Some advices needed for a career move

no you are not dreaming here - it is possible.

look at freelancing sites and see if you can do them.. or get in touch wit hagencies specialising in remote working..

I am not sure if PHP is one of those tech that have 'more' remote jobs than others

Thanks for the reply Shez

@francoboy7 You have plenty of options and Laravel is one among them. You can go UI way, Frontend way with Javascript. Node+(React/Angular) is another world. You could also consider specializing in products like WordPress, Drupal etc.

Check something like https://www.upwork.com/cat/developers/

If you would like to replace "Wordpress" with "TYPO3" and you ever consider visiting germany - drop us a message https://www.rootfeld.de

we usually have more work than staff

Such a career is absolutely possible, even if it will not be easy at first. You're probably going to work 50 instead of 30 hours a week, but that can be worth it. 3 weeks holiday here and there in the first year is unlikely - but who knows :)

i disagree - while CMS like wordpress might be popular - they are a pain to work with esp considering the customisation that need to be done.. also you want to be learning the language php first before picking a framework - and one bad thing about a CMS Is it pigeon holes you in to that and if that CMS dies down then you are out of luck and have to learn another

but its your choice.. Apps are quite in right now so learn swift (Apple is > android in terms of pay/jobs)

Hey @francoboy7

It's really a matter of experience in this industry. If you have a good portfolio site or visible work on github it can be fairly easy to find work. In my experience there is more work than there are 'good' developers seeking it. Especially in larger cities.

I am a UK developer so I don't know what the development scene is like in Canada but a good junior level position here would pay you 35 - 45K $CAD. This would be full time and not offer you the sort of hours and holiday you desire, but if you are patient you could do this for 1-2 years to build up your in-industry experience and become less junior and then move on to start seeking contract work.

It is certainly possible to go straight into contract work but contractors are often expected to hit the ground running and offer good value for money for the time they are working - though this expertise also comes with a typically higher salary. In the UK I have seen Laravel contracting roles pay anywhere between 350 - 1000 $CAD per day. On this kind of salary you could very comfortably work a 3-6 month contact and then travel / holiday for a period of time before taking on your next contract.

Remote work and freelance work is probably tougher to find but it is out there - I think this kind of work is easier to get once you have been in the industry for a few years and have built up some connections and a good reputation for delivering results.

Laravel is a solid framework and theres plenty of Laravel work out there, or similar jobs seeking people with OOP PHP experience or experience with 'Symphony or similar' frameworks. If you enjoy working with PHP or with Laravel then I would advise you stick with it rather than learning other languages but obviously if there are other languages you think would be good for you to learn or that you just find interesting then it certainly isn'y going to hurt to add them to your CV / portfolio!

I hope this helps you a little :) Good luck!

Totally random first pick - but heres a job example:

https://briteweb.com/job-opportunities/employment-opportunity-full-stack-dev/?utm_source=larajobs&utm_medium=posting&utm_campaign=full-stack-dev-2018

Picked because this happens to be in Canada and remote working. Take a look at jobs like this, or jobs similar to what you hope to be doing and work on acquiring the skills they list in the Skills and Requirements sections.

Thanks guys for all your inputs, it helps tremendously and keep them coming if anyone passes through.

@peterjonesio special thanks to you for the detailed reply