I am currently studying accounting at the university. Unfortunately, as a rising senior, I haven't been able to land an internship for the summer, and it's unlikely that I will. Of course, this constrains my ability to stand out when applying for fulltime positions, so I've been considering alternatives.
Anyways, a buddy of mine was telling me that I should apply for positions in night audit (an accounting/customer service function) at a local hotel or something once I graduate and if I can't find an actual day job in accounting. I looked it up, and found at least a dozen open spots for night audit in nearby hotels within a ten mile radius from me.
The hours run from 11:00PM to 7:00AM in most of the places. They do not require degrees, but most of them list a four year degree as "recommended". However, I'm a morning person at heart (I get up at 6:00AM on most days and go to sleep at 11:00PM). and I'm not sure if I'll be able to adjust to not having a life during the day.
Has anyone here worked overnight positions or are currently working graveyard shifts? Because I am considering doing this for a while if I can't be an actual accountant.
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However, if you're a day person at heart, it'll be tough to adjust to. I suggest sleep deprivation for a day or two to start the cycle and melatonin to make sure you can fall asleep when you lay down in the morning.
Lots of people I work with use energy drinks, I advocate just good sleep patterns and hydration.
2nd Shift - I typically worked when my friends were hanging out and having fun, slept when they were at work and was awake when they slept, it kinda sucked. I loved my sleep schedule, but it sucked for my social life.
Graveyard - I Tried approaching this two ways, one was working first then hanging out in the day. This was cool because everything was open and i could hang out in parks on the nice days or go out and do what i wanted (or stay in and play some games) But then i would sleep while my friends got out of work. The other way I tried was to end my day with work. I would sleep when they in the morning right after getting home from work, then I would be awake and able to hang out with my friends, and then go to work. The latter worked out decently but i always had a hard time going to sleep right after work because I was so wound up.
I definitely recommend the latter...wake up in the afternoon, hang out, then work, then sleep. If you have "daytime stuff" you need to get done, either stay up "late" or get up early. You'll be a happier camper. Though yeah, you'll eventually miss the sunlight.
But whatever you do, don't get into the whole energy drink and fucked-up sleep cycle thing. Set up your hours, and try to follow them (as much as you would follow a "regular" sleep cycle, that is). I did the stocking shift at Target (3am to noon) for a while, and failed to do this, and it was absolutely brutal on me.
Schedule wise, I typically woke up around 5-6pm, had a few hours to wake up/eat before I started work. Got off about 8 in the morning, had an hour or so to play with before I went to bed.
Staying awake can be tough, I personally recommend against the steady intake of caffeine and sugar that most of my co-workers lived on while they burnt out. Get a good water bottle, fill it and freeze it during the day and bring it with you so you'll have ice-cold water on hand. Keep some healthy (or semi-healthy) snacks to give you a bit of a boost. Granola bars, trail mix, dried fruit and the like.
The most important bit of advice I can offer though has already been stated. Set a sleep schedule that'll get you enough shuteye, and keep to it. Trying to rely on energy drinks to keep you up is a losing proposition, and an expensive one at that.
I agree 100% about the energy drink advice. Keeping your sleep schedule "regular" is what is really important.
Once you get your sleep pattern set, make sure you do what you need to do to stick to it. Turn off your phone, cover your windows if you can't sleep when it's light, tell your roommates to keep the noise down while you're at home in the mornings, whatever. Also, if this job has lots of downtime, find something to occupy yourself while you're there so you don't get bored and go all Shining on your coworkers. Oh, and make sure you cook yourself lunches that are at least reasonably good for you, eating fast food or whatever shit is open at 4am is a good way to feel like ass for a while after a shift.
Honestly though, for all the social and circadian difficulties that come with it, night shift is awesome. Fewer bosses, cooler people, more autonomy. The only shift I've found that I like more is working 24s as EMS.
This, this, this. While I don't work nights normally, I've done split (4 pm - midnight) and multi-day project implementations where I work until the work is done.
"Easy" food is so high in sugar / caffeine / fat that the down is way worse than the high. Water and real food is much better.
Once you can work out a good schedule, working this kind of shift is great. I work a 11PM to 7PM shift and am able to hang out and get all my crap done in reasonable time.
Midnights are the coolest shift, unless you are one of those guys who physically cannot sleep during the day. Black out curtains, ear plugs, and sleeping masks all help. The work generally has less bosses/supervisors, and as someone else said, you can still either go out in the evening, or during the day when all the suckers are at work.
As others said, cook yourself some damn food. The "lawl cops and donuts" stereotype come from back in the day when the only place to get coffee/food at 3am were doughnut shops. If you do need fast food in the morning, places like wawa are lesser evils, with their 24hour sandwiches.
That being said it pays better than other positions and on e you learn it you can easily get a job. This is based off my hotel which is a solidly middle class place.
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Stop drinking it before going to bed.
I don't drink caffeine after 3pm.
I would also look at your curtains. Shitty curtains can wreck day time sleep. Even something simple like an extra sheet to block more light can do wonders.
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Personal Experience:
I used to work at UPS and study Accounting at the same time. My sleep pattern is completely messed up and I can't even finish the course. I'll go to work at 11 pm, worked till 6 Am, go to sleep when the sun comes up and wake my grouchy around 3 Pm. I can't concentrate and by the time my mind's back into it it's 11 Pm again.
Then again you'll be working at a desk job and that mean you might have time to study while you are on the job. You'll just have to ask yourself this question, can you get your mind back together when you get back up in the afternoon?
When I used to work overnights my problem wasn't adjusting my sleep schedule (it adjusted on it's own in a couple weeks), it was adjusting everything else.
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This. I always hated going to bed right when I got off of work so I could wake up "early" at 3pm and get things done before places closed.
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I don't know what your regular social circle is like, but I've found that I'm able to interact with people pretty normally, as well as get to all the stuff I need to get to without any extra effort beyond waking up between 2 and 3 in the afternoon. That said, since I work 12s, I'm only scheduled 3 days a week at most, so working five 8s a week, ymmv.