Going much over an hour starts to take a toll over a long period of time (meaning that if you just moved somewhere and have a temp living situation and are doing 1.5 hrs for a couple months it's not a big deal but if you're looking at 5 yrs with 1.5 hrs each way, that's rough) but it also depends on the mode of transport. Driving that would suck but I know a few guys who commute from Philly to nyc and even though the train is 1.25 hrs, it's Amtrak so you get a seat with a fold down tray and wifi so you can do work. Compare that to being stuck on a subway switching cars for 45 mins and the Amtrak option isn't half bad.

But my best commute ever was 7 minutes walking. I'd try to minimize your commute. It sucks when you start adding up the weekly, monthly and annual hours you waste of your life on long commutes.

 

Yeah definitely sounds miserable for a long term position. I've had professors who teach only twice a week but commute 3 hours one-way. Way more manageable but you would think that they would get a teaching job somewhere else.

 
Best Response

It becomes a different scenario when you have a family to consider. I'm not there yet, but it would require a really honest conversation with my imaginary wife about what we wanted for our imaginary kids. Ivy Prep in the city like Dalton/Trinity? Further afield in the Ten Schools? Abroad like Le Rosey or Leysin? Homeschooling/unschooling?

The city is fantastic as a young guy in your 20s/30s when you're out hunting and building your resume (sexually, professionally, socially), but if you have settled down, it's a real question as to whether you want your kids to have a backyard with a pool and a rope swing, space for a dog to run around, learning to drive during high school, and the joy of a basketball hoop near the garage ... or a doorman who knows them by name, a maid or au pair who's a face equally familiar for them as your own, and high-rise views of the city.

If you want the former, you're automatically looking at Westchester, North Jersey, or Connecticut. If several hours of your day are dedicated to reading and phone calls, who's to say that carving out those hours for a seat in the back of a car or on Amtrak isn't the move to make?

"Waste" is subjective. When I ate one meal a day because that's all I could afford, there wasn't a crumb that made it off my plate. That memory is still really fresh to me (and probably won't ever not be), and I can't help but freeze for a second when I now cut a fatty bite of meat off to the side because I'm choosing not to eat it. When I find organic tomatoes that cost $8/lb at a private farmer's market tucked in the back of the fridge and reach to throw them away after finding them a little soft, a little squishy, and little wrinkled.

Your 'wasted' three hours a day in a car is a treasure to the MD who wanted his kids to have grass and a driveway, a public school experience (and all the mini travails and learnings it brings), but to be safe in a good neighborhood and therefore bought a house in Upper Saddle River, Darien, Westport ...

I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 

My previous internship was a 50 minute trip each way, with no traffic. Luckily my boss knew the situation and I would go in at like 10am and leave at around 3pm and work from home some to avoid most of the traffic.

Array
 

Currently commuting 2:20 min (20min drive, 2hr train ride). Its not bad I do consulting so hours are 9-5 at work but granted i hit gym on my way back from work so my house doors - back to house doors is something like 5:45AM - 10PM. With that said, I graduated in 2015, live with my parents and consulting gig is travel up to 75% a week to client sites.

Wanting to break into IB, 2hrs gives me time to actually read and learn about Finance both ways which is actually benefiting.

 
lebron:

In my opinion, more important than the length of the commute is the type. I'd gladly take a 1 hour "commute" speeding through back roads in a 6-speed coupe over a 20 minute train ride on the 456 train in NYC with my chest to someone else's chest.

I would imagine it also depends on the chest

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Crammed train rides during rush hours are the worst. I got a gym membership near my office, just so I could burn a couple hours to avoid the crowd.

Consumption smoothing is retarded. If you stay in this game for a handful of years, money will be the least of your worries. Live it up, because this is the one time in your life where you might actually have time to spare.
 

My longest was an hour and a half. Morning traffic was just murderous. Coming home (albeit I didn't leave at 5 like most) it would only be 45 minutes, but it could get up to two hours on a bad day coming in. My shortest is 5 minutes walking - my current situation. It's amazing.

Some people blow my mind though. My grandmother lives near Hagerstown, Maryland but across the PA line. At least half of her neighbors in her development work in Washington DC. That's at two hours on a normal day. I can't even imagine what it would be during that notorious DC rush hour.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

About an hour each way into Boston for my first internship. That traffic never got better. Also when I worked in France, I had an hour an a half one way (depending on train timing). The randomness of that was the worst.

