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I left an engineering job that had an hour commute for a new engineering job with a 5 mile / 20 minute bike commute and it's the best. Didn't hate the old job, loved the old location and the pay was ok. New job is more fulfilling, the location is definitely not as good (new house is good and the surrounding outdoors areas are great, just not close to big city activities as I had in the old job), and the pay is way better. So not exactly like your situation but the quality of life improvement was massive and I personally attribute a significant portion to the better commute. Don't waste your life sitting in traffic.
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Feb 10, 2018 00:25
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My wife and I are about to move halfway across the country because of traffic. It’s really hard to optimize the two-body problem so we are changing the system 
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Feb 10, 2018 00:35
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spf3million posted:I left an engineering job that had an hour commute for a new engineering job with a 5 mile / 20 minute bike commute and it's the best. Interestingly, this is the exact situation I could be in 2 years from now. I live in a big city near friends, family and many things to do. My job is in a much smaller city. In about 2 years my SO will be free to move, but both her and I dont like to live in the city my job is in. I used to live there and we can afford a mansion there, but the stuff we like to do will now be an hour away.
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Feb 10, 2018 01:25
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Nobody in the world loves a long commute so if you can minimize it you should. People will put up with them for certain reasons but you can most certainly find another job with a more reasonable commute and nobody will fault you.
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Feb 10, 2018 02:24
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Long commutes suck. I felt like I was going to die on the freeway. And you lose so much of your day. Bail if possible.
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Feb 10, 2018 02:28
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spf3million posted:I left an engineering job that had an hour commute for a new engineering job with a 5 mile / 20 minute bike commute and it's the best. Biking to work sounds awesome. Another problem with my job is that I sit all day. Add 2 hours of car sitting and after a 12 hour day (including commute) I wont have moved much.
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Feb 10, 2018 14:39
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CarForumPoster posted:Has anyone left an engineering job solely because of the commute? I like my job, the people I work with, they continue to invest in me (literally, they've spent 10-20k/yr for the last 3 years) and from what I can tell pay me decently on top of that... Over the course of my career, my commute went from 1-1.5 hours, to 25 minutes, to 50 minutes, to 5 minutes, to 15 minutes. I can say with confidence that living close to work is one of the single greatest things I've done for my personal happiness. I can't really overstate it. You should get a new job closer to you if you can. Put a price on your time -- at this point I certainly would consider a longer commute an effective paycut, and a shorter one an effective pay raise. Maybe you could push to telecommute a few times a week?
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Feb 13, 2018 18:41
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Not a Children posted:Over the course of my career, my commute went from 1-1.5 hours, to 25 minutes, to 50 minutes, to 5 minutes, to 15 minutes. Even considering the pay cut I don't see many 100k/yr figure jobs for Mech E with 5 years experience + MS Sys Eng in this city but I'm going to be looking. My SO should be free to move in a1.5 years but idk if I can hold out that long.
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Feb 13, 2018 23:28
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CarForumPoster posted:Even considering the pay cut I don't see many 100k/yr figure jobs for Mech E with 5 years experience + MS Sys Eng in this city but I'm going to be looking. My SO should be free to move in a1.5 years but idk if I can hold out that long. I personally value each mile of commute at the government reimbursement rate -- $0.545 cents per mile. Assuming you work 250 days a year, and travel each mile twice each day for the round trip, you can assign a value of roughly $500/year/mile to your commute. That's just the actuarial value for gas, depreciation, and wear-and-tear on your work vehicle, and completely disregards the actual value of your time (which is up to you to decide). What would you estimate is the wage difference between jobs near you and the one you have?
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Feb 14, 2018 15:54
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Not a Children posted:I personally value each mile of commute at the government reimbursement rate -- $0.545 cents per mile. Assuming you work 250 days a year, and travel each mile twice each day for the round trip, you can assign a value of roughly $500/year/mile to your commute. That's just the actuarial value for gas, depreciation, and wear-and-tear on your work vehicle, and completely disregards the actual value of your time (which is up to you to decide). For the job titles I'm eligible for, this is Glassdoor's estimation:   
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Feb 15, 2018 01:18
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What shithole do you live in that you can’t get 100k with 5 years experience and a Master’s??
