The rise of remote work helped a former teacher with $80,000 in student debt switch to her dream job and get a $20,000 pay raise without moving

• Jackie Carbo thought her dream job in tech wasn't reachable, and she had more than $80,000 in student debt. 
• But the rise of remote work made it possible for her to make a higher-paying career shift.
• With remote-job postings tapering, she may be fortunate to have locked down her job when she did.

When Jackie Carbo completed her master's in education in 2017, she thought her dream job was out of the question. 

The Louisiana-based 32-year-old began making roughly $50,000 per year as a public-school teacher, but wanted a corporate job in the education-technology industry, she told Insider. Edtech also offered a path to a higher salary, which she'd need if she was ever going to make a dent in her student debt. Carbo graduated with $88,000 in student debt from undergraduate and graduate school, according to a document viewed by Insider.

"I could still have an impact in the education field but have a higher earning potential," she said. 

The issue: Carbo said most of the edtech job opportunities were located in California and the Northeast, and moving wasn't an option. 

Her husband has an in-person job specific to the region and, according to Carbo, "would not be able to find work in his industry" if they moved away. It also would have been challenging because his "entire family" lives in southern Louisiana, where they currently reside. 

"Those jobs were not an option for me," she said. 

But then the pandemic happened, and remote work took off. Slowly, Carbo said she began to see the types of jobs that had previously been out of reach for her become available as fully remote roles. 

In January, she began working remotely as an operations associate for an edtech company, a position that pays just over $70,000 a year, according to a document viewed by Insider. 

"With more remote positions available, I was able to achieve my career goals and not have to uproot my family," she said.

Carbo still has over $80,000 in student debt, due in part to the federal student-debt payment pause, as well as the fact she's only been able to afford the minimum payments. But she said she's in a much better position to pay it off moving forward. 

Carbo is among the many Americans who've used the rise of remote work to land a job that was previously out of reach for them. The geographic flexibility is among the reasons researchers cite when explaining a correlation they have found between remote work and happier employees. 

While the number of fully remote job postings is declining, the ability to apply to any remote position remains a huge advantage for job seekers, Daniel Zhao, an economist at Glassdoor, previously told Insider.

"Before the pandemic, a job seeker living in Bozeman, Montana, would be limited to local jobs, but now, that same job seeker has access to remote jobs from all over the country," Zhao said.

But with demand for remote openings remaining strong as postings begin to taper off, workers like Carbo may have been lucky to lock down their remote roles when they did. 

—Daniel Zhao (@DanielBZhao) April 5, 2023

'I would not consider taking a non-remote job in the future'

Carbo said that working remotely has saved her time and has had an "amazing positive impact" on her mental health.

"I've had more free time in my day to devote to my own personal and career growth," she said. "I use the time I would have spent commuting taking courses and leveling up skills related to my career."

She said that the flexibility of her remote job has also made it possible for her to fully embrace her love of travel and "spend a month by the beach" if she wants to. 

"Working remotely and having that flexibility to work from anywhere has enabled me to take trips that I never thought would be possible for me to do until retirement," she said, using a trip she took to Croatia as one example. 

She even decided to start a blog to document her travels and share tips about how to balance working remotely with traveling. 

While some companies are calling employees back to the office, Carbo said she's not worried about this, given that her company — while based in California — doesn't have a physical office and has said that it's committed to operating remotely. 

But if that ever did change, she said she's committed to the work-from-home life. 

"I would not consider taking a non-remote job in the future," she said.

Has remote work helped change your life? If so, and you're willing to share your story, reach out to this reporter at jzinkula@insider.com.