In What Areas of IT/Tech can you expect to work 9 to 5?

Greninja

I thou of going into Information Technology but like some jobs where theres good work life balance and you are not on call?
Any IT jobs that fit this bill? Where you can leave work at 5pm and come back the next day?

Aioua

Greninja wrote: »

I thou of going into Information Technology but like some jobs where theres good work life balance and you are not on call?
Any IT jobs that fit this bill? Where you can leave work at 5pm and come back the next day?

IME most IT jobs have pretty good balance.

If you're doing entry level helpdesk/NOC you might get stuck with one of the overnight shifts

If you're a higher up sysadmin you're probably going to get on-call shifts.

But most desktop support and other hands-on types roles are 9-5 for the bulk.

It's really going to depend on how each individual business runs their IT. If they're running short staffed you might get stuck with whole months on call.
If the IT management is bad you're going to get called in more cause everything is always breaking.

How every if they have their shit together your on-call times will be spaced out as everyone on the team takes their turn, and even you'll hardly get called in because things work right, and management didn't let every system become business critical.

Darkewolfe

You want a government or union job, basically. Anything that isn't, you're ultimately going to be asked to work extra hours.

schuss

The more dev-focused the role, the more likely you are to be running 9-5. Prod support usually has the highest demand of extra hours. It all depends on the culture and maturity of the IT op and is something you need to ask about.

Soggybiscuit

Make sure that any job you pick you are a non-exempt employee with a well defined overtime clause in the contract if at all possible.

Do not sign a job that can be known for crazy hours as an exempt employee. Do not accept comp time as a substitute, that will not be payed out if you leave the company for any reason.

I worked quite a few 90+ hour weeks in the past without anything to show for it at the end. I will never do that again.

CelestialBadger

Avoid the video game industry and you should be OK. Work hard in office hours and get your work done, and it's going to be rare that you will need to work late. Don't slack off on the internet or playing ping-pong or whatever.

Tofystedeth

Healthcare IT can be pretty bad about that as well. If the main EHR or the AD domain or something else goes down at a hospital, if it's your baby you're probably getting called unless you're out of the state or something.
Now, if you're just getting IT, it'll most likely be something like helpdesk, where once you're done you're done.

darkmayo

Work for enterprise sized corporations, servicedesk/deskside. Those are usually standard office hours, though if you are service desk and there is international guys or dudes in different timezones then the hours of operation could be longer.

Reznik

I work for a government department, deskside support. Steady 8-4 with rotating weeks of 9-5. I get to not even think about work once I step out the door at the end of the day.

Greninja

Tofystedeth wrote: »

Healthcare IT can be pretty bad about that as well. If the main EHR or the AD domain or something else goes down at a hospital, if it's your baby you're probably getting called unless you're out of the state or something.
Now, if you're just getting IT, it'll most likely be something like helpdesk, where once you're done you're done.

Really?
Some of the clinics I been in my area close at 430
A 24/7 hospital yea I can see that thou

Greninja

Reznik wrote: »

I work for a government department, deskside support. Steady 8-4 with rotating weeks of 9-5. I get to not even think about work once I step out the door at the end of the day.

So desktop support seems to be 9 to 5 thanks for the help man
But does this only happen in government jobs?
This is not possible in private Sector or a non profit?

Myiagros

I work in private sector.
Help desk is 8-5 M-F, no additional work is required outside those hours.
On call is opt-in and is 24/7 for critical issues(server being down).
Primary technicians do extra after hours work and get compensated with time off - this is mainly for running updates on servers.

If all you want is a 9-5, look for a help desk job that supports companies 9-5.

schuss

Private sector you get a lot of 9-5 as IT positions are generally non-exempt. The bigger the company, the more likely the 9-5 as hours are tracked more closely. The exception is you need to have some off-hours availability for releases, but you generally know about those 2 weeks-a month ahead of time (depending on agile vs. waterfall and other factors)
Most of the devs I work with (I'm the business side) on Prod Support as well as pure Dev are mostly 9-5 type schedules. There are always fire drills, but we do our best to avoid them. At least in fortune 100's, most of the "endless hours" positions have shifted over to contractors or offshore firms, as when you have scripted work, it's easier and better quality to have 2-3 people on shift rotations vs. one really tired guy.

Feral

You mean 8-5 or 8:30-5, right?

I've never encountered a (US) company that actually had a 9-5 shift. Most companies these days have an 8.5 or 9 hour work day.

In any case, software development, web development, web design, end-user support, and desktop support are your best bets.

System administration and networking are your worst options. Lots of system maintenance has to be done after hours, even in mature environments.

Keep in mind that there are plenty of positions out there even in these categories where employers will expect you to work overtime. At my work, for instance, our end-user support staff works an 8.5-hour day, but a few times a year we ask them to come in on a weekend for a special project or to work an extra shift to cover an absence.