 

Out the door at 7:30 and into my building around 8:45-9. 5 minute drive to the train, 50 minute train ride, 15-20 minute walk to office. I don't mind it but paying ~$250 a month for the MBTA is pure evil, anyone from Boston knows what Im talking about.

 

Ok, if a Ducati and/or Bugatti is too expensive, a GS500F is a lot of fun, too:

http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/suzuki/2010-suzu…

Check the weather forecast before you head out, but a commute is a great time to learn and practice new things that are fun- like riding a motorcycle. Every other Friday, I check the weather forecast- if there's no precipitation and the weather is staying above 45 degrees, I ride the motorcycle in. Afterwards, I take a quick jaunt up Highway 9-W and try taking a few 35 mph curves at 65.

 

Illini - $6k for the bike? That seems like an insteresting proposition.

Unfortunately, I'll still just sit in traffic thanks to the construction and rush hour traffic. That being said, I may consider this suggestion for next year even though my commute will be much shorter then. Do you just throw the laptop in a backpack?

Anyone with suggestions while I'm in my own vehicle?

Anthony - I'm looking into podcasts, but I haven't really found any I liked a lot when I've previously looked.

twitter: @CorpFin_Guy
 
djfiii:
I can tell you 2 hour commutes are the worst thing in the world, unless a good portion of that is on a train where you can relax, read, do some work, etc.

10-15 minute walking altogether, 35-45 minutes subway, 1 hour nj transit

does that change anyone's mind?

 

I wouldn't do it, but that's because no job is important enough to me to commute 4 hours every day. Guess that's what it comes down to for you. I'd rather put my energy into a line of work where I can expect to make maybe $200k, but still have a life, instead of something like banking where you make a lot more, but you work 18 hours a day. After a certain threshold, each incremental dollar is worth less and less to me. I'd basically have to be looking at retirement in 5 years kind of money to jump into something with 18 hour days and/or 4 hours of commuting. But that's just me. You might be hungrier for the almighty dollar than I am.

 

My commute is usually 60-75 minutes. It is pretty rough in general, but I've gotten used to it. Personally, I wouldn't sign up for a commute over 75 minutes. Additionally, I wouldn't sign up for that much of a pay cut either. Ultimately though, it is your decision. How bad do you want it? How likely is it that you'll get a different offer somewhere else?

Taking the train and not sitting in traffic is a plus though. I used to hate the damn train, but now that I'm in my car for so long I miss the train.

The other thing to consider is the train schedule if you work late. In Chi if you're after a certain time (like 630 or 7) the trains start running very far apart. I've had this issue add another 30-45 minutes onto my commute. Nothing sucks like sitting in a nasty train station in the middle of winter waiting 45 minutes for the next cattle car to come.

twitter: @CorpFin_Guy
 

i did a ~2hr reverse commute for over a year on subway+NJT and it was a real drain on my day. A four hour daily commute deserves thorough inspection before signing on. Luckily I was able to work from home a reasonable amount and had the freedom to be late when there were delays (MTA + NJT = always delays).

First, have you actually tried the commute? I'd suggest doing it at least 2-3 times when you'll actually be commuting. Just because it looks straightforward on the internet/schedules, it may be much more of a pain in practice and 2 hours may turn into much more. Look at the sensitivity of each connection to delays and find out the frequency of delays on each leg if possible. Also as accountingbyday notes, make sure you understand how this changes if you have to work late, or what if you have to be in for an early meeting?

Next, think about what you can actually acomplish on each leg (reading, working, sleeping, etc.) to see how useful you can make the time. I found that I was able to get a lot of work and reading done on the outbound trips in the morning b/c it was quiet and I was awake, but the return was always full of loud cellphone talking idiots and drunks going to whatever game/concert/night out/etc. (does NJT now have quiet cars?). Investing in noise canceling headphones was definitely necessary. If you can make the trip omre productive then it becomes less of a burden, and for this the train is way better than driving.

 

Long only can get rather boring, trust me. I used to do 1 hour 45mins before office moved which also got very boring. Unless there is some rapid career progression it'll tire quickly.

Wait for B-school to make the move.

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

Just playing Devil's advocate here, but what happens if you're successful? Let's say things go well and you end up making $100k a year. What then? Does the wife have to quit her job at that point (a de facto household pay cut)? Do you move at that point? These are things you need to consider as well.

Because you won't want 4 hours of train time a day when you're making bank.

