How many hours do you work a day? (1 Viewer)

[Don Giro]

There's really no "up in the ranks" to aspire to. The only people that are going to move "up" in this company are the people the new partner hires himself. Like I said, I'm 44, and sh*t-scared to go looking elsewhere. I wouldn't know how to sweat out an interview anymore. I am a "top performer," as you put it, but I DEFINITELY don't "live to work." I work because I HAVE to, and at the end of the day, I realize that I subscribe to the adage "A job worth doing is worth doing well." I do the work because it needs to be done, and there is a small sense of pride (known only to myself) that my hard work helps make things run more smoothly.

The reason I mentioned that I'd never work again if I hit the lottery is that I can find PLENTY of other things to do with my time. I wouldn't change my lifestyle very much, the money would just be a "security blanket" as assurance that I would never have to answer to ANYONE ever again, employment-wise.

Thanks for the kind words and for letting me vent.

 

[DaveF]

Don, from your post, I'll make the (unsolicited) suggestion that you start looking for a new job today. And join a Toastmasters club.

Toastmasters will help you with your public speaking which, from personal experience, will directly benefit you in job interviews.

You've got a job so you don't need to go crazy, spending all your time job hunting. But give it a go. Write a draft of your resume, and have a sensible friend review it. You can finish it in the next week or two. Then start distributing it. Depending on your company, you may need to be careful about who sees it. I've not heard of that being a real problem, but be savvy. And try to get an interview somewhere, anywhere, simply for the experience. It's like doing a rehearsal. You don't want the job; you want the practice writing cover letters, filling out applications, and trying to get an interview. And then you want interview practice.

And as you go, you should get better at it, and hopefully find an opening or two. And if you get an offer, you take it, tell your current bosses to shove it. (well don't do that. no need to burn bridges) Or you can keep your current job, but with a bit less anxiety knowing that there are choices.

If you don't find a job, you might learn what you need to do to find a job: more education, improved certifications, specific responsibilities at work you can get proactively, whatever.

I don't meant to trivialize your worries: Job searching is very hard and time consuming. And I appreciate the anxieties over pursuing new opportunities. I've played it safe and let one or two chances go by that I maybe should have risked.

Good luck!

 

[Steve_Tk]

I'm employed for 8.5 hours a day, which includes my 1 hour lunch. Not sure how much of that I actaully work.

 

[drobbins]

Don,
The other option you have is to slowly cut back your hours yourself. As stated earlier I used to work 60-70+ hours per week. Then I got "cost of living" increases that were shy of the real cost of living. So rather than work 12 hours a day 6 days per week, I cut back to 5 days at first. Then I cut back 1/2 hour a day over a 2 year span until I was under 10 hours per day. Somehow the work did get done. There was no way the boss could get on my case about not working enough hours to get the job done as long as I was working more than everyone else. The company finally hired the people needed to fill the positions that I was doing. Now I am at work 40-45 hours per week.