How Do You Job-Hunt If You Work Overtime?

Lord_Dweomer asks: "As a recent college grad, I took a job to pay the bills, but soon realized that it would end up sucking the life out of me. I work a lot of overtime in a high-stress, tight deadline job. Once you get into that kind of downward spiral, how do you find another job?" "All my free time, during the week, is completely non-existent, and the weekends are needed to take care of chores, and preserve my mental health. Are potential employers typically sensitive to the fact that I may not be able to interview during the week or during standard work hours? Also, will having left here after a year seem like a real black mark on my resume? My reasons for leaving, aside from the overtime (I am non-exempt), would be that I've basically been promoted in work load and responsibilities -- and have even taken on another job role, IN ADDITION to my current one. All of this without a raise in pay, or new title.

I'd quit if I had a choice, but I really need the money, yet I'm unable to look for a new job because of lack of time. How am I supposed to job hunt under these circumstances?"

Comments

Yeah, that sucks

[algae]

I was in a similar position prior to my current job (yay). What I would do was have a *good* cover letter and resume saved in my web email, and every time they had me work (unpaid) overtime, I'd spend an additional 25-50% of that time to send out resumes. I had a new job within six weeks.

Basically, you have to accept that it's going to suck, and you're going to be spending another 5-10 hours a week on top of your work week just sending out applications.

Also, I had to take some unpaid time off to go to interviews. After the second morning that I couldn't come in, my boss kind of caught on and wouldn't let me use any comp time. Fortunately, that third unpaid morning off was the one that landed me a job.

Nothing is more satisfying than knowing that it was your boss's making you work overtime that landed you a new job.

Re:Headhunter?

[hsmith]

I don't know why recruiters get such a bad name.

I used them to find my last job, i had 6 offers in 2 weeks. All of which were more than I wanted. I paid nothing, they got a % of what I made through the company that hired me. So the more I made, the more they made. Plus I told them exactly what I want and they found the jobs that fit my profile. It was great, I had to do no work. I will never go without using one again for future job searches.

Re: How Do You Job-Hunt If You Work Overtime?

[Lord_Dweomer]

"Choose your vector first before you start accelerating so hard in that chosen direction"

Hi, story poster here.

Its funny that you said that...because while I've been thinking about other jobs, I have no idea what I want to do next. I have thoughts of law school, but I don't want to go through all of that if I end up disliking it as much. Although the rewards would be big...

Hell, part of me just wants to be a lazy ass and become some surf bum in Hawaii.

I guess that would be a good follow-up question...

Once you're in the real world, how do you get to test out jobs since you can't exactly intern somewhere at a certain point. Does anybody have any suggestions for a test or some guide I can read to perhaps gain some insight into what kind of jobs I might be interested in?

Re:Headhunter?

[Auckerman]

Recruiters are a fascinating breed. They can be a pain in the ass to deal with. They love to offer you positions that are hardest to fill first, because noone wants that job. But once you find one that likes you and actually wants you find a job that you want, you're home free.

Re:Mandatory or Voluntary "Overtime"?

[Lord_Dweomer]

It is mandatory in that "it is HIGHLY suggested" that I stay until my tasks are done...because in the end the employer doesn't care really how late I have to work as long as we make the deadlines. Which are always short, and then adding my workload and slight lack of experience to the problem.

Become a Consultant

[nighty5]

Best move I did 7 years ago.

Take time off when you want too, do the things that interest you.

And the kicker, get paid double what every other 9-5 Joe is getting.

Re:demand a raise

[Lord_Dweomer]

While I wish I was in the above situation, unfortunately due to my lack of appropriate experience for the work they've tossed on me, I am not effective at my job. I'm late on deadlines, have errors in my work, etc. They've been forgiving so far because they know my situation, but it sure doesn't put me in any position for a raise. And unfortunately I can't foresee becoming good enough in the near future to warrant one.

Re:Headhunter?

[MichaelKaiserProScri]

I have been offered every single positon for which I have gotten a face to face interview. Headhunters get you that face time....

Re:Mandatory or Voluntary "Overtime"?

[Lord_Dweomer]

Sssshhh....they won't give me my 10 minute per day bathroom/lunch break!

Absolutely true

[msobkow]

Every agency or tech company I worked with had management and techs available who'd do weekend interviews if it was the only time some one could get together. Far more often an evening or morning phone call was arranged.

Even if you're working 12 hours a day and commuting an hour each way, that's still only 14 hours. That leaves you 2-3 hours per workday with 7-8 hours of sleep. Your choice, but arranging an interview call might be something to consider doing with that time.

Re:Headhunter?

