Why I Don't Do Unpaid Overtime and Neither Should You
I work at Twitter, where i regularly work longs hours (my standard work day is something like 10 - 19:30) and am frequently on call. I even spend time at the weekends thinking and hacking on specific problems.<p>I feel that the author's post doesn't apply in my case, because:<p>- Some of the problems i work on are amazing. They're interesting and fun, and i enjoy them outside the normal "work hours".<p>- Twitter has an "unlimited"—be respectful to your team—holiday policy. I've probably taken about 6-7 weeks off in my one and a quarter years here.<p>- Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served for free. While you might not count that as 'being paid overtime', the costs of food can add up.<p>- This behaviour is not required. I know people who do 9-5 and that's it. They get their work done within deadlines, and there's no issue with that.<p>So, am i to assume that Twitter is a huge exception? I'm not so sure. I think that while Twitter is a special environment, there are many companies that offer similar benefits.<p>Maybe the real statement shouldn't be "don't do unpaid overtime", but:<p><i>"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle."</i> - Steve Jobs