I’m a Network Field Engineer. The title doesn’t really mean much; I just work in the field with my laptop and tools. I’ve been doing this for a little over two years now, and it has been one of the best decisions I’ve made.
In the past, I worked as a typical networking field engineer for a relatively large telecom company in the United Kingdom. I received jobs from my employer, went out with my van and my tools and installed anything from wireless routers to fiber systems in the customer’s home. It was a rather decent paying job that paid the bills and it got me out into the field to build up experience.
It was admittedly a stale job and the monotony can really get to you because you’re doing the same thing over and over again, just with a few different faces to spice up the mix. Occasionally, I’d be called out to the wrong location and that would be just about as exciting as it got. It wasn’t exactly a very lucrative job and it
When I first began my career as a network engineer, I was working for a large telecom company in Chicago. It was exciting at first and I loved the challenge of learning something new every day. But it wasn’t long before I discovered that the job had become a bit too routine for me.
I wanted to stretch my knowledge and expand my horizons by working with different types of clients, but in order to do that, I needed to learn how to market myself and find clients on my own–something that wasn’t part of our training at the company where I was working.
Thankfully, I Discovered Field Engineer
I discovered Field Engineer after a friend of mine (who was also part of the same company that I worked for) recommended I sign up and give it a try. The idea made a lot of sense–a global marketplace for talent such as my own, a way for me to offer my expertise to not just national businesses, but even international clients that needed help setting up their presence in another country. It was a fantastic opportunity to stretch my knowledge and give me a chance to build a fresh list of clientele and leads for work.
Good morning! I hope you had an amazing weekend. Today, I’m going to tell you about my typical day as a freelance network engineer.
A Day as a Network Field Engineer
06:30 – Wake up
Supposedly, one of the best things about being a freelancer is that you can wake up and do your work when you want. I disagree with this because you do NOT want to sink into bad habits, hence why I stick to a very regular and normal sleep schedule
07:00 – Login to my dashboard
The great thing about Field Engineer is that it’s all done in the cloud. You don’t need to download anything and you can even work from a laptop that you carry in your tool bag or even a tablet device. Very convenient and honestly one of the best things about the service. I’ll log in, check my jobs for the day and express interest for any jobs that may have been posted if they’re in my area.
07:15 – Check with clients
Sometimes, clients may want to get in touch with
Sometimes, clients may want to get in touch with you to tell you more details about the job or give you the details of the person you’ll be seeing. This can take a while depending on how many jobs you have planned for the day.
07:30 – Check my gear
I’ll make sure I have everything in my van before I set off. I’ll plot my route for all the jobs, I’ll ensure my laptop is fully charged and that I have a fully charged battery bank to use with it. I’ll check that my tools are all in the right place and then I’ll set off, picking up a bit of breakfast on the way.
08:00 – Off to work
Now that all of my stuff is ready, I’m good to go. I’ll head to the first stop, picking up a bit of food on the way and work until lunchtime. The great thing about Field Engineer is that you can pick and choose how much work you do. Sometimes I’ll skip out on lunch if I want to take on more jobs, and at other times I’ll be back home before lunch so I can relax for the rest of the day. It really all depends and this part of my schedule will really be flexible depending on what I’m doing.
I’m a freelance field engineer, also known as a “laptop repairman”. I’ve been working remotely since 2016, and I love it!
I have a very flexible schedule. I can do whatever I want to do with my time, but I like to keep it pretty normal and simple. You can easily do more if you want, but I prefer to have normal working hours despite being freelance. If I have a doctor’s appointment, birthday or something else that takes place in the middle of the day, then I’ll take that time off and make it up another day by working in the evening. From here on, I’ll have dinner, relax and prepare for the next day of working, making sure all my tools are in order.
Some people might think what we do is easy — just take out some screws from laptops, fix them up and ship them back to customers — but there are many things that go into this process beyond just physically taking out screws from laptops. We need to know how everything works inside these devices so we can fix them properly without damaging any parts or causing any damage to them in general.
Want to experience the lifestyle of our engineers? Sign-up for free and start your freelance projects with Field Engineer today!