[Midnight Thunder]

The jobs I have got have either been via people I know or head hunters. While one or two have been a pain, I found they usually leave you alone if you tell them you aren't in the market. Since head hunters are interested in getting their cut, don't be afraid as using them as a resource to find out what you could realistically get in terms of salaries an conditions. They can also tell you what the company is willing to give and what will prevent you from getting through the door.

Don't limit yourself to one head hunter and definitely make a note of everyone your CV has been sent to. In company getting your CV from two different sources will trash it, since it is less complicated then trying to work out who gets the comission. In fact you should tell your head hunters only to send your CV to companies you authorise for this sort of reason.

MAKE time

[joseph_dcruz]

Well, you have time to hit /., so there's obviously *some* spare time in your day. Learn to be more efficient in your use of time. Spend time on Lifehacker and 43folders instead of Slashdot. Then find a job you want to go for, and go for it. If you need to take time off for an interview, do it. Right now you're sacrificing long-term interests for short term crises. That's not smart.

Re:Take sick leave.

[irony nazi]

be careful with supabeast's advice. Remember that once your employer has the suspicion that you are looking for other jobs, there's no turning back. What i mean is that you may or may not leave your current job, but you can't take back the fact that your employer is now suspicious. Personally, i think of it as an ace-in-hand. I think it's better just to keep it secret until after you've accepted an offer and are almost ready to resign. Remember, that you don't want to burn bridges... even if you hate your current employer. You would be surprised how small your industry is. Even if you change industries, you may run across your former employer again in a different life. I used to get into arguments with one of my bosses on a regular basis. He was ridiculous... but i left under good circumstances, to do something that was "better for my career", not because i hated my job/boss. That boss still calls me about once a month just to see what's up and we bounce ideas off of one another. He gave me a glowing review recently for a different job.

More importantly though is your current situation. You don't need time to interview for other jobs, you just need more time, period. Once you take a few 'sick afternoons' to go interview or leave for a long lunch interview, you may realize just how easy it is to leave you job at a reasonable hour. I had a job that used to make us stay late and work long hours. I was very unproductive. One day, because i hated that job so much, i left early (granted early=6:30, 8:30-6:30). I started doing it every day. One day, as i was leaving my manager stopped me and said 'i noticed you've been leaving at 6:30' (he dare not say 'early'!). I told him, matter of factly, that tonight i was meeting a friend and had to get ready. I made no excuses for the other nights. After that he learned to have more respect for the time i was in the office. He knew that i would be the 1st to leave the office and he would make extra efforts to make sure that i would have everything i needed to finish my projects before 6:30. He knew i wouldn't stay one second later, unless it was an emergency.

My coworkers were jealous that I got to leave 'early' and they had to stay until 9-10pm every night. I told them it was their own doing and they could leave when they wanted. When bonus time came around, my billing was on target and my bonus reflected that. I got more done during 8:30-6:30 when i felt good about my job, than i ever got done working 8:30AM-10PM and hating it.

This is one of my great revelations. It was beginning of restructuring my social life, getting physically fit, starting bike racing, and generally getting my life in order.

Worked for me!

[MarcQuadra]

I wore a suit one day and left mid-day to 'get my car inspected', which was actually the truth. When I got back to the office I got a $7,000 raise from my boss. She was frantically making phone calls while I was out, trying to get immediate authorization for the money.

Playing double-or-nothing is a great way to get a raise or get canned, but in my experience, if you're on-the-ball you'll get the raise. I know my workplace would be in a world of pain if I left, just because I know a little about how everything works.

Save your money, then quit...

[Anonymous Coward]

Cheapen up your lifestyle (get a roommate, eat out less, get rid of cable tv, etc, etc...) then quit. Once you quit, you'll have all the time in the world to search for a job. And while you hunt, live off of the money you saved from being cheap. Even consider temping to bring in a few extra bucks while you hunt. In theory, with all the overtime you've been doing and the lack of off-time to spend that money, you should already be able to accomplish this.

I did something similar myself. My first job out of college landed me back in good ol' so cal, so I moved back in with my parents (talk about your cheap rent... doesn't get much better!). After I left that job, I moved back to my college town and was able to spend 3 months vacationing/job hunting, just living off of savings and maybe 10 hours of temp work a week. Good luck!

getting more time in office

[utnapistim]

One of the best things things to do for getting rid of overload is to dump the decision on the head of your manager.

When he brings you an extra task (that would require you to work overtime) put him in an or-or situation and make him decide on something to leave behind;

Say

I'm currently working on blabla, due this evening; If I start on the new task I won't finish blabla in time. Which one should I defer?

It is an elegant way of enforcing to your manager the fact that you won't work overtime (or that at least you don't expect to do it on a regular basis).