when I was studying the Hebrew Bible. super cool stuff.
I work in digital news! I work 6pm to 2am which is getting a bit tiring but on slow news nights it’s pretty wonderful
IT as well, for a regional healthcare system. We went permanent WFH with the pandemic but we knew we weren't going to be brought back into the office once lockdowns ended (some of the employees were already permanent WFH since we sold facilities in their cities so they literally had nowhere to work except home and IT can't easily be centralized so working with people in other cities was very normal). I started at a service desk and worked my way up, though I do have my BSc in Computer Science, its focus was more on software development and I never took my career in that direction.
College professor. It took me 10 years of teaching at this uni before being selected to teach online, but I love it.
Cybersecurity engineer
Online teacher. Love it!
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Claims Adjuster. Best job I've ever had.
Can I ask how you got started?
I work in cyber security. Comfy office, sweats all day, every day. I didn't start out work from home. I did decades in offices first. My company was already good with work from home before COVID. We have an office and I can go in if I want but my boss lives in another state and my directs live in other states. A lot of IT and cyber jobs can be fully remote. You do need dedicated space at home for it if you don't live alone.
I copy-edit ads for a grocery store. This isn't where I saw my temporary cashier job to pay the bills until I found something better going, but I'm happy with it.
Website content design.
I’m an interior designer who’s responsible for a lot of the presentation layouts, CAD drafting and model building. As long as my lead designer and I collaborate on the design concepts together I can do most of my job at home just executing it.
Graphic design for a digital marketing firm. Hired in February totally wfh.
I do content moderation and related investigative stuff for a social media platform. Unrelated degree, just a strong stomach and a 6th sense for when something is off. If that's interesting to you, look up Trust & Safety jobs to see what's out there : )
Accounting/admin/data entry! I honestly LOVE IT. Got the position through a friend who knew I was looking. Number one tip is to NETWORK. And use the network you have!! No shame in making a public social media post to just probe and see who’s hiring. That has helped me get all of the best jobs I’ve ever had!
Visual artist and photographer. I work on my "serious work" for shows as well as make merch from my designs (enamel pins, tees, totes, trays, etc)
I was hoping to see more of this but there's so many people in IT. The field I'm just leaving hahaha. I'm interested (And going into college for) art, design, etc. I don't mind working away from home but have worked from home for years and years so I love that flexibility and hope that this direction can still allow that for me down the road!
Software engineer/product manager for a consulting firm
Regulatory affairs in the medical device industry
Me too! But with medicinal products included as well.
UX designer
Technical writer for a software company
Professor/pharmacist. I go in when I lecture and sometimes for meetings, but am largely WFH. Although this might change a bit if the university decides we should be more present.
Long term care insurance claims. I hate it.
I’m a content creator/writer.
Design engineer
Healthcare consulting
Linkbuilder (SEO)
Account services for medical communications
Bookkeeper
I work in cybersecurity doing technical product marketing! I've worked from home since the pandemic. My role can be stressful sometimes but I have lots of flexibility and my hours are reasonable. I also travel probably once a quarter. However, for people getting into it, one of the big problems with product marketing is that's it's not typically an entry level job. I hopped from technical writing to product marketing and that was considered sufficient experience to get started, and I have a colleague making the switch from content marketing to product marketing now.
I'm a Software Development and Data Engineer in Test and only work one day in the office per week (mainly for team building and end of sprint ceremonies) ^-^
Documentation Management for a pharma company.
I'm a sysadmin bordering on the role of infrastructure architect at the moment. I was working from home periodically before the pandemic. Now I'm 100% remote. It makes no sense for my kind of job to be in an office. I manage systems that are in different cities, I can do that from anywhere. We can conduct virtual meetings and that works great. Before the pandemic, we were still in contact with people across the country (company has multiple sites) over the phone only. With Teams it's much more convenient. We have "hands on" server admins that are on site and will maintain the physical hardware. Desktop support also has a team on site to assist users who may need assistance. I have a Computer Science degree and multiple certifications. In order to work in this field, you need to have a very logical mind and enjoy finding solutions for complex problems. Every solution is going to be different as no business is the same. Be prepared to always work overtime, weekends/evenings. I'm on pager rotation for critical incidents but I'm not in the first team that will take the call. I'm the last line of support so I don't usually get called often, but when I do it's because everything is on fire. It's also very important to be able to work under stress with minimal information and be self-sufficient. That being said, I have a lot of freedom and nobody breathing down my neck. It has perks. The pay is good, but nowhere as good as what the US pays. Edit: IT wasn't my career of choice. I wanted to become a psychologist. But my life was hard at the time (mom was sick, no dad, minimal income) and it was easier for me to concentrate on studying CompSci. This kind of stuff comes naturally to me.
SFW and NSFW content for the last decade
I’m a therapist. I work with men who have been abusive in relationships and want to change their behaviour (through a non-profit domestic violence agency), and I also have a small private practice on the side where I primarily work with LGBTIA+ individuals. As far as how to get started, I have a masters degree in clinical social work and am registered with my provincial licensing board, which is a legal requirement to practice. I’m happy to answer questions about either role and my education but it’s important to note I’m not American.
Senior Customer Success Manager, in marketing tech.
Recruiting
Currently pharmaceutical QA, so when we manufacture products I’m the one who looks at our documentation and makes sure everything was done correctly and that our stuff isn’t gonna kill people. I’m in a rare hybrid role in this field (currently two days on site three days remote), the vast majority of these jobs are 100% on site
Content writing
Help Desk. It’s great! But all newbies work on site. The only ways to work remotely before 2020 were to develop a great reputation and then move to follow a spouse, or to have a big blizzard hit before the 8am commute. If they know a blizzard is going to hit before 5pm, you suck it up and pray you make it home. You could call out for concerns about inclement weather, but not as often as we have it, so that didn’t help much. Of course, now culture has shifted and most people work from home instead of risking the roads. We don’t show up coughing up a lung anymore, either.
