Commute v. Local Job

Mimojo

Looking for a bit of advice please. So long story short, went to college, got my degree, working in my field for about 3 years, recession hit and sector was very badly effected, ended up being let go, working in a couple of very dodgy jobs after, before getting a decent enough job, 10 minutes drive from home.. Working in the job for over 3 years, it was grand, not the most exciting job in the world, but very doable. Money was decent enough, with no commute expenses.

In the meantime in my personal life, decided to make a big change, lost a lot of weight, got into the gym and running, really a much healthier lifestyle, and working close to home allowed for morning gym visits etc. Was really in a good place personally, happy with things and really fit and healthy.

Then earlier this year, the sector I worked in had begun to pick up again, applied for a couple of jobs and was successful on one. Job is in Dublin city centre, starting from the ground up again as a graduate, and involved a pay cut, which coupled with the addition commute cost, was quite sizeable. I did the maths, knew that it would involve less money, commuting time etc, and decided to take a chance on it, for the sake of getting my career kick started again.

Have been doing the commute for the past 6 months or so now. I drive in, park and cycle the rest of the way. With traffic I need to leave at 7am, so get into work early, and then in the evenings get home about 7pm, so in essence a 12 hour day, 5 days per week. I have the option of the train, but it is no quicker as I also need to get a bus on top of that, and the cost is a lot more than driving. I probably sound very dramatic, and I am finding the commute is a killer! I am just so tired all the time, I feel like I have no energy, I have totally fallen off the wagon in terms of health and fitness. I know I am making some excuses here, but I am genuinely really wrecked all the time, and feel like I spend the weekends wrecked and trying to recover for another week.I feel like I am horrible to be around, and just dont feel myself at all, and the thoughts of doing this on a long term basis are not appealing! Coupled with this is the fact that the place I am working, although the experience is very good, is not the greatest company in the world, and although I like the work, the atmosphere is far from ideal.

I recently got married, and we hope to be lucky enough to have kids in the near future. The way things stand at the moment I think it will be very difficult to do this with my hours the way they are. We dont have any family support nearby, so will be relying on a creche etc.

I am wondering what to do. An opportunity may be arising whereby a job will be becoming available in close proximity to where I live, not in the field I am qualified in, but on better money. I am strongly considering this as an option. Part of me feels like such a failure, I am lucky to be in this job after a few years away from it, but I just feel that my salary is not going to be increasing in any way significantly for a number of years. I guess if I was in my early 20's that wouldn't matter so much, but I feel like I am in a different stage of life now, and I guess my priorities are changing. Although in the long term the salary expectations are better, it will take a number of years to materialise.

I would really like some opinions on this please, dont really know what to do for the best.

_Kaiser_

Commuting can be a relatively painless thing - see my and other's experiences in this thread - or a complete nightmare depending on where you're going, what time you need to be there, and HOW you get there.

But if I was in your position now I'd be doing everything to get the more local position - especially if the job you're in now is pretty much a dead-end, to say nothing of the physical and mental effects it and the commute is having on you.
Like you I'm a bit older now and have a little fella to think of, so my tolerance for stuff like that is a lot less than when it was just me. To be honest there's no way I'd even consider a job in the city centre myself unless it had free onsite parking and flexible hours... but that's me!

Sure the company you're in now gave you a chance to get back into your field (I was in the same position as well a few years back) but ultimately in your case there's no benefit to staying put in any case if a better (or even equivalent) opportunity presented itself. You have to do what's right for you and your family first.

Or if you prefer, let me put it this way.... good luck with the interview!

Mimojo

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Commuting can be a relatively painless thing - see my and other's experiences in this thread - or a complete nightmare depending on where you're going, what time you need to be there, and HOW you get there.

But if I was in your position now I'd be doing everything to get the more local position - especially if the job you're in now is pretty much a dead-end, to say nothing of the physical and mental effects it and the commute is having on you.
Like you I'm a bit older now and have a little fella to think of, so my tolerance for stuff like that is a lot less than when it was just me. To be honest there's no way I'd even consider a job in the city centre myself unless it had free onsite parking and flexible hours... but that's me!

Sure the company you're in now gave you a chance to get back into your field (I was in the same position as well a few years back) but ultimately in your case there's no benefit to staying put in any case if a better (or even equivalent) opportunity presented itself. You have to do what's right for you and your family first.

Or if you prefer, let me put it this way.... good luck with the interview!

