Did you ever turn down a job because of the commute

[Dirtyhip]

I got a job offer when I was 20.  The job location was an hour in rush hour traffic, the wrong way.  I drove home from the interview with a smoking beetle.  I didn't take the job.  I figured that the commute was a no go after I came home with a burned up beetle.

[Razors Edge ★]

More like, "Don't search for or apply for them in the first place."

[maddmaxx ★]

Clearly not as I once had a job in Orlando FL that I had to fly to every or every other week.

[Kirby]

When I got my current job, I also had an offer for a job in the southern part of Manhattan.  The thought of taking multiple trains to work each day was a strong disincentive.

[sheep_herder ★]

No

[bikeman564™]

My first career job was 37 miles away. I was 21 yo and took it because I needed to start. I then worked for a company closer to home, 5 miles. Unless I had to, I would not want a long commute.

[Parr8hed]

30 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

More like, "Don't search for or apply for them in the first place."

I was going to say that I have never interviewed for jobs i didn't intend to take.  

[Randomguy]

43 minutes ago, Kirby said:

When I got my current job, I also had an offer for a job in the southern part of Manhattan.  The thought of taking multiple trains to work each day was a strong disincentive.

If you had taken that job, we could have met for lunch.  

[Wilbur ★]

43 minutes ago, Parr8hed said:

I was going to say that I have never interviewed for jobs i didn't intend to take.  

This.  

[Dirtyhip]

1 hour ago, Razors Edge said:

More like, "Don't search for or apply for them in the first place."

I was 20, and I didn't relize how bad the drive would be.  In no traffic, an easy 15 minutes.  In rush hour traffic, over an hour.  

[Airehead]

No. I was lucky enough to work local. 

[Razors Edge ★]

4 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

I was 20, and I didn't relize how bad the drive would be.  In no traffic, an easy 15 minutes.  In rush hour traffic, over an hour.  

When I was young 20s, I was able to and didn't mind the longer commutes (that DC is famous for).  The older I got, the more specific I became in what was/wasn't reasonable.  I'm still "fine" with a commute if it is me hopping on the Metro, reading or napping, and getting off at a stop later down the same line.  I am NOT fine with one that requires getting in a car and rolling the dice on that 15 min vs 1 hr commute.  Doubling or tripling a commute due to traffic vagaries seems like modern day torture.

[Dirtyhip]

Just now, Airehead said:

No. I was lucky enough to work local. 

Local means something entirely different in some zones.  I think that job was only 15 miles away. 

 

1 minute ago, Razors Edge said:

When I was young 20s, I was able to and didn't mind the longer commutes (that DC is famous for).  The older I got, the more specific I became in what was/wasn't reasonable.  I'm still "fine" with a commute if it is me hopping on the Metro, reading or napping, and getting off at a stop later down the same line.  I am NOT fine with one that requires getting in a car and rolling the dice on that 15 min vs 1 hr commute.  Doubling or tripling a commute due to traffic vagaries seems like modern day torture.

My car didn't like it.  I would have been fine with a more reliable car.  

[Kirby]

Commute is one factor that weighs into the decision.  As I interviewed at places, I got a better sense of the work environment and the actual work I'd be doing. A really great job might make other sacrifices worthwhile, but the commute/location was a factor in the overall evaluation.

[Bikeguy]

No.

1 hour ago, Dirtyhip said:

The job location was an hour in rush hour traffic, the wrong way.

For many years that would have been a good day.

When I first ware hired my commute was maybe 35 miles all in rush hour traffic.   The Chicago area rush hour is more like a rush 2 (to 3) hour mess in the morning and again in the afternoon.

For most of the 80s I had a 4 mile commute.  But... training classes were about 60 to 90 miles away.