 
Edmundo Braverman:
Just playing Devil's advocate here, but what happens if you're successful? Let's say things go well and you end up making $100k a year. What then? Does the wife have to quit her job at that point (a de facto household pay cut)? Do you move at that point? These are things you need to consider as well.

Because you won't want 4 hours of train time a day when you're making bank.

As usual, Eddie nailed it. Think longer term. Unless there are an abundance of opportunities near the place you live now (and you are just unable to break in at this time) you are setting yourself up to fail. Eventually something is going to give and that is either your wife's career, your current location, your career or your marriage.

You can't have kids with a 4 hour commute because your wife will hate you for never being around to help, your kids won't know you and you will probably hate yourself for not knowing your kids better...and all of that could occur even at the more senior levels where you have better control over leaving at a decent time.

Unless you have a plan to do this for a year or two and your wife is willing to move closer once you get promoted, or whatever, you are just not putting yourself in a good position. Best of luck.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

Where are you commuting to/from? Look at the new job as an enhanced networking platform, where the price is time instead of money. You do a few months there and then start looking around for something closer to home.....or make enough for your wife to find a different job closer to your new job and you both move in closer.

Get busy living
 

yeah i'd take the new job. you have decent big4 exp.

do what UFO said...do it until you are sick of it. find out what the bonus is like if its nice stay on board bounce if it sucks. good networking opp too.

 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like there is a window of opportunity between 1-5 years to switch without B-school...if I miss this, then that's it (I don't want to do b-school.) So even with a 2 hour commute, it's the price to pay to finally "get in." Am I crazy here? - assuming I am the type of guy that will not be happy from a career perspective if I never get to be on the research/investing side.

 

You would be making similar money and keep in mind that this is an ugly market for classic buy-hold funds, so don't expect a huge bonus unless your fund is beating the market by a wide margin. But assuming that you manage to pull in $80K after bonus, how much is your time worth? You will be communiting 4 hrs a day, you can do lots of networking, take additional classes (CFA is good for buy-side).

Big 4 valuation combined with a good degree should get you in the door more often than not. However, this is an extremely tight market that's why its so hard fo you. I'd say hold out, network, keep applying, and wait for a better opportunity.

KC
 

I guess I'm asking everyone if I should look at it like this: If someone told me this is the only opportunity I will ever have to get into research/investing without an MBA, then I would 100% take it. Given that, should I take, which is contingent whether I should be assuming there is a strong chance I won't have other opportunities.

 
Kanon:
LevFinGS - have you considered reaching out to Kenny_Powers_CFA? He was previously in Big 4 (I think Valuations) before moving to a debt/mezz fund. He might be a good person to speak with to gauge whether this is an opportunity worth pursuing or if your current experience is worth more than the role you're looking at.

Yep, Kenny_Powers_CFA has been a great mentor here - he tends to think that the salary sucks and that the commute will kill me. I guess I'm of the mind that I'm afraid I'll never get another chance to "break in" - as that's just what I've been seeing these past 6 months.

 

...Assuming moving is not an option. She is a long island girl, and would never move to jersey. No making fun guys, stay on track.

But anyways, she's an elementary school teacher in Long Island. (finding a teacher job is really hard these days too).

 

I commuted 2.5 hours each way for my internship this summer. 5 hours of commuting and 11 hours of work meant no time to do anything else. However, I didn't mind because I lived at home (no rent) and had food waiting for me when I got home.

It is certainly not as bad as people are making it out to be

"Look, you're my best friend, so don't take this the wrong way. In twenty years, if you're still livin' here, comin' over to my house to watch the Patriots games, still workin' construction, I'll fuckin' kill you. That's not a threat, that's a fact.
 
Will Hunting:
I commuted 2.5 hours each way for my internship this summer. 5 hours of commuting and 11 hours of work meant no time to do anything else. However, I didn't mind because I lived at home (no rent) and had food waiting for me when I got home.

It is certainly not as bad as people are making it out to be

Living at home = no vagina action = pretty fucking bad.

 
Will Hunting:
I commuted 2.5 hours each way for my internship this summer. 5 hours of commuting and 11 hours of work meant no time to do anything else. However, I didn't mind because I lived at home (no rent) and had food waiting for me when I got home.

It is certainly not as bad as people are making it out to be

This was for ONE Summer....maybe 8-12 weeks. You knew it was coming to an end, so of course it didn't seem that bad.

Now imagine you had to do the same commute for years, while being married and getting paid less than you are currently earning. Sounds awful to me. But then again, I value work life balance more than a lot of people on this mesage board.

