Working 9-6

[DogLove3]

Is this normal nowadays? I’m 24, and only graduated last summer. I currently work in a 8:30-5 role, 4 days remote and 1 day from the office. I’ve been recruited for an amazing opportunity in an industry that I’ve always wanted to work in, however it’s 9-6, with over an hour commute on either side, 3 days in the office. Do you think it’s advisable to stick it out for 6 months and then look for something with a better work-life balance? Or will future employers wonder why I’m yo-yo-ing between jobs so quickly?

And pension.... a legal requirement lol

9-6 isn’t long. The commute adds time but you chose to apply for a job a distance away. Over an hour commuting is pretty typical for London.

If you are working in journalism that work pattern sounds normal, especially if you are in London.

Depends on your uni course! Mine had 25hrs lectures a week, then all the work we did outside that for assignments, prep, revision etc. I was so happy to start work and have basically no need to work in evenings and weekends, despite fairly long days, to be able to just LEAVE at the end of the day - I was glad that my career didn’t usually ask out of hours work of people, though it was needed sometimes, which was ok. Having my free time reasonably well defined was great!

OP give it a try, it’s not that outrageous, you can see there’s a vast range of experiences out there, and no one normal, plus as loads of people have said, it depends on your industry. Try and make the most of your commute - take a book, kindle, audiobooks etc? See how it goes for a few years.

When I graduated contracted working hours were nearly always 9 to 5, 9 to 5.30, or 10 to 6. A standard extra half hour or hour per day and little to no lunch break seems to be absolutely the norm by now! And salaries have gone massively backwards in the same time.

I really do wish we were more like the French quite often!

Yanbu op. Good luck in your career and congrats on your job, I imagine it wasn't easy to find!

I expect in your day you didn't come out of Uni with a massive debt to pay off. I'm glad they are mature enough to be taking their studies seriously, they messed about and had fun in their first year, and after that it was time to knuckle down and get good results, apply for internships and get their careers off the ground.

If it's a dream job, could you move closer? Might cost more in rent but it would be worth it. Journalism is a tough industry to get into.

If the hours are fixed 9-6 they mught have hour lunch breaks or a half day on Friday. Depends on how many hours you would be contracted for.

I worked for a huge international corporation, usual hours of work outside of customer facing roles, are 9-5:30, but it is rare I have a meeting lasting past 5pm.

The fact that it is a job that you really want, I think you should take it and try and reframe the hours and commute.

Hopefully, you absolutely love this job, so the 9 - 6 becomes nothing because you are engrossed in what you are doing the time flies. You may find you have more energy because you are so inspired by what you are doing.

I am going to assume (because you graduated last year that you don't have children (apologies if I am incorrect). You have to look at the commute in a different way. Taking a quote from Mo Gawdat "What's good about this" you could use that commute time, depending, on if you are driving or getting the train or bus, to do something positive. Read books, listen to podcasts, research whatever article you are writing or learn something new. I know a lot of people that I worked with who had long commutes would use that time, particularly at the end of the day to wind down.

If you do have children it is obviously much harder, but I worked with Mums who had long commutes five days a week and they managed to make it work and became good at it. I was always impressed with people who were positive about commuting.

I think if you are building your career and you worked hard to graduate it is a good idea to follow the opportunities and you do have those two days at home to catch up on everything else.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

The only job I had that involved working 9-5 (or frankly less) was a council job. The rest have involved longer hours. I personally don't mind as I enjoyed the jobs so I wasn't clock watching or anything. These are also the jobs that led to progression and more opportunities.

I have noticed younger generations questioning the long hour culture more than when I was that age, which is good. The professional world however doesn't seem to have evolved as fast but I'd be prepared for a discrepancy if I were you

Are you having a laugh? Knackard from a normal length commute 3 days a week? I guess it's true what they say about youngsters these days.

You sound like a positive person OP and some of these replies are a little condescending but perhaps it does highlight that you need to adjust your way of thinking. Work days are for working and no, it doesn’t leave time to do much else. It’s shit, but if there was a way to have it all - someone would of figured it out by now.