Continuing the job hunt and received a job interview invite for a job I'd be excited about, but I realized how bad of a commute it would be. Should I go through with the interview or give it up? What would make a long commute worth it to you?
The job hunt continues! I am trying to tamper the desperation of leaving my current job (and field in general) when trying to make decisions. When I applied to this job, we didn't know where we'd live (as we were moving from out of state.) We haven't committed to anything, but my partner's job is located in a cute area (MD, outside of north DC) and so we started looking at that area.
My current job is WFH but relatively miserable, underpaid, and increasing my stress. Two team mates just resigned. It also is pulling me deeper into a part of the field I don't want to work in any longer.
I found a job that sounded interesting, it would pay me potentially 55% more in salary. I'm unsure if it would take me out of my field, but it would take me out of my current area of the field.
Coming from out of state, I didn't realize that 15-20 miles commute could be 1+ hour in the afternoons! But now I do.
I wasn't sure if this role was hybrid (turns out it's likely not) or would have earlier hours (7am-3pm, turns out that it still would make a bad afternoon commute) so I applied, especially because we were considering a few different cities in case I did find something I liked. And I honestly didn't think they'd call me back so I just threw my hat in to see.
Well a month later (read: today) I got a call back for the interview. And we are getting pretty excited to live at my partner's job city. When I checked Reddit, everybody says the commute from partner's job city (MD) to this potential work city (in NOVA) is HELL. So I now know that the traffic will be absolutely awful.
I feel like I'm in a potential pickle.
I've been job searching for a year and while I've got one offer (which I turned down and am so glad I did now), and 3 interviews, nothing has landed. Thinking about working at my current job for another year and still not making enough money makes me really anxious. I also have that dreaded feeling of "What if no other job in this area that I'm qualified for ever pops up again" but I know that's probably not 100% true. Remote jobs are harder to find. And the area of MD we're in doesn't have as many jobs that would be a fit for me. My ideal spot would be a hybrid job in DC or Baltimore due to the current job market availability.
This job could be a window out, but I don't know anything about the work culture--or even if I would be offered the job, I haven't even had an interview! All I know now is: 55% potential higher salary (but still, not breaking 6 figures), path out of my field, looong commute, and 5 days in person.
My partner is open to moving somewhere in the middle of MD/NOVA, but he's been commuting a far distance for years and was really excited about having a less than 20 minute commute. We also are really liking the city his job is in.
I don't want my career to be my entire life. I don't want to run myself into the ground in a different kind of burnout via commute. But I also am feeling a bit desperate at leaving this part of my field and making more money.
I'm considering the possible options:
a) Interview, tell them I haven't committed to which city I would live in yet (in case they're worried about the commute), and see if I make it through the process. Consider having a long commute. I don't love that.
b) Interview, same as above, but consider moving to a city in the middle, or by myself to NOVA. We both don't love this option.
c) Just do the interview for practice and learn more, just don't freak out about the options.
d) Decline the interview. Save their time and mine. (My therapist was leaning towards this.)
I'm likely future tripping too hard, but I'm wondering if it's really even worth it to interview and take their time and my anxiety. I just wonder if a long commute is worse, or staying in an underpaid/stressful yet WFH job for longer is worse. Thankfully with the WFH job I can take my therapy appointments almost any time during the day! (As an aside, I have calculated the cost of the long commute and trying to factor that in my salary expectations. Perhaps I'd have more money, but lose out on time.)
Does anyone have thoughts on or experiences with long commutes for higher salary and a different career path?
Thank you! |
Video
Web
Image
Music
BlogU
