When is traveling far for higher pay worthwhile?

[Drajiel]

The only job that'd make me fly out and say goodbye to my current life would be if Pixar wanted me to work for them as an animator, and that's all.

I don't care how much more I'd be paid if I got an offer from somewhere else that involved flying to a location not local to Ontario.

Graph is missing all the undeclarable variables that are 'your current life'. ;/

[Featheredragon]

Graph is missing all the undeclarable variables that are 'your current life'. ;/

Ok, lol,

1) The equation isn't supposed to be some sort of Universal Oracle.
2) I'm not thinking of moving out of the city. This equation is only meant to consider jobs within the city.
3) I need a job and I need to make as much money as possible and as efficiently as possible. There's a relationship between distance traveled, cost of said travel, net pay and net leftover time vs just working close to home. I wanted a fast way to be able to find the precise wage threshold to maximize my earnings and minimize wasted time. The question is basically "should I take this job close to home that pays less instead of this job far away that pays more?". When you think about it, you may actually be better off just working those hours you spend commuting to your job instead of actually commuting and spending money to commute. Determining the threshold that is the tipping point between when it's worth staying close or going far for higher pay, requires an equation--and now I have one to do just that.
4) It's just one of many tools to aid me in identifying jobs worthy of consideration and to eliminate those that would set me back. Obviously I'm not going to work somewhere I really hate if I can help it or neglect the rest of my life that doesn't relate to work! Also, under certain circumstances, if I'm happier working for less money or commuting a little longer, then I'll do so for the sake of my sanity and general well being. I don't see the point in adding those extraneous perameters into the equaiton as I am capable of deciding such things on my own. Again, it's just a simple tool! It's not meant to be an all-knowing oracle or an exacto-knife! :3

Besides, I'm not one to dump everything and abandon all my friends, my famility, and my home just on a whim. I'm not married to my work. I understand that life is not so black and white. ^^

[Ramses]

most importantly, this formula doesn't take into account if the job is some sort of apprenticeship or position low on the ladder in a field where promotions and new skills are a common and necessary reality. future potential earnings at a job is perhaps the most important criteria in choosing work.

that could even be roughly put the formula as a factor. potential wage / starting wage or something.

[Featheredragon]

most importantly, this formula doesn't take into account if the job is some sort of apprenticeship or position low on the ladder in a field where promotions and new skills are a common and necessary reality. future potential earnings at a job is perhaps the most important criteria in choosing work.

that could even be roughly put the formula as a factor. potential wage / starting wage or something.

Hummm.....! You may be on to something here!

All that would really be required is to establish values of p for predefined intervals of time .
Eg.: If 0>time<=2000 hours, then p=__ ,
If 2000<time<=4000 hours, then p=___,
etc..
So if, for example, you cummulatively worked betweeen 0-2000 hours, your wage rate would be p#1, if you worked between 2000-4000 hours your wage rate would be p#2, etc..

It might make sense to consider this under some circumstances if indeed rapid promotion was expected but in general I think it makes things a little too complicated. When planning, if you really want to be technical about it, there are probably an infinite number of variables to consider. You can't realistically consider them all so you must define what your limitis of analysis will be in order to simplify the process and primarily focus on the the most influential factors.

In terms of entry level (ie minimum wage or close to it) jobs, there's no guarantee you'll be working at a place long enough to actually reach the next wage level. For instance, maybe you only have a summer job so you might not be there long enoughto qualify for the increase or maybe after workign there awhile you find you don't like the job so quite to find another. As another example, in the case of my old work, I was nearing a wage increase but due to the way the store contract was negoticated, when minimum wage increased by 75cents it overshot the wage-rate I would have jumped to and the store was not obligated to increase my wage by the quanity it would have jumped had minimum wage not incrased. So, basically, many employees got messed over.

That said though, it is a good idea and I think you're right: it does have it's place. Definately something to keep in mind depending on the circumstance. ^^

~ Feather ~ :3