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Feb 15, 2018 02:01
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Noctone posted:What shithole do you live in that you can’t get 100k with 5 years experience and a Master’s??  But for real Mech E gigs don't pay that much. Im working in radar systems which pays a bit more but its not a huge market and people take some convincing that you get radar 101 when you have a Mech E degree.
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Feb 15, 2018 02:42
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CarForumPoster posted:
So, Orlando (Lockheed), Tampa/St. Pete (Raytheon or Honeywell), or Melbourne (Harris)? My guess would be Uncle Ray in St. Pete. Fla is has so little competition for good engineering positions its hard to really quantify what you should be making. I moved from Fla to New England and got a 50% pay bump. YMMV.
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Feb 26, 2018 18:58
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If you are in A&D and aren't making 90-100k after 6-8 years out of school, and money is the only factor, you need to find a bigger dog. Also all the big players do uniform salary grades across all things classified "Engineering" (systems, software, mechanical, electrical, etc) so it doesn't really matter what the specialty is. I had thought they usually try to keep salary pretty uniform across geographic areas as well (i.e. people sometimes do the reverse of the previous poster and go from New England or Pac. NW to a smaller site in Midwest and bank $$$$$), but maybe the previous poster debunked that.
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Mar 1, 2018 15:54
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I've heard of people managing to go from a high pay geographic area (San Jose, Boston, Etc...) and transferring to different branch of the same company in a low pay area and maintain their salaries. I would generally assume though that if you are seeking new employment in a lower wage area that you are going to have to abide by the new areas scales and absorb the hit. Most frequently what I have heard of is someone who has established themselves and their skills getting permission to work remotely but still technically employed at the main center. This seems to be happening more frequently and obviously requires the sort of position where you can be remote and the sort of skills that lend themselves to that kind of work.
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Mar 1, 2018 16:27
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Murgos posted:I've heard of people managing to go from a high pay geographic area (San Jose, Boston, Etc...) and transferring to different branch of the same company in a low pay area and maintain their salaries. I would generally assume though that if you are seeking new employment in a lower wage area that you are going to have to abide by the new areas scales and absorb the hit. The pay scale is the same an hour away as it is here, its just dildoes commuting. Can't work remote for my function, unfortunately. Basically, I don't want to move and I'm paid slightly too much to not take a pay cut in the same area, but I'm still looking.
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Mar 2, 2018 01:24
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CarForumPoster posted:The pay scale is the same an hour away as it is here, its just dildoes commuting. Can't work remote for my function, unfortunately. Basically, I don't want to move and I'm paid slightly too much to not take a pay cut in the same area, but I'm still looking. Yeah, I meant like moving from San Jose to Alabama or something but still 'remoting' to work as though they were at the San Jose office and being paid accordingly. The people I know who have done this successfully still end up traveling for 1 week a month or so back to home base.
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Mar 2, 2018 16:20
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Decisions decisions... possible new job, in city with pricey rent (Seattle) and... no 401k. But will supposedly make about... 7-8% more and do more interesting work. Pros: -Get to do some real Engineering work. (I have not done any real "design" work since most my stuff post-college has been working in the field.) Cons: -Discussed possible job location to Nigeria which did not sound like it included much uplift (Niger Delta sounds sketchy as gently caress...) Maybe the job I applied for in Saudi Arabia will go through... (If I'm going to work a risky job I might as well earn really good money.)
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Mar 13, 2018 04:03
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Senor P. posted:Maybe the job I applied for in Saudi Arabia will go through... Hope you don't mind being likely complicit in slave labor
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Mar 13, 2018 14:43
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Not a Children posted:Hope you don't mind being likely complicit in slave labor this is dumb, whether he takes the job or not, the slave labour working conditions for those people are still going to take place. at least if he takes the job, he can go out of his way to treat those workers decently and make their days a little bit better. sure as hell would beat them ending up with some rear end in a top hat who doesn't give a poo poo about them. speaking from personal experience, I'm from a middle eastern country, and it's god awful how horribly the asian workers are treat. I'm proud of the fact that my father always went out of his way to treat them with respect: he'd ensure they were out of the sun during the hottest parts of the day, talk to them and get to know them on a first name basis, bring them into the air conditioned trailers (or whatever those popup office buildings are), and not work them half to death. beats having a manager who snaps orders at you like you're nothing but an animal, and doesn't care one bit about your wellbeing or treating you with respect.
