I've been working for a hospital for the last 12 years. Though I don't have any plans to leave, sometimes I wonder if I still have what it takes to work in private industry. I think of myself as a reasonably ambitious worker, having held down a night job at the Universal Thread for 7 of those 12 years, and also doing some small interesting work most evenings and weekends.

I think IT has one of the most extreme differences between public and private sector jobs. In non profit and government, with a few exceptions, projects tend to fit into the 8 hour day, 40 hour week and get done without overtime work on evenings or weekends. Things get done when they get done. In private IT it is normal to work long days for frequent crunch times. In fact the last private company job I had, I quit because of the insane hours. One Friday afternoon the president of the company (only a 7 person company) came into my office and said he need a major change (really a full rewrite) to one of our apps by Monday morning. Oh, and he had just suspended everyone's pay for a an indefinite period of time (not the first time) because there was a cash crunch. Though theoretically there was a slim chance that I might be able to do the rewrite if I worked two insanely long days, I agreed to do the changes. The president was going to meet on Saturday morning to go over the new spec, then I would begin the changes. I arrived early, maybe at 7am, thinking he would be in at 8am or 9am. The hours ticked away and he never showed up. I grew angrier and angrier and left some polite messages on his home phone and cell phone, but couldn't reach him directly. By noon, he still hadn't shown up, so knowing that I was not only working for free, working long hours and he didn't have the decency to show up, I wrote resignation letter, put it in mail slot along with my key to the business.

When I was younger I didn't mind working the occassional weekend or long day, as long as I could could cycling, camping and drinking periodically. Now being married with a 1 year old, I really like my free time.

Whoah, I'm drifting off topic here... but sometimes I wonder if I can work hard for long hours still. I think I work hard, but we have a consultant who can code so fast that it makes me think I'm no longer productive.