It sounds to me as if the causes of your burnout are not related to overwork and long hours, but more about poor management, too much bureaucracy and resentment

It sounds to me as if the causes of your burnout are not related to overwork and long hours, but more about poor management, too much bureaucracy and resentment. However, different companies have different attitudes to work boundaries, and it's up to you to find out what they are and whether those are aligned with your own attitudes or not. What are you willing to do? In terms of general advice, coming back from burnout to a new job: I'd advise you in the first instance to look for a workplace that is as free of assholes as possible. This is easier to accomplish in a small company just on a sheer scale basis, but there are still plenty of small companies that are full of assholes. When you interview, remember you are interviewing your coworkers as much as they are interviewing you. I chose my current job based heavily on this criterion, and I have never regretted it. Next up, remember the three key things required for job happiness: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. You will generally speaking get more autonomy in smaller companies, although some medium - large companies have worked hard on maintaining this. (See the recently leaked Valve employee handbook for an example.) Mastery - assuming you like to learn new stuff - is something you will be forced into at a startup, where everything is your job. It's mastery or failure. Purpose depends on the company you choose. Basically this amounts to doing something you personally think is important. (I'd advise you to choose carefully here: I personally couldn't summon up enough passion to work on advertising-related products, for example.) Spend time researching your options, and I hope you find something that makes you eager to get to work each morning. Best of luck to you.