[EstorilM]

Originally Posted by BMW F22

Sounds like a good plan to me. I think you will be fine. Don't know what you do but Bay Area is a mecca for tech jobs.

I am an engineer, but more recently have been transitioning to program management. Every tech company has them, so that helps.

[EstorilM]

Originally Posted by BMW F22

You have to be absolutely sure you can take time to explore places when you travel. Oftentimes people travel for work and barely have time to do anything else besides work.

That's what I'm afraid of. I don't want to spend 40% of my time away from home if I'm working 70 hours a week.

[fun ticket]

I think I am a little older than most of people on here so my feedback is from an "old guys" point of view. I have had consulting jobs that required 50% - 100% travel. I did that for about 3 years and it was the absolutely worst part of my career. Being gone from family, eating all meals out, weight gain, you name it, the worst. I am doing about 10% travel now and it is fine, no issues and at this point in my career/life I would never consider anything above 10%.

If you were fresh out of school, single, absolutely go for it. Enjoy it for a year or two, put the experience under your belt, learn, etc.

Significant business travel is satan

[David70]

Comparing 25-40% to 50-100% is a whole different story. Worst case for the OP is he is traveling less than half the time, worst case above and it is all of the time. I would never take a job that averages over 50% travel.

Maybe international travel makes sense for your wife to come with you sometimes but reality is about 98% of the people that travel for work don't bring their wives very often. Combination of your work (I'm leaving in the morning and I will be back about 6 - good luck in China), their work, cost, friends and other activities if she will be with the whole time the 10 day trip means you will be free at night (if no company dinners) or on the weekend. Maybe occasionally but I seriously doubt very often. The "50% off the trip" is true but you won't be with her most of the time, probably a couple of hours at night.

As far as moving, from personal experience and friends who moved out of the area they have spent most of their lives, stick with it for at least a year (just like the job). 3 months in and more than likely you won't like the move because of lack of friends/family.

I moved from GA (college) to TN to CA to TN to OH. Met wife just before move to OH, she had never lived anywhere else and at the time my job was over 50% (new to sales territory required a lot more travel and Ontario to FL). Waiting the year forces you to deal with it and she with the new area. Now 10 years in we could move back to TN, but Nashville, not Chattanooga where she is from and she prefers to stay here. Also, learning how to move to a new city and live there is a good life experience and if things change and you decide to do in the future again the second time is always easier.

[JoeyBananas]

Im a pilot so literally traveling is the job, lol. Ive only worked about 15-20 days total this enitre year which is extremely abnormal but do it now because when you have kids being gone for 4-days at a time is horrendous..................Traveling gets old, really quick. Airports, airplanes, hotels, the traveling public etc. Not to mention it gets lonely.

Its fun at first but the lifestyle of living out of a suitcase is really horrible

[1MOREMOD]

Unless you're a hitman then it's cool like the movies

[jpnh]

I fucking HATE having to travel periodically for work

Its not being away from home per se.....

Its the aggrevation/lost time associated with TSA for starters

When you combine that with the total incompetence of the airlines these days who have fucked up 4 of the last 6 flights I've been on due to failure to perform preventative maint on planes which result in delays, cancellations etc....I've lost DAYS of productivity due to their shenanigans

American is by far the worst.....they were far far better before the merger of US Air and American.....and most of their employees agree

Several of the major US carriers are on par with third world airlines these days

[Joekerr]

Originally Posted by 1MOREMOD

Unless you're a hitman then it's cool like the movies

I knew there was something about you. I knew it.

[EstorilM]

Originally Posted by jpnh

I fucking HATE having to travel periodically for work

Its not being away from home per se.....

Its the aggrevation/lost time associated with TSA for starters

When you combine that with the total incompetence of the airlines these days who have fucked up 4 of the last 6 flights I've been on due to failure to perform preventative maint on planes which result in delays, cancellations etc....I've lost DAYS of productivity due to their shenanigans

American is by far the worst.....they were far far better before the merger of US Air and American.....and most of their employees agree

Several of the major US carriers are on par with third world airlines these days

Damn, sounds like you need Global Entry or TSA Precheck. Also, you must be flying Allegiant Air if 4 out of the last 6 have been delayed. That is horrible.

[jpnh]

Originally Posted by EstorilM

Damn, sounds like you need Global Entry or TSA Precheck. Also, you must be flying Allegiant Air if 4 out of the last 6 have been delayed. That is horrible.

Pre check is just buying into the security threatre bullshit which I cannot condone.....the US needs to get away from the illusion of security and take a few lessons from the isrealis

And no....it was American Air.......they suck

[blefevre]

Travel is a mixed bag and people react differently to it. It sounds like I am in a similar situation as you. 29, married with no kids, Engineer turned product management, up to 50% travel, tech industry (semiconductor so lots of Bay Area / Asia).

