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Tiresias · Jul 14, 2007, 04:27 AM

The Donald (Trump) said that you have the right job if you don't need to take vacations.

My job, which I HATE, only requires me to work about 6 hours a day, 4 days a week, for a total of 96 hours a month, which I LOVE.

It pays about 30 dollars an hour.

Last year, I thought about going back to university and changing vocations; getting a "real job". But on looking into it, I realised that some people in Job X work 18 hours a day. I even read an article about one overworked intern who died from physical exhaustion! This is a common phenomenon in Japan, and they even have a name for it: Karoshi, means "Death from Overwork".

My formula is simple: I want to do the least possible work for the most possible pay. Presently, my job conforms to that formula more than any other I know of.

Of course, if your job is your life and your passion, the question of working hours is meaningless, and you are very fortunate indeed.

But the rest of us seem to be working longer hours. Technology forces us to bring work home with us. It's gotten so competitive that if you want to excel, you have to sacrifice everything else for your job, which is why I choose not to excel.

So what are you standard working hours per month?
How much paid and unpaid overtime is involved?
Do you feel overworked?
Do you have time to do your own thing?
Etc, etc, etc.

Peter · Jul 14, 2007, 05:38 AM

I usually work 7:45AM till 4:30PM (I leave early to go to the pub with colleague)
If i'm not going to the pub, I usually work 7:45AM till 7/8/9/10PM. I can work whenever I like, I can work 12 hour days, or 4 hours days. Entirely up to me.
I get paid hourly, £8 an hour ($16) and I do not get paid extra for overtime/horrible hours. I've worked full 36hour days when a server crashes

Overworked? Not really, it peaks. I can easily manage it though - Usually have a pretty relaxed day, meetings, and the such. I have a blackberry and VPN at home, so I can usually put additional hours in when I see fit. had any issues with

Peter · Jul 14, 2007, 05:41 AM

oh and I'm the lead System Administrator (one guy 'below' me, one above - the IT Manager) at a smallish company (50 People)
I do Sys Admin (3x OS X Server, 2x FreeBSD, 1x Asterisk Phone Exchange), Cisco Stuff (All our networking gear, about 20 switches), Coding (PHP/Ruby/Cocoa/Perl/Python/Bash) and general User Support.

Mastrap · Jul 14, 2007, 05:54 AM

I tend to work from 8:30 in the morning until 6:00 or 6:30 in the evening. But then I love my job and I own part of the company so it doesn't bother me. I run another small business in my spare time, evenings and weekends. That takes up about five hours a week.

Atheist · Jul 14, 2007, 11:58 AM

Independent IT Consultant. Pretty much make my own hours anywhere from 25-60 per week. I bill by the hour. I love what I do and enjoy the freedom it gives me to pursue other interests.

nredman · Jul 14, 2007, 12:22 PM

6-2 - 40 hrs a week

design219 · Jul 14, 2007, 01:49 PM

I work 9-5 with an hour for lunch, flexible. I'm on salary with 4 weeks paid vacation and full payed health insurance for my family. If a project requires it, I will work evenings or weekends, but that is not often. My salary isn't as much as I could make in a large metro area, but the cost of living where I live is low and I love being in the country.

I also love my job and have a great boss. My job is creative and rewarding. I'm very lucky and thankful.

mduell · Jul 14, 2007, 05:37 PM

I work for GE-Aviation in a salaried/exempt position. As long as I put in 40 hours a week and I'm there for most 'core' hours (9-2) my manager doesn't really care when they're worked. I get paid for overtime (where 15% is encouraged, but none is required) and can take about a week of comptime a year (time off for overtime instead of pay).
The normal working day for my group is 730-1615 with a 45 minute lunch, but I usually work about 800-1700 and work through lunch.

This last week was a bit weird and I worked 6 hours Sunday, 10 Monday, 12 Tuesday, 11 Wednesday, 8 Thursday, 8 Friday, and 5 today. But couple that with working 4 hours on the 4th of July, and I'll take Thursday-Monday off this coming week for vacation.

