Stumped, any ideas?

[brewer12345]

I am going to be talking to a prospective employer who is hot to hire me. I am interested, but the place of employment is a good 2 hours from the house in rush hour. Commuting daily is out. I also cannot just up and move. So I am trying to come up with creative solutions to the likely biggest problem. So far, the only thing I can come up with is to have me work rom home, say, three days a week, and hump it in the other two days, which would be OK. Any other ideas?

 

[Hyperborea]

Only two choices really.

"If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad will go to the mountain."

If they won't let you do the work at home then you must go to the work - relocation.

 

[brewer12345]

Only two choices really.

"If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad will go to the mountain."

If they won't let you do the work at home then you must go to the work - relocation.

Not an option, for this or any job.

That's about what I thought. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything obvious.

 

[lauraf13]

Not an option, for this or any job.

That's about what I thought. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything obvious.

A friend of mine rented a small apartment and she would stay in the apartment during the week and week-ends she would spend at her house.

Laura

 

[malakito]

1. Cot/lazyboy in your cubicle (do they provide showers)
2. 4x10 schedule.
3. Alternate work hours to avoid rush hour (i.e., work 4 a.m. to 1 p.m., or 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.).
4. See if they employer will start a branch office near your home (depends on the type of work you do...I could see this working for a stock broker or something.)
5. They pay for a hotel room for you 2 nights a week.
6. Combination of the above.

malakito.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

Many commercial pilots rent a place in long layover cities. It sounds expensive to me, though.

Some companies have corporate housing (usually condos) set aside for VIP visitors, training or other somesuch. See if your new company has corporate housing and see if you can stay there during the week for free or steeply discounted.

If they're hot to hire you and don't have corporate housing, see if they can swing some deal for you with a suite hotel, condo or something else. Perhaps they are a friend of a friend and can get you a steep discount or help pay for your local stay.

I've known of many people who live one place on the weekends and work someplace else. Come to think of it I work with several but haven't spoken with them about it. (I've also met people that commute 2-4 hours each way every day, but I think they're insane.)

Or perhaps you may consider buying a condo or small house near work.

 

[Spanky]

Brewer,

I think your original proposal is fine. I am carpooling with someone who has a silmilar work schedule. That is, she works 2 to 3 days at home and 2 days at the office. Sometimes she even stays home for the entire week. The key is flexible hours. See if you can work it out with your new boss.

Spanky

 

[Brat]

Meeting day is traditionally Monday, the rest of the week is spent executing Monday's plan. That is their critical day.

You could ask them for bed & board Sunday night (drive up in the evening), work 10 hours Monday, drive home after rush hour Monday. Have the employer purchase a powerful portable and set up docking stations in the office and your home - networked into their server. Accountants call it "hoteling". They could use your office docking station for traveling partners or principals who are tied up ALL day Monday in meetings, or for traveling song and dance troops.

I don't know where they plan to make their headquarters, but if it is in a high-rent area the price of the hotel room for one night is a fraction of the value of an extra office.

PS, I came back from Chi the other day and found free wi-fi and dsl in my hotels.

 

[Zipper]

I don't think you are going to get a positive feedback from ER's.

The thought of 2 hrs rush hour traffic each way turns my blood ice-cold! Even if it's only a couple of days a week.

 

[brewer12345]

Yeah, I am really torn on this. On one hand, this is an opportunity that is unlikely to fall into my lap again. OTOH, the idea of a hideous commute and long hours away from the family is not attractive. However, it is increasingly clear that I cannot stay where I am (at least not without morphing into the mad sh****r), and the next step will almost certainly be longer hours and a fairly lengthy commute (pretty much an occupational hazard in my profession).

We'll see. I have a round of interviews to do, including a potential trip to the wilds of Oklahoma, and then will have to negotiate on money (although I am likely to end up with the proverbial dump truck of Franklins driven up to the house, regardless of the finer points). I also think that the smart thing to do is jump-start the rest of my search NOW, so I at least have scanned the waters.

