Work-life balance for IT? (San Diego, Orange: headhunters, job market, contractors)

[EdgeOfForever]

From my research I've seen that in general San Diego values work-life balance, is this accurate? I'm mostly interested to hear from other IT people like myself, particularly software engineers. I know there is always good and bad companies in any city, but I want to get a general feel for the work climate in SD. Are the software jobs work-you-to-the-bone(60+ hour week) type jobs or is it pretty easy to score a gig with a normal 40 hour week most weeks? Thanks guys

[shmoov_groovzsd]

I consulted and managed software and technical teams for a 'trusted partner' company to many large corporations in San Diego that had offices in the mobile space from Qualcomm to Microsoft.

At least the teams I ran, they worked 40 hours (unless OT was approved in special circumstances.) When they came in it was all business and so long as they finished deadlines and made the customer happy, it was all good. But this was very task based and deadline driven type of projects. Not all IT is the same.

On the flipside, the clients I had NEVER worked 40 hours in R&D. Now, 'work' is a relative term. Hanging out for 10+ hours a day and mixing work with socializing or going to the gym was more the reality.
It was not uncommon for a lot of guys to take dentist or doctors appts either for 2+ hours. But they always came back and finished the work.

[Pedro2000]

I would say SD doesn't really have your typical IT culture because it really doesn't have as many jobs as other cities with tons of IT Jobs. You go to places like Silicon Valley, NYC, even Santa Monica or other parts of LA and Orange County these days and you will probably see people still at the office at 930pm. In SD it's odd to see cars at offices after 6pm.

I would say work/life balance is important, but we also live in a world now where most people are "working" and checking work email and working with offshore centers at midnight. I've been on many projects where I had meetings at 2am because most of the team was somewhere else in the world. And this is common place when a lot of companies want 75+ percent offshore and 25 percent onshore. Plus it's not just about onshore it's about a global world. Many of these big corporations no longer make most of their revenue outside the USA.

Plus if you work with many people from the east coast or wall street, you're starting work at 5am or earlier. Otherwise you'd be missing half the day. And so it goes for any markets and businesses around the world. I think anybody who thinks jobs are 9-5 these days are the people who wind up without jobs by the time they are 30.

Also it depends on your job, but a lot of people who have any sort of system in production and are responsible are usually on-call. And if you work for a startup, you're probably working all the time because there just aren't as many resources.

Again, I'd go back to the 9-5 person or the person who spends half the day socializing. Many of those people wind up being the people complaining they can't find work in 5-10 years. Sometimes you pick a certain career where you just won't ever work 9-5. Or you'll work 9-5 and be out of a job.

As a freelance contractor and consultant over the years, I spent many years working on projects for companies who slashed half their FTE. And many times those FTE were the people who only worked 9-5. Sometimes it's about a balanced life, sometimes you have to figure out that nobody really works 9-5 anymore. The people who do, usually wind up not working very long. This isn't the 70s or 80s where people stayed at the same jobs for 40 years. I mean companies like Qlcm have a ton of contractors, consultants, Visa workers, offshore workers, etc. If you just want to work 9-5 and want a certain salary, why would they really keep you around for long? That's the reality for many jobs these days.

And that's not just a SD thing, that's everywhere. It's also a reason why a lot of people in the US do have trouble finding good jobs. There really is no such thing as 9-5 anymore. Especially if you wind up becoming important. Like I said, many companies make more revenue outside the US than in the US. Which means you start dealing with other countries and cultures and time zones. So if you expect to stick around, make a career, you won't ever be working 9-5. The more responsibility you get, the more likely you're on 12 midnight calls with Asia or 5am Calls with NYC and so on.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

I had to jump out as our dept became a sweatshop-like line programming outfit. It was either no OT or mandatory OT depending on how they saw fit. Very difficult to raise a family when you don't know when you'll be off work each day.

