"I work in banking while my family live 300 miles away"
I've worked in banking in London for over a decade. While I've been doing so, I've been living away from my wife and children. They are not in London, but are hundreds of miles away in a different UK city. That city is not known for its banking sector.
My specialty is M&A. While I would love to have a job working in proximity to my family, it's simply not possible to find something close to my hometown. If you want to progress in this industry, you really need to be in London and to specialize in a sector. All the good roles are London based.
My family could move, but my wife has her own career and has no interest in living in London. Equally, we want our children to have the space and fresh air that comes from living outside of London.
None of this makes my life easy, but I don't mind. I am very driven and keen to provide for my family.
For much of my career, I have worked in the City four days a week and then worked from home on a Friday. The pandemic made my life much easier, but it's also quite difficult to work from home when you have children around.
The reality is that I quite like being in the office. There's an expectation that you'll be there, and I actually enjoy being in the centre of London and the hustle and bustle of city life.
My ideal is to work in the office three or four days a week. During this time I live in a cheap apartment I have found in an insalubrious area of London with good transport links. I then travel back on the weekend.
It's a good deal, but the travel takes its toll, and I am conscious that I'm not getting any older. What would you do in my situation?
Callum Collins is a pseudonym
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