University of Dayton - MyLife

The working hours dilemma

I am fortunate at my place of work to have fairly flexible working hours. Although the normal working hours are from 8am to 5pm, it it not usually a problem to deviate from these as long as you put in at least 8 hours. When I was commuting from Dayton last semester, it was better with traffic conditions to get to work by 7:30 and then leave half an hour ealier. I found out that this was often difficult to do, since things often got busy in the afternoon, making it harder to leave early. Now that I am living in Cincinnati, I don't have to worry as much about traffic, although it still is a factor in my evening commute. I generally like to work early and leave early, but the busy afternoons still hinder that schedule. However, it seems that whenever I arrive at work late and plan to leave late, I have the opportunity to leave early. Therefore, I usually end up getting to work early, not being busy until later in the day, and then leaving late.

I work for a structural engineering company of about 50 employees. It is a great place to work, and they encourage you to work overtime if you are willing. This is good financially, but cuts down on time for other things outside of work. My roommate works for an enormous company as a mechanical engineering co-op. He works virtually no overtime and has very consistent hours. Both situations have pro's and con's, and both are very possible if you co-op.

May 29, 2007 7:07 PM Permalink