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In this economy with the price of gas and all, can it be "profitable" to take part-time employment with an hour's commute?
I was asked if I would be willing to make a 2 hour RT commute to work part-time entry level basically, to get into a new industry. The original job I posted for was 5 min from home, but did not get that one ...
According to costtodrivedotcom calculations, I would be spending around 6 bucks a work day in gas, add cost of lunch out, etc.
I hear underemployment is quite rampant these days, so perhaps this is the normal way of things now. What's the take on this?
It's easy to calculate the cost of the job in terms of money (seems like you've already done that)
But...what about the intangible of the experience?
I would consider:
- How badly do you need the experience?
- Do you anything better to do with your time?
- (to be found out) How bearable is the work you do?
I work with a woman who has been considering this very thing. With traffic, one way can be anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour. As a temp, she's making $10/hr. She doesn't have enough to even move into her own apartment (she had to move back home when her previous job ended) and she constantly weighs her options. I don't know how to advise her b/c I keep thinking this could turn into something else...but when? She's decided to wait until the end of the year to see if there are beneficial changes, then she says she's going to quit to find something closer to home. Sorry you're having a tough one...
I would consider it IF and ONLY IF it would give your the neccesary background to move on in the industry in a full time role. I would consider it more "tuition" expense.
I use .50 cents a mile beyond my desired commute when evaluating a job. I apply that to anything further than 10 miles from my home So if the opportunity is 40 miles away I deduct ((30 x2)*.5)/8 or , in this example, the additional 60 miles of driving per day is 3.75 an hour. If the opportunity pays 3.75/hr more than I can find locally it is worth considering.
When times are tight this can seem like a dumb question, but I'll ask it anyway. What kind of job would you prefer? I've known of people who've gotten jobs after they matched what they wanted to do with the problems employers have. The trick is to find out what those are, even when there are so many layoffs.
Nope! Wouldn't do it. I'd go be a waitress, cashier, bagger, janitor, fast food worker somewhere local to me (within 10 mins of my house) and come ahead in $$$ and be under less stress.....all while I continue to apply for the job I REALLY want.
Why is lunch out an extra expense? Just take your lunch with you. Any income is better than none, as well as relevant experience.
This is true to an extent however for most it isnt time effective(time is also money) to do long commutes and be unhappy at the job. You would be doing yourself a disservice and not give the company you work for 100%.
They would pick up on this and probably fire you
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