I would like some help making an employment decision. I have a great job, but it is fairly physical and i won't be able to do it easily more than 5-10 more years. I might soon be offered a related job in the same industry, less physical but with 50% travel. Away from home, wife, dog etc. The pay and benefits are about the same. I don't mind the travel, except for being away, if that makes sense. I can't be too specific (never know who's lurking!) I'm just having trouble making a decision, if indeed the new job is offered. I'm hoping youse guys think of things i haven't considered, any thoughts? Thanks...

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I used to be disgusted..

no one can answer this one but you.

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it just needs more voltage

Can't tell you what to do but I don't think I would choose to be away from family, if I had a choice. Never know what might turn up down the road.

I'm looking for advice, not an answer...

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I used to be disgusted..

You have quite a delimma. I've always held an office job with limited travel and intermittent field work that required some physical exertion. I can tell you that travel gets old quickly, especially with family at home. My brother-in-law has spent most of his career on the road; my daughter spent a year commuting between TX and VA. Both have survived. A person does what he/she has to do. I would suggest several things to consider. Make a list of the positives and negatives of staying where you are versus the travel option. Rate them 1 and 2, depending on your preferences, with 2 being the best choice for you and 1 being the least desirable. Once done, total up the score for both options and the column with the greatest total should give you an idea. Use that as a tool to make your final decision. If you were honest about both options, you will at least have looked at the pros and cons of each. Be sure and discuss this thoroughly with your wife and you both pray about it. I have no clear solution. I will pray for you, that God will grant you wisdom and discernment in your decision.

Just remember, advice is worth what you pay for it!

Blessings,
Hog

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Isaiah 55:8-9
Phil. 4:13

Stay home with the "Wife" Something will come up in the next 5-10 years.

If it were me I would take the second option. I love to travel and see new places and im not much of a family man/home body. I don't like to be tide down for long in the same daily grind. Even my jobs have been ones that were always different day to day and I can't do the family thing for long periods.

FWIW; I opted for an active career as opposed to office
type work. Now my body is shot, and all I can do is drive.
It's been a lot of fun, and I'd probably do it again. Would be nice
to stand straight again, though. Preserve your body from effects
of work. You can ruin yourself doing something You'd like to do.
JMHO, TACC1.

Back before I retired in Jan of 2002 I had to do some airline travel and if I had to now I think I would refuse to fly, maybe drive but these TSA people that I see on the news would go crazy with what we carried in our travels, machine parts and tools. Jeff

Remember, most companies, when they have to cut, the first to go are the mid management and some sale folks.

Never the Top and they try not to cut the people doing the work that must be done.

Rule 303

I don't have advice or an answer, but I can tell you what I have done and would do; I would wait until I was actually offered something, and in the mean time I would continue to take one day at a time applying Proverbs 3: 5-6. Flapjack.

I was home every night for the first eight years of our marriage. Then I got tired of the corporate world (and they got tired of me ) and I went truckin'. It nearly killed a good marriage. Nearly, but not quite. Talk it over with your wife first and make darn sure you listen to what she has to say with both ears.

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Insert short witty words here

If the economy continues to tank a job with 50% travel may turn into 60-70%. Travel stinks. It seemed like every time a family crisis arose I was 400 miles from home.
I do not see how the economy will ever recover. Companies want to present great quarterly reports to their stock holders. The largest company expenditure is payroll. So employees are let go to satisfy the bottom line, if business is bad.
If I was you I'd hang tight for a while.

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SOS USA

Traveling for a living vs sleeping in your own bed at night is a drastic lifestyle change. I averaged 115 - 125 hotel nights a year for a while. Its fun at first, it got really old, really fast.

Tough decision...good luck.

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Pace

You say you want advice. Well my advice is to stay with the job you have now. Five or ten years is a long time and a lot can happen between now and then. Don

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"Don't worry be happy"

In my position I have to travel 7 or 8 times a year. I like being home, but I used to enjoy the occasional trips. Not any more.

Now days, though, commercial airline travel in America is a major hassle. In that arena, the terrorist have won. Before 9/11, it was nothing for me to hop on commercial flight down to Dallas in the morning, attend a meeting mid-day, and fly back that evening. Today, I can actually drive 6 hours to Dallas, attend the meeting, and drive back and be back home before my co-workers who fly. I've pretty much made the decision that any trip I can drive under 8 hours, I drive instead of fly.

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- Change it back -

I was single when I traveled, so make adjustments accordingly.

My first travel job had me out of town for 2 weeks at a time, and home for one or two weeks. In the beginning I enjoyed it. I had a company car, an expense account and it was kind of exciting being in different places and eating in nice restaurants.

