When accepting a job / salary

[Deleted]

or when you accepted your current job/salary did you take into consideration gas/distance/time/vacation etc.?

I mentioned in another post that for 3 weeks now I have been at a new location to help with a project that requires me to drive close to an hour to work and gas costs has gone up. But I get refunded for mileage at $0.51/mile since this is not my official location.

But since I am up for a promotion there is a chance that my new job site might be further away and I won't get refunded for driving then...

- A current co-worker lives near us now and drive to the same location as I do. She told me that she kept track of it last year and she spent 7K on fuel alone.

- My wife just informed me that her pregnant cousin (the one due in July) went back to her old job because her former job would only allow her to take 1 week off after giving birth since she used most/all of her vacation time for her wedding/honeymoon last October. Her old job that re-hired her will let her take up to 2 months and also it is in Queens compared to NYC so shorter commute (she lives in Long Island).

- Our neighbor/friends that also work in NYC says that even with the 4 hours commute a day (train from Beacon to NYC is 1h40 minutes unless it is a direct/non stop train and he has to take another train), sometimes he drives... he still comes out ahead financially compared to what he would get paid to work in our area. So for him it is worth it.

So when your job did you look at all it involved, not just the salary:
- commute to work, costs of fuel
- health insurance
- 401K/pension
- etc.

[Deleted]

I'll go first, when I accepted my current promotion all I cared or paid attention to was the fact I would go from making 35K to 53K. I did not think about all the traveling, driving, going to different sites, etc.

As for my wife, the main thing that made us jump on her current job was that it was 10 minutes from our house. We felt that since I had to drive/travel so much for work, it would be in our best interest as a couple/family if we limit it to just me.

Even now looking for a new apartment we are trying hard to keep her commute within 15-30 minutes from work since with my job my commute can go from 15 minutes (last october) to 5 minutes (this past January) to 50-60 minutes (currently at new site).

[jeffreymo]

Just going off of rough math your commute would be 1.5 to 2hrs one way - that is, if your co-worker isn't making a big exaggeration of her fuel consumption or has a big time gas guzzler.

To answer your question though - I have commute time and gas costs in my head before I even will apply to a company. Right now my wife and I both commute to the same general area, and have 35 minute commutes. We are considering moving to this area and I've calculated the savings to be around $150/month in gas (we currently carpool about 2 out of 5 days).

[Deleted]

yes. I take it all into consideration.

[yogiii]

All of it and now that we have a kid, I'd like a job closer to home, current one is 40 mins away not during rush hour. However there are "perks" to this one that right now, combined with the not so great economy keep me at it. DH works 5 mins from home already so that's good.

[The J]

When I accepted my current job, I didn't really, because there wasn't a need -- EVERYTHING was better than the job I had before -- it was a 50% raise, more time off, better benefits, shorter commute and most importantly FAR FAR FAR more interesting work. If I were to look at another position, I would definitely take all of that into consideration, in addition to the long-term career implications.

[workpublic]

i judge every offer by how many tanks a week it will take me to get there.

one tank a week, i can work for less. two tanks a week, it's gotta be more..

so to answer your question, yes i think about it.

1 tank now being $40+ dollars. I can't spend $360(2 tanks a week) a month on gas for a job that I take home less than $2000 a month.

[giramomma]

Yes, I considered everything, not just salary when taking a job. Time is a more precious commodity to me than money.

[Deleted]

Apr 6, 2011 8:32:52 GMT -5 jeffreymo said:

Just going off of rough math your commute would be 1.5 to 2hrs one way - that is, if your co-worker isn't making a big exaggeration of her fuel consumption or has a big time gas guzzler.

Not really.

I drive a 2008 Kia Sportage and have to refill my tank every other day at about $35-40. So let's say 3.5 refills a week at $40 and 50 weeks that would give me $7,000

Currently I spent 100-140/week on fuel and get refunded about $262/week for mileage so somewhat come out ahead if you don't count wear in tear.

But speaking with my co-worker made me realise that when I get my permanent location I would really need to consider fuel costs since I would no longer be getting refunded for traveling.

Currently that would be 13% of my gross income on fuel alone

[michelyn8]

I'm like jeffery - commute time/distance is looked at before I apply to a job. My limit is 30 miles or 30 minutes depending on the route I would have to take. I have no choice but to commute because the job market where I live is nil and what there is doesn't pay enough for someone to keep a roof over there head without a second income in the home or public assistance. I have had commutes ranging from <5 minutes to over an hour. I miss the <5 minute commute, but the longer commute can be tolerable if traffic on that route isn't heavy.

My current commute is 25 miles but takes me 45 minutes because half of it is "in town". I was furious when my old division transferred me to this site because my commute to the previous site was all interstate and while the same distance, took less than 25 minutes. Plus as we all know, highway travel burns less gas than city travel. Fortunately, that transfer ended up working to my favor because I was able to obtain my current position - same site but different/better supervisor and higher salary plus 4 day work week which cut my fuel expense.

