Part 2: The Work

As I hinted in my last post, neither Mrs. Tuppy nor I have taken mainstream jobs here since our move to Israel. Instead, with the freedom that the Internet gives us we both work in the US from a distance, although in rather different ways.

Like most people, my picture of offshore workers used to involve computer support staff in India but the truth is that there are some very highly-skilled professionals working across time-zones around the world. My wife is an assistant to a small group of radiologists — all American trained and board certified — who cover the night shift in a series of East Coast hospitals. Since almost all imaging is now digital, rather than on film, files can be sent to Israel as easily as they’re sent down the hall to the radiology department in the hospital.

Teleradiology is one of the most high-end examples of outsourcing that I’ve come across. It’s proving particularly successful because it involves a win-win … radiologists in Israel work during the day (pleasant for them) covering the night shift for radiology practices in the US (pleasant for them). And the patient has their scans read by someone who’s awake, rather than a resident who’s dragging at 3:00 in the morning.

My setup is a little less bleeding-edge in terms of technology (but it still amazes me). I have an American phone number through Vonage, and communicate with my colleagues primarily via email. Most of my work involves managing PPC accounts, and so far there have been no real glitches as a result of the distance.

We’re very fortunate that we’ve been able to follow our dream of moving to Israel, yet we can still work in English which is obviously more comfortable for us.

I’m curious to hear from others: Has technology allowed you to make a similar move? Who else has taken the choice to work off the beaten path?

Enough with the introductory and biographical posts, I think … tomorrow I’ll move on to discuss some of the work I’m doing to create my online income.