Family First?

I have been unemployed for precisely 45 days - not that I'm counting. I've had a handful of interviews for spots that I haven't been a fit for, been overqualified to do or where I was offered a salary in the range of what I was making 15 years ago

As I rack up experience answering the same 8 questions I'm always asked about myself, the conversation is always steered toward what would be expected of me as a manager - most notably, my scheduled work hours.

I have concluded two things from this round of unemployment:

1. A University degree isn't worth the paper it's printed on. I have two, so that makes them twice as useless.

2. The days of the 40 hour work week are dead like disco.

I don't think I have interviewed with a company that has expected anything less than "50 hours a week - at minimum" from me. With two very small boys at home who like having their father around, this is a bit of a pickle.

At my old job, I worked 44 hour weeks, and that was manageable. An increase of 6 hours per week doesn't seem like a whole lot until you do the math:

6 hours X 52 weeks = 312 hours a year. That's almost the equivalent of working 8 more 40 hour work weeks a year. 312 hours of not seeing my sons, of time missed with my wife and valuable hours not being spent the way I would like... All for the sake of your job.

Did I mention these were salaried positions with no extra compensation for the extra time worked? No matter how you slice it, there's something wrong.

It's no wonder I'm enjoying this down time with my kids so much.

Where's that lottery when I need it?