 
Will Hunting:
I commuted 2.5 hours each way for my internship this summer. 5 hours of commuting and 11 hours of work meant no time to do anything else. However, I didn't mind because I lived at home (no rent) and had food waiting for me when I got home.

It is certainly not as bad as people are making it out to be

Doing anything for 3 months isn't very hard. Try doing it for a year or more

 

2 hr commute....i can't even stand a 25 min bus ride

think about it this way..

you wake up at 3:00 am each day, get dress, get something quick to eat

3:30 - leave home 5:30 - get to office assuming all works out well 5-7 pm - leave office get home by around 8. 30 minute dinner...no time with wife sleep by 10 after doing chores / etc because you are so fucking tired

This coupled with 50k salary and your wife possibly divorce you....

not worth it dude. And on top of it you might need to work weekends since you are at the "research" role.

oh yeah, and the maximum of 5 hour sleep is gonna take toll on you in about half a year.

I work 6am to 7 pm and live 20 min walk from office and I am already feeling the pain.

 

So you are taking the subway from Brooklyn/Queens to Penn Station to NJ Transit?

You will be on a miserable commuter train four hours a day. You WILL have delays all the time, especially with NJT and taking the MTA across the river. The absolute shortest best scenario work days from leaving your house to returning home will be 12 hours. If you usually work more than 8 hours a day then you will basically have no time for family friends or hobbies during the week and probably lose on sleep as well. You will not only be paying $100/month for the metrocard but a couple hundred more for the monthly NJT pass. If you need to stay late it will probably take you at least 3 hours to get home.

No - you won't be happy.

 

Wow thanks for all the comments guys. This is actually the opposite response to what I was expecting.

I felt WSO was known for "do wtvr u have to do to break into FO finance" especially from big 4 where everyone likes to say ur branded that way forever. This opportunity could be my (possibly only) ticket into the Buyside career without an MBA, and yet basically everyone here says don't do it bc of work life balance.

I figure I'll find out the exact culture/office hours of the fund. If it's like 8-530, then I would probably get home earler than I do now at big 4 neways which is average 8PM non busy, 11PM busy.

 

I think it's 'do whatever you have to do to break into FO' within reason and logic. If you were in MO, BO or audit, people would tell you different, but you are working in FO at a Big 4, getting a decent skill set and making better money. And unless you're willing to make a closer move to avoid the terrible commute or the job promises a much faster ramp up in responsibilities and all-in pay, it may not make much sense. It really would have to be a great experience for you to be willing to suck it up for 1-2 yrs before using it to jump to something else more doable location-wise. Otherwise, like the others have pointed out, you'll be miserable and sooner or later that attitude will negatively affect your work and your life.

 

Dude, helllllll noooo would i commute 4 hours a day for any job. If the job isn't amazing enough to justify moving closer to it, it's not worth commuting 4 hours a day for either. That's just my philosophy.

-MBP
 
futurectdoc:
Pieds-a-terre? Just get something cheap and local near the firm and sleep in it 3 nights a week, or a cheap hotel.

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this.. have you tried getting 1 or 2 nights a week from home?

 

Depending on the train you are taking, I would do it. It's a tight market, you'd get front office branding and valuation skills more directly relevant to value funds, etc.

Thing about the commute is, if the train is empty enough that you can reliably get a seat, that's 2 hours you can spend working undisturbed, for example reading annual reports, the WSJ, preparing the day's meetings, etc. which might even be more efficient than doing the same in the office. The public transport section then becomes about the same as a normal commute in London (can't speak for NYC) which is very manageable. I commuted out of London for a summer, at 1h20 (10 min walk, 1h train, 10 min walk) and it was quite efficient. I read a lot of books during that time and actually found it a lot more relaxing than my former 15min (4 stops) peak hour "sardine box/salad shaker" commute. Don't worry about all-nighters, spot a cheapish hotel near work and plan for the times you might have to stay (doubt there'd be any in a mutual fund), have a couple of emergency shirts at the office, etc.

Will it be tough, sure, but if you want to make it I think it is worth the effort, and you might even get points with your team for the dedication and family values. For sure you're not the first person I know who has to compromise commute time so that his wife can stay with her job.

Worst case scenario, when you try to jump ship in a year or two you will be doing so from a front office valuation job and you'll have a list of trades ready to send, which is the real way one gets a really good hedge fund jobs.