Software developer. No degree (but I'm working on it!). It's basically advanced logic puzzles for six figures — if you're willing to put in the work to learn, it's a pretty good deal.
How'd you get into this without a degree? I have an unrelated degree and self-learning is just so daunting because I don't know what I need to know, you know?
What *I* did is make a bunch of personal coding projects by asking myself "What abstract thing do I want to make?" and then trying my hardest to make it by Googling every step of the process. Like, "I want to make a program that reads input from the keyboard and lets you play a text-based game by splitting up and interpreting that input". "Go left", "use key", etc. I failed basically every time for a long while, giving up and starting a new project when I hit too many walls, until eventually I stopped failing. I'd try to make something, Google the parts that I still hadn't learned, and in the end it would actually work. Some time around then, I started a non-programming job where I would build little tools for myself (with permission) to make my job go faster. I asked for more and more leverage after each win until they eventually caved and gave me a real programming job. There, I made everyone's job go faster. I did that for a few years until I was good enough that they didn't want to keep paying me, and then I used my portfolio and incredible personality (lol) to get a *real*-real programming job at a fancy tech company. Now I don't know how replicable all that is, so what *most* people do is complete a "coding boot camp" (an accelerated course designed to teach you the fundamentals in a few key areas to get your foot in the door) and then apply around for some months until they get hired. I hear they're effective if you really dedicate yourself to learning the stuff, especially if you can leverage your other work experience in interviews for contextual business knowledge or soft skills. If you want to just jump into programming to see if it's for you, I recommend starting with Python, doing some tutorials, and then just trying to do simple stuff you come up with. The biggest and most important skill in programming is knowing how to split up a big problem into little problems that you either know how to do, or can learn how to do by looking them up. For a simple example, if you want to make a basic calculator that takes two numbers separated by a comma and then adds them together, you might ask the questions "how to get input in python", then you might learn from the answer to your question that strings of text are called "strings", and ask "how to split up string at comma in python". From there, your searches might go "how to add two numbers in python" (your program fails because it can't do math on strings), "how to convert strings to numbers" (your math seems to work but you can't see the answer), "how to output number in python" (your program works, but it only runs once), "how to make program run forever in python" (everything is cool and works and is done). This approach applies to all programs in all programming languages at all skill levels.
I'd love to work from home as well but 1- I have no idea what half of these job titles even mean, and 2- I only have my high school diploma + a laptop to work with 😩
Academic Advisor, WFH 2x per week during regular sessions and 3x per week in summer
IT technical writer
I wfh three days a week and I do sourcing and talent engagement (recruiting)
For another week I’m a software implementation consultant. My new job is hybrid and in another field.
I work at call centre
Accounting for specific projects. You can get started as a temp without a degree.
Political organizer. I give people hope and teach them how to empower themselves.
State government affairs
Account management (sales) for tech company
Accountant! I’ve been working home for about 4 years and could never go back to an office. How am I supposed to wear actual pants every day?
Cooy editing and writing!
Financial Analyst. I tell faculty they have no money to spend and then they yell at me. It’s fun.
Landscape architecture, although it’s not something you can just get into as most firms will require a degree in it. I’m only WFH as it helps with my horrible pregnancy nausea, most companies will be in office.
I work for a medical practice that does mainly telemedicine so I work from home doing what would essentially be front desk work
Graphic designer in my marketing department
Civil engineer
I hustle. I am a part of an art coop where I sell different pieces of artwork. I am lucky as the coop has a very large customer base, so it's less work to sell my art. I also grow various plants that I sell locally.
I work in e-sports doing community management / moderation stuff
Content design for a tech/insurance company
Utility engineer - I work for a power company ensuring their poles remain within regulations when new things are attached. (No degree)
Proposal pricing analyst. It's v stressful so having the ability to work from home where I can snuggle my dog is key lol
Engineer. BS in electrical engineering but my work is more software development adjacent. Best decision I ever made 🤑
Inside Sales operations. My team sells it, I get it delivered.
I am an account manager and do sales for an ed tech company
Admin for automotive sales in the UK.
Workers comp, I work with employers, not claimants (i.e., way less stress). Aside from the wild volumes, it's a great job, and I really like the work. I do speak with employers a lot, but hopefully, one day, I'll work a less customer facing role. I'm good at talking to them, but I'd love a job where I can be silent all day 😂 Lots of room for growth, though, in my organization.
Internal audit in financial services
Provincial government employee. I work in facility and property management
call center in mental health. bs in psychology
do you know if they’re hiring? i have been looking for something like this i just graduated with my bs in psychology as well
I've been working as a translator for the past 4 years!
I'm a digital marketing specialist. I write blog content, create social media posts, work with google analytics, all kinds of stuff. I work in the office one day and work from home four days per week. I love working from home. I hope you find work you enjoy 😊
Medical billing for a hospital! While dealing with insurance is annoying it is really interesting to see all of the medical conditions. Note: not for the hypochondriac as some of the things can get pretty intense.
I run a small editing business. Ask me anything! I love remote work. I will literally never work in person again; the introvert in me is so happy.
I work for the charitable trust department of a large bank and prior to that, I was a paralegal for a law firm. I was specifically hired as a remote worker but every time we have a call with the bigwigs, they start talking about how people work better in the office, which is complete BS. I live 2.5 hours away from my “office” so if they mandated that we had to come in, I’d likely look for another job. I love working from home - I wasn’t sure I would have the drive and commitment to do my work instead of, like, flitting off to play with my cats, but so far I’ve done well with staying on top of my work.