Job Search 2022 Update: Week 1.1

So after my last update, I had one small change to write about.

For reference, I live in Minneapolis, which means I’m in America/Chicago (US Central). I’d been talking to an (external) recruiter about positions at Namely. The recruiter told me they asked, “Are you willing to work east coast hours?”.

I asked what that meant, since I’m very much not a morning person, and I’m not up to working 8-4 my time. I’ve had jobs where I had to get up early, and I was never able to shift my sleep times enough. I’d always stay up too late and I’d be tired most of the week, which was unpleasant. One of the best things about working for mostly remote companies has been flexibility in regards to working hours, with most places expecting that there would be some sort of 3-5 hour “core hours” block that mapped to late morning/early afternoon for most US time zones.

So then the recruiter said they wanted to know when I could start. I said 10 am. Most days I’m up before this, but occasionally I do sleep later than this, so I don’t love the idea of committing to 10 am every day. But it’s not untenable, just something I’d factor into my decision-making.

But this was too late for Namely so they didn’t want to move forward.

Maybe it’s just me but this seemed strange, especially for a company that lists all of its jobs as having remote options. If 11 am east coast time is too late, does that mean they won’t hire anyone on the west coast unless they can start before 8 am west coast time every day? Even people who normally get up early may not be able to make that work, especially if they have kids.

I do want to emphasize that I have no complaints about the recruiter who was acting as a relay in all this. He was quick to respond to me and was just passing on what the company was asking.

Overall, this is also a win. It’s always good to find out these types of issues as early as possible, before either side has invested much time in the process.