Cheers for the advice

The job I am in now has more prospects that the other one, as I am now working in what I am qualified to do. However the salary is very low, and I have come to realise it is going to take me years to get up to what I want to be earning.

The local job, I worked in it before, it is reasonably well paid with no commute costs, I think I should be able to negotiate a better salary now to be honest, the work is ok, not the most exciting, and likely my salary will not rise a lot over the years. However it is 10 minutes from home and will have so much more time.

The commute at the moment is long, and finding it stressful, I just keep thinking of what a waste of time it is to spend so long on the car when I could be doing a million other things. Also I am wrecked, and it costly too.

I guess in the back of my mind I cant see myself being able to stick this for the long term, 5+ years, and that is how long it will take to get onto an kind of semi decent salary. We really like where we live, we are renting however looking to buy, and would not consider moving to Dublin, its too expensive and would much prefer to live where we are as feel we have a better quality of life.

My hours are set in stone, so I have to commute at the busiest times, so no wiggle room there.

I have to agree, I am grateful to be given this job, but starting to realise that the pay cut, couldnt with cost and time commuting are making this a very difficult option to stick with, and the importance of the the fact that we are hoping to start a family sooner rather than later.

_Kaiser_

Mimojo wrote: »

Cheers for the advice

The job I am in now has more prospects that the other one, as I am now working in what I am qualified to do. However the salary is very low, and I have come to realise it is going to take me years to get up to what I want to be earning.

The local job, I worked in it before, it is reasonably well paid with no commute costs, I think I should be able to negotiate a better salary now to be honest, the work is ok, not the most exciting, and likely my salary will not rise a lot over the years. However it is 10 minutes from home and will have so much more time.

The commute at the moment is long, and finding it stressful, I just keep thinking of what a waste of time it is to spend so long on the car when I could be doing a million other things. Also I am wrecked, and it costly too.

I guess in the back of my mind I cant see myself being able to stick this for the long term, 5+ years, and that is how long it will take to get onto an kind of semi decent salary. We really like where we live, we are renting however looking to buy, and would not consider moving to Dublin, its too expensive and would much prefer to live where we are as feel we have a better quality of life.

My hours are set in stone, so I have to commute at the busiest times, so no wiggle room there.

I have to agree, I am grateful to be given this job, but starting to realise that the pay cut, couldnt with cost and time commuting are making this a very difficult option to stick with, and the importance of the the fact that we are hoping to start a family sooner rather than later.

There ya go then.. I would have been much the same a few years back when it was just myself to think of and support. You'll put up with a lot more and be more patient I found.

But life goes on and things change and now the important things are having enough money to pay the bills and having enough time to spend with the little fella as possible. That doesn't mean my career no longer matters to me (in fact I'm trying to get myself more work/responsibility and thus more money at the moment ) but it's no longer THE most important thing either.

Right now I'm doing 1000km a week to get to/from work, but it's all motorway and I have flexible start/finish times so it makes it doable.. plus I'm not working in the city centre which helps significantly. I don't intend to do this forever though as while it only takes about an hour each way, the cost is significant, so medium/longer term I'll either relocate or the job will.. probably the latter

Graham

Tough choice to make, I don't envy you.

The career you've got back into now, the one you're qualified for. Is it something you enjoy doing, is it an area you'd like to stay in? If it is, I'd be careful before giving that up for a short-term gain. However uncomfortable things are at the moment, if you take the easy option with the local job are you likely to regret it in 10 years time?

Do you have other options, is the really an A or B choice?

thegreatgonzo

Mimojo wrote: »

I am wondering what to do. An opportunity may be arising whereby a job will be becoming available in close proximity to where I live, not in the field I am qualified in, but on better money. I am strongly considering this as an option. Part of me feels like such a failure, I am lucky to be in this job after a few years away from it, but I just feel that my salary is not going to be increasing in any way significantly for a number of years. I guess if I was in my early 20's that wouldn't matter so much, but I feel like I am in a different stage of life now, and I guess my priorities are changing. Although in the long term the salary expectations are better, it will take a number of years to materialise.

.

I'm feeling very similar to you at the moment and I can relate very much to the paragraph above.
I think if I had the choice I would take the job closer to home that also pays better even if it is not related to your training and doesn't fit in to the career path you imagined for yourself. At the moment I am trying to build a career which involves me staying in a dreary rented house a few hours away from my home and friends who I rarely see. Lately I've begun to think it's just not worth it at my age (late 30's) and that I might be happier doing something else and having a social life again.
There is a part of me that feels like a quitter for wanting to do this after I worked so hard to get my qualifications so I understand what you mean about feeling like a failure.

