Job supposedly requires car
#26
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Mid Atlantic / USA
Posts: 2,115
Bikes: 2017 Specialized Crosstrail / 2013 Trek Crossrip Elite
Mentioned: 43 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1002 Post(s)
Liked 237 Times
in
155 Posts
I actually got a Lyft ride from a driver who told me the car was a rental, and Lyft has a program where he doesn't need a car to be a driver, they provide the rental, and he gets to use it for personal use as well. Maybe this is the program?
(I'm not saying you're wrong, I think it absolutely makes sense that some jobs include requirements to drive a car, and your own car, but I was surprised to learn about this Lyft/rental program)
(I'm not saying you're wrong, I think it absolutely makes sense that some jobs include requirements to drive a car, and your own car, but I was surprised to learn about this Lyft/rental program)
But seriously...I'm very surprised by that. I'm sure it works for them or they wouldn't do it. But I'm surprised.
#27
Banned
I actually got a Lyft ride from a driver who told me the car was a rental, and Lyft has a program where he doesn't need a car to be a driver, they provide the rental, and he gets to use it for personal use as well. Maybe this is the program?
(I'm not saying you're wrong, I think it absolutely makes sense that some jobs include requirements to drive a car, and your own car, but I was surprised to learn about this Lyft/rental program)
(I'm not saying you're wrong, I think it absolutely makes sense that some jobs include requirements to drive a car, and your own car, but I was surprised to learn about this Lyft/rental program)
This results in most Über drivers just having a leased car with the same plates as a standard taxi and just using a different app. Most taxi agencies already had an Über-like app already.
#28
Keepin it Wheel
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: San Diego
Posts: 10,244
Bikes: Surly CrossCheck, Krampus
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 26 Post(s)
Liked 3,417 Times
in
2,526 Posts
#29
Banned
kinda like this:
Last edited by acidfast7; 10-08-18 at 02:54 PM.
#31
Senior Member
Not to get too off-topic (I've already posted my direct reply to the OP's question), but I think this might help illustrate what African-Americans and women have been experiencing in the US for at least a century. Only, in their cases, the employer is often too cowardly or afraid to tell the job applicant "We don't want a woman on the job" or "We don't hire black people."
The boss set the requirements for this job and was straightforward with you about what they are and why you might not get the job. It's sucky that you can't have 100% of what you would like, but I think you have to respect the company's policy and look for another job that you can bike to.
Good luck!
The boss set the requirements for this job and was straightforward with you about what they are and why you might not get the job. It's sucky that you can't have 100% of what you would like, but I think you have to respect the company's policy and look for another job that you can bike to.
Good luck!
#32
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 14
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 9 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 6 Times
in
2 Posts
I think it's not a matter of legal rights, it's matter of convenience for either party, this is something that is in a sort of grey zone that has to do with the kind of informal arrangements one comits to around the professional environment
#33
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 14
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 9 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 6 Times
in
2 Posts
I am the part-owner of an architectural firm in the US and still must deal with **** about my bike-riding from my partners (who are more "corporate" and concerned about "decorum" than I am, and less concerned about visibly sustainable life-style):
- Showing up and being briefly visible in bike clothes in the morning
- Being visibly hot in the studio after the morning shower (the new office has bike storage, lockers and showers, per my instigation)
- Riding cycle to local client meetings.
These are all areas of some occasional tension.
Cycling in my city saves time (I can be at my clients in half the time of my colleagues taking public transit or a cab) and my clients are very progressive about sustainable transportation choices, which I do point out when needed..
Perhaps the OP actually needs a car for potentially remote client meetings, but I think it is likely that his/her potential employer is being somewhat somewhat regressive and dickish like my partners. Therefore I agree with others that the OP will need to be practical and either suck it up and get the car, or find a different job. If the gig has merit, I would take the job, prove worthy, then gradually try to change the firm culture.
- Showing up and being briefly visible in bike clothes in the morning
- Being visibly hot in the studio after the morning shower (the new office has bike storage, lockers and showers, per my instigation)
- Riding cycle to local client meetings.
These are all areas of some occasional tension.
Cycling in my city saves time (I can be at my clients in half the time of my colleagues taking public transit or a cab) and my clients are very progressive about sustainable transportation choices, which I do point out when needed..
Perhaps the OP actually needs a car for potentially remote client meetings, but I think it is likely that his/her potential employer is being somewhat somewhat regressive and dickish like my partners. Therefore I agree with others that the OP will need to be practical and either suck it up and get the car, or find a different job. If the gig has merit, I would take the job, prove worthy, then gradually try to change the firm culture.
very true!
#34
Banned
https://www.lingscars.com/one-year-deals
(Best UK website for leases)
#36
Keepin it Wheel
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: San Diego
Posts: 10,244
Bikes: Surly CrossCheck, Krampus
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 26 Post(s)
Liked 3,417 Times
in
2,526 Posts
If the issue is making impressions at customer meetings, then you should look for a 'green' architecture firm that would value (and that would serve customers that value) the impression made by an architect rolling up to a job site on a bicycle.
