It's incredible to me how often recruiters will shoot themselves in the foot when discussing WLB. When I was an undergrad, I had a lot of management consultancies reach out for technical/engineering roles. I thought - hey, there's a reason why people want to work at Bain, BCG, and McKinsey, right?
So I spoke to a recruiter and opened with: so what's the work life balance look like for technical ICs at your company? The recruiter literally laughed at me like I was doing stand-up comedy. Well, uh... ok? Waste of time, lol.
I would also find it off-putting. IMO one should feel embarrassed to disclose that the company they recruit employees for makes a habit of burning those employees out and then tossing them for more new hires.
Yeah, I noticed the people who went into consulting at my school always posting snapchats of them working well past dinner time and back in the office the following morning at 7 AM.
At least the recruiters you spoke with were upfront about expectations. Do you know if there was WLB as one got into a more senior role and climbed the corporate ladder there?
This past summer I did some contracting work, putting in 80+ hr work weeks, 7 days/week. Management figured I had nothing better to do cause of covid, so they just piled on work. I'm not complaining about the work, it molded me to be a better employee. I was also fairly compensated for my time. But my health was so bad. Blood pressure sky-rocketed, resting heart rate in the 80's as a mid 20's male. Eyes red when I woke up every day. Blurry long distance vision.
Now that I have balance between work/life, I am back to an excellent blood pressure & RHR. Eyes all fine again. I learned an extremely valuable lesson last summer to never forgo life & free-time.
edit: I don't have a problem working more than a 40 hr work week. In fact, my worldview believes it is necessary to work more than the average person. I found out I can stay healthy and happy by taking Friday nights and Saturdays off. I ideally try to work/learn 55-57 hours in a normal week.
“They piled on work” > I’m not complaining
Health was shit > But I have no problem working more than 40hs.
I hear this constantly in the US. Observing the overworked state one is in, but throwing a “no but I’m still good eh, don’t get me wrong” after to back pedal it a bit. Almost as if everyone was guilty, or if they had to show they are also as strong as the next guy working 60hs.
I work at a place where people feel like they will be fired if they work less than 50h/week when they are exempt even if they could finish the work in 36hs.
I notice this is embedded in the American work culture. Feeling sorry for not working more than the amount of time they are being paid for.
Working from home and going back to the computer after hours because idk.
I’m not sure if it’s not having anything else to do and getting anxious, hating the life at home, wanting to show they are “so exhausted”, pride, or what, but we need to start thinking differently if we want to be healthier together.
So I spoke to a recruiter and opened with: so what's the work life balance look like for technical ICs at your company? The recruiter literally laughed at me like I was doing stand-up comedy. Well, uh... ok? Waste of time, lol.