undefined | Better HN

0 pointstxcwpalpha7y ago0 comments

>Why did you work so hard when you hated the job and coworkers so much?

I think you might have good intentions with this question, but it seem a bit silly. You could ask the same question to anyone about any job. Why do you think the millions of investment bankers or consultants or lawyers or medical residents work long hours? Why do people work long hours in shitty retail or food service jobs? Why do people work in sweat shops? Not everyone has the opportunity to work somewhere they "enjoy more", but they keep working anyway because at the end of the day we all need a paycheck.

>Why not find a similar role at a place you enjoyed more?

That's precisely what I'm trying to do now. If you mean "why didn't you find a similar enjoyable role to begin with?", because those enjoyable roles don't pay nearly as much, and I wanted to build up a decent-sized savings so that I could take time off, travel, and work on side projects. My "plan" was to spend a few years working hard, build up a nest egg and a resume, and then transition into something more "enjoyable" though lower paying. The first part of that plan went swimmingly, but the transition part has been a little rocky.

0 comments

stephengillie7y ago

> Why do you think the millions of investment bankers or consultants or lawyers or medical residents work long hours?

I thought lawyers worked reasonable hours. The medical industry is it's own special situation. Those investment bankers must be bad at math - for overtime-exempt employees, each extra hour worked past 40 reduces your hourly pay rate by 2.5%.

Retail, fast food, office, IT, software development - all jobs pay 150% pay after 40 hours, and 200% pay after 80 hours. At least in WA State, it's the law for non-exempt employees.

Aren't sweat shops illegal?

You did have the opportunity to work somewhere better. Were you suffering out of a solidarity with the less fortunate?

At least you admit this was your plan from the beginning.

Hydraulix9897y ago

> Those investment bankers must be bad at math - for overtime-exempt employees, each extra hour worked past 40 reduces your hourly pay rate by 2.5%.

It's not about the OT pay working at an IB; it's about the bonus -- which is often a multiplier of your base salary.

Drdrdrq7y ago

> ...must be bad at math - for overtime-exempt employees, each extra hour worked past 40 reduces your hourly pay rate by 2.5%.

Not really. The first one does, then the effect is getting smaller with each hour.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse