Seasonal Worker to 6 Figure Remote Income

Hi, what is your name? I'm Neda. Hi Neda, so can you tell me what do you do for a living? I'm a software engineer. Okay, and so you're full-time remote, correct? Yes. And how long have you been a software engineer for? I started April of 2022, so two years now. And what did you do before that? Before that I worked really seasonal jobs, so I was working as a bartender, a graph guide, I worked at a ski rental shop. Yeah, I was working summer jobs, winter jobs, two, three, four at a time. Okay, so what made you want to change doing seasonal work to be able to like work remotely? Yeah, so when the pandemic hit, I was so stressed because I was unemployed because nobody was, you know, going out to bars or going on vacation really for the first part. And I was also in my mid-20s, it happened like that. Crisis. As we all do. Yeah, I felt like unchallenged, not challenged by my work. And I really knew I wanted to travel. I know I had a lot of students that I had to get out of. And so I started learning JavaScript during the pandemic. Eventually, it's like a course, like a three-month-long course. And then, yeah, I started freelancing, which I didn't love. Freelancing is not for me. And then I got this job and I didn't think it would make sense. So I'm for both worlds. And there I am. Amazing. So what exactly did you have to do in order to get this job? So you say you were studying JavaScript and then you took a course. Can you tell me a little bit more about that? Yeah, I was just a little bit like, I was just, I ended up saying pretty miserably hard, but a lot of it was just learning. And then a lot of it was freelancing and just sort of like reaching out to people who needed web dev work and giving a lot of free help and I'm seeing my LinkedIn. Honestly, LinkedIn was the reason why I got the job I have, which I feel like it's the worst form of social media, but they'll tell my boss that. But yeah, he messaged me on LinkedIn and asked me to apply. And I did. And I got the job. It was kind of like a random way to get a job, though, I don't think. I had submitted so many applications for that and was about to give up. And then you did it. And then I didn't. And now I'm here. Amazing. So and then how long have you been wanting to be a digital nomad for? I don't know if like being a digital nomad is something I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to travel full time. And so this is just the way that it happens for the time being. You know, it happens. I worked really hard for it. But yeah, so I guess kind of the two things go hand in hand. You know, I lived in a vacation town for a long time. And there are all these digital nomads going to there, which I thought seems like a good idea. So amazing. So you do not need a college degree to be a software engineer. No, I have an English degree. So super useful. I would say that if you want to get into software engineering, that you should like you should like languages and puzzles. I thought it was really happy, but it's really just it's like a lot of I'm telling a computer what to do and doing puzzles all day long. So it's really fun. Amazing. And so how long did it take you to decide to go back studying to actually from like the getting to end studying to be able to become a software engineer? Yeah, I started studying March of 2020 when the pandemic started. I took that three month course that fall after teaching myself for a little while. And then I freelanced for a year and a half sort of on and off while working other jobs. And so honestly, two years. But I wasn't very aggressive with the job application process. I was sort of disenchanted by the whole cover letters, resume deal. But I'm sure you could do it faster if you tried harder than I did. OK, so so your lifestyle is very unique, different that you went from seasonal work to now being a software engineer, you're traveling the world. So how would you say this transition has been from doing that to having a job with you? Yeah. OK, so the weirdest thing for me is that I am from a vacation town. And so I saw a lot of people coming into the town, working their seasonal leave and then leaving. And I felt this little, like, tension with them, like how could that come very easily and leave all this stuff and then go. And now I find myself on the other side of the coin. And so, I don't know, I think about that quite often. It's sort of like what my role is and the places that I go and how, you know, it's really weird to think that. I really love traveling and I love being in these places and I feel much more myself when I'm here. So I just think about the ways that I could maybe alleviate the negative impact I have on the places that I go. Because I found that to be really difficult where I'm from. OK, cool. And any advice or tips to people that might be working a seasonal job or attending like you work and they want to become software to your community to know that? Yeah, so I think the thing is, is that my job allowed me to study because I worked at night and then I would study during the day. Or, you know, if I was working in the summertime during the day, I could work during the day and then study at night. But it really was just a lot of work. It was a lot of sacrificing my super fun, you know, activities to just work towards something that I thought I wanted. And I wasn't even sure I knew I wanted to change. OK, cool. And do you have any advice for people who want to get a career in software engineering and travel the world? Yeah. Don't spill coffee on your laptop. Get all the protectors that you need for your laptop, because if you need to replace it, it's very difficult. That's all. OK, what kind of person do you think would enjoy being a remote software engineer? No. Software engineers are weirdos. I think you kind of have to be like a weirdo that wants to travel and like puzzles. I mean, if you want to learn another language, you can learn JavaScript and Spanish. What kind of advice do you have for someone who's like stuck in their own town? They're struggling. They want to leave. They want to travel the world. They want a job. They