I'm one of the lucky(?) folks who telecommutes full time. I was originally a Java developer whose career path seen me end up primarily developing with ColdFusion (which I would claim is a JVM language... :)) and a little bit of Java.
In 2005 I moved from Newcastle, Australia to Sydney to work as the "web guy" for a joint venture between an organisation in Melbourne and one in Sydney. I was the only IT guy in Sydney, and although based in an office was essentially telecommuting because the rest of the developers were in Melbourne anyway. Working in the office in Sydney actually became a problem in that it was a small office and I ended up spending a lot of the time doing "office duties" such as answering the phone and letting people in the front door. I put it to the guys in Melbourne that this was a waste of my time, and since I would be more productive from home and they agreed with me. After working from home in Sydney for around 6 months, I eventually moved to regional NSW which is where my wife hails from (for the other Aussies on the list I'm pleased to say that broadband here is quite good - even without the NBN!). I visit the office in Melbourne around once a quarter, but have a fortnightly teleconference and daily email / telephone communication with my manager and other developers as needed. I access email and the various servers via a VPN, and often connect via VNC to other developers PC's to help them with something, or vice versa. So for the past 4 years or so I have worked for them from a home office. In some ways I think I have it extremely good, other things are challenging though - especially when my kids were here every day (I have a 2 and 3 year old, who have just recently gone into full time care, but were in the house 3 days a week before that). Overall, I think it works quite well. I think having been working in the office for a period of time definitely built up the level of trust required. I am also EXTREMELY careful to let people know when I wont' be at my desk, as I'm paranoid that people will ring and think I'm never here. I probably work more hours than I should, as it's very easy just to come back to your desk of an evening and get straight back into it. That can be difficult for the rest of the family, so this is definitely a negative and something I am conscious have to be very careful about. All in all, I know I am very fortunate in my current arrangement however I realise it may not last forever and that is a bit scary, especially as there are very limited IT opportunities (probably none for developers) where I now live. I am 6 hours from Sydney, and that is probably where I'd need to go if ever I'm job hunting again. That tends to make me feel a bit insecure at times (especially when it comes making long term plans like taking out a mortgage or thinking about where the kids will go to school, etc.). Not sure that really answers your question John, but I can say that yes, there are people who do what you ask about. I do think having that "in office" relationship first was important though - both for my employer. Best regards, Andrew. On Sep 6, 7:32 am, John Urberg <jurb...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi all, > > I am a Java Architect and live in an area where there are few > opportunities for my skills. The only option I can think of besides > moving back to the Twin Cities is telecommuting. I am interesting in > finding out how many of you on the list are working a full time > telecommute job. For those of you that are, how did you find a > telecommuting job and how has it been working out? > > Thanks, > John -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to javapo...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to javaposse+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