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Mar 13, 2018 16:32
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I wasn't going to post about that pollution industry guy doubling-up on repugnant, unethical life choices but now i feel like i need to to counter balance that weird savior complex bullshit you just posted. To any young engineers reading this thread: You don't have to support awful poo poo to make a living; and "people are going to do it anyway even if i don't" is an absolutely childish and shameful reason to act against the common good.
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Mar 13, 2018 18:05
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I’m pretty sure there are a number of positive examples of people working from within a lovely situation to try and generate positive change within their limits. From what I understand this tends to be more effective than abstaining from participating.
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Mar 13, 2018 18:19
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it's childish to have a pragmatic view and realise awful poo poo takes place the world over, whether or not you inexplicitly aid in it's continuation? i don't see how working for a saudi arabian company supports the terrible working conditions the ethnic minority workforce already faces, seeing as boycotting it won't change a thing, whereas taking up a job offer over there at least gives you the chance to oversee a group of people and ensure their conditions are nowhere near as awful as what their colleagues face under different management. it's not saviour complex bullshit, and being called childish and shameful for stating that opinion makes me feel like human trash despite me just saying the equivalent of "be good to people"
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Mar 13, 2018 18:19
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It’s really up to the individual, but it seems there are plenty of good engineering jobs that don’t require any kind of complicity in something generally considered morally atrocious. Also, being nice to your coworkers and subordinates doesn’t redeem you nor does it remove your involvement. I guess if you can live with the consequences of being a cog in a machine that profits from humanity’s worst instincts, then go make your fat stacks.
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Mar 13, 2018 18:51
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wemgo posted:It’s really up to the individual, but it seems there are plenty of good engineering jobs that don’t require any kind of complicity in something generally considered morally atrocious. True, but it generally doesn't pay as well. I work in civil aviation and make under market. Meanwhile my buddy makes fat stacks by working on Reaper drones for General Atomics. Still wouldn't want to switch places with him though.
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Mar 13, 2018 19:14
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Sunny Side Up fucked around with this message at 19:52 on Dec 14, 2020 |
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Mar 13, 2018 19:39
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Sunny Side Up posted:The same way there's no ethical consumption under capitalism, there's no ethical labor at petit-bourgeois salaries. You're always reaping the benefits of some form of exploitation, it's just more visible in Saudi. If you choose not to take advantage of an opportunity with some repugnant company, then you're only sabotaging yourself and your goals to enjoy blissful ignorance. He should just immigrate to Venezuela. Then he won't have to worry about any of the ethical conundrums that come with having a job. Because he won't have one. He also won't have any food. Or toilet paper. Or medical supplies. But at least nobody is being exploited by kkkapitalism!
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Mar 13, 2018 20:46
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Q8ee posted:this is dumb, whether he takes the job or not, the slave labour working conditions for those people are still going to take place. at least if he takes the job, he can go out of his way to treat those workers decently and make their days a little bit better. sure as hell would beat them ending up with some rear end in a top hat who doesn't give a poo poo about them. "My dad let the slaves come out of the sun sometimes and even knew their names!"
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Mar 13, 2018 22:20
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dxt posted:"My dad let the slaves come out of the sun sometimes and even knew their names!" thank you for taking something I said with genuine intention, and butchering it and turning it on it's head to make something I wrote innocently sound so hosed up. incredible. the core of my post was in no way, shape or form trying to hit the same notes as what you posted as a summary.
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Mar 13, 2018 23:46
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Q8ee posted:thank you for taking something I said with genuine intention, and butchering it and turning it on it's head to make something I wrote innocently sound so hosed up. incredible. the core of my post was in no way, shape or form trying to hit the same notes as what you posted as a summary. Its something awful. If your dad didnt personally charter a jet to fly them to freedom where they had housing he paid for until they got on their feet and maybe got their law degree, you're gonna catch some poo poo. Why? Because how dare you look up to your relatives while they are angry at theirs. If you dont have a cynical view of your childhood then just shut the gently caress up. It cant happen to me cause I'm also angry at my parents so there 
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Mar 14, 2018 00:12
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Q8ee posted:thank you for taking something I said with genuine intention, and butchering it and turning it on it's head to make something I wrote innocently sound so hosed up. incredible. the core of my post was in no way, shape or form trying to hit the same notes as what you posted as a summary. "I don't support slavery, but here's why it's okay to support slavery." You pulled the equivalent of an "I'm not racist, but <insert racist comment here>". Not sure how you expected that to turn out.