Also, I calculate a bottom dollar net amount I need to live. When a posting lists a salary range, I use that to calculate an estimated net (using 25% reduction for taxes/insurance) and then decide if what's being offered is worth my time to apply/interview. If I don't have that info upfront, I'll do workups of what my net might be at different salary ranges before an interview so I know what I should ask for or if what they offer is worth going further.

[Deleted]

This is one of the reasons it drives me crazy that, when you interview, HR wants you to be the first one to put a number on the table- either your current salary, or what you expect at a new job. You can do some research on commuting costs and COL differences (in the case of relocation), but vacation is only one thing you also have to factor in. My company, for example, matches 100% of the first 6% of my pay that I put into the 401(k) and then throws in another 6% for all of us not in the DB pension plan they terminated a few years ago. So, a company could match my salary but if they didn't have those provisions I'd lose 12% right there. Then there's whatever you have to pay for health insurance- both contributions and co-payments. Finally, if you relocate, the quality of the relo package can make a big difference in your out-of-pocket costs (house-hunting at new location, buying curtains and other necessities for the new place). Then there are bonuses. Even if they're willing to give you an average %, if the company has a bad year does the bonus go to zero or maybe 50% of what you get in a good year?

You won't impress a prospective employer by asking lots of questions about benefits in the interview- but they can be a major factor in deciding whether the offered compensation is sufficient.

[dragonfly7]

Location is one of my primary considerations in my job search. If I have to drive on my own, I tend to be wary of a position once the commuting cost gets over 10 percent of the pay. I would ideally like to carpool with DH, especially if we decide to move closer to where he works (22 miles away). On the other hand, I'm not going to turn down something that is close to where we live now. I have an interview later this morning, and while not my dream position, it is only 6 miles/10 minutes away.

[Epiphany]

Absolutely it is a factor! I'm not terribly happy with my current job but it's 20 min. from home tops, I have 4 weeks vacation, they pay for a gym membership, and contribute 10% to a retirement account. There are more appealing firms in a city about an hour away but I'm unwilling to commute that far (especially in the winter) and I am hard pressed to give up my 4 weeks of vacation for any amount of money. But yeah, it's hard to get a full compensation package talked about in an interview since they usually just talk a dollar amount.

[Deleted]

Always as we have relocated for DH's job 5 times. We've turned down offers and twice it took close to 6 months to get everything promised in writing.

[tskeeter]

To me, the time required to commute to work can be even more important than the cost of commuting. I used to work in LA, about 30 miles from home. My average daily commute was about 2 1/4 hours and could be as long as 5 - 6 hours. So, on the average, I spent nearly 12 hours a week (or fifteen 40 hour weeks a year) going to and from work. When commute time was added on to the about 60 hour work week, monthly 11 P.M. meetings with the third shift crew, and occasional 6 A.M. conference calls with corporate, it made for long days and long weeks. Then, I think you need to factor in the conditions of the commute. Being able to take the train, or another form of public transportation, is different from driving the 91, 10 lanes of traffic, 1 1/2 car lengths from the car ahead of you, at close to highway speeds, while periodically ducking below the dash so you don't get glass in your face if the debris flying over the car ahead of you should break the windshield, and emergency braking to a complete stop to avoid the car stopping in front of you while avoiding being hit by the car behind you. If you daydream about being a NASCAR driver, you might find these driving conditions invigorating, if you're not a NASCAR wannabe, it adds to the stress level pretty quickly.

Refuse a job offer because the commute is to long, or the commute conditions too rough? If it wasn't a short term assignment, yes.

I think most employers consider commuting conditions to be an employee's issue, not the employer's, and will not offer additional compensation based on the commute. Instead of giving you more money, the employer will move on to the next candidate who lives closer to work. After all, the pay is based on the requirements of the job to be done, not where you live.

[Deleted]

Apr 6, 2011 10:54:59 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

When commute time was added on to the about 60 hour work week, monthly 11 P.M. meetings with the third shift crew, and occasional 6 A.M. conference calls with corporate, it made for long days and long weeks.

But leaving the office after an 11 PM meeting meant your commute wasn't as bad as in rush hour, right?

Seriously, that sounds like a nightmare. Could you do the 6 AM conference calls from home? One huge benefit here I forgot to add is that I work from home one day a week and any other time it doesn't suit me because of snow on the roads. Boss doesn't care- he's in Switzerland. Being in an office where face time was all-important and I had to be there 5 days a week would be another big minus for me.

[tskeeter]

But leaving the office after an 11 PM meeting meant your commute wasn't as bad as in rush hour, right?

You're right. That's the only time of the day I've been passed by the highway patrol while I was doing 85 and not gotten a fast driving award.