Living Aboard and Telecommuting

[Knot Tide Down]

My Wife and I just completed the Loop and are retired, but we would both like to still continue working, possibly as a team. Anyone know or heard of anyone who lives aboard and telecommutes and where to go to look for these types of jobs? We have posted on monster dot com, but that does not seem to be the place to look. Thanks for everyones help.

Oh, I am retired from NASA and the Military and my Wife retired as a Financial Consultant......FYI.

[cdennyb]

best bet is to get a job or at least an interview and present yourself as a "consultant type" who can work un-supervised for the most part and present your credentials to qualify you as 'above and beyond' the usual employee and you'd be surprised how many companies would jump at the opportunity to have "qualified" help but not have the overhead to pay out like a usual employee.
Do the usual interview over the phone and make the presentation up front so the recruiter knows you're a 'travellling employee'.
My employer actually asked me to stay available as much as possible because after engineering for them over the past 4 years they feel my internal knowledge is invaluable and my abilites are so varied they would rather work around my schedule than try to re-train more than one new person to fill my space and have to incur all those extra cost associated with employees. I can use Skype and other tele-computing methods to be in a meeting if necessary so programs like go to my pc are valuable as well. My employer will actually have a computer on site at the plant in Northern California which I can access via internet or those programs and do my engineering work, maake drawings, evaluate new designs, and interact with everyone just like I do now.
You can use the "head hunters" too, recruiters are eager to make the commission and since you work on a contract basis, the real employer is the job shop and the actual work is done for another company either on-site or in (our) case, via internet and fax, and VHF communications. You may need to meet up with the 'other' company a time or two during your work for them but what the hell, a plane ride is cheap actually compared to the freedom of working like we do.
just my thoughts.

[idpnd]

That's the plan - I have teleworked all over (not on the boat yet, but there's no difference really). Just think of any service that does not require physical presence, physical movement of goods, or constant availability online. Typical jobs are writing (content production, journalism, texting, documentation, translation), programming (web design, coding, usability), and a couple more I can't think of right now. Watch out, there are lots of "work from home" scams. Try the popular online providers such as guru.com for pointers.

[GeoPowers]

I liveaboard and telecommute. (Yes, I know I'm lucky!) There's one large employer that a lot of people don't think about when the topic of telecommuting (TC) comes up...the federal government. For example, I work for the National Park Service, and TC is encouraged as long as agency needs can be met. Federal agencies promote TC to reduce air pollution, traffic congestion, and increase quality of life (more time at home instead of in transit). Not all jobs are possible for TC, of course. My last position as a proj engineer in New Orleans meant there was no TC possibility at all. Now that I'm an office weenie, my work requires that I come in at least 1-2 days a week. Some agencies are more TC friendly than others also. Conveniently, most laid back positions that you would want as someone already retired are also good for telecommuting. The downside- applying for federal positions can be painful. Also, you have to be tied to a geographic area for when you do need to come into the office.

Hope you find something that works for you!

Frank

[ixtlan22]

Just in passing....We have one friend that telecommutes and lives on his boat. His "office" location" (per se) is in one state...he lives in another (over 1000 miles away). He works for the medical profession as a type of nurse scheduling coordinator (my title). Near as I can tell...if someone doesn't show up for work (sick, or whatever) they call him from the state he works out of and then he calls and gets a replacement from their pool. He also works for hospitals that might come up short of nurses...like they need an RN for a specific surgery etc...he calls and gets one in. I know nothing about the job (other that what I've observed)...just passing along observations.

[rodney_k]

I also liveaboard and telecommute (another lucky guy). I work for a large U.S. bank in IT (Telecom Project Management). They encourage non-customer facing employees to telecommute for many of the same reasons mentioned in Frank's post. The bank provides its telecommuting workers with offices and conference rooms for use by reservation if needed in most larger cities in the US.

[markpj23]

I did IT work remotely for 6 years and lived where we chose to live. Sometimes wish I had that job back..... that is when retirement gets boring

Check out flexjobs.com - relatively new site I believe.

[hellosailor]

A little web searching will turn up ten thousand work-from-home scams but also some major companies, like JetBlue. All their reservations agents were telecommuters but IIRC they are one of the many companies that require a LANDLINE HARDWIRED PHONE for their phone reps. Cellular and dellular data just aren't acceptable to a lot of companies, and VOIP lines usually just aren't as reliable as landlines. Yet.
The your specialty or skill and pay requirements are going to thin down the options as well, it still isn't common or easy.

[tallyhorob]

Try finding a few head hunter outfits and let them do the searching for you. Get on as many lists as you can, you be surprised at what jobs might "turn " into a telecommute job when someone is pitching it for you.

[idpnd]

Originally Posted by markpj23

Check out flexjobs.com - relatively new site I believe.

NB they want to see cash - agencies & headhunters are paid by employers to fill vacancies - never pay an agency.

[markpj23]

Originally Posted by idpnd

NB they want to see cash - agencies & headhunters are paid by employers to fill vacancies - never pay an agency.

Agreed - I just glanced at it and could browse listings so I assumed it was free. There are other (free) sites out there too...

[bruce in oz]

it worked well for me, by scoring a temporary position and working hard (180 X 12hr days straight). mainly programming.

they couldnt afford to keep me full time, i didnt want to work full time, after 6months of it. they needed support for the work i'd done, now i'm sailing, and being paid by the phone call. hope i never have to work full-time again.

[Knot Tide Down]

Thanks Frank....I am retired military (USAF), retired NASA (GS-12) and I flew Unmanned Aircraft......Ill look into the government jobs too.....thanks everyone for the websites.....I am tired of all the fake "work from home" sites....

Bill

Anchored in Melbourne on the ICW heading for the Chesepeake in a month for the summer....Knot Tide Down

[Knot Tide Down]

It would be nice just to be able to deliver a few boats a year too....

[svsanuk]

I'd like to reopen this thread for a bit. I am in a similar situation as a live-aboard techy (web site development). I have been searching for any websites dedicated to this lifestyle and have come up short at every turn. It seems like a logical lifestyle combination, "liveaboard telecommuter", and I figured there would be many sites dedicated to this lifestyle. But... no. Am I just searching for the wrong keywords, or is it really that unpopular? Can anybody come up with some sites - or do I need to build the first one?