Lucy, I flew to Alaska... Believe me, I know how you feel. I changed 5 flights for 72 hours.
Guys, if I could, I would invite you all for a beer somewhere...
Hahahah,
Well it's never so late to do the right thing, also you never know when & where actually things would go, i've been struggling since i arrived here 4 years ago, when i separated from my wife last June, things started to go really ugly, i went below zero level, sleeping on couches at friends houses, 6 months later, things is going as bright as it never been before.....just always think there's no impossible & make sure you hold on to what you got now.
Hmm in your profile info it says you are studying marketing?
I dont know what its like for you here, but I have a friend in Australia studying marketing and she definitely lets career dominate her social life. She has drifted from/lost a lot of her friends because of this, and the only reason her and I have remained friends is that I moved away so I don't get offended when she has no time for me and eventually give up on her.
She is still with the boy that she was with before she began studying, but the only reason that has been able to last is that he moved into her mums house.
But, from cutting out everything from her life except study she has done SO WELL.. and that has lead to her being offered a position at a marketing company that works in with her studying and counts for two subjects that she now doesnt have to do. So.. she isnt even finished uni and she's making more money than most people I know who are working full time.. and she's saved up enough for a deposit on a house and I don't think she has any regrets......... (she watched her (single) mum live pay cheque to pay cheque while raising two kids.. so career and getting ahead is very important to this particular friend)
I guess it will always just depend on how good your prospects with your career are.
I dont know - all the best with balancing it out!!
Jesus.. 72 hours.. that would literally kill me. When I'm doing the 24 hour flight from Australia to Switzerland I always wonder how its even possible for anyone to be expected to endure it. I HATE it.
I'm glad things are looking so good for you
I hear SO MANY stories on this forum about relationships breaking up It makes me feel very uneasy seeing as I have absolutely nothing here and rely on Luke 100%. Obviously, to myself I feel like nothing could go wrong.. but then I think that everybody else probably felt that way at some stage too.
Mm. I'm very torn at the moment. Uni starts in a month, and my parents will pay for me to go back and study.. but my heart desperately wants to stay.
Tough decision! Thanks for your thoughts..
I would always recommend not purchasing property if you want to balance career and personal life. Especially in Australia, the rich world's largest and last remaining property bubble. I hope your friend doesn't buy soon, or else she'll have a long life ahead of being dominated by work.
Regarding the original post, I have often seen that newcomers into the workforce will need to (and will often want to) work very hard to establish themselves. I think this is OK. I was the same, as I was very motivated and enjoyed it. It's later in life that you feel the need to balance.
So to vds I would say - go with the flow. If you're enjoying the work, don't worry too much about the balance. It might set you up to have a better balance later in life (through having better qualifications and income potential). But don't let it become a habit! Prepare yourself to be able to re-balance if other priorities come up.
When interviewing for my current job, I asked whether it was really 40 hours a week. They said yes and that's what I do (give or take a couple of hours). Then in my free time I have two kids, learn two languages, learn and play guitar and drink a couple of beers on Friday night on the couch in my own world - and travel about the place on holidays, for which I take my full entitlement.
I probably couldn't do this if a) I got to age 30 without a useful and not totally market- or fad-dependent skill, or b) I had a 20+ year mortgage hanging over my head, or c) I'd drunk so much beer I'd become an alcoholic by age 30.
Mostly it's old farts giving you advice (me included), so keep that in mind. Stay flexible! You will change as life goes on.
Oh I know.. I think she is crazy (she is working out all the loan details with her bank now as she wants to purchase something ASAP).. especially since she's still at uni. But she has her heart set on it, and her Mum is encouraging her, and I've given up on giving my opinion too much to friends who both have their heart set on it and their parents approval.. it just gets frustrating for us both.
I've read that a few times.. "property bubble".. and don't really know what it means.
"Regarding the original post" - I know you werent taking a stab! But just wanted to say I had no intention of making the thread go off track.. was just.. thinking with my keyboard!
If you don't have the skills to find employment and you don't speak the local language it is going to be next to impossible to get a job and money and therefore you will always be relying on your partners support.
This is probably not a healthy way to live.
Tough call indeed. Long distance relationships also aren't healthy.
How about studying here.
Open University course/long distance learning course or similar
Are the working hours in the company always fixed? Are the contract's details about working hours observed?
Can you left from the company when the 8 hours pass?
I post these questions because I believe that the problem of the balance we talk about, is not mainly a management problem(how to do it) but a problem of the remaining free time we have.
