Job Discussion Forums

Delltron · Joined: 03 Sep 2010 Posts: 54

Would you take a job, while everything else was really good (including salary, quality of teaching materials, motivated students, etc.), if you needed to commute 1 hour and 20 minutes to and from work each day (total of 2 hours and 40 minutes)?

Suffering from indecision at the moment. I'd like to hear your thoughts or experiences.

Thanks.

natsume · Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Posts: 409 Location: Chongqing, China

That kind of commute is fairly typical for many suburbanites in the US. I lived in a "bedroom community" of San Francisco for three years and had a commute into the city very much like the one you describe, and I certainly wasn't alone. The payoff was living in a gorgeous rural area of Northern California, which made it totally worth it to me.

Make a list of plusses and minusses, and see if it is worthwhile according to your own standards.

elliot_spencer · Joined: 26 Feb 2007 Posts: 495

Not much fun waking up super early in the long cold crisp winter!

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

It depends on the transport. Some places have great transport. Others have horrible transport.

Delltron · Joined: 03 Sep 2010 Posts: 54

There's a subway, but the total time would be what I said in the original post, almost three hours of traveling each day.

spanglish · Joined: 21 May 2009 Posts: 742 Location: working on that

I've had longer commutes AND a less than ideal work environment.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

If the job hours were, say, six at work plus the 2.5, and everything else looked good. If you are looking at working 8 or more hours per day, PLUS the commute, I'd hesitate.....

I'd also care if the subway ride is a nice, sit-down one, in which I could do some work, or if it's an exhausting, crowded, stand-up affair.

eurobound · Joined: 04 Apr 2011 Posts: 155

Take a book.

Then, when you can, move.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Delltron · Joined: 03 Sep 2010 Posts: 54

Interesting that the title of the thread adds the word "Opinion" to the message when I make a poll, so that I have the word appearing twice in my title. I didn't intend that.

By "everything else is good," I mean the kinds of qualities hinted at in the parenthesis following the adjective "good."

AGoodStory · Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Posts: 738

Are you now living in the city where you would be commuting if you accept this position? Presumably you are, since you know that the location of your home is an hour and twenty minutes from the school. If the commute is a serious factor in your decision, I think I would want to experience it under conditions as close to the actual conditions you will have when working. Try it more than once on days of the week, and times of day that you would be commuting to and from work. It might be easier than you imagine. It might be a lot worse. Experiencing something is always different from thinking about it--and will give you more information.

Another consideration is whether this commute is a straight shot--once on, once off--or whether it involves transfers. You will not be able to make as productive use of the travel time if you have to get on and off, wait for the next train, get resettled, etc.

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

If I were a single person without a family, I would say sure, just bring a book or an ipad. Now as a father, I'm not sure where I would find any time to see my child with that much commute time.

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

The comfort of the commute can make a huge difference. A few of my students commute from over 2 hours away, standing on trains and buses. Just standing for a few minutes (about 13 to be exact) on my way to work this morning, and being crushed the whole time, was annoying enough. Can't imagine having to do it for 80 minutes. I have one 80 minute or plus commute now, but it is only once a week. That is bearable, especially as that is a five class day out in Kanagawa Prefecture (going for 5 classes makes it worthwhile and a very long day) and I generally get a seat for the longer part of the train ride (38 minutes).

MisterButtkins · Joined: 03 Oct 2009 Posts: 1221

Personally I'd never even consider such a job. To me commuting more than 20 or 30 minutes in any direction is just throwing away part of your life. Not to be over dramatic, but if you are commuting for 2 hours and forty minutes five days a week, you are spending over 13 hours a week commuting. Almost like spending an extra day at work, unless you have an easy job, then it's like spending two extra days at work. In a year, it would be over 600 hours, or about 25-28 TWENTY FOUR HOUR DAYS. This is a ludicrously large amount of time, in my opinion. To me my free time is the most important thing and I'd never be okay with that kind of commute, especially not if I had to drive.

spanglish · Joined: 21 May 2009 Posts: 742 Location: working on that

gaijin - I used to commute 2 - 4 hours everyday, standing up or packed into incredibly cramped buses and nasty public transport. Sometimes you would be literally crushed against the door there were so many people. I just kept trying to tell myself that it was part of the 'adventure.' Very glad to have a 5 minute taxi commute now.