I am in year 2. It is fun at first because you get to see new places, meet people, and generally get away from sitting at a desk. However, it lost its glory very quickly for me. I am sick of traveling for work. The airports, planes, taxis, hotels, etc. They are all the same and when you are working while traveling you don't get to see much of the local area. Sure you have nights and swing in a few weekends, but at the end of the day you are still working just more tired and away from home.

However, I wouldn't give up the chance to try it out. It can open up a ton of opportunities and it really is great experience. In the tech industry it is necessary to work with the global economy and different cultures. The best way to learn that is get on a plane and meet the people. I just wouldn't do it for very long.

[EstorilM]

I was lucky enough to talk to someone who just left one of the teams I'm interviewing for. She said it was a very challenging job. There are evening meetings w/ Teams in China, and it's generally very stressful because of the product you are supporting. She thought it was worth it to do a year or two, as it opened so many doors for her. After about a year, she had every major tech company in the area pinging her on LinkedIn.

[David70]

If possible, talk to a couple of people still doing the job (I can't see why the employer wouldn't want you to talk to them). Sometimes getting the opinion of someone leaving the position isn't a good one. Also likely that getting a 70-80% raise and working with Asia will involve longer hours and meetings with them after our normal business hours.

Some of the bests ways to get ahead long term involve doing things others aren't interested in, like moving, traveling, long hours, etc, whether it is short term or medium term. I was able to get into sales in my previous company partly because virtually no one in the company was willing to move from east TN to Los Angeles. Did the job for 2 years and eventually was able to get a much better job with a competitor based on this experience.

I have no idea if this job is a good one or not, just some general opinions.

[csu87]

i worked out of town for a while before i moved my wife out with me. Also everyone I worked with was in the same situation if they were married.

Best advice i can give you is to make sure you are both secure in your relationship. The worst thing that can happen is one of you is insecure and a forgotten night time phone call can lead to disaster. If you are both comfortable and truly trust each other, its no issue.

[MKSixer]

I have been at 30%-80% travel for most of my career. It becomes automatic after a time and you don't think about it, at all. It's not for everyone and you need an understanding family. The great thing about it is the free trips and other perks from being a frequent traveler.

Think really hard about it and make certain your partner is up for it. If there is any doubt, you need to re-evaluate everything. And I mean everything.

Cheers-mk

[landshark99]

I have traveled a lot for work for over 30 years, maybe 12 to 20 trips a year, nothing more than a week and mostly 3 days at a time, wife and or kids came along sometimes, still happily married, two well adjusted successful kids in their 30s, I am just now starting to get little tired of it. To tell you the truth I would rather have lived this lifestyle than spent all my time and every weekend in my hometown, I have seen and been to places I never would have had the time or inclination to go on vacation.

[P1]

Interesting read...

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-sw...cle-title-like

[ipilcher]

Originally Posted by EstorilM

Damn, sounds like you need Global Entry or TSA Precheck. Also, you must be flying Allegiant Air if 4 out of the last 6 have been delayed. That is horrible.

It's pretty much par for the course for AA these days. If I weren't a "hub captive" I wouldn't give them a dime until they get their S together.

[ImolaMoop]

I do what you are interviewing for, and I love it. About 45% Asia travel.

Coworkers travel together and have lots of fun in the evenings and weekends. You can tack on personal trips within Asia to the beginning or end of work trips. Some married people bring their wives several times per year.

The two week long haul trips are fine compared to the consultants who hop around on short domestic flights dealing with TSA daily. That's a totally different animal.

[EstorilM]

Originally Posted by ImolaMoop

I do what you are interviewing for, and I love it. About 45% Asia travel.

Coworkers travel together and have lots of fun in the evenings and weekends. You can tack on personal trips within Asia to the beginning or end of work trips. Some married people bring their wives several times per year.

The two week long haul trips are fine compared to the consultants who hop around on short domestic flights dealing with TSA daily. That's a totally different animal.

Good to know! I have an on-site interview down in the Bay Area in a week. Interviewing for 2 positions.

[angelr]

I travel a fair bit for work....Indy this week, texas and pa the following. Byron Bay Australia in Feb which makes up for the last 3

When the company takes care of you and doesn't expect you to live like a pauper while traveling it makes all the difference. We enjoy nice places and good food so travel doesn't feel like a punishment.

[itrsteve]

Been doing it for 5.5 years, it's pretty much expected to be gone every week. There are some perks, but the distance can make things difficult at times. Any sort of rough patches only get magnified by distance.

Big question, are you two anticipating children? If so, I'd think twice. If not, try it out for a year, stack up all of the points and miles and go nuts with vacations (that's what I do to make it up to her). But once a child comes along, no chance I'm going to choose a job over that.

Being somebody in the tech sector, you'all be able to open up a bunch of other opportunities that may not of existed otherwise. So it's not an easy call, maybe try it for a year and see how it works?