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Mar 14, 2018 00:16
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Not quite right analogy imo, something more along the lines of a white Southerner saying “yeah my family owned slaves but they never whipped them.” Or w/e. The thing that’s dumb about telling the OP to take the job because there’s an opportunity to “fight the system from w/in” or w/e is like...it’s not their only job option. They could just, you know, go get a job working for a company that actually does morally good (or at least neutral) things.
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Mar 14, 2018 00:45
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Corla Plankun posted:I wasn't going to post about that pollution industry guy doubling-up on repugnant, unethical life choices but now i feel like i need to to counter balance that weird savior complex bullshit you just posted. Oh come on. The Pollution industry....realllllllly? Utilities are at least trying to do something about it (and in the US are not the biggest polluter now) if the PUC will let them (hint just look at what Xcel Energy is trying to get through with various PUCs). Taking 1 international flight is worse than pretty much anything else you can do from a pollution stand point. PS. stop driving your car, flying anywhere, and turn off all your lights. Thanks. You honestly have a much better chance of doing something about a bad situation from the inside then working somewhere else and putting your head in the sand. if that is your thing.
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Mar 14, 2018 01:29
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Hmmm I didn't think about the slave labor thing. You bring up a good point. Honestly, I did not think it would be an issue if I was working directly with Aramco or one of the other major utilities. (Smaller companies and anything "domestic" it certainly is an issue.) You guys do bring up some valid points.
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Mar 14, 2018 02:52
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Q8ee posted:thank you for taking something I said with genuine intention, and butchering it and turning it on it's head to make something I wrote innocently sound so hosed up. incredible. the core of my post was in no way, shape or form trying to hit the same notes as what you posted as a summary. It might not have been your intention, but it's pretty much what you said. Having slaves is hosed up, even if you "treat them really well" For something on the topic of being an engineer, I've decided to move on from my current job and am looking for something new. I really hate the whole job searching process, but I will at least get some free recruiter lunches out of it and hopefully a more interesting, higher paying job.
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Mar 14, 2018 06:13
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not gonna lie, the posts have been weighing me down for the past few days (which is silly, it's the internet, who cares). was gonna just duck and let the entire thing die down, but I felt I should try and properly explain my point of view. I can see how my post came across like that. my dad is middle eastern, he works in the middle east, he'd be a fool not to work there (no work visa needed, he's with the arab side of his family, working in a country he grew up in etc etc.). he didn't explicitly choose the ME just to make fat stacks and exploit people. the one where my old man gets compared to a plantation owner was below the belt, and having my posts stripped down to "slavery is totally cool as long as you treat them well" propaganda doesn't feel that great. I plan on eventually working in the middle east to learn more about that part of my identity (culture wise, family wise, language wise), so this is all subconsciously what I've been telling myself. I remember him bringing me to work when I was a kid, and that was what I based my post off of, albeit this memory is a little halcyonic so I might be a bit more sappy than usual, which gives the whole "master was good to the common folk" vibe. He's always told me how corrupt and hosed up things can be, and told me never to get into those pitfalls myself or become part of the lowest common denominator. I remember seeing how rudely the asian expats were treat by other arabs at work, and seeing the groups they oversaw sitting outside whilst it was swelteringly hot, or being snapped at like they were garbage. I remember walking into my dad's mobile office and seeing the guys he oversaw in the seating area, drinking tea and relaxing during their lunch break, and how friendly they were to my old man (and he was to them), but there'd still be guys outside as there's not an infinite amount of space. I'm not using this as some example of my dad being a paragon, I'm just saying you can work for industries that have little regard for humanity whilst still trying your best to add your own to the environment and just passing on what little good you can, without necessarily contributing to the negative aspects. so to try and fix my previous posts: the jist of what I was trying to get across was that if you do have a job opportunity to work somewhere in the middle east, I don't personally understand why it would be some vulgar and abhorrent thing to accept. at least you'd be going over there and bringing a bit of kindness (I hope) along with you, instead of the position being filled by someone who may or may not. my point wasn't to take up a job like that and just mooch off of the corruption and how poorly asian expats can be treat. I don't know if I'm just digging the hole deeper at this point, but drat. I've tried my best to explain myself, I sure hope I don't get torn a new one or compared to a slaver again. as an aside - pretty much every menial job is filled by asian expats over there. and the mindset most arabs have are pretty xenophobic, so lots of these workers get treat poorly, whether they're working in mcdonalds, or shops, the gas station, or even a well-paid position in a large corporation. does that mean I shouldn't get mcdonalds, or get my gas tank filled up, cause I'm contributing to it? or is it okay if I do these things, but at least treat the people working there with the respect they deserve, and at least walk away afterwards hoping I've made their day a tad bit better? is it a messiah complex to just wanna be good to as many people as you can? Qubee fucked around with this message at 06:11 on Mar 15, 2018 |
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Mar 15, 2018 06:06
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As a lurker and occasional poster, my interpretation was that your dad was a good dude.
