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Actually this is the opposite of what you're suggesting. Working for Netflix doesn't require that you sacrifice a work/life balance. Implicit is the agreement t

Actually this is the opposite of what you're suggesting. Working for Netflix doesn't require that you sacrifice a work/life balance. Implicit is the agreement that you'll perform up to the standard that is expected of you, but from what I've seen, most people here can handle it admirably.

CamperBob 17y ago
Working for Netflix doesn't require that you sacrifice a work/life balance. Well, yeah, it pretty much does, if the company actually follows the personnel-retention guidelines in that slide deck. Your work at such a company is graded on a curve, whether you like it or not, and if you don't outperform your peers, you end up looking "only adequate." Meanwhile, your peers are talented twenty-something kids who cheerfully work 60-hour weeks, and you're not going to be able to keep up for long since there's going to be (again, presumably, under the stated guidelines) fresh meat coming in all the time. As my other comment to elq pointed out, this seems a bit OTT for a company whose mission is, at the end of the day, to mail out a bunch of DVDs without screwing up too much. It's more like selling sugar water than changing the world, and I'm not sure I see the point in killing yourself for it.
- Dove 17y ago
  Doesn't sound like you're competing against your peers so much as you're competing against the market. Outperform the market, do fine. That doesn't sound too tough to me; talented, motivated people are always in short supply. Makes me wish they were hiring in a city where I wanted to live.
- OmarIsmail 17y ago
  "your peers are talented twenty-something kids who cheerfully work 60-hour weeks" Personally I've found, and read research to the effect, that the difference between skilled/knowledgeable coders can be up to 10x in efficiency. If you're a talented older guy with a family and such, then you should've put in the 60-hour work weeks when you were twenty-something, such that your knowledge and talent at your current age means you don't need to work 60 hours to accomplish the same goals. If you weren't a talented twenty-something, and didn't work your butt off, then you're most likely not a talented forty-something, and thus won't fit in the Netflix firm anyway.
- male_salmon 17y ago
  I think the reason you're hired is because they think you can perform at the same level of said peers. And you accept the job because you think you can. And want to. I'd say the average employee age skews towards 35+. No young whipper-snappers here! Except for a few :) Most everyone seems to have a family they need to take care of, which means leaving early some days. Mailing out DVDs is big business! You have no idea how important Netflix is to people's happiness. I think that's closer to changing the world than most other companies. Just do a search of Netflix on twitter and you'll see what I mean.
  - CamperBob 17y ago
    You have no idea how important Netflix is to people's happiness. As a longtime customer, I do indeed. :-P Pretty damn reliable service, actually. The last Netflix error I experienced was when you sent me a fourth disc for some reason. An advanced AI would have recognized that He's Just Not That Into You doesn't go well with Park Chan-Wook's Vengeance Trilogy. /grumble
madair 17y ago
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-0804-netflixaug04,0,6191792,print.story http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-0804-netflix... Sounds like a factory to me. You guys who vote me down are just so very delusional about the information economy's greatness. LOL.

CamperBob 17y ago

Working for Netflix doesn't require that you sacrifice a work/life balance. Well, yeah, it pretty much does, if the company actually follows the personnel-retention guidelines in that slide deck. Your work at such a company is graded on a curve, whether you like it or not, and if you don't outperform your peers, you end up looking "only adequate." Meanwhile, your peers are talented twenty-something kids who cheerfully work 60-hour weeks, and you're not going to be able to keep up for long since there's going to be (again, presumably, under the stated guidelines) fresh meat coming in all the time. As my other comment to elq pointed out, this seems a bit OTT for a company whose mission is, at the end of the day, to mail out a bunch of DVDs without screwing up too much. It's more like selling sugar water than changing the world, and I'm not sure I see the point in killing yourself for it.

Dove 17y ago
Doesn't sound like you're competing against your peers so much as you're competing against the market. Outperform the market, do fine. That doesn't sound too tough to me; talented, motivated people are always in short supply. Makes me wish they were hiring in a city where I wanted to live.
OmarIsmail 17y ago
"your peers are talented twenty-something kids who cheerfully work 60-hour weeks" Personally I've found, and read research to the effect, that the difference between skilled/knowledgeable coders can be up to 10x in efficiency. If you're a talented older guy with a family and such, then you should've put in the 60-hour work weeks when you were twenty-something, such that your knowledge and talent at your current age means you don't need to work 60 hours to accomplish the same goals. If you weren't a talented twenty-something, and didn't work your butt off, then you're most likely not a talented forty-something, and thus won't fit in the Netflix firm anyway.
male_salmon 17y ago
I think the reason you're hired is because they think you can perform at the same level of said peers. And you accept the job because you think you can. And want to. I'd say the average employee age skews towards 35+. No young whipper-snappers here! Except for a few :) Most everyone seems to have a family they need to take care of, which means leaving early some days. Mailing out DVDs is big business! You have no idea how important Netflix is to people's happiness. I think that's closer to changing the world than most other companies. Just do a search of Netflix on twitter and you'll see what I mean.
- CamperBob 17y ago
  You have no idea how important Netflix is to people's happiness. As a longtime customer, I do indeed. :-P Pretty damn reliable service, actually. The last Netflix error I experienced was when you sent me a fourth disc for some reason. An advanced AI would have recognized that He's Just Not That Into You doesn't go well with Park Chan-Wook's Vengeance Trilogy. /grumble

madair 17y ago

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-0804-netflixaug04,0,6191792,print.story http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-0804-netflix... Sounds like a factory to me. You guys who vote me down are just so very delusional about the information economy's greatness. LOL.