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"under no circumstances do I work more than 40 hours a week." Should we take him at his word or assume that he isn't precise when speaking? Both are bad signs.
by jshen 15y ago
"under no circumstances do I work more than 40 hours a week."
Should we take him at his word or assume that he isn't precise when speaking? Both are bad signs.
- elliottcarlson 15y agoExactly - I would completely understand someone insisting on a work/life balance - I want it, and I have no problem with people wanting that; but seeing it worded that way is a red flag to me.
- marklindhout 15y agoHis wording is quite accurate if you ask me. At least, I can completely agree with it. Life is about living, not about working, after all.
- megablast 15y agoWell you can do plenty of living when lots of businesses do not hire you due to the fact that they realise sometimes stuff needs to get done. We all want to avoid the constantly crisis mode businesses, but you do this by being reasonable.
- obtu 15y agoI see some ambiguity: this is the contract negociation; the work may be referring to the entire duration of his employment. Exceptional circumstances are exceptional, and he may choose to give up his Friday then.
- Avshalom 15y agoPrecision isn't accuracy, and pedantic precision isn't super common in casual conversation anyway. Look I can't speak for the OP, maybe ze would quit the first week ze's expected to work 40hours and 1 minute. Saying "no more than 40 hours, unless a tornado hits the data center; or my close friend and co-worker's mother dies and he asks me to stay a little late to finish some of his paper work; or a bomb will go off killing a dozen orphans if we stop coding" might be more precise, but it's also less accurate because by listing off every one of a billion unlikely situations in which OP might be willing to work over time it creates the impression that 40 hours is a much more flexible limit than it is.
- jshen 15y agopedantic precision should be common for a programmer. This is really easy, he could have said, "I will only work overtime in exceptional cases, and those should be very rare." This is what I usually say in interviews. "under no circumstances will I work overtime" has a very clear meaning.
- luser001 15y agoHow is this more precise? You said "rare", and the other party heard "rare", but guys never agreed on what "very rare" was. Believe me, people can have very different ideas about what "very rare" means in this context. :)
- jshen 15y agoLOL, do you hear yourself? The OP said "under no circumstances will I work overtime". Someone says that he really meant "i will sometimes do overtime". I said, "he could have said I will rarely do overtime, only for exceptional cases". And you claim that this isn't more precise? Did you pass reading comprehension in grade school?
- luser001 15y agoOk, my phrasing was incorrect. I meant to say "how is it precise enough." You get the last word (if you choose to reply to this).
- jshen 15y agoGotcha, and I agree with you on that. Like I said in my comment, this is exactly what I say in interviews, and I haven't had a problem with it yet. If I do then I'll find a new job. After a little practice you can get a feel for reading people and companies and you can usually tell if you are on the same page. I also always ask how many hours on average people work per week, or something along those lines. Also, I absolutely would not tell a company that I want to work for that "under no circumstances" will I work any overtime. Nor will I hire someone that says such a thing.