I have an interview with a company 80 miles from where I live. It is a monday thru friday job, no weekends or holidays. I currently work at a basic care facility 32 hours a week just about every holiday and every other weekend. I worked here before I graduated with my RN and they continue to pay me my LPN wage with no mention of increasing the pay.
I have been unable to get an RN job here in town and have had to look elsewhere. I am a little hesitant about the commute because of the weather during the winter. I know I would like this job and all it entails, but again the commute is quite a distance.
So how far do you travel for work or would be willing to travel for a job?
I currently drive 46 miles each way, M-F. I do not mind the drive, but would not want to make it any further. However, if it meant getting out of a bad job situation into a better one, I just might do it.
Keep gas costs in mind when budgeting. I had a pickup truck when I started this commute and gas cost me over $400 per month...we were broke. I traded it in on a Prius and now it costs me about $25 per week, more if I drive it a lot on the weekends. It can be a budget buster so be sure and calculate it carefully before you find yourself in a financial bind.
You may think about renting a room and staying near your prospective job during the week, just coming home on weekends. I know several men who do this.
Thanks everyone for your responses. I will be thinking long and hard and weighing the pros and cons before I accept a position this far away. I do not mind driving, I actually enjoy it except when the roads are bad. I am sure a person can get used to anything.
Used to drive over an hour, one way. Had friends that lived even further, and we car pooled together. The job was awesome, they treated us great and the ratio was reasonable, the pay was great too. Being happy where you work is important to me, and so the drive was so worth it. Since I live in the upper midwest, in winter it sometimes meant paying for a hotel and not getting home if the roads were really bad, but that was the only downfall. We had each other to talk to on the drive there and back, and so it was actually quite fun.
I enjoyed my drives, too. It gave me time to decompress - not that I needed so much of that with a nicer job. In reality, I got home about the same time as when I lived 15 miles from a more stressful job, where I never got out on time anyway.
I did not mind working weekends and holidays - until I didn't have to anymore! WOW , so that's how the rest of the world lives. Something to be said for that, too. Twice I was snowed into work - had to stay since the next shift didn't get in, but that happened at the closer job, too. Snow days do happen, both getting to work or getting home, but that happens no matter how far away the job is. I would go for the interview - then see what happens.
Worst case, you take the job and it doesn't work out, then you look closer to home next time. Best case - you love it and make lost of $$$$!
Specializes in Emergency, Internal Medicine, Sports Med.
I drive 2 hrs (well 1 hr 50 mins) one-way. Because I do 12 hr rotating shifts, I took a room closer to the hospital and I go home on my days off.
This job I have now 1) is in my area of specialty/interest; 2) I can dictate my schedule; 3) pay is good; 4) work culture is good, 5) they're willing to pay for more education. Plus this hospital/position will look very good on a resume.
The sacrifice- sucking it up for a couple years with the distance. Can't move closer because my husband is stationed. This job will help me write my ticket/get a better job closer to wherever we move in the future (military).
I guess you just have to weigh the pro's up against the con's and ask yourself if its worth it to you.
And I totally get the roads/bad driving. We get a lot of snow on my commute route and often the entire highway will shut down. I have a vehicle that's 4wd, safe, good on gas, and i carry a shovel/sand & chains for good measure.
We are going have to move again due to my wife still being on active duty military. I was just hired as anew grad and now may be moving to another state. Depending on our new base I may still commute the 3 hours to drive and stay for three 12 hours shifts then commute home for at least a year. We shall see, but it would be nice to get some experience in. If not I will just continue my education goal toward a NP license.
I wouldnt do it. That adds a lot of time to the workday... getting home late, and going to bed extra early since you have to leave so early. Just imagine being wore out from work and then an 80 mile drive! I was job hunting this summer, and I wouldnt consider over 30 miles, I thought of all kinds of details...like if it was raining...I hate driving in rain...I'd SURE hate over an HOUR of driving in rain...or snow..plus the more miles you tack on your vehicle the lower the value goes...plus gas is like almost $3 again.....plus less time with family (or time to just yourself).
I don't think I could go more than 50miles. I have been at my job for 3+years and travel 2hrs a day to get to and from work, 1hour to and 1hour home. I only work 36hours a week which mean I do 12hour shifts 3 days a week. I love the people I work with and it makes the drive tolerable. It was my first job as a RN and I knew when I was making my job decision that the amount of experience I would gain working there vs. somewhere a lot closer would be better overall for my nursing career, so I made the decision to make the drive worth it.
However, I couldn't imagine traveling 2+ hours a day 5days a week with only 2 days to relax. When making your decision, make sure you take into consideration traffic...for myself working 12 hour days means I am out of the house by 530am and not home until 9pm, pending traffic, which makes for a longer drive home! If you think the job will be worth the pay and experience then go for it, especially if you don't think you will mind the drive in and out....good luck to you and your job search!
Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.
I just started a job and my commute is 29 miles. But it is through heavy traffic. It takes me an hour to get to work. It is a major pain in the butt. I almost fell asleep on the drive home twice and there is not a day that goes by that someone is not trying to run me off the road. But hopefully, I will be out in the field and will not have to make this commute every day in the near future (my job requires a lot of travel time and I will rarely be actually in the office most days).
You definitely need to do the math. 160 miles per day x 5 days is a whopping 800miles PER WEEK you are putting on your car just for your job alone. That's nearly 42 THOUSAND miles per year, a minimum of 8 oil changes, one or two sets of tires, at least one major maintenance visit annually, roughly 5 thousand dollars in gas IF your car gets 30mpg (based on $3.50/gallon but they say we're going to hit higher) and all this just from your commute. Now add in all the other driving you will have to do on a day to day basis. Oh and you'll probably need a new car every 2 years because driving a high mileage vehicle on commutes that involve back country roads and bad weather just isn't that good of and idea.
Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN
1 Article; 1,978 Posts
I currently drive 46 miles each way, M-F. I do not mind the drive, but would not want to make it any further. However, if it meant getting out of a bad job situation into a better one, I just might do it.
Keep gas costs in mind when budgeting. I had a pickup truck when I started this commute and gas cost me over $400 per month...we were broke. I traded it in on a Prius and now it costs me about $25 per week, more if I drive it a lot on the weekends. It can be a budget buster so be sure and calculate it carefully before you find yourself in a financial bind.