This depends a lot on company culture and you can't trust what employers say in the interview. The best way to figure it out is to get a read on other employees at the workplace. Are people relaxed or stressed out? Do people seem tired? I've found that my instincts about a workplace mean far more than any employment contract.

Feral

A few more angles to think of, too:

Work-life balance means a lot more than just working a reasonable shift. I personally don't mind working long hours, but I hate it if I can't schedule my own breaks. (I eat lunch when I'm hungry, dammit, not when the clock says it's time for lunch.)

One of the top predictors of unhappiness at work is commute length. I'd rather spend 2 extra hours at the office if it saves me 1 hour in the car.

minirhyder

@Greninja, I saw your other thread, and I'm wondering if you're young and thinking about potential career options?

AngelHedgie

Greninja wrote: »

Tofystedeth wrote: »

Healthcare IT can be pretty bad about that as well. If the main EHR or the AD domain or something else goes down at a hospital, if it's your baby you're probably getting called unless you're out of the state or something.
Now, if you're just getting IT, it'll most likely be something like helpdesk, where once you're done you're done.

Really?
Some of the clinics I been in my area close at 430
A 24/7 hospital yea I can see that thou

It basically depends on what your company's needs are. As a developer, I'm in the position of "usually a 40 hour week, unless something happens." In which case, I've spent an evening on a 4 hour call. But they're really good about trying to keep that to a minimum.

Thro

minirhyder wrote: »

@Greninja, I saw your other thread, and I'm wondering if you're young and thinking about potential career options?

I saw his other thread and was wondering if his third post will be asking how to apply for a US work visa.

Greninja

schuss wrote: »

Private sector you get a lot of 9-5 as IT positions are generally non-exempt. The bigger the company, the more likely the 9-5 as hours are tracked more closely. The exception is you need to have some off-hours availability for releases, but you generally know about those 2 weeks-a month ahead of time (depending on agile vs. waterfall and other factors)
Most of the devs I work with (I'm the business side) on Prod Support as well as pure Dev are mostly 9-5 type schedules. There are always fire drills, but we do our best to avoid them. At least in fortune 100's, most of the "endless hours" positions have shifted over to contractors or offshore firms, as when you have scripted work, it's easier and better quality to have 2-3 people on shift rotations vs. one really tired guy.

Found a job doing Tech Support level 1 its day shift but no weekends or nights or on call
I hope to full a full time job with no weekends or nights in this field

BlindZenDriver

Soggybiscuit wrote: »

I worked quite a few 90+ hour weeks in the past without anything to show for it at the end. I will never do that again.

Exactly. I remember a co-worker and I cam up with alternative lyrics to a well know Queen song during a short coffee break sometime during a 110 hour week. Imagine singing "Who wants to work forever..." and realizing it is more sad than funny.

In general I think the risk of long hours is worst at start-up IT companies and while many also offer lots of perks the reality is the hourly pay is often not great when one does the math.

BlindZenDriver

Greninja wrote: »

Found a job doing Tech Support level 1 its day shift but no weekends or nights or on call
I hope to full a full time job with no weekends or nights in this field

Not a bad place to start. Kudos.

Greninja

BlindZenDriver wrote: »

Soggybiscuit wrote: »

I worked quite a few 90+ hour weeks in the past without anything to show for it at the end. I will never do that again.

Exactly. I remember a co-worker and I cam up with alternative lyrics to a well know Queen song during a short coffee break sometime during a 110 hour week. Imagine singing "Who wants to work forever..." and realizing it is more sad than funny.

In general I think the risk of long hours is worst at start-up IT companies and while many also offer lots of perks the reality is the hourly pay is often not great when one does the math.

Eh I guess Ill have to avoid start ups or anything open 24/7.
My health and social life is more important that some long hour abusive role or company.

mellestad

Outside of the game industry, most places are 9-5 (or 8-5, or whatever). Places that require you to work crazy and irregular hours are either experiencing a crisis or just aren't run well.

It's not about IT specifically--it's about the company culture at any particular place.

The Crowing One

I'd add that "small business" in my experience tends to be the potentially worst for abusing employees. You can get a great owner who is fair, but the rules being laxer for smaller companies means that owners can and often do demand unfair things from employees because they're too small to have a proper HR department that is paid to be paranoid about lawsuits. Then it comes down to contract. Most larger companies, when hiring positions talked about in the thread, will specifically lay out hours. If it is the "on-call" and/or anything other than "The office is open 9-5"ish then expect to work off hours. Mostly just be wary of smaller businesses and startups because they can get away, scot free, with breaking all kinds of labor laws and bending those they follow to their whims due to how they fall in the larger world of regulation and employee protection.