Want a well known precedent? Mike Milken spent over 4 hours a day on a bus to get to Drexel at the beginning of his career. He brought a miner's lamp to the bus, so he could read annual reports.

 

Well, I'm not in banking, but other than that my situation is similar to LevFinGS's.

My wife is also a teacher, and she has just found a job close to our house (so while I have not yet started my job, she comes home for lunch). I had similar options - take a gamble, move closer to London City and try to land a job there, while also providing for both us until she could find a job, or play it safe and do accounting nearby. Starting this job in a week, but still hold banking and finance in mind. Already identifying people to network with and considering options that could bring me closer to banking in future.

And yeah, 2 hours commute one way is insane, for me personally, at least. From what you say, you can manage only about 50 minutes of productive time (if you snatch a seat on the NJ train). For the other 70 minutes you will have your personal space violated with little fresh air and crowds around. I can only speak about London and Moscow, but there it would be pretty much unbearable.

You have a wife, so it's a commitment. You have to spend time with her, and what if you decide to have kids? Personally, I decided that I don't want to be a banker so badly. I still will have a great career, it's just the path that would be somewhat different.

Best of luck though, if you can pull it together, you are a great couple!

 

Absolutely do NOT do it. 4 hours of commuting a day will change you as a person. It will crush everything you like about yourself and create a massive strain on your relationship. I've seen this happen to a friend who had a 3 hour a day commute...and you're talking about 4 hours. Do not do it.

 
TheKing:
Absolutely do NOT do it. 4 hours of commuting a day will change you as a person. It will crush everything you like about yourself and create a massive strain on your relationship. I've seen this happen to a friend who had a 3 hour a day commute...and you're talking about 4 hours. Do not do it.

Assuming my commute at Big 4 is 1 hour 15 minutes, and on Avg I'm home at 8 for 8 months and 10 for 4 months. If this long only research role is like an 8-530 job. I would be home before I am now? Does that not play a factor, why should this create more strain on a relationship? Assuming the research role hours are better than Big4...

 

uh...it probably won't be a 8-5 job, probably more like 8 to 6 or 7 unless the fund is really relaxed or see the "research" role as an operation position.

Strain on the relationship: you have a wife, you comes to home every night to her. Unless she's one of those girls who has a career of her own, what's she gonna do at night until you come home?

In general, wasting 4 hours of your 24 hour life on something useless is probably not a good idea and it will take a toll on you physically in the long run since your hours will only get worse when you really move to the investment side.

In addition, 50k is...low...

 

Btw, I've never heard of an 8-5 research position. I know a couple of research associates at ER boutiques or mutual funds, and they work like 7am-8pm. So you would be out of your house by 5am and be home by 10pm. That fucking blows hard.

-MBP
 

Just throwing my opinion out here. I don't work in NYC, so this might be irrelevant, but the rush hour is a pain in the ass for me. It takes at least 1 hour~1.5 hour to get to work in a shitty traffic, which in normal traffic would only take 20 minutes. And that's by driving too, so you can't even do anything really productive like you could in a quiet train. So to me, 2 hours commute for a really nice job (i'm assuming the job at issue here is a really good one) doesn't sound too bad.

 

Buddy, i dont think you will be able to do justice to your family given the commute. A research job is never a normal 8-5:30 job. When there are reports to be made, they are to be made. Even in India where work hours are supposed to be a lil better than in US/ Europe, I've seen my friends in the research field working 10-12 hrs (9:30- 8/9/10) consistently!!! There are days when they leave at 7, but thats a rare ocassion! And personally i feel valuations at a Big 4 with better pay and less commute is better than an entry level research job given your experience. I can understand your willingness to break into the buy side, but understand this... A better quality life for you and your family is most important at the end of the day. When u are 50+, what will matter to you.... a loving wife and children whom you think you've done justice to all these years, or being a multi millionaire big shot wallstreet guy with a huge relationship gap between ur wife/ children cuz they really have seen you all these years.... Trust me, Ive been through a phase where all this commute, work pressure and hunger for money made me a mechanical guy. I had lost my smile, I was a work machine working 12-15 hrs a day, 6 days a week. This went on for 2 yrs and then I realised that I was frustrated, with no social life looking much older than my age. And it sucked!!!

Those are my thoughts, but the final decision is yours.

 

I realize that most research jobs can have quite tedious hours, but I have a friend who works at a top deep value hedge fund and he more often than not, has hours of 8-6. Is this an outlier?

