Huntington Beach Sunset aka Why I Don’t Work Overtime

Even though I’ve worked in the corporate world for close to 5 years now, I don’t think I’ll ever understand how ‘overtime’ is supposed to work. Most engineers are actually pretty lucky, a majority of companies pay their engineers for overtime. But apparently the rest of the workforce isn’t like that, since I have lots of friends who get paid the same amount whether they burn the midnight oil or ‘only’ work 8 hours a day.

I guess I’m fundamentally against overtime because I cherish my 9th and 10th hour of the day a lot more than the first or second hour. It’s harder for me to work during those last two hours than it is during the first two hours yet I’m paid the same. Mathematically, that just doesn’t make sense – that must be my engineering side though. It makes no sense period to me to work two extra hours every day for free.

Growing Up Biased

I’ve grown up in an era of corporate greed and been subjected to the constant barrage of news stories detailing multi-million dollar bonuses for execs while their employees are being laid off. I’m sure upper management is working very hard for that money but at the end of the day it’s all about the people you have working for you. That’s one of the first things I learned as a volleyball player during college and then as a coach. No matter how good or bad of a coach you are, if your players are vastly inferior you won’t stand a chance.

We all know that the income disparity between management and those on the front lines is widening but no one wants to do anything about it. I have experience on both sides though and know how to handle it. [Read more…]