Career Options

[kalishakti]

Inspired by the previous post in another sub-forum...I am looking for advice about career paths to pursue. I am open to nearly any industry or job function, my problem is that I like everything   I did take a career interest test in high school and scored high on every interest category.

However, it is critically important to me that any job I have is 90-100% remote. I am a caregiver for an elderly relative and also do not want to leave my rural southern location. I already work remotely, and like most of us I obtained my education remotely, so hopefully future employers will see that track record and allow me to be fully remote. I want the highest earning potential possible while still remaining fully remote.

My background: I am 22 years old and I have 9 years of total experience (including paid employment, independent contracting, volunteering and work-study). I am currently working in insurance claims (auto, motorcycle and RV) as an independent contractor. Technically and legally, I am owning my own business. I also do compliance audits and mystery shopping on the side (on an independent contractor basis) for several industries, including the automotive, retail, restaurant, financial services and distance education industries. I also am involved in focus groups and market research panels (also on an independent contractor basis). Previously, I was a Registered Pharmacy Technician licensed by the state and certified by the national board. I worked for one of the major drugstore chains and helped to train other employees on drug safety, legal compliance, insurance claims, pharmacy logistics and customer service skills. I also volunteered at a Critical Access rural hospital and helped train new volunteers. I had a retail marketing work-study position in high school and also worked in child care. Additionally, I have helped plan and execute many community, religious and social events on a volunteer basis (including key roles such as Master of Ceremonies, etc.), done farm work caring for crops and animals on my family's land, tutored my nieces and nephews, and currently co-manage (along with my husband) our investments including rental properties and stock portfolio.

I have my BSBA and AA and am about to start my WGU MBA. I also have 2 technical diplomas in child care.

I think my biggest weakness at this point is my lack of IT skills but I have no idea where to start developing some computer/technical skills. I can learn and adapt to new systems very quickly (such as the system I use to file insurance claims or the computer system in the pharmacy) but I have no technical skills beyond Word, PowerPoint and basic internet skills. I was considering becoming an actuary, because I like statistics and have insurance experience, but I am not sure if I will be able to successfully learn the technical aspects, or possibly a project manager.

If I had to narrow down one skill or function that I really love and am good at, it would be creatively transforming low-budget “ingredients” into a polished and attractive masterpiece that looks and feels like something much more expensive. This has included everything from testing out of my degree, to making beans and rice taste gourmet, to floristry arrangements made from dollar-store artificial flowers, to making my own wedding invitations with Microsoft Word and a 12-year-old printer, to flipping one of our properties. And, yes, this also includes resume, cover letter and interview techniques to creatively highlight certain aspects of your background and find valuable experiences and skills others might have overlooked

I love my current job but I need to move to a higher pay grade and move to employee status for health insurance purposes. Thanks for any help

[sanantone]

There are a lot of healthcare jobs in call centers that may have opportunities to telework. There are nurses who answer calls, but this might require hands-on work experience. There are pharmacy technician positions in call centers for filling orders. Counselors work in call centers to take mental health calls or for employee assistance programs.

I get Lynda.com for free through school, but I think It's worth paying for a few months. They have great, up to date series for various IT careers. You really only need the knowledge of someone with a COMPTIA A+ certification to work most call center jobs.

[ajs1976a]

Professor Messer's youtube channel has some videos for A+, Net+ and other CompTIA certs.  Free, reputable resource and a good way to see what the exams cover. https://www.youtube.com/user/professormesser/playlists

[Ideas]

So much of your experience and skills lends itself to being self-employed.

Will you want to switch to non-remote some years from now, to earn more?

For job security, IT and healthcare are best. Have you looked into those fields much? What are your thoughts on the options? Nursing would require in-person schooling (lots of clinical hours).

I don't think there would be entry-level actuary jobs that are remote. The exams are very tough and people take them during their first 5 years of their entry-level job.

[kalishakti]

Thanks for the replies!

I would love to be self-employed but because of my family situation I need to find a position that provides traditional group medical insurance.

IT interests me because there seems to be a lot of openings for high-paying, fully remote IT jobs. However, I would be coming into it as a total beginner, both in terms of technical skills and in terms of knowledge about the industry.

I have considered nursing and completed several pre-requisite courses including a B&M lab. I don't think it's in my budget or schedule at this point to attend nursing school. I wonder how much call center nurses can expect to earn. Healthcare (other than physicians or hospital executives) has a bit of a reputation, at least in my area of the south, for having good job security but very low pay. Even many nurses (RNs) in my state and neighboring states make less than $25 an hour, which is not much more than I am currently making. As a registered pharmacy technician I made $8.74/hour. Counseling would be a fulfilling career, but would also require a big investment in the form of another master's and I don't know if the earning potential is there.

I may possibly consider non-remote farther down the road but I am not sure when that would be. My mother in law is a dementia patient who needs continuous supervision. I could possibly commute depending on what happens with her health situation but that would not be anytime in the foreseeable future. I would need to earn enough to offset the transportation, clothing, meals etc. costs.

[Ideas]

Counseling licensure seems to require even more hours in-person than nursing. Most states need 2000-4000 hours for counseling licensure. They would typically count the hours done in the Masters program, but that's still many supervised hours and it costs a bunch per hour to get supervision.

There are plenty of areas of IT which you could study for less than a year. There are entry-level remote jobs that will train you too, and probably pay at least $8.74/hr, if you are looking for one soon. Those of course are mostly customer service / tech help phone jobs.

[kalishakti]

@Ideas thanks for the reply.

Pretty much what I need is the highest earning potential possible. I am currently making a little over $15 an hour and need at least $40 an hour (or the equivalent,) ideally more, so I can have a job that will replace my husband’s location-bound job and live where we want permanently. I will be getting my WGU MBA but I want to know what industries or careers to look for so I can start getting additional certifications, etc.

I already have an offer with the company I currently contract with for an IT phone help position that pays $20 per hour and is all remote (still on a contractor basis.) Training is included but it is many weeks and all unpaid. Maybe I should take it to get some IT training and experience.

[ajs1976a]

I already have an offer with the company I currently contract with for an IT phone help position that pays $20 per hour and is all remote (still on a contractor basis.) Training is included but it is many weeks and all unpaid. Maybe I should take it to get some IT training and experience.

Any time I see that an "offer" includes unpaid training, my BS meter goes off.

[Ideas]

$40/hr plus benefits seems pretty hard to make from home without years of experience. Did you see any remote IT jobs that you're interested in going for? One of my issues is that I'd hear about a certain job that paid well, and it would sound fine to me. So I would be excited and start looking for a degree program that matched. But eventually when I went to look for actual job openings, I would find that there were very few, and that they wanted years of experience or had other job roles that I couldn't handle. And this is for non-remote.

I wouldn't get the MBA if you are trying to get a non-management IT job. Better to spend the time getting certifications and building sample projects (for the areas of IT where sample projects make sense).

[kalishakti]

Did you see any remote IT jobs that you're interested in going for? One of my issues is that I'd hear about a certain job that paid well, and it would sound fine to me. So I would be excited and start looking for a degree program that matched.

This is exactly where I am at with considering IT :/ I seem to see a lot of high-paying, fully remote jobs out there in the IT field but I want more information before spending any time/money pursuing degrees or certs.

My father is fully remote (also rural south) and makes decent money as a sales account executive, selling business-to-business in the construction industry. My mother is remote also and sets appointments and processes insurance and payments for the healthcare industry and makes about as much as I do. I am completely comfortable with sales as well, but even many of the sales roles I see are in the IT industry and require IT experience.