Would you take a job with a finishing time of 11pm?

[blindmansays]

I am currently unemployed.
I have been for 8 months now.
I have been offered a job in a spa as a receptionist.
It's 30hrs per week but the hours are shocking.
It's a week of 3pm till 11pm (Tuesday ,Wednesday ,Thursday and Sunday )
And then
7.30 am till 3.30pm
The following week

I just can't even think about working till 11pm
I will have no life at all will I ?
It's min wage too

I have no other job interviews at the minute either

Would you do this ?

Yes I would, as long as the commute is OK. I work in a supermarket, various shifts between 6am and 10pm but it's less than 10 mins walk from home. So it's really convenient.

I’d do it!

It sounds fine. I couldn’t make it work due to child care and you don’t give any details about this or things such as having own transport etc which may affect someone being able to work those hours but if you can work those shifts then do, they’re not bad.

Childcare and commute permitting that sounds great. You'd alternate being free to do things in the daytime and free to do things in the evening. Though I assume you wouldn't be up for a late night after a 7:30am start.

As pps have said, if you don't have childcare and can get the bus or train or walk, I'd bite their hands off. That's a GREAT shift pattern, I used to do it as a hotel switchboard operator (ah, jobs that no longer exist!) and I loved it.

Chores, appointments, food shopping, gym, walks, meeting ppl for coffee before your 3pm start, off by 3 on an early AND you get every weekend off which is unheard of for hospitality or service industries. Take the job.

I'm the opposite and couldn't imagine starting work at 7.30am 🤣.

I'm not sure I could work a week of lates and then a week of earlies though. I need some form of routine.

If I needed the job though I'd take it and continue to apply for other roles.

God yes.Nothing lasts forever, it’s far better on your CV than 8 months of unemployment etc.My only sticking point would be if I couldn’t get home safely /easily at that time but otherwise why not? You get the time back the other week and with a later start

That's the Biggie being able to get to work on time and home without incurring crazy costs.
At one point my dw was spending £240 a month on transport due to disability off of a 16 hrs a week job ... thankfully she got her disability payment and that eases that problem.

That's a fairly good work/life balanced job! 30 hours, over 4 days, with lovely early finishes every other week?? You'd have 3 full days every week to 'have a life' - plus the week you finish at 3.30 would give you ample time ffs 🤦‍♀️

I'd snatch that up quite frankly! You sound very picky...which after being unemployed for 8 months you can't afford to be, and quite honestly, is just lazy 🤷‍♀️

11pm finish would be fine for me if I didn’t have to be at work until 3 the next day. You can have a lie-in and do stuff in the morning/ early afternoon, still time to meet a friend for lunch or coffee before work for example. It’s only four days every other week and not a Friday or Saturday so not sure why you think you’ll have no life. I’d actually find doing the 7:30-3:30 shifts harder as I’d hate having to get up and be at work that early.

I would, but it wouldn't be great for me as I'm a lark

I’d definitely take it, it’s only every other week and if you really don’t like it, keep on looking whilst you’re working for something more suitable. You don’t know when the next job offer will come around.

I’ve worked 18on/6off shifts. I’ve juggled 5 part time jobs at once. I’ve done a standard office 9-5 job and a second job evenings and weekends. And I had a great life around them all. So I’d take the job.

I wouldn't as I have school age children so I'd be at home all day while they're at school then at work for a lot of the time when they're home.
But if I had no children then I don't think it sounds too bad. Fridays and Saturdays off and hours every day to do your own thing

You would have a life of days one week and evenings the next. Sounds quite nice I think.

Five?! Good grief. How did you get them all to fit together?

I have teenagers so that sounds bloody marvellous 😂

If I was unemployed and had no childcare issue I would yes. A job is a job.

I'd quite like those hours! Every other week you get all your daytimes free! There's at least as much you can enjoy doing in the daytime as in the evening. Probably more. More sunlight. More things open. And it isn't Friday and Saturday evening, which are the main social evenings.

Those hours aren't shocking in themselves. Lots of people work a mix of earlies and lates, sometimes within the same week. It's actually quite practical as you can arrange doctor, dentist etc. appointments within 9-5 working hours, attend children's morning or evening appointments if you can swap shifts or they fall conveniently etc. It's also good for time to yourself during the day which can be like gold dust for a lot of women. Obviously not practical for single resident parents without family support or main childcarer who's spouse works away, but otherwise really very practical if you know in advance that it's alternate weeks.

I spent years working a mix of

earlies 6am-2:30pm,
lates 2pm to 10:30pm,
long days 9am-7pm,
and sleep ins which were a short late 4pm-10pm, sleep on site on call 10pm-6am, short early 6am-10am

and it was entirely normal to have all of those in one week - you had to have a special medical reason to be guaranteed blocks of the same shift, and that generally shafted the colleagues who's shifts ended up really antisocial with the absolute bare legal minimum time between shifts to make life easier for another colleague.

If I had been unemployed for 8 months, then yes I would accept a job with those hours. Plenty of jobs have late shifts, and it's every other week ,not constant.

Split shifts are bloody awful
The only time I struggled was two jobs so 8-4.30 in a garage and then 5.30pm - 11pm as a home carer
Bloody knackered

You've not mentioned children etc so I assume that's not an issue. If it was just me I'd definitely be happy to do those hours over "normal" hours.

I'd take it. There's plenty jobs where you have to work till midnight or later every day.
Keep looking for other stuff, but this will tide you over. You might get a few free spa treatments or end up liking it and maybe moving up.
If not at least it's a wage while you search for something more to your needs.

Library - two 8 hour shifts a week to cover transferring the entire county to a new IT system. Usually daytimes weekdays
Local sports stadium - match days required, extra shifts always open to cover events.
Pub job - 2 evenings a week
Sports centre job - zero hours contracts typically did two evenings and a weekend day a week
Data input - worked from home, they didn’t care when or how as long as I hit the numbers.

I just fit them all in around uni and caring for a family member. The jobs seemed the easy bit at the time.