Originally Posted by Peter

oh and I'm the lead System Administrator (one guy 'below' me, one above - the IT Manager) at a smallish company (50 People)
I do Sys Admin (3x OS X Server, 2x FreeBSD, 1x Asterisk Phone Exchange), Cisco Stuff (All our networking gear, about 20 switches)

20 switches for 50 people and 6 servers?

mduell · 08:32 PM

Bad hamster!

the_glassman · Jul 14, 2007, 07:21 PM

7AM-8PM Monday through Saturday.

robshoy · Jul 14, 2007, 07:28 PM

8:30 to 5:30 Monday through Friday. And I'm only sixteen << I hate this summer.

smacintush · Jul 14, 2007, 07:32 PM

6:45 PM to 6:55 AM

Rotating schedule where I work 3 days one week and 4 the next.

$20.00 an hour

It's a great schedule that really keeps my from ever feeling burned out since I work only two days in a row then have two days off most of the time with every other week giving me a three day weekend. Plus with my vacation days and such a weird schedule if I choose my vacation days wisely I get five, one-week vacations a year.

Plus we shut down for 1 to 2 weeks twice a year.

The only downsides are that I have to work nights which SUCKS and that every other weekend I work Fri, Sat and Sun.

Railroader · Jul 14, 2007, 07:53 PM

24/7 I am always on the clock. It averages out to about $1.04/hr.

I love my job. It is basically a vacation. It is actually more fun than most people's vacations.

Doofy · Jul 14, 2007, 07:56 PM

Originally Posted by Tiresias

The Donald (Trump) said that you have the right job if you don't need to take vacations.

I say that if you have the right job, you don't need to get out of bed in the morning.

Now who you gonna trust? Your Uncle Doof or some bloke with a comb-over?

Zeeb · Jul 14, 2007, 08:02 PM

For the summer, I work Monday-Thursday 8am-6pm. I then have Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. All other times of the year I work M-F 9-5pm with unpaid overtime as needed. Sometimes I have to put in 50 hr weeks for limited periods. My job is pretty dull but I get roughly $26/hr and paid college classes if I want them.

The only thing is my responsibilities are going to increase and along with it so might my work requirements. I'm not a 60 hr a week guy (at least not as a routine) and I believe in having a life. I'm with Tiresias on the fact that I refuse to excel if it means I have to grow a huge gut, experience heart disease from the stress, stay up half the night worrying about crap, and give up all my personal relationships like I've seen some do.

mduell · Jul 14, 2007, 08:34 PM

What's the justification for unpaid overtime? "You're just slow and you should be able to do this in 40"?

macroy · Jul 14, 2007, 08:56 PM

I think for the salaried employees... the notion of "work hours" is rapidly disappearing (at least from what I've seen in the last 5 years or so). In my current job and my last job, there really isn't any set "work hours" for me. Now, I'm usually in the office from 6:30 or 7am till 3-3:30. But if I need to leave early or come in late... its really not an issue. As long as I get what I need to do done. It's not how long your work.. but how much you produce. The only constraint is the fact that you need to be available for other when necessary (meetings, project activities etc..).
This is a double-edged sword of course.... while there are no more "set" hours, you may get e-mails or a text message asking you for something through out the entire day and evening....

I think in all.. I probably put in more hours than before... its just more flexible. Which is great for the work/life balance (read: GOLF).

E's Lil Theorem · Jul 14, 2007, 09:13 PM

My standard schedule is 8am-5pm, but I hardly ever follow it. I've gotten into a groove where I come into the office a little later in the morning (10ish) and leave around 6ish. I adjust my schedule based on my workload, though. I was recently working on a project that required me to be there at 7am and leave around 8pm with more work to do from home after dinner. Fun times, though I'm glad it's over.

Originally Posted by mduell

What's the justification for unpaid overtime? "You're just slow and you should be able to do this in 40"?

Jobs that don't get paid overtime sometimes take only 20 hrs/wk to do. There are times that it takes 80 hrs/wk, so there's a balance. In the US, most jobs that are manual in nature tend to paid overtime, while most office type jobs tend to be exempt from overtime. There are some jobs (most are highly compensated) where you will not find this balance. Most lawyers who do corporate law or management consultants keep crazy hours.