I also agree with everyone else, a commute of at least 4 hours (commute home will probably take longer than going to work) is a killer. Also 50k salary is ~32.5k net taxes assuming 35% rate. I assume that the bonus won't be that large either considering the base they're offering.

 

OP here: Everyone keeps talking about how the commute will make me go crazy. But what I think will make me go crazy more is being 35, a Senior Manager in Valuations at a Big4 making 150K, still having busy season and realizing my exit opportunities are other valuation shops (making partner these days in valuations is VERY difficult). All assuming I can't get out in this time to ER/HF/IB and don't want the MBA.

If the tradeoff now is a few years of shitty commuting with the chance to be on my ultimate path to being a top PM one day, isn't that a fair deal? I realize there are no givens, and IDK if I'll have other opportunities, but it's just a thought.

 
LevFinGS:
OP here: Everyone keeps talking about how the commute will make me go crazy. But what I think will make me go crazy more is being 35, a Senior Manager in Valuations at a Big4 making 150K, still having busy season and realizing my exit opportunities are other valuation shops (making partner these days in valuations is VERY difficult). All assuming I can't get out in this time to ER/HF/IB and don't want the MBA.

If the tradeoff now is a few years of shitty commuting with the chance to be on my ultimate path to being a top PM one day, isn't that a fair deal? I realize there are no givens, and IDK if I'll have other opportunities, but it's just a thought.

I agree. Life is about trade offs. You give up some of your youth and fun and spare time, invest in your future, and emerge with some convexity in the personal wealth department. Either side is going to argue his choice was better, in retrospect, which doesn't help making the right choice. But money is freedom and earning it via working hard and smart is satisfying in itself, something that is rarely mentioned in these debates.

A clearer way to picture it for students reading this thread: some of you may know friends who decided to forego university. They will have gone on to work straight out of high school. They have a job, a house, a car, and a girlfriend; in the meantime you're slogging it and getting in debt living in, well, student conditions. In 20 years, your friend is living in the same house or slightly bigger, and his life has not changed much. Yours, on the other hand, is richer from the better opportunities your education and higher remuneration has afforded, and has been a story of constant self-improvement and personal growth.

When you are young, it is easier to cope with the demands of an investment in your future. I greatly admire those who realise this later in life, and go do medical school or break into Wall Street against the odds. But that's terribly difficult, and all this time you are wasting working for Big4 shareholders for a pittance could be time you invest in your future and a more convex payoff profile.

I might be biased by my choice, but I would always recommend you take the harder, higher payoff path over the easy looking one.

 
LevFinGS:
OP here: Everyone keeps talking about how the commute will make me go crazy. But what I think will make me go crazy more is being 35, a Senior Manager in Valuations at a Big4 making 150K, still having busy season and realizing my exit opportunities are other valuation shops (making partner these days in valuations is VERY difficult). All assuming I can't get out in this time to ER/HF/IB and don't want the MBA.

If the tradeoff now is a few years of shitty commuting with the chance to be on my ultimate path to being a top PM one day, isn't that a fair deal? I realize there are no givens, and IDK if I'll have other opportunities, but it's just a thought.

You seem like you have pretty much decided for yourself.

Do what you want and fuck the rest.

[quote=patternfinder]Of course, I would just buy in scales. [/quote] See my WSO Blog | my AMA
 

It will get to you after a while. I did a similar commute from Jersey into the city for 3yrs. You can do it, anything is doable. Getting home earlier is factor for sure. Bravo is right about the long term out look with the wife, so try to plan that out with her. I have an agreement with mine depending on when kids come about.

Have a nice car with ample passing power, SiriusXM, navigation, a parking routine etc...Despite that, if rush hour hits, you will get manic and be in a shit mood when you get home. Leaving and coming home when it's dark, becomes an issue. Id probably start smoking pot after work. (

 

As for the "difficulty" of the commute, let me share a little story from my time working in emerging markets. I apologise for the whole "well there are starving children in Africa" approach but would like to remind you of your counterparts who have it much worse.

During my brief time in a third world country, I was amazed at how educated, bilingual, and totally Western-like my co-workers were. I worked in a team of 4 locals, all of which would have fitted in well inside a KPMG audit team or similar typical middle-class, 2nd tier Western team. I worked particularly closely with a nice chap with a cynical sense of humour and some good street wisdom which avoided us the worst of that third world country's dangers. He was a top 5 graduate of one of the most prestigious universities of his continent - like a guy with a first from Oxford, but more selective and prestigious (his face was in the national papers due to his grade).