The down side was that over the first year I slowly lost contact with my buddies. I'd get home and call around and say, "Whatcha doing this weekend?" and everyone had plans that did not include me. Some planning and earlier calls would have resolved this. And we did not have cell phones back then so I don't know that the same would happen today. But it was a problem.

And eventually the excitement of being out of town wore off. I worked in sales and I would see people I knew Monday through Friday from 9 to 5. But often after 5:00 p.m. I frequently spoke to no one (except to order dinner) until the next morning. Weekends out of town were very long and boring.

I will offer this bit of advice. When you go out to eat by yourself always (always) bring along something to read. Otherwise you will eat too fast or you will stare at others. Paperback books are OK if you are eating pizza or Chinese food, but they will not lay flat while you are cutting a steak. Hardcover books, newspapers and magazines are a better choice.

And that is all the advice I can offer.

Having been in the workforce for over 50 years, everything from farm labor to college professor, including a career in the US Army (mostly Combat Engineer), here is some advice:

- I have been a road warrior, traveling 50% (official company policy was 35%, but pay raises were based on who did more than their fair share). Travel can be as physically exhausting as manual labor. The air and hotel points did allow for some good family vacations, but I missed a lot of birthdays and anniversaries. Advice - if the pay is the same, avoid theses jobs.

- As to what to do with the next 5-10 years, getting a better education, advanced degree, technical training, different career field, especially if done evenings can take away hours otherwise spent with the family. Driving time to/from class, late night and weekend study, exams, can all be as exhausting as long hours of physical labor. Advice - get the education/training now while you are young and can make use of it later.

- As to future jobs, never let your present job, education, training or experience be a limiting factor when looking for a new job. I know a number of guys who have had very successful careers managing engineering organizations without having an engineering or science degree. Much of their success was based on their leadership and team building skills from the military.

- Finally, the best time to start looking for a better job is right after you start your present job, as it could take years to find the right one.

Advice is like "Free Love" (to quote from the 60's). You get what you pay for.

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Not All Who Wander Are Lost

First you don't state what your trade is , I am a wireman and have been forced to travel in order to keep a roof over my families head. I'm getting older and supposedly climbing the ladder and don't have to work with the tools much anymore I make a little more pay for a whole lot more responsibility.And am much more worn out at the end of the day than I ever was when working with tools. As far as the travel I wish I had every minute back that I missed being with family I lost something out on the road I'm not as close like I use to be with my wife and son .Its something lost that you never get back and if I had to do over I would look harder for different options.

As long as you keep active and physical you should be good to go beyond the arbitrary 5-10 yrs you set for yourself. Don't smoke, moderate the hooch, and get a bicycle.

On the other hand, the old saying "Nothing ventured, nothing gained".

We're right back where we started. Sorry.

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9tenz

No, don't be sorry, good advice in here, just what i needed to consider. My wife and I have talked at length on what to do if an offer comes through. The new job has much more exposure and possibilities than the old. I'll let the assembled wisdom know if i have to make a decision, what that decision is! Many thanks...

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I used to be disgusted..

As far as advice goes, everybody's situation is different. I chose to be at home with my wife and kids the 47 years I worked. If I had it to do again I wouldn't change a thing. I passed up some better jobs in those years but really enjoyed being at home. For what its worth.


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James

Remember this: Companies rarely make changes designed for the benefit of the employee; the changes almost without fail are for the benefit of the company.

I met a young guy that was offered a $3,000.00 raise to relocate to Long Island. The only problem with that is that the rental he had in Georgia (modern apartment, with a pool) cost just $1,300.00 per month; on Long Island it would cost at least $1,000.00 extra a month to live in a similar apartment in a good neighborhood. You need to earn $18,000.00 to spend $12,000.00. So that $3,000.00 pay increase was really about a $15,000.00 pay loss.

I pointed this out to him and he said he would discuss it with his employer before he took the job change. I've never met him again so I don't know the upshot.

I have little doubt that his employer was as naive about the Long Island housing market. The employer had to know; the kid was to replace a retiring salesman.

If you can, talk to other employees who have made the same change.

The point being is that make sure that this change is to your financial benefit, not only for the company's benefit. Imagine that you will have to hire a gardener to mow the lawn; a plumber to fix the leaks, a babysitter so your wife can do her errands; a taxi to drop the car off for repair, etc. These are all expenses that you would not have if you lived at home and shared the work. Add up thoses costs. Take that number and multiply it by 1.5 to see what you'd have to earn to spend that much money.

(Don't forget to deduct the cost of the condoms you won't have to use.)

My father traveled extensively during his entire career. When he was dying of cancer the only thing he told me of a regretful nature is that he wished he had been around home more. That said, I think he lived his life the way he always wanted to, and would likely do it again all the same. So... if the reward for your being away from home is part of fulfilling a dream or personal goal, then that's certainly worthy of consideration. If it's just a job... then maybe other considerations might be weighed more heavily.

