3 ms·

5-8 weeks? Most places I've worked it's been an informal 2 weeks plus sick days.

mac01021 8y ago
I had a very accommodating boss who let me take 5-6 weeks. People on most other teams in my company end up taking 3ish.
zdragnar 8y ago
Most people don't end up taking 5 weeks, and I think 8 is more along the extenuating circumstances - i.e. at one job I needed to leave early on a regular basis to deal with trips to the vet for a very sick dog. My boss was very understanding and since I was one of the more senior and productive team members, no one minded. Honestly, I don't think I would take a job offer that only included 2 weeks vacation, even if the pay was exceptional. Early on in my career I didn't mind not having much vacation, since I rarely, if at all, used it. Now that I'm older, the added flexibility is more important.
- hopler 8y ago
  You spent 15days in one year year off work taking your dog to the vet?
  - zdragnar 8y ago
    I had a one hour commute each way at the time, so if i had an appointment, I took the day off / worked from home, depending on the appointment. She was a very, very sick dog, went from healthy and happy to put down because she could no longer eat on her own over the course of 6 months. It was a painful (not to mention expensive) experience. Though, I was also doing some real estate transactions (selling and buying a house) so some of the days were also for that.
- cimmanom 8y ago
  FWIW, I have yet to find a job in NY with a non-unlimited policy that gave more than 10 days combined PTO plus a handful of holidays. Tho at places with unlimited at least you can usually justify taking 3 weeks plus sick days even if 2 is the norm. Maybe workaholism is just more common here than in other areas?
  - zdragnar 8y ago
    Maybe it's my level of experience? I've been in the industry over 12 years now, with some variation of senior / staff / principle title for I think 8 of those years. No idea what the market is like in NY, but I would imagine you could also pretty easily negotiate starting with 2.5 or maybe 3 weeks. Just like the list of requirements are a guideline, so too are perks offered on job postings, and you don't actually have to settle for what they first offer you. So long as the labor market for programming is hot, you should take advantage of it.
    - cimmanom 8y ago
      FWIW, I’ve been in the industry even longer than that. And yes, senior developers have the leverage to sometimes negotiate for more. But that doesn’t mean it’s not the most common policy or that most people (especially those in less in-demand occupations) aren’t stuck with it. Nor that it doesn’t influence how people interpret unlimited-PTO policies. As for me, most of the 10-day-PTO gigs were earlier in my career (startups seem to almost universally opt for “unlimited”). Going into the most recent one, I had other priorities to negotiate for. But mostly, the way we think about time off and work/life balance in the US bites.

I had a very accommodating boss who let me take 5-6 weeks. People on most other teams in my company end up taking 3ish.

Most people don't end up taking 5 weeks, and I think 8 is more along the extenuating circumstances - i.e. at one job I needed to leave early on a regular basis to deal with trips to the vet for a very sick dog. My boss was very understanding and since I was one of the more senior and productive team members, no one minded. Honestly, I don't think I would take a job offer that only included 2 weeks vacation, even if the pay was exceptional. Early on in my career I didn't mind not having much vacation, since I rarely, if at all, used it. Now that I'm older, the added flexibility is more important.

hopler 8y ago
You spent 15days in one year year off work taking your dog to the vet?
- zdragnar 8y ago
  I had a one hour commute each way at the time, so if i had an appointment, I took the day off / worked from home, depending on the appointment. She was a very, very sick dog, went from healthy and happy to put down because she could no longer eat on her own over the course of 6 months. It was a painful (not to mention expensive) experience. Though, I was also doing some real estate transactions (selling and buying a house) so some of the days were also for that.
cimmanom 8y ago
FWIW, I have yet to find a job in NY with a non-unlimited policy that gave more than 10 days combined PTO plus a handful of holidays. Tho at places with unlimited at least you can usually justify taking 3 weeks plus sick days even if 2 is the norm. Maybe workaholism is just more common here than in other areas?
- zdragnar 8y ago
  Maybe it's my level of experience? I've been in the industry over 12 years now, with some variation of senior / staff / principle title for I think 8 of those years. No idea what the market is like in NY, but I would imagine you could also pretty easily negotiate starting with 2.5 or maybe 3 weeks. Just like the list of requirements are a guideline, so too are perks offered on job postings, and you don't actually have to settle for what they first offer you. So long as the labor market for programming is hot, you should take advantage of it.
  - cimmanom 8y ago
    FWIW, I’ve been in the industry even longer than that. And yes, senior developers have the leverage to sometimes negotiate for more. But that doesn’t mean it’s not the most common policy or that most people (especially those in less in-demand occupations) aren’t stuck with it. Nor that it doesn’t influence how people interpret unlimited-PTO policies. As for me, most of the 10-day-PTO gigs were earlier in my career (startups seem to almost universally opt for “unlimited”). Going into the most recent one, I had other priorities to negotiate for. But mostly, the way we think about time off and work/life balance in the US bites.