From 1990 to 92 I had a 65 mile drive to work in Joliet  The first 40 miles were easy, the last 15 traffic again.   (about 1:15 travel time)

Then our dept consolidated to Oakbrook.  If I wanted my job it was a 90 mile trip one way.  Driving to work, the first 45 miles we OK, the last 45, LOTS of traffic.   This lasted for nearly 10 years.  (travel time 1:45 to 2:00, some days much worse)

Then my job got moved back to Joliet.  Those 65 miles were much better commute  Then again I had LOTS of meetings at Oakbrook and more than a few in downtown Chicago a a 105 mile day (one way).

And...  for ALL of those years, I got to drive to customer locations for meetings too, in my car.

Now you know why I had a 2005 Prius for 11 years.   It saved a LOT of money on gas for me.

[MoseySusan]

I walked to my first two jobs. Then I learned to drive and got a car. But I left it at home when I went to university out of state, so I walked to the jobs I had during those years. And I walked to the high school where I was student teaching. 
 

My first teaching job in ABQ was across town, but the heavy morning and afternoon traffic were heading the opposite direction. Still, that lasted only one year before I was RIFed as the one with the least years of experience. It turned out for the best because my next job was only three miles from home and I could ride my bike most days. 

[shootingstar]

My average commute 1 way in Toronto was 50 min. by subway or in cycling weather nearly 60 min.  After I got jobs related to my degree.  That was almost 17 yrs. in Toronto. 

Vancouver jobs ranged from a 1/2 hr. bike commute (which was deliberately extended to 45 min. for exercise) to 1.5 hrs. one way for a different final job in suburbs of Vancouver.  I needed  relevant job...but was a bit tiring... lst bike to station, then get off from train to lock up bike in bike box, then back on train and got off to take a bus.  Then walk to construction site.   I needed the bike ride from bike box station, returning home, to de-stress after work.

I kept telling myself this contract job better mean something for next job for this killer commute for nearly 3 years of my life.  Which ended being my present employer. In a totally different province, 900 km. east. Dearie saw and treated home here as his 2nd/vacation home. He had an automatic digital signature for his emails which included Vancouver & Calgary addresses.

Though it may sound like a drastic job location....it is a final job location with good pay and benefits that did take advantage all my previous job experiences. Dearie was very supportive of all this..which I know not all spouses would be. By then, his adult children had long left home and living their own  lives.

 

[JerrySTL ★]

I once took a $5k a year pay cut for an hour's less commute each way. I probably save that much in gasoline and wear & tear expenses. Plus I got in more bike riding time.

[ChrisL]

When my kids were young I turned down a couple of offers that required extensive travel.  But… I accepted a job that put me on the freeway 4 hours a day.  It was my assignment at Sony Pictures but the assignment nearly doubled my salary.  We actually moved to where we live now as the commute from where I was living at the time was kicking my ass…

[sheep_herder ★]

Never had a bad commute, but spent a fair amount of time working out of town on research projects. That ended when I moved to Montana in 1988, as all my research was on station..

[MickinMD ★]

I have turned down buying homes because of the commute, but not jobs.  I was fortunate that the three jobs I had after college were 20 min, 12 min and, the last 2 decades plus, 9 minutes from my home.

Some of my fellow teachers bought much bigger houses than they had in Central MD in Northern MD and Southern PA, 1.5 hours drive away from our school, where they planned to retire in their 50's and do gardening, etc, things on their 1.5 acres.  The huge houses with winding staircases and attached garages were not much higher in price than the avg.-size homes on 60' x 100' plots in Suburban Baltimore.

But the high priced houses are higher priced because they are close to jobs, entertainment, sports, parks, the Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington, D.C, excellent healthcare, shopping, etc.  After I realized I wasn't going to want to be saddled with taking care of 1.5 acres after I retired, I decided not to buy in those locations!  It's like that old retirement commercial where the guy makes fun of other retirement commercials and says, "Retire and then start a vineyard?  Are you kidding me?"

I turned down a polymer chemist job from Sherwin Williams when I was in college in Chicago because the job was in Chicago.  It also wasn't the area in which I wanted to go but the salary was tempting.

The clincher was I wasn't looking forward to the Chicago winters.  In more mature hindsight, the weather wasn't that big a deal since Maryland has real Winter as well, though not as cold.