#38
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 7,384
Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 800 Post(s)
Liked 218 Times
in
171 Posts
Job supposedly requires car.
As I left post-graduate training, I wanted two things for my job:
When I was interviewed for my current job over 30 years ago in suburban Boston, 14 miles from my home, my employer had raised eyebrows when I said I don’t have a car. The job did require traveling between two sites eight miles apart.
I said I commute by bike, and there was good Commuter Rail directly service to the main site, the other was about 6 miles away from the closest station. He might have been kind of desperate, and I was hired.
My only steadfast rule, never violated, was
I am an architect in Cyprus and at the job interview I told them that I am used to going to work by bike.
They said that going to site visits and to meet a client somewhere requires a car.
I never had problems with this in the past.
Public transport in Cyprus is actually terrible (only bus with not many good connections) and that's why I use a bike to get around. Until now there was a company car for going out of town at previous offices.
I was even asked if I was thinking of buying a car!
How do I deal with this one?
They said that going to site visits and to meet a client somewhere requires a car.
I never had problems with this in the past.
Public transport in Cyprus is actually terrible (only bus with not many good connections) and that's why I use a bike to get around. Until now there was a company car for going out of town at previous offices.
I was even asked if I was thinking of buying a car!
How do I deal with this one?
…When I was asked a few years before starting my career, while living in Boston,“Where would you like to live?.” my criteria were living near a big body of water, and the ability to live without a car as I had been much of my earlier two-plus decades; and I was already an avid cyclist.
I learned to love the water from the Great Lakes in Michigan, and the Atlantic Ocean in Boston
I learned to love the water from the Great Lakes in Michigan, and the Atlantic Ocean in Boston
I said I commute by bike, and there was good Commuter Rail directly service to the main site, the other was about 6 miles away from the closest station. He might have been kind of desperate, and I was hired.
Boston is probably one of the most Car-free cities in the world, and having a car is often detrimental.
We live near the transportation hub of Kenmore Square. Our easily accessible Car-free / Car-light modalities at home and work are:
We live near the transportation hub of Kenmore Square. Our easily accessible Car-free / Car-light modalities at home and work are:
- subway and Commuter Rail
- taxis and Uber
- car rentals, including Zipcar
- shopping and personal services within walking distances
- a convenient place to stay overnight at work
- my cycle commutes are on pleasant routes in the reverse of the usual commuting direction
I often tout Boston as the epitome of LCF/LCL [Living Car Free / Car Light] in America, not to brag, but illustrate the possibilities…
Location, location, location.
Location, location, location.
Sometimes I have to absolutely be there for an early start time. I posted about those concerns early in my career, to this thread, "whats the scariest part of your ride????. .
Once, I got in late for a conference because I was on a new route and got lost. When I realized that, I called a cab to take me and the bike in, about 20 minutes late, but "no harm, no foul."
For the first few years when I started commuting to work, I would dream that I had to be there for a critical procedure the first thing in the morning, and I was too far away to get there on time.
Much like that paradigmatic dream of going for a final exam, and can’t find the room / didn’t attend the class. "
Much like that paradigmatic dream of going for a final exam, and can’t find the room / didn’t attend the class. "
... In my 40 so years of Living Car Light (the car is mainly for my wife) my cardinal rule was not to ask for a ride out of someone’s way, and never borrow a co-worker’s car.
Colleagues are pretty generous to offer rides, and even offer their cars. Cabs and car rentals are pretty accessible to me though.
Colleagues are pretty generous to offer rides, and even offer their cars. Cabs and car rentals are pretty accessible to me though.
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 10-09-18 at 08:39 AM.
#39
aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,498
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Mentioned: 511 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7346 Post(s)
Liked 2,453 Times
in
1,430 Posts
Here in New York City, if you delivered pizza by car instead of bike, you'd be fired. A car is slower than a bike.
__________________
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#40
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 14
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 9 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 6 Times
in
2 Posts
Haha, yes, I lived in New York City for half a year and worked in White Plains as an architect. Got the train to WP from Grand Central every morning. What a commute! Better than being in the car though, and the partners there had no problem with that at all as long as I got to work on time every single morning.
I got the job by the way and I'm testing the water tomorrow by showing up with my road bike. Though not full gear, just plain clothes.
The bike is a Trek, so that should hopefully make me look a bit more pro while I'll be hauling it up to the kitchen on the first floor!
#41
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 7,384
Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 800 Post(s)
Liked 218 Times
in
171 Posts
Here in Boston, the only ones I see in any number are on Red Sox baseball game days in a relatively small area of the Back Bay extending about two miles at most from Fenway Park.