Tiresias · Jul 14, 2007, 10:15 PM

Originally Posted by Railroader

24/7 I am always on the clock. It averages out to about $1.04/hr.

I love my job. It is basically a vacation. It is actually more fun than most people's vacations.

What do you do?

jonasmac · Jul 14, 2007, 10:26 PM

8am-5pm, with schedule adjustment when I work over 40 hours a week I also do freelance work on the side, which takes up anywhere from 5-15 extra hours per week.

jonasmac · Jul 14, 2007, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

What's the justification for unpaid overtime? "You're just slow and you should be able to do this in 40"?

I think that's for salaried workers. It's unfortunate. Many companies have "flex-time" or "comp time", but I've been in situations where I've accumualated an insane amount of "flex-time" that I'll never get to use because the work had piled up.

Teronzhul · Jul 14, 2007, 10:38 PM

I'm a subcontractor for a DBS satellite installation company. I work 6 days a week, 50+ hours a week and make 20-40/hour depending on my situation on a daily basis.

It sucks. I long for stability in my income, and perhaps some more free time. I'm not sure how much longer I can continue doing this, especially in 95+ Florida heat.

They're in fact pushing us right now to step up to 7 day work weeks. Luckily, being a sub, I can tell them to bite me.

gradient · Jul 14, 2007, 11:01 PM

I'm the operations manager for an audio production company. It's a salaried position based on 40 hours a week but I generally work around 50 which means a lot of unpaid overtime (not cool). I can, though, take time off at my discretion and just generally have a very flexible schedule depending on how busy we are (cool). Right now I'm working monday-friday, 9:30ish - 6/7 or 8 pm.

TheoCryst · Jul 14, 2007, 11:23 PM

Working an average of 15 hours/week, at about $9/hr. Granted, I'm a full-time student, so I couldn't really do more hours without cutting into my schoolwork.

The lousy part is that my hours didn't change this summer, even though I'm not taking summer courses. Oh well, only one month left.

mduell · Jul 14, 2007, 11:34 PM

Originally Posted by jonasmac

I think that's for salaried workers. It's unfortunate. Many companies have "flex-time" or "comp time", but I've been in situations where I've accumualated an insane amount of "flex-time" that I'll never get to use because the work had piled up.

Yea, that would make comp-time pretty pointless.
If you're working so much just to get the work done, why don't they hire another person?

natnabour · Jul 14, 2007, 11:36 PM

My work hours are from 7:30-3:30, M-F. I am finding though that I'm staying late more n more but can't really complain or do anything about it since I'm on a salary base. *shrug*

Um...my commute to work is about an hour, each way. So I consider being at work from 6:30-4:30, because driving in LA is a part time job - with **** pay.

Railroader · Jul 15, 2007, 12:19 AM

Originally Posted by Tiresias

What do you do?

Sorry, I won't reveal that here. Let's just say I don't do my job for the money.

dcmacdaddy · Jul 15, 2007, 12:31 AM

9:30AM - 7:00PM with flexible hours. If I have to come in early or stay late based on work demands I do it. But I get comp time for anything I work over 40 hours per week. Although, when I stay late just to get caught up on paperwork--instead of for a specific project/task--I don't bother taking comp time.

Overall, I work an average of 50 hours per week with another 5-10 hours per week worked at home (mostly e-mail correspondence). I supervise a staff of three and report to one of three different managers based on my work criteria. (For personnel and day-to-day operational issues I report to my local boss. For IT policy and implementation issues I report to my agency's IT manager who is located in another city.) This is on a gross salary of slightly less than $75,000/year. Within five years I have the potential to be making $90,000 per year.

Buckaroo · Jul 15, 2007, 12:34 AM

Originally Posted by Railroader

24/7 I am always on the clock. It averages out to about $1.04/hr.

I love my job. It is basically a vacation. It is actually more fun than most people's vacations.

What in the world do you do for $757 per month?

Tiresias · Jul 15, 2007, 12:45 AM

Originally Posted by Railroader

Sorry, I won't reveal that here. Let's just say I don't do my job for the money.

You must be a pastor on a church stipend.