DW and I are still talking about it and thinking about the trade-offs. I think that there is a substantial possibility that either the wheels fall of the organization or I am left without a chair when the music stops. That might be OK, considering that the higher comp provides a risk premium, and some time off between gigs wouldn't be bad. There is also nobody holding a gun to my head to stay there if it turns out to be more than I can take. We'll see. I have a lot of thinking to do.

 

[Hyperborea]

and then will have to negotiate on money (although I am likely to end up with the proverbial dump truck of Franklins driven up to the house, regardless of the finer points).

If you're really talking about that much money is there any sort of chauffered private/semi-private shuttle/limo that you could use for the commute? That would free up the 2 hours each way for anything from napping to work to reading.

 

[brewer12345]

If you're really talking about that much money is there any sort of chauffered private/semi-private shuttle/limo that you could use for the commute?  That would free up the 2 hours each way for anything from napping to work to reading.

Not a bad idea, but I'd rather drive myself. I get carsick verrrry easily if someone else is driving.

 

[sgeeeee]

Several years ago I was in a situation where I had to commute about 1 hour each way for several months. (For me, that is nearly unbearable). I bought a series of language tapes and became much more proficient in Spanish. You don't even have to buy them. The public library has all kinds of learning/self-help books on tape that could help make the commute time more tolerable and useful. Of course, you could also just check-out books on tape and catch up on your "reading".

But if the job really involves a lot of money and you want to try it, I would definately consider leasing a small appartment nearer work for those times when you have to string together long work days.

Good luck.

 

[Kathleane O'Leary]

Someone suggested a hired car, but what about a train? I really enjoy train travel myself and look forward to a couple of hours on a train working or relaxing instead of 2 hours behind the wheel in traffic. Even if the train rides is longer than a car ride, you could be working or reading a new novel so it's not lost time.

 

[brewer12345]

Someone suggested a hired car, but what about a train? I really enjoy train travel myself and look forward to a couple of hours on a train working or relaxing instead of 2 hours behind the wheel in traffic. Even if the train rides is longer than a car ride, you could be working or reading a new novel so it's not lost time.

I do a 90 min train commute now. It isn't a bad thing, but there is no regular train service going from home to the employer.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I used to take a train into downtown boston to work and I loved getting a couple of hours of reading in per day.

Eventually though the 11 hours between leaving the house and getting home wore me out.

One "good trick" I used that worked out, but is dependent on circumstance.

I was working in one company location and had considerable staff in another about 2 hours drive away. I needed to spend at least 2-4 days in the remote location. I rented a cheap furnished studio apartment (nice but not that nice), drove up, stayed 3 days in the apt, drove home, and billed the company for 3 round trip drives. Since I was paying for the overnight stays on my own dime, while this was probably not 100% ethical, it was probably close enough to legal to be legit. Certainly nobody was around to say that I didnt make all those drives, and I WAS in the remote location all three days.

I ended up making a couple of hundred a month on the deal after paying off the rent, and had a '2nd home' for a couple of years. That the '2nd home' was halfway between my regular house and the good ski places didnt suck.

 

[brewer12345]

I used to take a train into downtown boston to work and I loved getting a couple of hours of reading in per day.

Eventually though the 11 hours between leaving the house and getting home wore me out.

One "good trick" I used that worked out, but is dependent on  circumstance.

I was working in one company location and had considerable staff in another about 2 hours drive away.  I needed to spend at least 2-4 days in the remote location.  I rented a cheap furnished studio apartment (nice but not that nice), drove up, stayed 3 days in the apt, drove home, and billed the company for 3 round trip drives.  Since I was paying for the overnight stays on my own dime, while this was probably not 100% ethical, it was probably close enough to legal to be legit.  Certainly nobody was around to say that I didnt make all those drives, and I WAS in the remote location all three days.

I ended up making a couple of hundred a month on the deal after paying off the rent, and had a '2nd home' for a couple of years.  That the '2nd home' was halfway between my regular house and the good ski places didnt suck.

Yeah, I am considering something like that, although I would likely just negotiate sufficient comp to pay the rent up front. Still, not all that crazy about being away from the family a few nights a week. Still chewing this over.

 

[Brat]

Have your employer declare your home-office your workplace. Your travel expenses to headquarters are then deductable expenses.