feel like they're not capable. Yeah. But they want to have this lifestyle. And what would you tell them or would you tell your younger self who is in this? Yeah, I think I always knew that I really wanted to travel and like go to different places. That's how I ended up in a vacation town in the first place. I wanted to do something different than suburbia. And I think the thing that that I didn't know was that you have to make a decision and then it doesn't happen immediately. You know, I wanted to start traveling the world and doing it full time. I decided to try to become a digital nomad. And then it took me, you know, two full years to get to a point where I had a job. And then I wanted to be comfortable in my job before I could travel with it. So it took me three years, three years to start studying, to start traveling. So I think you just have to be really intentional. You have to really want to stop. It's not as easy as everyone makes it look. Or as it can look online. And sure, it looks really easy to people when they look at my account, but it's not. And do you want to like e-travel the world? What's your plans? What are you planning to do? Yeah, I do. I left home for just the winter this year. And I think that I'm going to keep traveling indefinitely now. I really like it. It's so amazing. I would recommend this type of lifestyle to anybody. I don't think it's for everybody, but I think if it's something you want, it's definitely worth it. You can meet the coolest people and do the coolest stuff. And, you know, there's a lot of days where I finish work and I go surfing for sunset and I just cannot believe my life. And I just feel like it's really important to be grateful for those things. There's a lot of comforts that you don't have anymore when you're traveling. Like the grocery store you're used to or whatever. Living in your second language is amazing. And what do you think is the hardest part about becoming a mom? Finding the internet. That it's internet, honestly. I actually don't know. It's all kind of difficult. I would say that this lifestyle is the opposite of easy. Why? Why do you think it's not easy? Well, because there's always something. You know, the internet can bother you to emergency relocate. Or you spill coffee on your laptop and you have to fly to Mexico City to get a new one. I don't know. I didn't know Spanish when I got here. Now I do. So you have to learn a whole new language at the same time as you're doing the job well. And it's also, you know, you're always meeting new people, trying new things. It's a lot. It's a lot of stress for your body to be under the sea. Like pulling back sometimes and relaxing and resting with this heart. And do you regret anything? Like traveling, studying corporate engineering, doing seasonal work? Like any regrets? No, I do not regret any of my 20s. They were the best. They were very stressful. They worked a lot. But I still work a lot now. And no, I don't regret anything. Amazing. And how old are you right now? I'm 30. 31 in June. Woohoo! So you started doing robotic at 30 years old. Yeah, I did. I got a way to start, I guess. That's what I was about to say. Some of the things I like, you can start traveling literally whenever you want. You can change your career. And I think that's something so unique about you is that you lived a certain lifestyle. You've done that, the seasonal. And then you said, you know what? I want to help people get pregnant. I want to be more out of my life. And I want to. And you did that. You started studying something new. And you got a job doing something completely new. Because then you didn't even study. And that takes a lot of courage to do it. To, you know, even do that. And then go traveling the world where you might have internet issues or spilling coffee. So, yeah, that's amazing. Cool. Thanks. Yeah. And then one more question I would say is for somebody who wants to be a software engineer, specifically someone who wants to be a professional robot, who's probably got this job. What would you suggest them doing? Yeah, from the very beginning, like, where should they go? Should they look online? Oh, resources. Yeah, resources. What resources do you have for people? Yeah, the way I started was I found some, like, programs online. I found Codecademy.org, FreeCodeCamp, or Codecademy.com, FreeCodeCamp.org. All these, like, online things that have, like, software engineering tracks. And I just self-studied those for a while. And I think that education is really important. And I think that education is really important in general. But, yeah, doing a little bit every day is what I did. And then also going and taking, like, a program. There's a bunch of, like, week camps they call them. We know I did this. But they're really helpful. They have a lot of resources, and they teach you a lot of the things that you need to know. But I think the main thing is to just be, like, really stubborn, make a decision, and stick to it. Okay, so, yeah, Codecademy, it's for free. You did that. And then, yeah, what did you pay to get, like, for the study to be able to be a software engineer? Like, what did I pay for school? Yeah, like, which school did you go to? Oh, yeah, I went to school. I went to General Assembly, which is, like, a pretty popular boot camp. I had a friend that went to one called the Turing School. And there's a bunch. There's, like, a ton of people online right now. How do they look for it? I just Googled it, honestly. What exactly do you type into Google? Software engineering boot camp. Okay, amazing. Simple, simple. It's okay. I just want to clarify for everybody. Software engineering boot camp. And then I have some friends that have done them. And they were like, oh, yeah, you should try this. I know someone who did this. I kind of told my network meeting my friends that I was looking to do something like that. And they sent me on. And, yeah, I took out a loan to do the school, which I think was worth it. I think education is, like, the most important thing you can spend your money on. So that's what I did. Amazing. Okay, awesome. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.