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I find myself in a situation that has me frustrated and a little upset. I thought I was avoiding a long job hunt, but I am not so sure now. I have not had to hunt for a job for a long time, so any advice with this is appreciated. This is long, but here goes...
I had second interviews with 2 companies last week. One gave me an offer the same day after the interview. (I was going out of town and let them know I wouldn't be in communication until the following week, so that may have played a role.) They wanted me to start on Monday.
The second company was conducting interviews for multiple openings the remainder of the week and he would send an email out to those he selected after all the interviews were done, BUT he may have to talk with his VP in New York first to get his take on the potential candidates. However, during the interview, because of my background, he pretty much knew I was going to be one of the selected candidates.
Now, the second company has always been my first choice because of proximity to home. I could be there in 20-30min each day by train and a quick walk. Accessibility and commute time were important in my search because I currently don't have a car. With this job, I wouldn't have to use my husband's car even though he also takes the train to work except for one day each week where he decides to drive just because.
The first company is about 1hr to 1.25/1.5 (on worse days) if driving. I am very familiar with the suburb since I have been out there for any number of reasons throughout my adult years. I wouldn't have applied if I wasn't willing to drive there on a daily basis. Obviously, this was the second choice and worse case scenario for my situation since I would have to use DH's car until I could get my own.
Problem is, when I talked to my husband about having the offer from the suburban company and how the situation I brought up to him before interviewing was a big possibility, he wasn't happy and pretty much said no. Looking up the commute time if I took the train and bus to the job, I would have a 2 hour one-way commute each day, so 4 hours of my day would be travel time. Oh, and some weeks I would work a half day on Saturday mornings too.
My first reaction was to turn down the suburban job since I wouldn't be able to handle that kind of commute each day as well the issue of needing to work late some days and the suburb transit schedule isn't conducive to late working times. No point in stringing them along if there was going to be an issue and I was hopeful on my first choice coming through based on that interview.
Now I still haven't heard from the company close to me in the city and I have no other interviews lined up. I'm starting to think of calling the suburban company and taking the job there and just sucking up the commute time. I know that long commute will get to me and I won't have time to workout or take care of errands, but I don't want to wait forever for another opportunity either. Still a part of me says to just keep looking.
I feel like I'm missing something and probably not seeing every possibility, but I'm frustrated now with possibly having to start at square one again. So, what would you do?
Forget the surburban job, and keep looking. I have a part-time job three mornings per week as a caregiver. When I started this job, the woman I work for lived 3 1/2 miles from me. It was very convenient - I could drive to work, and run errands afterwards. But she decided to move closer to her sister, and her new apartment is 10 miles away. So that would be 60 miles per week on my minivan, $50-$60 per week in gas, plus wear and tear.
So I take public transporation, and it's a minimum of a three hour commute. One hour in the morning (rush hour, everything runs more often), but when I get off at noon, it takes me two hours to get home, and sometimes longer. I have to make four transfers to get work/home. It got old very quickly, and needless to say, I'm looking for something closer to home. By the time I get home, I'm so tired of being on the bus/trolley, that I fall asleep.
I can guarantee you that the surburban job would get old very quickly.
The first company is about 1hr to 1.25/1.5 (on worse days) if driving.
if I took the train and bus to the job, I would have a 2 hour one-way commute each day
I feel like I'm missing something and probably not seeing every possibility, but...
What you're missing is a realistic definition for the word "commute".
Either move to where the job is or find a job where you live.
What is your time worth? 20 hours a week is a lot of dead time. I don't know your finances. Does the pay make it worth it? Do you need the money regardless of the commute time?
If I took the job, I would not stop looking for another job.
I'm actually surprised with the general consensus to skip the suburban job. A lot of the advice I read usually leans towards taking whatever you can get because of the way the job market is currently. While out earlier, I really thought about it and I'm leaning towards letting the suburban job pass. Its not just the commute, but having time to do other things is important to me as well. I'm not able to purchase a car at this moment, so I will stick to jobs to looking for jobs in the city since I now know that DH prefers me not having to use the car at all.
MrRational, where I live, with rush hour traffic, its not uncommon to have an hour commute to and from work. Not everyone wants to live in suburbia, especially if they don't have children or children who are college age. But I do get what you are saying. My best jobs have coincidentally had the shortest commute times.
joe from dayton, I've been looking since the end of June. I do need the money which is part of the reason why I was thinking I should go for it. The pay is a sliding scale base + commission, which will easily pay $80K+ and over 6 figures if I'm good at what I do, and I am. The job in the city was similar pay except the base didn't slide, which is why I was willing to bypass the suburban job if the city job came through. With no word from the city job, here I am thinking what I should do.
If I don't hear from the city job by the end of day today, I may give a call and see what's happening. Kind of afraid that I will be annoying, but I would like to know something.
Working 6 days a week with a 4 hour commute every day lowers your real salary by about 40%. Is it worth it? Especially if you figure your time at home will be spent sleeping and that's about it. You will have no time for a life at all. You will have to do everything on your one day off, Sunday.
Figure out your real salary. I bet you would be better off working at a local convenience store!
What's the big deal with you using or buying a car?
My credit is good. I simply don't have the money saved to put down on a car right now. Other priorities such as seeing the son into and off to college plus medical expenses have been more important. We have been able to get by on one car since I have been working from home for a while now. My plan was to save up the down payment for a car as soon as I started working and then buy. Hoping maybe 4-5 months into working tops. However, husband isn't going to let me use his car on a daily basis to drive out that far until I do get the money. He doesn't want the miles, wear, and tear on his car. He's not assisting in the purchase of one either. My only alternatives would be the 2 hour train/bus commute (made even more difficult with potential later working hours and odd Saturday transit times) or keep looking.
n = value of the position (salary + future opportunities)
x = the financial cost of commuting (gas, wear & tear, parking, etc.)
y = the emotion cost of commuting (frustration, missing stuff if you can't get home quickly, etc.)
If N doesn't outweigh the cost of x+y greatly, then the job is not worth the commute.
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