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Need some job advice, or at least some honest opinions from anyone who's been through similar or have 100% travel jobs in the USA.
I just recently started a new job as an FTE (been doing unreliable contract jobs past 4-5 years). Full benefits, the works, something I never had as a contractor. Seems to be good chances for promotions and be moved around.
However, I was recently contacted my a recruiter about a 100% travel job (in the US) that pays 20K more a year. But no benefits at all. I am being told realistically 2-3 year contract if I can handle the traveling. 100% expenses paid.
Am I stupid for actually considering giving up an FTE job that I finally landed after years of unreliable contract work, for another contract job? I guess my only concern is 2-3 years from now after this contract is done, I am back to square one looking for a job again without a degree. I am a single male, 26, with no tie downs.
Anyone else do IT work that is 100%? Does it eventually get old and get regretful?
I would strongly advise staying in the FTE job. That 20k bump will barely cover benefits, the travel may get old, and contract jobs are not reliable as you say.
100% travel and no benefits for $20K. That doesn't seem worth it at all. Possibly because I'm old and with a family.
But still, you should price out your benefits when comparing. If you get paid $4,000 a month, then two weeks of paid vacation and ten paid holidays are worth close to $4,000. Plus health insurance and any retirement match, the contract work probably isn't paying much more money.
Last edited by Moby Hick; 04-29-2014 at 07:16 AM..
Reason: Elaboration
I guess I should mention that I am in the 50K range now, so the jump to 70Ks seems like a lot, especially for someone without a degree.
My main reason this post was to try and get opinions on people that do travel 100% all the time. The travel aspect is a nice selling point to me as I love to travel, the money is just a nice addition.
I wanted to see if anyone gets burned out after awhile, constantly traveling away 4-5 days out of the week.
Funny, I just told them no thanks. I think the long term decision is better to stay put. Now they came back at me with another 10K a year, and 2 weeks of PTO.
Well... Here's one take on it. Traveling for pleasure is awesome! Traveling for business sucks. You don't get to choose where you go, how you get there, have little choice (some, but not much depending on your corporate policy) over your accommodations, and you're stuck with what you can find at the local restaurants. BTW - you'll want to shove 'corporate policy' right up someone's backend when you get to your hotel after your flight was delayed, find out the hotel you booked is oversold and you find yourself 25 miles out of town because that was the closest 'in policy' hotel at the last minute, even though there were cheaper ones located close to your site with availability (some companies are more reasonable than others when it comes to this). Travel complications come up all the time, and generally things work out, but there are definitely times when having to deal with them as per 'corporate policy' can make a painful situation excruciating. Plus, the clock is ticking. You still have to get the work done in the same amount of time no matter how painful it was just to get there.
If you're tired or don't feel so hot (and you're constantly exposed to other people's germs), you don't get to choose to not travel or schedule things for a more convenient time. Despite the constant interaction with people, it's lonely. All the people that work at the site you're at? They all go home and have a life, you go back to your hotel or find something to do with yourself. There may be one night or so when you all go out to dinner, and then you'll talk work the whole time, but mostly you're on your own. You're rarely in one place long enough to make any kind of friends, or have a relationship, so there's no one to share the few cool things that you do manage to go see (between your hotel and working generally long hours on-site). The hours are often longer than a normal job because you have a limited amount of time to achieve your objectives. It's also hard to stick to a good eating and workout regimen (which are critical to me) when you're on the road and at the mercy of hotel gyms and restaurant food. Sitting in airports, even in the swanky business lounge, gets old quick. Being 'home', surrounded by your own things, starts to feel like a surreal vacation.
It's not all bad. You do get to do lots of traveling, meet lots of new people and see interesting things, but I can do plenty of that on my own, to exactly the places I want to go, in more of the manner I choose. OTOH, with business travel, you find some surprising gems in places you never thought you'd want to visit. It can also have the effect of making your own home much more appealing to come back to, and I'm saying that as someone who's never been much of a homebody. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
disclaimer: I've never had a job that was 100% travel, but I know people that do/did, and I have traveled plenty for business and pleasure. These days I have enough of a life that I resent any travel not of my choosing, but when I was younger and single, I'd say 20% was enough of a taste without getting sick of it. It may not sound like that much, but with the amount of overhead required by any travel, it can take up a surprising chunk of time and mental energy.
You have to want that kind of job or you'll come to resent it. If traveling 100% for a job doesn't sound like something you'd like and enjoy, then don't do it. The $20K or $30K extra will be great for about 3 months, then it won't seem like enough for your trouble. I know this is going to be counter to what many others will tell you, but first start with the "is that what I want to be doing" question. Do you like what you do now? Is there room for you to grow into doing more or new things at the current company? If yes, stay. If no, then consider the offer.
Now, if the offer was for $40K or more per year, then it's worth checking it out and giving it a go. But as far as benefits go, consider that $10 - $15K of whatever extra monies this company may pay you will go towards covering your own medical/dental/vacation/sick time/IRAs or 401K. Full time benefits are nothing to sneeze at and then can add up. So, a $30K extra job when you have to cover your own benefits, is really more like a $15K bump.
Thanks for the replies everyone. After digging into the recruiter a little more for details, I was told that even though the job is hourly, overtime is not time and a half, just same rate. So I asked about realistic work hours and was told that I would probably never get just 40 hours, more like 60-80 without time/half pay.
I know this is going to sound lazy, but I'd rather not squeeze 60-80 hours of work into 4-5 days, on top of traveling on my own time and not paid company time. Then come home for 2 days, and do it all over again. If I already had a contract job, sure, would have nothing to lose. Not to mention I am over qualified for the actual work, and now realize they are just throwing money at someone to be a slave on the road. I would come out of this job no further ahead than when I started, except financially.
Going to stay put and use my tuition reimbursement benefits to further my career myself. Good day all.
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