Kenneth · Jul 15, 2007, 01:40 AM

Monday: 7 am to 4 pm
Wednesday: 2:30 pm to 11:30 pm
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 8 am to 5 pm

Working in an educational environment, I love my Wednesday shift since I actually have some personal time.

Doofy · Jul 15, 2007, 01:42 AM

Originally Posted by Buckaroo

What in the world do you do for $757 per month?

Hose a few Jessicas down!

It's a dirty job but someone's got to do it.

James L · Jul 15, 2007, 03:35 AM

I work a rotation of 2 12 hour day shifts, followed by 2 12 hour night shifts, followed by 4 days off.

Day shifts go from 0630 - 1830.

Night shifts go from 1830 - 0630.

I get paid around $30 per hour, with time and a half for OT.

When I work my part time job on my days off the hours vary, and the wage is $25 per hour.

Spliffdaddy · Jul 15, 2007, 03:38 AM

I'd like to be able to tell you that I worked hard most of my life and made a bunch of sacrifices in order to be able to retire when I was 38. But that wouldn't be truthful. When I had a job I was a slacker and I smoked weed pretty much hourly and I dodged every opportunity for advancement. Everybody bragged that I was their best employee.
There's more to life than work. A lot of people work so hard they lose sight of that fact.
I created my own job. I work if I feel like it...which is seldom. I take about 46 weeks of vacation a year. I could double my income if I made more of an effort, but then I'd have less time to spend money.

Tiresias · Jul 15, 2007, 04:11 AM

Originally Posted by Spliffdaddy

I'd like to be able to tell you that I worked hard most of my life and made a bunch of sacrifices in order to be able to retire when I was 38. But that wouldn't be truthful. When I had a job I was a slacker and I smoked weed pretty much hourly and I dodged every opportunity for advancement. Everybody bragged that I was their best employee.
There's more to life than work. A lot of people work so hard they lose sight of that fact.
I created my own job. I work if I feel like it...which is seldom. I take about 46 weeks of vacation a year. I could double my income if I made more of an effort, but then I'd have less time to spend money.

You're the guy who flips houses, right?

Spliffdaddy · Jul 15, 2007, 12:26 PM

Yeah, but I just retired from that, too. The current housing market is better suited to buying rather than selling. I might get back into residential construction in a few years.
I doubt I will ever fully retire. I get bored easily. And I don't have enough loot to sit around until I die.

It's important not to focus on money when you choose a career. A sense of accomplishment is what you need to look for. Life is about enjoyment...not postponing enjoyment until you get enough time and money. The things a person really needs from life cannot be purchased. Would you rather die happy and broke or wealthy and miserable?

MacosNerd · Jul 15, 2007, 12:35 PM

Lets see I've been working 7:00am till 11:00pm this past week, and Friday I started working at 7:00am to which I finished up around 10:00pm on Saturday (yep no sleep) I'm probably going to be finishing up my stuff today around 6:00pm (the network is coming down at 6:00pm).

I've been dealing with upgrading some of the applications and servers this week/weekend.

Normally I work 7:30 to 4:30 and I'm looking forward to put in some normal hours instead of workaholic hours.

mduell · Jul 15, 2007, 01:40 PM

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy

This is on a gross salary of slightly less than $75,000/year. Within five years I have the potential to be making $90,000 per year.

Potential? I'd hope that's a bare minimum! 74->90 in 5 years is slightly less than 4% a year gain, which is barely 1% in real wages after accounting for inflation.
Is IT one of those industries where you have to hop from company to company to get meaningful raises?

sek929 · Jul 15, 2007, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by Spliffdaddy

It's important not to focus on money when you choose a career. A sense of accomplishment is what you need to look for. Life is about enjoyment...not postponing enjoyment until you get enough time and money. The things a person really needs from life cannot be purchased. Would you rather die happy and broke or wealthy and miserable?

My thoughts exactly.

We're not so different, you and I

I work about 30-35hrs a week, usually, and I never work weekends. I guess I could make an extra 300 bucks or something every week but losing my free weekends isn't worth it.

Summer is sweet since most folks don't like their houses being demolished during the best months of the year so it's all small repair work and fussy stuff. I break even in the summer since I end up spending more money and making less but once winter sets in I average 38-41hr weeks going balls-out on some new project (next one in the queue is a 4 car "carriage house"/guest house).

