Oo, this is a question I can answer!
Once upon a time, I was a federal proposal writer working for a large government contractor. I made 58k with a master's degree and worked 100% remote (I drove in maybe once every 3 months). 3 weeks vacation, bonus of maybe a week's pay. This was at the beginning of my career. My team worked in the DC metro area. I was transferred to this role upon finishing my master's program. I was always remote.
It was a terrible job--highly stressful, long hours. I worked many evenings and weekends. And the people I worked with... I hope to never encounter people like that again.
Some thoughts about your salary question:
--I was underpaid for the area. This could be because they were unwilling to pay me my value because I had been with the company or because my actual home was in a low COL area. Although I can't know for certain, I am pretty confident my coworkers made at least 10k more than me. The DC area is ridiculously expensive to live in. For me, that salary gap got hard to stomach, especially since I was treated so poorly. Which brings me to my next point...
--Remote 100% is pretty difficult. Working with a team like where I am now, I think I could do it no problem. But if your manager has no experience managing remote employees, I would not take the job. In my experience, my manager ignored me because I wasn't there in person. I spoke to him maybe once every other month. And this was with some persistence on my end! My co-workers would often try to "catch me" away from my computer (we all gotta use the bathroom sometimes, geez). And they would act as though I should be available any time, day or night, for any little issue that came up. Because they didn't see me, they assumed I wasn't working. That became a massive issue. Also, I got a dog during this time because when I didn't have any calls scheduled, I would speak to no one. All. day. So, I'd talk to the dog. That kind of loneliness can be pretty bad if you are predisposed to emotional issues. I know it was for me.
I am curious why you want to pursue this kind of work? Just from another post, it sounds like you suffer from depression and anxiety. In my experience, proposal writing, especially remote, is a sure-fire trip to trigger those conditions. It's also pretty difficult to be part-time in this career unless you are freelance and simply go from proposal to proposal... even then, the culture seems to be dominated with people who want you to work 24/7. Not sure if part-time was something you were looking into, but it seemed like that might be a consideration from your other post.
Might I recommend you pursue writing manuals? It's not for everyone, but I have to say, I love it. Really. I would like it better if I wasn't doing it full-time, ha, but it is so much fun most of the time. Some highlights:
--Definitely freelance-able: it's pretty common for tech writers to be contractors, so you can hustle up your own business that way if you have the motivation
--You talk to EVERYONE. You can learn about electronics, software, mechanical engineering, field service, safety... you learn how things go together and why it matters and you put yourself in other people's shoes to really understand their needs. I LOVE doing that. I want to be the one who makes things make sense! I have no science/tech/math background, I just love to learn, and this job allows for that
--You get to basically manage projects without having to be responsible for managing people. I catch other people's mistakes and oversights because I talk to everyone, all the time. I know when things go through the cracks. Because no one answers to me, I can get a surprising amount of insight from people, too
--If you are one of the only writers in a small company, everyone thinks you are amazing because you know how to type fast and thoroughly edit. haha
--Everyone who makes products needs someone to write a manual for it, and engineers hate doing it (they also usually aren't very good at it, although they try). The biggest issue with this--a lot of places need convincing that an actual writer will be good for them. It is, though. It really is. ha
--Because such a wide range of companies need manual writers, you are bound to find one with a culture that is a good fit for you, especially if you are able to move
Good luck with your search! I hope you find something that inspires you =).