One day, we were due to visit some sites outside the main city in which we worked. This was my first time leaving that city, and my colleague had left his bags at home. Rather than take two cabs to pick up his bag and pick me up at work, he proposed we go to his place and I meet his family. I gladly accepted, happy to finally sample the quality of life of the newly emerging middle class of that country.

We got off the cab in an alley which was more of a mud track surrounded by decrepit old apartment blocks, some with walls falling apart, all with large stains progressing down the walls. We climbed up the five floors to his family's flat, and there, in 400 sq ft, were they all - the mother, grandmother, grandfather, and two younger brothers. He shared a double bed with his two brothers. There was no A/C, although they had recently purchased a fridge. The heat was stifling - so much so they had no lights on inside the apartment. His mother was ill and died shortly thereafter.

This guy was trying to make it the best he could, working extremely hard at a local corporate, supporting his family, living in cramped conditions, and yet every day he arrived to work with a bright smile, perfectly ironed shirt, and did wonderful things. His dream was to perform well enough that he could afford to visit the West - his pay was too low for him even to afford first class train tickets in his own country (let alone flights out of it). I was told later his situation was amongst the better ones in that country - some of my other co-workers lived in less than 100 sq ft with their family of 6.

What's a 4h commute next to that? Not that much effort. What's 50k next to that? A pretty good starting salary.

 
EURCHF parity:
As for the "difficulty" of the commute, let me share a little story from my time working in emerging markets. I apologise for the whole "well there are starving children in Africa" approach but would like to remind you of your counterparts who have it much worse.

During my brief time in a third world country, I was amazed at how educated, bilingual, and totally Western-like my co-workers were. I worked in a team of 4 locals, all of which would have fitted in well inside a KPMG audit team or similar typical middle-class, 2nd tier Western team. I worked particularly closely with a nice chap with a cynical sense of humour and some good street wisdom which avoided us the worst of that third world country's dangers. He was a top 5 graduate of one of the most prestigious universities of his continent - like a guy with a first from Oxford, but more selective and prestigious (his face was in the national papers due to his grade).

One day, we were due to visit some sites outside the main city in which we worked. This was my first time leaving that city, and my colleague had left his bags at home. Rather than take two cabs to pick up his bag and pick me up at work, he proposed we go to his place and I meet his family. I gladly accepted, happy to finally sample the quality of life of the newly emerging middle class of that country.

We got off the cab in an alley which was more of a mud track surrounded by decrepit old apartment blocks, some with walls falling apart, all with large stains progressing down the walls. We climbed up the five floors to his family's flat, and there, in 400 sq ft, were they all - the mother, grandmother, grandfather, and two younger brothers. He shared a double bed with his two brothers. There was no A/C, although they had recently purchased a fridge. The heat was stifling - so much so they had no lights on inside the apartment. His mother was ill and died shortly thereafter.

This guy was trying to make it the best he could, working extremely hard at a local corporate, supporting his family, living in cramped conditions, and yet every day he arrived to work with a bright smile, perfectly ironed shirt, and did wonderful things. His dream was to perform well enough that he could afford to visit the West - his pay was too low for him even to afford first class train tickets in his own country (let alone flights out of it). I was told later his situation was amongst the better ones in that country - some of my other co-workers lived in less than 100 sq ft with their family of 6.

What's a 4h commute next to that? Not that much effort. What's 50k next to that? A pretty good starting salary.

dude gtfo of here...everyone here knows that every 'problem' ever discussed on WSO is a first world problem. We all know that if we have food and clean water and shelter, we're better off than most of the world. I don't think your rant helps the OP in the least though.
-MBP
 

At least in my industry (commodities) there are many director level "third world" folks who made it through skill, intelligence and hard work whilst the "first world" folks were whining. I know that for what the OP wants to do (equity analysis) there are many excellent analysts from countries where it's more about clean water from the tap than how unfortunately packed public transport appears to be at rush hour.

Look at Dan Loeb's recent hires (see any of the last 4 letters, easily googled). Not WASPs.

 

commuting is one of the most serious factors for me. I don't even want to do a subway train transfer, let alone a couple of transfers and a 2 hour total commute. Recently i moved into a government owned housing complex primarily because it is a 15 minute walk to the office. i just couldn't figure out how you could justify a 2 hour commute. Assuming you don't go back to the office on the weekend, that's 20 hours of commuting per week. Every morning, the first thing that you are greeted by is this awful 2 hour process. Furthermore, this does not seem to be a great job anyways.