From my experience in greek companies, the employers always force employees to work more working hours than they should, and they do not even pay them extra, because of absence of state controls and sanctions. Ι would like to leave the company at 5 afternoon, even if they pay for the extra working hours. But, leaving company at the projected hour, make very bad impressing in greek employers. It is a bad labour market...
I hope Switzerland has better organisation on this. Better goverment/cantonal control for employers arbitrary actions, compliance with employment contracts, and at last the employee has the right to leave the company the projected hours(from contract) come!
Ι think that if you have the free time, then it's up to you to manage it well, in order to have balance of career and personal life. If there is no free time, then what balance we talking about?
This is a million dollar question, isn't? I guess everyone is trying to acheive this one way or another but I am sure there aren't many who are good at this. Atleast from the pool of people that I know. I see this as an ongoing challenge in our daily life. Right from the school days until now in whichever part of life we are in.
For me, my school/college days were more of social life but then after college I had to really struggle to catchup with my career during which I spent ridiculous amount of time at work. Add to that a company with global presence and very easily you can end up working almost round the clock.
From my perspective, it is hard to keep a striking balance but we can keep tilting it so that we make progress on both ends.
Since you are into master's I would say atleast for another year or so (is it 4 to 5 semesters?) career should be the prime focus without affecting your personal relationships. I am sure your loved ones will understand your priorities.
I'm wondering if I should start my own thread if I am going to be talking about this.. I dont want to take attention away from the original question.. but then I feel silly always posting threads asking for people's thoughts/advice.. someday somebody will just tell me to grow my own brain!
The only course at uni that interests me is nursing, and they don't do that by correspondence (not the unis I was accepted at in Australia anyway). Uhmmm other than that.. I really know nothing about studying here or anything.
Long distance relationships... *shudder.
Thanks thoughh!
How do I balance them?
I don't allow myself to be at the office for more than 45 hours weekly.
This means that sometimes I leave the office almost at 8pm on Mondays or Tuesdays, but then on Thursdays and Fridays I enjoy turning down people far higher than me in the hierarchy (I am 25 y.o. and I work for one of the biggest companies in the world so hierarchy is everything that matters) that want me to do something or just want to call me in order to discuss something.
But this is the case because I know that there's no interesting prospect within this huge and slow organization for me, so I really don't care (despite actually liking what I am paid to do). I am currently looking for a better job with a more interesting employer, and if I don't succeed I will go back to school for a masters as I only hold a bachelor at the moment. In my case it would be actually interesting to get fired and then enjoy Swiss unemployment benefits while preparing for GMAT tests and applying for masters programs.
I am afraid that when I get a really good job with interesting career prospects I will end up working 10 hours daily...
We work to live. If you live to work, there's something you have missed....
Lucy
have you checked what courses are taught here in English..?
I didn't think there were any, but was surprised when I met someone who was pursuing a master's in Finance in Zurich, in English!
Shortly before I finished school (oh well, that ́s a long time ago, more than 15 years ago), all my friends planned to study, some of them not to fullfill their dreams, but to earn much money and to make their parents proud. One of my best friends at that time wanted to become a vet. She studied and worked so hard, night and day. As she finished her exams, she had to move from one place to another. In contrary to her, I found an "easy" job as a secretary. I have nice bosses, great colleagues and I earn enough money. I can ́t count the times how often my friend told me "Tina, I ́m a bit jealous that you can live your live. Sometimes I wished I never studied."
Makes me sad when she says that. We rarely are in contact because she is so busy. But makes me believe that I made a good decision.
Would definitely second this. I really think you need some back-up plan. If you can't even speak some Swiss German, how on earth do you communicate on a daily basis? You've instantly got way less contact with Swiss people: the chat in the post office is gone, your neighbour isn't going to be able to suggest where to get the best chocolates/ biscuits, you're certainly not going to be able to build up a social circle.
I really think you need a plan which includes learning Swiss German, getting to know people in your community (and getting your own friends), plus some kind of work/ academic plan. Most people find that work or academic tasks do bring some sort of a healthy validation (so long as it doesn't turn into your sole interest ).
You know what I think about this anyway, and you also know that I came here with zero contacts, albeit some languages skills. I now have a job, some friends, and am going through the uni application process (which is complicated, but that's another story). Seriously, you need to start building your own life, otherwise I doubt you're really going to be happy here in the long run, and you risk ending up disappointed.
I missed this thread back in Jan but this post says it all. I've been guilty of putting career first and I've worked some stupid hours. My Dad gave me loads of good advice when he was alive but the piece I remember most was:
"Nev, think on about the hours you're working. There's a world of difference between being a good provider and being a good husband and father!"
I cant decide if im amused or jealous by this notion of balancing career and personal life.
I dont feel like i have much of either