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In a terrible dillema and could use your advice!!
So I've been working in my current role for about two years and was recently offered a position in another company - great benefits, great work environment, and a 40 percent (yes 40!) pay increase.
My only concern (and it's a big one) is thanks to Atlanta traffic, I will have to leave around 6:30am and even if I leave the office at 4pm, it takes nearly 90 minutes in bumper to bumper traffic as I'll be driving from downtown up the 'burbs where hubby and I recently bought our first home.
I do have the option of public transportation - which would mean driving about 20 minutes in traffic to the closest stop, taking a train for about 20 minutes, trasferring and taking it one more stop. The whole trip is probably over an hour, but I could read/listen to music/work/etc.
I am so torn because everything about the job sounds great but I don't know if I can make terms with the crazy commute. Right now I drive about 40 minutes in traffic each way. Hubby and I are thinking of TTC at the end of the year and I just dont know... this is such an amazing career opportunity.
PLEASE share your opinions!!! Thank you!!!
Re: In a terrible dillema and could use your advice!!
With the availability of public transport, I'd totally take it. You'd add a more predictable commute of only 20 additional minutes each way from your current situation, and the trade-off is that you would be able to relax instead of sitting in traffic.
Mind you, this is coming from someone who did a 50+ mile commute for almost 5 years, and only rarely had major issues with it.
Is there an opportunity to do any work from home at some point?
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Disclaimer: I am not an MD. Please don't PM me with pregnancy-related questions. Ask your doctor.
I would also say take it. It sounds like you're excited about the job AND the pay increase is great! Seems worth an extra 40 minutes a day (and a train commute vs. drive commute).
Congrats!!
Thanks everyone. It is exciting - more responsiblity, a great promotion and a fun industry BUT nearly doubling my commute and going from a 25 miles rountrip to 55 miles is kind of tripping me out... I just don't want to be stressed and worked up every day!
I might ask the HR dept if they'd allow me to do a day or two from home... it is a Director level job so I'm hoping they'll afford me some flexibility.
Anyone else out there do a 50+ commute? If so, what are your thoughts?
I did a 70 minute commute - which was MAYBE 15 miles. It was 10 minute drive to metro station, 45-50 minute metro ride, and then 10 minute walk.
I did not like it and only stayed in that apartment until lease was up. However, it sounds like you will have less train time, so not any component of the trek is TOO long. That helps! And I don't think you'd necessarily be stressed if you went the public transit route. It was the time that bothered me, not stress. I would usually get a small nap in on the train home. And I read a lot more then.
I say take it!
live in Atlanta and I've taken every form of Public transportation ( MARTA, XPRESS) and I prefer it to driving. I'm driving now because my new job is a little further from public transportation and its the one reason I almost didn't take this job.
I live in the burbs and work downtown..I leave home no later than 7:05 a.m. every morning to be at work at 8:30.
I don't know where you live but the commute can suck sometimes. And to be honest, sometimes taking public transportation will be longer but if this is an awesome job opportunity I would take it.
I have 100 mile commute a day, and I drive, traffic isn't too terrible. I have to leave at 6 in the am and get home at 5. There are some days I hate it, and with the talk of gas prices going up I may have to find something closer to home. The only problem with that is I would have to take a paycut. If the job that I am at now, would give me a payraise I would definately stay.
I say take it, I find that during my commute is a time for me to relax and wind down before I get home, so if I have a bad day I'm calm by the time I get home.
I was in your exact situation 2 years ago. I live in the suburbs north of Atlanta, and was interviewing for a job that was in Dunwoody (not even downtown) that would have been a 40% pay increase. My interview was at 4pm, so I got to experience 5pm traffic from Dunwoody to my house. It took me about 1-1.5 hours to get home that evening, and I decided right then and there that the 40% pay increase would not be worth my time on the road, the added stress level of the horrible traffic, and less time with my family.
Yes, you can work for a fabulous company downtown, Buckhead, or Dunwoody, but you must decide if the trade-off is worth it to you. I decided it wasn't worth it to me, and I did not regret my decision. I work in the suburbs, and it is only a 20 min drive through back roads, so I never have to experience the horrible traffic.
A horrible commute can really burn you out. That being said, a 40% increase in salary for a good career job might sway me. Do you have the possibility to move closer in a few years?
Currently my commute is 48 miles each way. But I am lucky -- I drive north and it's all highway and no traffic. It takes me about 45-55 minutes each way. If I worked south -- even 30 miles -- it would take an hour in bumper-to-bumper traffic. I could not deal with that daily.
I gave up my 10 minute commute from Canton to Woodstock for a 30% pay increase where I commuted downtown. The drive typically took me an hour and fifteen minutes. It wasn't a big deal - until we had a baby. With sleep deprivation and so much of my time being taken up caring for a baby, the drive became unbearable. We moved to Marietta, and my commute now takes 30 - 45 minutes. Adding an extra hour to my day may not seem like it would be worth moving, but that extra hour was enough to keep me from losing my sanity.
Can you share where in the burbs you live? I wonder if you might be overestimating your commute time. You would need to live really far out for the commute to regularly take 90 minutes.
My commute is 2 hours each way. My boss gives me major grief if I work from home more than once every two weeks, even when I have calls at 6 and 7 AM, or 10 PM.
I used to drive, now I take public transportation. It's a horrible way to spend my days, but I deal.
74 books read in 2011
So funny that you are in this boat bc I'm trying to make the same decision for an increase in pay as well. I live in Canton (closer to Alpharetta) and would be driving down to Dunwoody. Right now my current job is 20 min from me and I get home every night by 5:20 which is SO nice allowing plenty time to workout, cook and spend time with my H. But....my current boss is a WITCH so I'm having the same dilemma. It will take me 20 min. just to get to 400. It goes hand in hand and Atl traffic is just such a mess!
I guess I can't really SEE the 'downside' that you do.
Not having to drive gives me an enormous opportunity to get more work done, without any of the typical interruptions that happen after you are actually at the office (coworkers, ringing phones, etc.).
Have you thought about how much of a pay cut you will be taking to have a child?