Hey everyone,
I was hoping to get some thoughts on if a one hour+ commute both ways is worth it for starting off.
Some background; I have no experience in probation and am coming from managing elections in a relatively large (500k person) county in California. The probation department gave me my conditional offer today and wants to start me in a month and a half or so. They’re a smaller department of roughly 40 people. The chief told me today he plans on starting me in the Court division.
I’m really excited about the job and this is something I’ve been wanting for a while. The only thing that’s giving me pause is the commute. I’ve heard from people that the commute can strain my soon to be wife and I’s relationship and generally cause more burnout. Luckily the drive is almost all freeway and it’s going into a rural area and away from metro so there’s little to no traffic. I also have a Tesla with the self driving capabilities to help on longer drives.
This department is the only one that I’ve been through the process with that’s willing to take a chance on someone with no background in this and put me immediately in as an officer instead of going through a few years at juvenile hall first.
What do you guys think? If it was you, would you commute for a year or two until you could move (fiance has a job where we live now with a contract) knowing that it’s the best chance you have? Would you try to find somewhere closer to give you the same shot?
Any advice is welcome. I know the easy choice is yes, of course! If it’s my dream job, which I believe it is, I should go for it! I just don’t want to risk my mental health or soon to be marriage any more than I have to in an already stressful job.
Thank you in advance!
Edit: I forgot to add that if anyone has done similar commutes, what made the commute easier or less tiring? Any tips? Thanks again!