Ask HN: Has anyone refused to work in a typical 9-5 job?

9 points by berlinbrown 13 years ago | 14 comments

Or another way of asking, have you has a programmer been unemployed for a really long time? Mostly because you couldn't find a good fit for the type of work that you are interested.

I always like the analogy of herding cats, sometimes programmers are just different and work environments can be rigid. Have you held out for a really long time in the job market because you wanted that perfect development job?

justforthispost 13 years ago |

I'm in Japan and I've been unemployed for about 5 months. It's not that I'm holding for the "perfect" job. I just wanted a "decent" programming job.

I don't mind working overtime, I just don't want to work 70+ hours every week. I'm OK with working "under stress", but I don't want to work for xenophobic bullies like my last boss.

I don't even expect to do truly exciting work (for instance working at a company like Google or startup like RethinkDB, just to illustrate) anymore, I'd settle for any job that let me actually build software, as opposed to pure app support or pure DBA.

And getting a decent salary. And by decent salary I don't mean the exorbitant salaries that experienced programmers earn in the US (like over U$120k). I'd be happy with $70k or even less if the company was interesting. After many rejections at large foreign companies, I applied for a "senior programmer" position at a small company and after multiple tests and interviews I got an offer. The offer was about U$35k/year. FML.

ixacto 13 years ago | |

I know many people on here are kinda libertarian...but have you looked at the government? It would still be possible to make >60k/year and work 40 hrs a week, although it might end up being boring work.

justforthispost 13 years ago | | |

Well, I'm not Japanese so that's practically impossible (outside of universities).

raghava 13 years ago | |

s/Japan/India

s/US\$35/SG\$40

Sums up my current situation.

fakeer 13 years ago | | |

Your exp? INR 21.1 LPA in Singapore isn't less? But I might not be knowing living costs in SG actually. Or is it an onsite post - LinkedIn says Infy?

Causalien 13 years ago |

Can never get up at 7am. Spent 2years looking. Found out that I can survive without a corporate job. Now I do work from 11am to midnight on my own Corp.

In a traditional Corp, my boss will probably think I am lazy. As I come in late(which they see) and leave late (which they don't see).I also tend to put my feet up on my table and close my eyes when thinking about a programming problem really deeply.

dpolaske 13 years ago |

Its not the 9-5 part about a job that I don't usually like. 9-5 jobs usually imply that you are working for a mid to large size company for which you have little say in the overall direction and decisions of the company. Additionally, you may not believe in the overall mission of the company. Those are the two aspects that make working a typical 9-5 not the place for me.

Zev 13 years ago |

..sometimes programmers are just different and work environments can be rigid.

No. Just, no.

While I can totally relate to not wanting to have a 9-5 job (and even moreso when it comes to holding out for the right job) a dislike of working 9-5 jobs this is not unique to some (but not all, remember that) programmers.

ww520 13 years ago |

Work for yourself. Go into consulting. Flexible hours. More control on work schedule and scope.

joelrunyon 13 years ago |

I'm not a programmer, but I quit a job because I hated the environment.

Of course, that sort of force me into entrepreneurship & I figured out how to survive.

Don't get me wrong - it was a great job for a lot of people - but unfortunately, I'm not a lot of people :).

miloshadzic 13 years ago |

I've not been unemployed for a long time but I've turnt down quite a few offers that required 9-5 hours. I probably can't help you that much but if you want to talk about it, feel free to email me.

codeonfire 13 years ago |

Yes, any constraints not consistent with modern, 2010's workplace standards is totally unacceptable. If they want to work in the fuckin' 1980's I would walk.

YuriNiyazov 13 years ago |

I started a consulting company with a partner. We make our own hours. Sometime we work very long hours, but there's almost never a day when I work 9 - 5.