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No. There are companies where you can have a life, but they are boring. And there are companies that pay you more, but there’s always a catch. In my long resume
by darth_avocado 5y ago
No. There are companies where you can have a life, but they are boring. And there are companies that pay you more, but there’s always a catch. In my long resume consisting of Startups to SV Giants, not one company paid you a lot to do less work.
- bumby 5y agoI’ve heard it described as: “You can work on interesting problems, have a great work-life balance, or get paid really well, but you can only select two.”
- Retric 5y agoThe consultant side can do all three, but it’s a tough balancing act. You need the right niche, the right connections, great technical skills, and great social skills.
- arvinsim 5y agoMaybe it's just me but finding a job that has great work-life balance and pays well is hard.
- bumby 5y ago“Pays well” is probably relative. You can certainly find them in lower cost-of-living areas by the local standard but it’s pretty hard to find SV-type pay
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- jjav 5y agoI would like "interesting problems" + "great work-life balance". Any recommendations on places these days? Don't seem to exist anymore, sadly.
- mcejp 5y agoCERN ;)
- VimER 5y ago
- nickd2001 5y agoGovernment. Academia. Speaking from experience. :). You won't get rich, but you won't starve either. And your pension might not be a complete disaster.
- bumby 5y agoJust to pile on late, I would add to this. To meet the "interesting" part, you may be able to extend it to a National Laboratory, which is a bit quasi-government. The academia route certainly exists, but the glut of of PhDs compared to available positions combined with the amount of complaining I've heard from non-tenured professors would make me a bit hesitant to advocate this route as a general recommendation. But there are other staff positions that might better fit that bill
- gmac 5y agoSeconded (I’m in academia, my wife is in government).
- nerdponx 5y agoI don't care about interesting problems. I want to get paid really well and have a great work-life balance. But I don't think those jobs exist unless you're already an expert in something and can get by on the expertise that you already have. Please prove me wrong!
- bumby 5y agoMy take is that any desirable combination probably takes some up-front work, sacrifice, and luck. For your example combination, I've known entrepreneurs who've met that mark, but it took some initial risk taking and sacrifice. The work isn't sexy by most SV measures but they make extremely good money and one in particular takes months off every year to travel in Europe while in his 30s. I wouldn't call them an 'expert', they just found a niche that other people didn't find interesting enough to pursue. Likewise, for other combinations (say 'interesting work + high pay') you may have to put in early work for a PhD where you aren't getting paid well initially. For other combinations ('work-life-balance + interesting work') I've known people who essentially worked for free in order to network and prove themselves until they were offered one of those positions. I guess the point I'm making is that those desirable combinations don't naturally just fall into the laps of most of us but are the product of deliberate and conscience up-front work that can't necessarily be templated out.
- sameerds 5y agoTotally my life. I keep the middle one fixed, and then see-saw on the other two!
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]