Mimojo

So new years update!

I had an opportunity to discuss the local job over Christmas. It is with a previous employer and we sat down and went through everything, they have offered a more senior managerial position, with additional workload and responsibility. They came back to me with an offer late last week, and I requested a further salary increase on their original offer, which they have agreed to. I am waiting for the offer to come through formally, but have been informally offered the job.

It is 12.5k pa more than I am currently earning, with annual salary increase written into the contract. It is 10 minutes away from home, so having done my calculations on the increase in salary, coupled with the decrease in transport costs, I will be 700e (net) per month better off. I will also be able to leave the house at 8.50, and home at 5.40, as compared to leave at 7am and home at 7pm daily. I will be able to return to the gym & running, which I have totally let slide in the last few months, and generally have more time for family and friends. In the near future we hope to start a family so that was also an important consideration. All in all I am happy with my decision. I have realised that it will take years to progress in a career in what I am trained in, and although it difficult to walk away, for all of the reasons above I feel that I am making the right decision for me here.

Mimojo

I completely understand what you are saying. You spend so long and put some much effort into getting qualifications and then getting a job, to realise that it might not be all that you had hoped.

I have only been doing this job for 6 months and it has really taken its toll I have to say. Now I know 1000's of people commute on a daily basis, and more power to them, but I find it really tiring, and the fact that my salary was very poor on top of that was not helping. I felt that I have no time for myself, was so tired all the time that I was snappy with friend and family when I did manage to spend any time with them, and weekends were spend sleeping as I was so wrecked from the week. Daily 12 hour days are tough going. I think if I had been in a more progressive company it would have helped, it just seemed that there were very little positives to be drawn from the situation overall.

I guess your priorities do shift as you get older, if this was 10 years ago I dont think I would have minded that much, but now there are other things to consider, and starting a family, buying a house and spending time with family and friends is more important than this job for me right now.

Best of luck with whatever you decide, hope it all works out for you

thegreatgonzo wrote: »

I'm feeling very similar to you at the moment and I can relate very much to the paragraph above.
I think if I had the choice I would take the job closer to home that also pays better even if it is not related to your training and doesn't fit in to the career path you imagined for yourself. At the moment I am trying to build a career which involves me staying in a dreary rented house a few hours away from my home and friends who I rarely see. Lately I've begun to think it's just not worth it at my age (late 30's) and that I might be happier doing something else and having a social life again.
There is a part of me that feels like a quitter for wanting to do this after I worked so hard to get my qualifications so I understand what you mean about feeling like a failure.

thegreatgonzo

I'm delighted for you, it really has all worked out for the best :-)
I'm feeling a bit more positive this week, maybe I'm just feeling a bit more settled in the job. I feel like I'm able to make a sensible plan again and that when I do leave the job it will be for the right reasons and after a decent period of time. There's a career fair on in the area I'm interested in in March so I'm hoping that will give me some inspiration and direction so until then I'm going to get on with things :-)

Zipppy

Mimojo wrote: »

So new years update!

I had an opportunity to discuss the local job over Christmas. It is with a previous employer and we sat down and went through everything, they have offered a more senior managerial position, with additional workload and responsibility. They came back to me with an offer late last week, and I requested a further salary increase on their original offer, which they have agreed to. I am waiting for the offer to come through formally, but have been informally offered the job.

It is 12.5k pa more than I am currently earning, with annual salary increase written into the contract. It is 10 minutes away from home, so having done my calculations on the increase in salary, coupled with the decrease in transport costs, I will be 700e (net) per month better off. I will also be able to leave the house at 8.50, and home at 5.40, as compared to leave at 7am and home at 7pm daily. I will be able to return to the gym & running, which I have totally let slide in the last few months, and generally have more time for family and friends. In the near future we hope to start a family so that was also an important consideration. All in all I am happy with my decision. I have realised that it will take years to progress in a career in what I am trained in, and although it difficult to walk away, for all of the reasons above I feel that I am making the right decision for me here.

Sounds fab

BabySlam

Commuting has seriously detrimental effects for health and happiness. OK for a first job, but after that you need to work near where you live. I know a couple of people whose lives really suffered from commuting. Try to minimize it if you can.