Not working 9 to 5

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A common trait in jobs in the UK (not sure about US) is that jobs are normally for 9am start to 5pm finish. Looking around for my next step I see an increasing number of roles that are outside these hours - and I suppose my thoughts are this: would you go from a 9-5 job to a 24/7 role or working 4pm-midnight to make that next step in your career or would you give it a wide berth? And why?

I'm lucky enough to not have children or really any other commitments apart from my girlfriend, but changing from a "normal" 9-5 job to something like 2 days/2nights/2off, or a late start 4-midnight, would obvious have an impact on what I could do at weekends or in the evenings - just wanted to get the congregations thoughts??

 

I understand what you're saying about working outside of office hours - some things can't be done when others are working - but I was thinking more along the lines of permanent/being contracted to work the non-9-5 hours.

Flexibility is useful and I would go as far as saying expected, but I'm not too sure on the obscure shift patterns/working times being a constant/contracted thing.

 

I have worked all sorts of shifts in various jobs before I got into IT. I even spent 18 months working a permanent night shift, midnight till 8am. I quite enjoy the odd hours, but from having done it loads it really is something you get tired of after a year or so, physically and mentally (especially with rotating shifts, they are hard work on your body). I now work a regular day with a little overtime some Saturdays, it’s easier to plan your life around the social norm of office hours. Also working nights or late shifts can have a negative health impact if it’s for a significant amount of time. It wouldn’t put me off applying for a job though, you may not get the job, and if you do it brings a little variety to one’s life being at work when the rest of the country is asleep.

 

I was one of those in a 24/7 helpdesk role, I was on the 2 days of 12hours 7am-7pm then 2 nights 7pm-7am. The only problem i had was when working nights, I missed out what happend during the day and then having 3 days off, I felt I was out of the loop alot of the time. Working everyweekend for a month for the roster rotation put a big hurdle with the missus. Most night shifts were a movie marathon waiting for the phone to ring and having no one else to talk to drove me crazy in the end.

ultimately, if anyone decides to work nights/weekends make sure the cash is worth it and of course it is giving you experience. Other wise better off stacking shelfs on weekends with pentalty rates.

 

A life? That's an alien concept, can you point me in the direction where I can get one of those?

 

I'd end up paying a lot of money without a delivery

 

apt-get install life

 

I do shift work.

At the moment for two weeks of the month I do days which one week is 7:30am - 1400pm Monday - Wednesday then 7:30 - 17:00pm Thursday & Friday, 7:00am - 11am Saturday

The next set of days is 7:30 - 17:00 Tuesday - Friday

Then I go on to nights which are Tuesday and Wednesday 14:00pm - 12:00 am and Thursday 16:00pm - 4am and Saturady 7:30am - 11am

The next week is Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 16:00 - 12am.

 

damn me, do you have any time for life? I think this shift pattern would seriously do my nutt in!

We have a team like that at the moment, works all the out-of-work hours, and while they're busy for the first couple of hours, the other 10 hours (2000-0600) is spent sleeping, watching films, simply killing time. At the weekends I think its virtually 48 hours of the same!

This is also what I'm considering, I really can't see the benefit of doing shifts without being very well compensated. The above team get a 40% premium on their salary (from 24k to about 33k) for doing the 24/7/365 shifts - but as you say, are you getting the experience??

 

i got offered a job with shift patterns

i turned it down though cos i cant see myself remembering to change my alarm time every few days (never mind the fact that my body clock probably would have gone haywire! )

i remember the recruitment agency saying that it was the norm for jobs to have this "continental" shift pattern, yet i've only seen 1 other job with a similar shift pattern, the rest have all been 9-5 types. they were obviously biased as ive come to expect


Funnily enough, 6 months after i turned the job down.............it was being re-advertised by another recruitment agency, and the salary had actually gone down

By the way there were other factors involved with me turning down the job offer, wasnt just the shift pattern incase anyones wondering


personally i prefer the 9-5 thing and its probably going to take a hefty salary increase and very exciting job role to sway me into shifts

 

Yes it does my nut int, that is why I am always knackered when I am off. I have 2 weeks off at the start of July.

 

There's no free lunch in America. You either work 9-6 or 8-5 these days. And if you work more than that there's no overtime pay either.

 

I have to admit that having worked 'normal' hours for the last 10 years (in IT), the prospect of working shifts appeals to me.

I like the idea of having a change to the routine. Not sure how long I'd last at it though.

 

Usually if shift work is part of the regular work-cycle there's a pay incentive. There are some folks that won't give up shift-work jobs (even to take a promotion) becuase although the base salary would increase, the actual salary would decrease (no shift premium; no O/T; etc...)

Saying that, it's normal for a junior roles (especially in a NOC) to have to work shift work in Canada and probably US too.

 

My current role is on a "shift" system, but is not as extreme - 8am-3.30pm or 10.30am-6pm - I dislike the 10.30 start but I only do it once a month.

Hmmm, decisions, decisions, suppose I just need to get out there and start applying properly (ie, not once or twice a week!)

 

Not everyone.

 

I'd consider doing shift work, if it meant I could spend more time with my wife and kids.