It's definitely not worth it.

Go East, Young Man
 

Hey everyone, had the second round at the office - they seemed to like me. They do manage 16B long only...the position is entry level, still don't know exact salary but it is around 50K base (i dont even know if bonus). I wouldn't become a sector specific analyst for 3 years...so basically for the next 3 years I would just be supporting everyone, updating models 30% of time and doing ad-hoc work, and writing up the weekly letters the rest

So the commute is 1 hour and 25 minutes driving..NJ -> NY vs 2 hour 15 minutes on Train...anyone have any new opinion?

 

Hey LevFinGS,

It seems like you have already decided for yourself, since from the way you speak, you're pretty sick of your current job as is. I come from similar background, and commuted 1 hr to Big 4 office for a year in valuations. Now I'm taking a new job to commute 1.5 hrs for a buyside research role.

From the moment you decide to look elsewhere, your motivation level at your current firm would suffer. If you stayed at your Big 4 job, you would not be motivated to work your hardest to get on the promotion fast track. You seem to emphasize your willingness to get into the industry, despite the commute, so I think you should do it.

To support your decision a little, while taking the trains, you can study for the CFA. The productive portion of your commute certainly will not be wasted. However, as I know it's easy to burn out studying, the unproductive portion of your commute should be used to just space out and relax. The commute itself isn't too bad, as people easily waste an hr or two throughout the day. The hardest part of a commute is your mentality towards it. If you think you're "wasting" 2 hrs back and forth a day, you will eventually suffer cognitive dissonance, regret, and even blame your wife for it. If you think of the 2 hrs as part of your plan to study, you'd feel much better internally. I passed L1 and L2 in a yr while working pretty damn late. The commute time definitely became part of my study time.

Now, aside from the nature of the commute, it's more important you understand the experience you'd gain with the new job. If it is a legit gig with lots of exposure to learning the industry, it'd be a no-brainer to make the move, as long you're over the hurdle of the long commute. However, if the gig is primarily bitch work with a fluff title, then I'd reconsider the sheer sacrifices you'd make to pursue it.

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger." -- Friedrich Nietzsche
 
  • focus right now on getting the job and being as enthusiastic as possible
  • get the job
  • once you get it make sure that the future opptys are in line with your expectations (50k base in finance in NY sounds low even by commercial banking standards)
  • take the job
  • work out the logistics later - buy a car? maybe try to find a cheap crashpad for the week? the commute will suck so try to settle ASAP
  • plan for a more permanent move in the future. it would just suck if u had to take on debt cuz of this new job tho

also is that 1hr 25 mins w/ or w/o traffic?

 

OP here, can anyone with experience talk about how good this opportunity is relative to other buyside opps? Don't want to be rash in accepting or turn down something I may never get again. (all in is now the same as I make now btw)

 

you might as well learn for yourself if it's worth while, and take the job. you can always bail in 6 months if you are absolutely miserable. I've got a 6 month stint on my resume and it hasn't hindered me at all. My opinion is that you're allowed one of those before the conclusion is that you're the problem.

You've got plenty of opinions here but that's all they are. Obviously mine is that the commute isn't worth it, but that's based purely on my own evaluation of the importance of incremental dollars in my life relative to other things like my wife, my dogs, traveling, hanging out with friends, exercising, whatever. We all make choices about what is most important in our lives - what gets more time / energy in lieu of something else getting less. The choices made by those of us in this thread should be evaluated to give some perspective, but really shouldn't be a deciding factor for you. You should go with your gut.

 

I hear what you're saying djfiii, but I'm trying to understand how "good" of an opportunity this is within Finance. Meaning, if it was working 2 hours away in NJ at Apaloosa management, then I would for sure do it. This is a mutual fund platform with around 16B. I don't know how it stacks up relative to trying to enter a HF through sellside in future etc. That's why I'm asking if anyone can talk about if it's good enough to make a sacrifice for

 

http://www.njtransit.com/sf/sf_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=TrainSchedules…

here is the path schedule. Idk if it goes all the way out to morris country though... but depending on what part of morris you're coming from.. it can take up to hour and half .. or 2 hours

I'm taking the path from passaic county to penn station.. it takes 55mins according to njtransit.com

also check out bus schedules at njtransit.. im sure there are busses that go into port authority from morris...

 

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