We live near Fenway, and often walk through the Back Bay. The pedicab fare (via tips) is at least about $15, while a taxi would be about $8 with tip. However the pedicab can negotiate the traffic more easily.
#42
aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,498
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Mentioned: 511 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7346 Post(s)
Liked 2,453 Times
in
1,430 Posts
When we visited central Manhattan several years ago during the summer, I was astounded at the number of pedicabs seemingly all over, day and night. We even rode from and back to our Hotel to the Rainbow Room in black tie evening attire.
Here in Boston, the only ones I see in any number are on Red Sox baseball game days in a relatively small area of the Back Bay extending about two miles at most from Fenway Park.
We live near Fenway, and often walk through the Back Bay. The pedicab fare (via tips) is at least about $15, while a taxi would be about $8 with tip. However the pedicab can negotiate the traffic more easily.
Here in Boston, the only ones I see in any number are on Red Sox baseball game days in a relatively small area of the Back Bay extending about two miles at most from Fenway Park.
We live near Fenway, and often walk through the Back Bay. The pedicab fare (via tips) is at least about $15, while a taxi would be about $8 with tip. However the pedicab can negotiate the traffic more easily.
But did you notice the huge number of delivery bikes here? When I was growing up, supermarkets used Worksman bikes and trikes to deliver orders. Now everything is being delivered, including lots of meals. There are lots of restaurants that are empty inside but do brisk delivery businesses.
By the way, long ago, I lived on Park Dr, near Queensberry St.
__________________
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#43
☢
Pedicabs don't seem that practical to me. I think the fee is at least $1 per minute. I think only tourists ride them.
But did you notice the huge number of delivery bikes here? When I was growing up, supermarkets used Worksman bikes and trikes to deliver orders. Now everything is being delivered, including lots of meals. There are lots of restaurants that are empty inside but do brisk delivery businesses.
By the way, long ago, I lived on Park Dr, near Queensberry St.
But did you notice the huge number of delivery bikes here? When I was growing up, supermarkets used Worksman bikes and trikes to deliver orders. Now everything is being delivered, including lots of meals. There are lots of restaurants that are empty inside but do brisk delivery businesses.
By the way, long ago, I lived on Park Dr, near Queensberry St.
#44
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 7,384
Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 800 Post(s)
Liked 218 Times
in
171 Posts
I do recall you lived in Boston and worked at a Bike shop in Cambridge ~ 1980, We live about a half mile from that intersection.
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 10-09-18 at 06:57 PM.
#46
☢
If an employer needs that assurance then it's your responsibility to provide it. However, nobody says you have to go out and buy a brand new expensive car with monthly installments and a high operating cost. Any car that runs will do. When/if they ask if you have reliable transportation, your answer will be yes and that's the end of the discussion.
#47
Banned
company business , company car.
Say, "sure I'll use the company's car, then", If It requires a 1st impression
being seen, driving a car, to meet the client, on the building site..
Greek or Turkish side of Cyprus ?
[Contested ?] Island is pretty small ,
so a Moped/Scooter and a waterproof Tube to roll up the
Engineering Drawings/ Blueprints ,
(Other than CAD , displayed on a Laptop)
is typically the product archItecture firms carry to the jobsite,
should do.. as offered in 19th post..
Actual 3D models less likely to be brought , then a Taxi may be used.
...
being seen, driving a car, to meet the client, on the building site..
Greek or Turkish side of Cyprus ?
[Contested ?] Island is pretty small ,
so a Moped/Scooter and a waterproof Tube to roll up the
Engineering Drawings/ Blueprints ,
(Other than CAD , displayed on a Laptop)
is typically the product archItecture firms carry to the jobsite,
should do.. as offered in 19th post..
Actual 3D models less likely to be brought , then a Taxi may be used.
...
Last edited by fietsbob; 10-11-18 at 12:57 PM.
#48
Disco Infiltrator
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Folsom CA
Posts: 13,446
Bikes: Stormchaser, Paramount, Tilt, Samba tandem
Mentioned: 72 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3126 Post(s)
Liked 2,102 Times
in
1,366 Posts
I had a coworker who kept a little Toyota truck at work and rode from home. We work in a place where we might occasionally need to go a few miles where bikes are not allowed. Several of us working together were frequent cyclists and we’d share the truck and the gas for such uses. I drove it home once when I wrecked on the way to work and decided I needed to go home to clean up my road rash. Several of us working together were frequent cyclists and we’d share the gas. He’d take it home on the weekend, so he could use it for home improvement and gardening. None of us ever asked for mileage, but I know that people who work back there more often or every day did. You’d need secure parking.
Last edited by Darth Lefty; 10-10-18 at 12:58 PM.
#49
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 233
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 174 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times
in
2 Posts
Before going too far in trying some kind of work-around for the OP's prospective employer's very reasonable request that he have a car, it might be useful to try to understand exactly why they want him to have a car.
#50
Full Member