I enjoy what I do greatly. It comes with frustrations, but those of a physical nature instead of the mental stresses of the office environment. Our clients are almost always out working, or at their various other houses so we have entire jobs to ourselves. In the carpentry/contracting world it's a pretty sweet gig.

When you can walk around a 300K dollar renovation and look at the countless tasks you executed in it's finished state it certainly gives you a sense of pride.

Parvez · Jul 15, 2007, 02:27 PM

I wanted to work this summer but no one would hire me because of my age. I'm still underage.

So I decided to do an internship in Stevens Insitiute of Tech in NJ. It's only 4 days a week from 10:00AM till 3:00PM (5PM the latest)
Then I have to attend lectures every Tuesdays at Cornell Uni from 10AM til 4:30pm.

Peter · Jul 15, 2007, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

20 switches for 50 people and 6 servers?

Hmm, probably not quite that many. 10-15... We have a really awful Phone System that has 'orrible PBX things.

Where I work there is no overtime pay at all for all employees- I'm different because I'm paid hourly.
Always found that a bit harsh

Powerbook · Jul 15, 2007, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by Spliffdaddy

There's more to life than work. A lot of people work so hard they lose sight of that fact.

OMGWTF, I agree with teh Spliffdaddy!!!

I can say that the last 2,5 years I gave 130% for the company - which resulted in work hours from 9 to 23, plus additional 5 hours on Saturday/Sunday. Doing team lead in an IT company, product development and some administrative work. Money all together is okay (~45.000 €) but I have absolutely no private life left. You stop going out and meeting people, no sports, no interests etc. And over the years you get into workaholic stress and aggressive symptoms when you "can't" work. I'm looking for a new and more "mature" company now - maybe switching to a more senior position and evolve/advance with more specific targets. Hmmm.

Regards
PB.

CheesePuff · Jul 15, 2007, 05:22 PM

Originally Posted by James L

I work a rotation of 2 12 hour day shifts, followed by 2 12 hour night shifts, followed by 4 days off.

Day shifts go from 0630 - 1830.

Night shifts go from 1830 - 0630.

I get paid around $30 per hour, with time and a half for OT.

When I work my part time job on my days off the hours vary, and the wage is $25 per hour.

something in public safety i can only assume?

irunat2am · Jul 15, 2007, 05:27 PM

Sat/Sun: 0600-1800
Mon/Tues/Every other Wed: 2200-0600

Blah.

Alezone · Jul 16, 2007, 02:09 AM

0745 - 1800, Mon - Fri.

browsing the net, doing my own thing 80% of the time.

I don't like or dislike it, it's a JOB, I'd rather have a vacation.

it pays the bills, and i'm learning to love it

Mastrap · Jul 16, 2007, 06:53 AM

^ Start a business with all of the downtime?

andreas_g4 · Jul 16, 2007, 07:32 AM

Tue to Sat, 11 am to 8 pm, one hour break. It is a cool job, I make around 42000 € per year before taxes. I will not do it longer than two year at max. After that, I want to work half time and study half time.

dcmacdaddy · Jul 16, 2007, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy

This is on a gross salary of slightly less than $75,000/year. Within five years I have the potential to be making $90,000 per year.

Originally Posted by mduell

Potential? I'd hope that's a bare minimum! 74->90 in 5 years is slightly less than 4% a year gain, which is barely 1% in real wages after accounting for inflation.
Is IT one of those industries where you have to hop from company to company to get meaningful raises?

I do IT in the Federal government so the pay raises don't occur as rapidly, nor as dramatically, as they can in the private sector. But there is a high level of job security and I work in a pretty interesting place (the Smithsonian Institution).

Dakarʒ · Jul 16, 2007, 09:32 AM

That does sound like a cool place to work.

Nivag · Jul 16, 2007, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by Atheist

Independent IT Consultant. Pretty much make my own hours anywhere from 25-60 per week. I bill by the hour. I love what I do and enjoy the freedom it gives me to pursue other interests.

About the same as me, was doing 3 day weeks until a month ago, but with festival season it's a tad more though not much more