Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know this seems really obvious, but I'm struggling to make a decision. I have two job offers. One is with a Big 4 company is the DC area where my career would be long, defined, and prosperous; but the quality of life is obviously lacking. The other is with medium-sized company where the primary contract is in guaranteed 1.5 years...with a bunch of other sub-contracts that extend further out. Obviously, the QOL would be much better. Grandparents are in DC. Salary is 120k in DC vs 115k in Charleston. Both are Manager positions. Both offer 25 PTO days.
On one hand...my concern is commute time. On the other hand, I really want to be invested in a company for a long time where I can work my way up and relocate if necessary. I have 2 young children who will be doing home-schooling for a couple years since my wife stays at home.
I posted this a week ago and thought I had an answer locked up until I started looking for housing in the DC area this past week. Any opinions are appreciated.
It is not obvious.
It sounds like you are very wealthy with your salary regardless of where you live!
Does not sound like salary or which company should be a deciding factor.
Maybe you should look at other factors like you have such as Quality of living, cost of living/housing, family, commute time, large city vs. medium coastal city, Culture, travel time between the two.
As has been told to me, write down the differences in two different columns and this will help you make your decision.
Last edited by Serenity2019; 08-14-2012 at 06:25 AM..
No one can help you decide this but I lived in the DC metro for 6 years prior to moving to Charleston and there is no question that the quality of life is much better in Charleston for me personally. A 115k salary is going to go much further in Charleston than a 120k salary in DC.
My advice is if you do decide to go the DC route, make your life easier and live as close to work as possible. The traffic can slowly tear your soul out.
DC which is a better job offer! The cost of living is not that much of difference if you live near Charleston downtown. If you want to live in Summerville, your commute time is going to be bad (although some other poster disagree; you know, Summerville in theory is another town and not even a suburb of Charleston). Metro in DC is very good if you can live on the routes.
SC is a right to work state. Please put that into your calculations. If you can stay in D.C. with a long-term job already lined up, in this economy, then that could potentially be a game-changer for your family especially with steady promotions, raises, etc. Yes, you would absolutely enjoy living in SC, and yes the quality of life is leaps and bounds over what it is in D.C. (that being said $115k here, is equivalent to $173k in D.C.) so the job in Charleston is offering you much more than D.C., but if you are even remotely uncertain on the likelihood of the career here taking off, then I think your decision is already made.
I generally have had no problems being impulsive or risk-tolerant in my life, but it's amazing what having a daughter can do to that. I feel for you, that's a difficult choice. What does the family say about it?
Family time is important. I'm not opposed to working 50-60 hours a week. But then I think about driving in traffic on top of that and trying to get home to my family...and I'm like "Will I have enough time to spend with my sons?" I don't really want to add 2 hours (1 hr each way) of traffic to an already long day.
If that's the case, then SC wins out over DC. I remember having 2-3hr commutes each way. DC rush hour is not to be messed with. In comparison, SC traffic and rush hours are laughably short and never a standstill.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