[NYSD1995]

I got out of IT after 10+ years because the offshore model ruined the industry, although by then I was high enough up that I didn't have to deal with meetings and phone calls at all hours of night and day. I am now in a more marketing-driven environment with a lot more flexibility.

Generally speaking I would say work-life balance is mostly dependent on the company and your ability to manage your time. Most people end up working long hours do so because they are trying to get ahead or because they can't manage their time, don't know how and when to set boundaries, etc.

Corporate IT tends to be the most 9-5 but the jobs are disappearing and the work is soul-crushing. Hardware driven corps with lots of R&D are dominated by new immigrants trying to outwork each other. Internet, software, etc. are in such a talent crunch that they are offering a lot more flexibility, so hours might be long, but you can work when / where you wish for the most part.

[EdgeOfForever]

Alright, thanks for the responses guys! So it seems like it's possible to score a job like I'm thinking but just gotta make sure to choose the right company. I've been checking Dice a lot lately and I do see a lot of jobs for my skill set paying 100K+(.net developer). I was able to get two different jobs here in Vegas within a year and half time-span and the job market here is not nearly as good as SD in terms of jobs for developers, so I think I can probably do ok. I know the market is not as good as LA or SF but....I'm not as interested in living in those places. I suppose I would consider it if the right opportunity came about but I'm far more interested in living in SD.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by EdgeOfForever

Alright, thanks for the responses guys! So it seems like it's possible to score a job like I'm thinking but just gotta make sure to choose the right company. I've been checking Dice a lot lately and I do see a lot of jobs for my skill set paying 100K+(.net developer). I was able to get two different jobs here in Vegas within a year and half time-span and the job market here is not nearly as good as SD in terms of jobs for developers, so I think I can probably do ok. I know the market is not as good as LA or SF but....I'm not as interested in living in those places. I suppose I would consider it if the right opportunity came about but I'm far more interested in living in SD.

Typically devo jobs pay about 20 grand less here for a comparable position. Well worth if it you ask me.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Originally Posted by EdgeOfForever

Alright, thanks for the responses guys! So it seems like it's possible to score a job like I'm thinking but just gotta make sure to choose the right company. I've been checking Dice a lot lately and I do see a lot of jobs for my skill set paying 100K+(.net developer). I was able to get two different jobs here in Vegas within a year and half time-span and the job market here is not nearly as good as SD in terms of jobs for developers, so I think I can probably do ok. I know the market is not as good as LA or SF but....I'm not as interested in living in those places. I suppose I would consider it if the right opportunity came about but I'm far more interested in living in SD.

Yup .net is in VERY high demand right now and not enough guys to fill. The last program I was on, it 60+ weeks to find suitable candidates that were able to move fairly quickly, take less money than other cities and have a good attitude.

Sounds like you have it pretty much nailed otherwise.

Might want to get in touch with some headhunters as well due to your skillset. .net is top dollar.

[EdgeOfForever]

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

Yup .net is in VERY high demand right now and not enough guys to fill. The last program I was on, it 60+ weeks to find suitable candidates that were able to move fairly quickly, take less money than other cities and have a good attitude.

Sounds like you have it pretty much nailed otherwise.

Might want to get in touch with some headhunters as well due to your skillset. .net is top dollar.

Thanks so much for sharing this man Only reason I could get a job here in Vegas is because of the shortage of developers. I'm ok with accepting a little less cash if it means living in a place where people actually like it there and plan to stay. It's far more important to me that I'm in a healthy(er) environment. My GF and I don't have children or a lot of debt so we should be ok I think.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by EdgeOfForever

Thanks so much for sharing this man Only reason I could get a job here in Vegas is because of the shortage of developers. I'm ok with accepting a little less cash if it means living in a place where people actually like it there and plan to stay. It's far more important to me that I'm in a healthy(er) environment. My GF and I don't have children or a lot of debt so we should be ok I think.

If you know sql on top of .net there are some real opportunities. The entire "package" so to speak