No two of us are wired the same way nor are our wives. My ex loved me working 70 hours a week. (She liked the money and me gone.) Now Theresa wouldnt put up with it. I would love traveling and did on my early jobs when I was single. By the way, in the early 60s I got a whopping $6s a day when on the road! I slept many nights on a pickup truck seat! Not fun for a 6ft 2" 260 lb guy. Your biggest concern is how your wife feels about it. Could cause a divorice. I aint no help here, am I?
Look. I am pushing 71. But I seldom lived a convential life either. I never married the first time until I was around 40. Also I was single between wives another 20 years. A few girl friends in between. I NEVER had the help of a working wife bringing in even a small paycheck.
The only sure thing I can tell you that applys to everybody is that if you live long enough to retire is this: Go for the best retirement plans, the most generous 401Ks and health insurance plans and fully fund your part of them. Even then check out what happens if you retire out of state. I didnt! We moved from california to utah. Too late I found that I had to pay $600s a month more for theresa`s insurance as there is no HMO`s here! That puts a dent in your dreams of traveling! Good luck!

That would have made the decision for me. My opinion is to not make a move unless it is an upward one. In rare occasions a lateral move is OK but only as a stepping stone to an upward one that you can see lurking at the time of the move. I would counsel against a move for move's sake, using the "grass is greener" as my reasoning. Again-your statement highlighted above makes the decision(at least for me) pretty much a no brainer given the information you provided. Of course you have to factor in things like can your wife keep command of the house & kids with you out of pocket? How out of pocket will your travel take you? Travel today is a lot different than travel 30 years ago with the communications we have today. BUt I'll tell you this much-you are wise to be thinking about this now rather than 10-15 years from now.
Good luck

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Forum consigliere

'Tis a rare man indeed, with a happy home life, that states "I don't mind the travel" AND would be willing to repeat that after several months of doing so.

That's not a down side. That's what I LIKE about traveling.

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Insert short witty words here

if you are good at what youre doing now and you like it..........stay with it. the unknown always has risks attached. you can be home with your family and have 5 - 10 years to choose other options as they present themselves.

best of luck

It's very hard to maintain your marriage and travel. Also unless you eat a terrible diet now, you will probably gain a lot of weight.

I have had high paying traveling jobs, traveling with and without my wife, and I am a flooring contractor now. Pretty physcial.

I personally prefer to make less and stay at home.

There's too many unknown variables to try to give you some direction. Will you travel by car/truck? Will your company supply a vehicle? If you supply the vehicle how are you compensated. Caj mentioned out of pocket expenses. That is a BIG deal, as you're always behind with expense comp.. Are they gonna "double duty" you expecting not only travel, but the same physical work on the job you do now when you arrive?
Having been involved with voluntary travel for the job, I'd stay where you're at.

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SOS USA

28 years into a 32 year career I decided I wanted a change. There was a ceiling on the position I was in, only a hand full of jobs and several of us to fill them. Someone would have to die or retire and we were all pretty much the same age. I was single at the time and decided to accept an offer as a consultant to other companies. I got a promotion and a raise that helped the pension. But I also left home on Monday and sometimes didn't return until Sat. if the airlines were feeling benevolent. Once home I did laundry, cut grass, emptied the frig of rotting food, went to the store to get new food to rot, and got ready to go out on Monday. In the old job I went to the gym three days a week and weighed 183. When I retired I weighed 215 and couldn't bend over and tie my shoes without oxygen. I could not say no to restaurant food and local beers. Blood pressure went up from rushing to make flights, meetings, and deadlines. I also developed acid reflux. One time I thought I was having a heart attack. Good thing I was working in the Harvard Medical community. It was gas. The airlines, city traffic; Chicago, Boston, San Diego, Philly, DC was too stressful for me. The good side was I saw places I would have never seen, could fly and stay for free just about anywhere I wanted. The best thing was I met some really good people (along with the horse's rears). The very best thing was I met my wife. I ain't leaving home again.

I traveled for years with my job. As mentioned several times, it gets old and can be very hard on relationships. Looking back, I would have avoided all the travel. Let me know when you find a working time machine and I'll go back and try to reason with myself.

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Infected by Smith&Wesson

My former positions required much travel - I can only tell you that when it's all done, you can't go back to recover all the moments you missed with family members when you were out on the road.

Best to you.

Pete

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Don't tread on me

Home-wife-family====NUMBER 1
Job=============NUMBER 2
I busted my butt 40 years as a construction Millwright. The times that I was away from home were the worst. The last 24 years I was at home every night, some of those nights were late, but I was there. I finally retired and I am home everyday. It worked for me. Good luck in your decision.