How to Determine If Jobs Are Worth a Long Travel?

Taking a great job with a long commute could offer you more money and terrific career advancement. But a downside can exist as well. Workforce Institute, a think tank focusing on workplace issues, reports that as of 2011 more than five million Americans have called in sick simply because they dreaded the commute. Forty-eight percent of all respondents to the Workforce Institute survey said their commute had an impact on job satisfaction. How you would respond to a long travel time may require some deep personal reflection and deliberation as you determine if a job is really worth it.

Instructions

1

Calculate travel expenses if you are traveling to make appointments as part of your job as a repair person, veterinarian or someone else who makes house calls. Use the Internal Revenue Service mileage rate of 55.5 cents per mile, as of 2011, for road trips. Determine travel time and travel distance by viewing a map. Compare the price of the service you'll provide to the travel costs to determine if the job is worth long travel. For example, driving 50 miles each way for a $100 home repair job results in more than two hours of driving and $55.50 in travel costs alone. You must add additional fees to make that job worth the long travel.

2

Remind yourself about your lifestyle while considering jobs offering regular employment but requiring long travel times. Some people may live two hours from work but make the four-hour round-trip by car each day. In addition to the cost of transportation, such long commutes are costly in other ways. The long travel takes time away from families, makes it a hassle or an impossibility to pick up kids from school, and leaves the worker tired and exhausted at the end of the day. Study the commute to determine whether the job is worth the strain on lifestyle and family life, no matter what the salary.

3

Write down the weekly pay and calculate the weekly commuting expenses. Multiply the daily round-trip mileage by 55.5 cents. Traveling 100 miles a day adds up to $277.50 a week or $1,110 a month in driving costs. That includes, fuel, oil and maintenance for your car. Or if you are car pooling or taking public transportation, calculate those costs. Your cost would be 10 times the amount you'd have if your workplace was 10 miles away, so you must factor the difference so you know how much more you'd have to make to break even financially.