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Would you go for this job for 50% extra salary?

45 replies

Passportto · 02/05/2018 21:56

At the moment I work five minutes from home in a job I love with great people. I've only been there a year but all the feedback is that I've transformed the place and they don't know how they managed without me Grin

I have 2 DC currently doing A levels and GCSEs so they're old enough to be left but it's still good to be around when they need me, have breakfast together and be home for dinner etc. DH works long hours, so most home stuff falls to me. I earn £39k

A similar job advertised with a starting salary of £62k, but it's about a 1:15hr commute which would cost around £5kpa. I don't "need" the money although it would feel good to be putting a bit more by for retirement.(we're 50)

Worth the much longer day?

OP posts:
BikeRunSki · 02/05/2018 21:59

Is that 1 hr 15 mins each way?

Too long ime.

WhatsGoingOnEh · 02/05/2018 22:02

What are your promotion prospects like st the job you're in? You sound so happy and settled there, with a friendly appreciative team around you... is there room to move up there in time?

I'd be tempted to stay where I was, in this position, but then I could imagine resenting my current job too, if I did. (I'm not a very good maker of decisions.)

Passportto · 02/05/2018 22:05

No promotion prospects at the organisation I'm in now. I'm in charge of the area I'm qualified to work in, I'd have to move to a larger organisation in a similar field(where I could run a bigger department). Some reasonable prospects to move on locally, but not for this kind of money.

Yes, 1:15hr each way.

OP posts:
EBearhug · 03/05/2018 02:58

I would do a list of pros and cons for each. What sort of commute? Driving door to door? Are there public transport alternatives? What impact would car problems cause? Can you take the train and read on the journey? There are lots of factors which can make a long commute more or less bearable.

The salary is clearly a lot more, but what about other benefits like pension, private health, whatever else? Are there any options for working from home occasionally - or regularly? Or for some flexible hours, starting earlier or later, or long lunch breaks?

What are the cultures like? What hours are expected? If they want your blood for the extra money, is it worth it?

You've got great feedback in your current place, but there's little chance of promotion - would that be important to you? Now you'be transformed your current place, will it be enough in a year or two, or will you need a new challenge?

Do you supervise people? Would you be expected to in the new job?

Some of these questions may be irrelevant, depending on the nature of the job, and some may be more or less important to you. Plus there are probably others I haven’t thought of.

If the money is the only thing in the new job''s favour, then as you don't need it, I wouldn't. But there must be more differences to justify over £20K difference in salary.

In any case, you don't really have to make a decision until you'very submitted an application, got through an interview and had a job offer. So think about what you really want, put in an application and use the interview to find out if the new job would fit what you want and need from a job. If they fail the interview, you can reject them if they offer you the job.

Effendi · 03/05/2018 03:31

Is that a drive or by public transport? Sorry not RTFT.

I drive 1 hr 15 mins each way, 200 km a day and it costs me about 65 EUR a week in diesel.
Plus my car is in for a service 3-4 times a year. Fortunately I don't have to pay to park.

So the extra that I earn compared to my previous local job is almost all swallowed up by commute costs.

Movablefeast · 03/05/2018 03:52

2.5 hours per day commuting and your quality of life will go way down. Why not just wait a few more years and enjoy this time with your family? I doubt it will be the only other job you could apply for either.

TroubledLichen · 03/05/2018 03:59

I wouldn’t do it. If you don’t need the money then to me it wouldn’t be worth 2.5 hours a day commuting plus the loss of your lovely colleagues and working environment.

ThisIsTheFirstStep · 03/05/2018 04:20

I wouldn’t give up a five minute commute, nice colleagues and a supportive atmosphere for anythig.

Can you look at ways to budget a little better instead so you can save up more?

In the two and a half hours you commute per day, could you do some kind of part time tutoring/consulting or whatever? Write a blog and monetise it (not that simple these days but if you learn about Google Analytics, it’s not that hard)?

Or ask for a raise. Your company values you, so you could go to them with this new job and say you are thinking of applying but if you get an extra 5k, you will stay.

ragged · 03/05/2018 05:00

I commute about 1:15, it's no biggie. But I train/cycle rather than drive, and there are no decent jobs for me within 5 minutes (DH has one, tbf). I couldn't drive it every day. Ugh.

AwkwardSquad · 03/05/2018 05:27

The first thing I’d do is work out what the take home pay would be after all deductions including travel and any costs to maintain household because you’ll have less time (eg will you need a cleaner?).

It’s 50% more salary gross but it won’t work out 50% more net. And once you’ve done the calculations, you can get a better idea of whether the travel and upheaval is worth it.

AgedTawnyPort · 03/05/2018 05:30

Not sure I would. The net salary difference without pension contributions after your commuting cost would be about £750 per month.

Add in things like buying lunch because you probably wouldn’t have time to make it at home (I know I wouldn’t) and you could be at £650 a month.

