£15k dilemma

[SorryExcuseMeThankYou]

Additional £15k for new job, London location so season ticket works out about £650/£700, thereby negating the pay increase. At most, I'll have an extra £100 every month after commuting costs.

Would you go for the role?

Same job title, slightly bigger company, I currently Wfh, go home about twice a month if at all

Do you mean you go into the office twice a month, not "go home"?

How much would you go into office/wfh in new job?

The train tickets will potentially rise in price at a higher rate than your pay, so that £100 a month may get smaller and smaller. So I wouldn’t, unless I felt there was a much greater chance of progression at the new company.

How long is the commute? That would also put me off it was every day.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. It's 4 days/week commute, about 1hr30mins.

I'm not sure about progression, probably not more than other companies.

Absolutely not.

Personally I wouldn’t do that commute for £100 a month.

The reason for the higher salary is that you need to get to London. Effectively is the same money you are on now. So dont see it as a higher salary really it's flat.

No way, seems completely pointless.

Nope- unless you could move closer, much closer- it’s not worth the hassle.

Do you want the job?

What was the reason you applied? Is there something you are not getting from your current job that you might get from the new one?

On paper it doesn't make much sense but there must be a reason you went through the application process?

No

To be honest, no. I commuted for a few years and hated it!

3 hours of your time, 4 days a week commuting would absolutely NOT be worth £100/month !

Even if you meant 90 mins round trip, not each way.... nope.

No. You’ll also spend more on food and office clothes so you’ll be worse off.

What made you apply for the job in the first place OP? If you are unhappy in your current role or don’t like the company culture, then despite the additional commute it may be worth going for it. But if it’s purely on monetary grounds, it doesn’t seem worth it.

The OP sounded like she hadn't actually applied for it as yet.?

I'm at the interview stage but reconsidering. I'm searching mainly for the salary progression (hello cost of living 😩) and a bigger challenge, amongst other reasons, company culture etc.

There isn't much availability in neighbouring towns, they are few and far between and mostly within my current salary range. London rates are higher but then, commuting costs!

I would rather not do the commute but I think I'm just starting to feel desperate so applying for them anyway.

Looks like the search continues.

52 extra hours of commuting a month for an extra £100? Absolutely not.

Could you negotiate salary?

What are the pension contributions like? If they are better than you pay now, that's more than £100/month, but it's deferred to retirement.

Good point re pension. I'll bear in mind for other roles. With this one, it's quite good but it's a matching contribution, so I'll lose even more of the £100 if I put in any more than the 5%

I don't think I can negotiate either as it's advertised as "up to" £X.

Thanks for all your thoughts. It's been helpful to make a decision.

The salary progression means nothing if you’re immediately spending it on higher travel costs, before you even get to what your time travelling is worth you. It’s one of those where on paper it may be a good salary but there’s no difference in your disposable income. The only way I’d do it is if it would pave the way for me to negotiate a higher again salary in a more local job in a year or so.

Ask about pay reviews, is it annual cost of living? Are there 1/2 yearly reviews, can you ask about progression, they may do a salary sacrifice for season tickets.

They may offer other incentives, you won’t know until you have been offered to role and negotiate hard

Honestly working from home is the equivalent of a significant salary boost.

I would say no. You lose the flexibility of WFH and add a huge fixed cost to your lifestyle.