Dream job with long commute (amongst other issues!)

[ohbigdaddio]

Hi all, I currently freelance from home in London which I really enjoy but it doesn't pay enough. Jobs are rare in my field and I've seen a job I'd like to apply for but it is the complete opposite side of London to me, and then some! Door to door I'm looking at 70-90 mins (possibly more if there are delays/accidents/tube strikes etc!) Also, the station near the job only has a half hourly train service each way which is slightly ringing alarm bells.

At the moment my commute is 30 seconds to the spare bedroom I think I could do the commute 3 days per week, but not 5. I used to work full time in central London so have commuted before but not this far.

A friend who used to work at the company says I'll have a good chance of getting to interview stage based on my work and I am sure the topic of where I live is bound to come up. How would you approach this at interview stage? DH thinks I should act like the commute 5 days per week is no issue but then if I do get offered the job say that I could only accept if there was a chance of working at home some days. Or would you mention this at interview stage?

A whole other issue is that I'm due to start a 2nd round of IVF in next few months, and this job is nowhere near my hospital, but at this stage I'm just contemplating the commute!!

Oops, don't want to drip feed. Forgot to mention that we have no plans to move house to be nearer this job. We like where we live and it's very well situated for DH's job and family.

It's a personal choice, but I know I haven't got the energy for a commute like that. Is it somewhere that Crossrail will make a difference to commuting times? In my early 20s my commute was 90 minutes each way, and that was if everything was working OK transport wise. It was also before I was pregnant. I would apply and ask about wfh some days there and then. You'd be more productive that way (less knackered and not subject to delays).

Don't forget that some of the better pay will be swallowed up by fares etc, and if you're not commuting every weekday you won't get the benefit of a monthly pass.

Thanks PennyPent, just had a look and it's not a route that is on the crossrail line.

I'm not sure I have the energy for it either! :) I'm optimistically thinking I could possibly stand it 3 days per week but you make a good point about the monthly pass. I hadn't even factored in cost to this lengthy commute!

I wouldn't even contemplate it, based on my experience of having done a 'dream job' with about 1hr 45mins commute. It was awful, I was exhausted every weekend, and had no spare emotional or physical energy for the people who mattered to me. I had plenty of money, status, but an impoverished life at that time.

When I changed jobs working closer to home with a manageable journey of 25 mins, no traffic or worries about the weather conditions etc, the transformation was amazing.

I'd think carefully before committing to a complex daily journey, a challenging job, not least of all the physical and mental toll of IVF, then DC.

DP and I recently moved home and my commute is now around 1h10min each way. It's horrible.

Fortunately I'm changing jobs soon but I wouldn't recommend a long commute. It's very tiring and leaves little time to do much during the week.