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Mar 15, 2018 08:15
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Oodles posted:As a lurker and occasional poster, my interpretation was that your dad was a good dude. Welp, wrap it up boys, a lurker has weighed in. Really no need for further discussion with this kind of incisive insight knocking about. Q8ee posted:not gonna lie, the posts have been weighing me down for the past few days (which is silly, it's the internet, who cares). was gonna just duck and let the entire thing die down, but I felt I should try and properly explain my point of view. I can see how my post came across like that. my dad is middle eastern, he works in the middle east, he'd be a fool not to work there (no work visa needed, he's with the arab side of his family, working in a country he grew up in etc etc.). he didn't explicitly choose the ME just to make fat stacks and exploit people. the one where my old man gets compared to a plantation owner was below the belt, and having my posts stripped down to "slavery is totally cool as long as you treat them well" propaganda doesn't feel that great. I plan on eventually working in the middle east to learn more about that part of my identity (culture wise, family wise, language wise), so this is all subconsciously what I've been telling myself. lol my dude you are melting down so hard. Sorry if it hurts your fee-fees for us to shatter the illusion that your dad was some kind of latter-day Schindler but thems the breaks. He was good massa and the sooner you come to terms with that the better. Look, I get it, I sympathize with the fact that your dad was drat near just as much a victim of the situation as his workers and was probably a good dude that did the best he could from within a poo poo system. But you keep pushing this idea that the OP should take the job because it’ll offer them a limited opportunity to show some small kindnesses to exploited people and that’s just like...extremely loving bonkers, dude. There are a million better ways to do good, if the OP is so inclined.
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Mar 15, 2018 15:28
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A few pages back I was crying about not being able to find a $100k+ gig close to home (currently have 1 hr each way commute) and I got an offer letter for one today with a decent raise. I have to live in this city for family reasons. Now my trouble is my current company will call my tuition repayment from my M.S. due since I am leaving early and that bill is $35k. With the new gig it'd take 1.5 years to break even but (if I move within the same city) I can save ~400 hr/yr of commuting and my SO save ~200hrs/yr and my lease is up. If I don't move I'd still save 225 hrs/yr. If you don't think you can find a thing because glassdoor says so or whatever, set your LinkedIn to currently seeking a job. Making that change got me 2-3 contacts per week. Question for thread: Would you take a pay cut that you knew would be over in 1.5 years (and prob a decent raise after that) to save a 45min/day of commuting? Assume its the exact same job you do now at basically the same company with a different name. Comedy option: drunkill posted:Good news for when we're all rich: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-21/replica-spitfire-pilot-soars-with-success-after-given-ok-to-fly/9571706 CarForumPoster fucked around with this message at 14:43 on Mar 23, 2018 |
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Mar 23, 2018 14:39
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What's the deal you signed? Is it due over time, or immediately? 400 hours/year is well worth the price. The average person works 2080 hours a year, assuming 40 hour work weeks -- you're reducing your total time dedicated to work by around 16%, which is huge, especially if you're coming out ahead salary-wise. To answer the question you asked, first I'm gonna need to know how substantial that pay cut is. 45 minutes a day is nothing to sneeze at, but there's definitely a limit.
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Mar 23, 2018 14:49
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