I used to do a 90 min commute and earned twice the amount I currently earn in a job half a mile from home (more or less the same as you earn now for a four day week) I wouldn’t go back.

I would if I desperately needed the extra cash but it doesn’t sound like you do.

Time at home is very precious imo. It won’t be long before your children have flown the nest and I would stay where you are for them right now.

LadyLapsang · 03/05/2018 07:38

I would take the new job and pay in lots of extra money into your pension / savings / investments. One DC will have finished school by the time you would start the new job, and the other will only have two more years to go. If you and DH don't have enough time to do all the chores between you, buy in some help.

ScrubTheDecks · 03/05/2018 07:39

If I did take the job I would put a load away into the pension scheme as a salary sacrifice, which would be incredibly tax efficient and the longer commute could buy you an earlier retirement.

Otherwise I would stay where you are and use your good feedback and competition like this to bargain your salary up.

Horsedogbird · 03/05/2018 07:43

Tbh I'd stay put if I were you. You're happy and being so close has it's benefits. Wouldn't fancy that daily commute

BobbinThreadbare123 · 03/05/2018 07:49

This is a hard one. I do a long commute because there's not much choice for what I do where I live. But! It is very hard to put a price on a lovely work place and colleagues. Which is better for mental health. When do you think you want to retire? The extra money is undeniably useful and a commute can be a good headspace to unwind.

MachineBee · 03/05/2018 07:51

I wouldn’t go for the other job, but I would ask for a pay rise in your current job. But bear in mind that once your earnings go over the 40% income tax threshold the increases aren’t so great as you pay almost half in tax.

I’m in my 50s and find commuting gets harder every year. You are doing a job you enjoy now with minimal commuting - worth hanging on to IME.

BrownTurkey · 03/05/2018 07:53

No, I would look for advancement, but a closer job will come. I wouldn’t give such a large chunk of my day to a commute (unless for a year or less).

Appuskidu · 03/05/2018 07:56

No, I wouldn’t.

You would be giving up 2.5 hours a day (12.5 a week, probably more, knowing what commuting is like) of your own time.

domesticslattern · 03/05/2018 07:57

Don't forget you will be paying 40% tax over £46k ish. It won't be the big raise in take home pay you might expect.

nonbikerchick · 03/05/2018 08:00

I commute in a car 50min-1 hour and have been for 5 years. The only thing that stops me going mad is that it's through rural B roads so there's only traffic for the last 5 minutes - except the sheep, cows, pheasants etc, and the bloody tractors.

It's starting to grate now though as I want my time back to spend with my son doing activities after school. So I'm looking closer to home. Quality of life first if you can afford it.

That said, if it was 60k a year and not 23k I might keep at it and pay off my mortgage first.

Etymology23 · 03/05/2018 08:03

If you want to be saving into a pension, that can make a major difference to the additional tax you would otherwise be paying.

My commute varies a lot (almost all by car) and honestly the few clients I have where I can walk/cycle to work make a massive massive difference to my life.

1hr 15 commute adds more than 25% to your working day. If you are working a 40hr you are no longer out the house 7:55 to 18:05 - a decent day with time to get up at 7, have breakfast and put the dishwasher on, get home, cook, eat at say 7, or 6:30 if you want to go out and do something with your evening. Instead you’re now leaving at 6:40, which means you probably want to be up at 6, and your morning is shorter in time, then you don’t get home til 19:20, so unless you’re never going to cook, you then aren’t going to be eating til 8, and then you’ll be wanting to be in bed by 10, if you want 8 hours sleep.

To me, the difference in those commutes is the difference between a work life balance and not.

Namechange128 · 03/05/2018 08:04

Have you done a pension calculator? Most people in this country have massively underestimated how much they will need for retirement, if so then this is a rare and excellent example of being able to greatly improve your position in your 50s.
If you do want to take it, I'd also check on their flexible working position - it might be that you could start early / finish late to avoid traffic, or work a day from home.
If you 100% don't need the money then I'd enjoy your time at home instead 😊

Temporaryanonymity · 03/05/2018 08:05

I have that sort of commute but generally only do it three days a week. The other days I either work from home or a local office. It's fine in summer but winter is hard.

stabilolikeaboss · 03/05/2018 08:16

So the commute would cost you £5k. To earn that would be just over £7k you’d have to earn in the year to cover it. 2hrs30 of commute. Costing your time at £39k a year approx £19-20 an hour, so £50 a day in your “time”, over a year, £12-13,000 of your time lost. Add that to the commute cost = £20k ish. Absolutely not worth it. Plus you’ve got all the car maintenance and depreciation costs if you’re driving and the fact you won’t see your family or be around as much.

greendale17 · 03/05/2018 08:20

I wouldn’t give up a five minute commute, nice colleagues and a supportive atmosphere for anything.

^Nor would I. I used to commute- spent 2.5hrs driving to work and back and I hated every minute of it

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