• Question: does your job have set hours or do you get called into work at random times?

    Asked by jonbanfield to Louise, Michaela, Sian, Steve, Yvette on 21 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Michaela Livingstone

      Michaela Livingstone answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Working in a university – so academic research – is very very flexible! I choose to work “regular” hours as much as possible, so 9-5 so I have time to do other things with my friends who have “normal” jobs, but sometimes if I need to do a big experiment I’ll stay in as long as it takes. My housemate who is also doing a PhD just down the corridor from me, he often doesn’t wake up until 11am, goes in ot the lab and sometimes can be there until 3am! I suppose it depends on what your supervisor (the person who runs the lab) wants as well – my supervisor likes to see people in the lab, otherwise he complains, and he has kids, so he works from like 8 until 3/4… so so long as we’re there for the majority of the time he’s happy 🙂

    • Photo: Steven Kiddle

      Steven Kiddle answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      I can chose when i go to work and when i leave. So i dont get called in or have set hours 🙂 Which is awesome and very rare for a job. However, if i dont put in enough hours then i’ll never do enough work to get my PhD done, so its about being mature enough to not skive all the time, even though you can easily get away with it as long as your not excessive).

    • Photo: Louise Johnson

      Louise Johnson answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      I pretty much get to set my own hours, except that I have some teaching responsibilities and of course I have to work to a timetable for those – if my students have a practical lab at 9am I have to be there in case they set each other on fire!

      I find I work late rather than early – I cycle to work just after nine to miss the rush hour and I work until about seven most days. But sometimes there are deadlines, so I work later for those, and very occasionally I skive off for the afternoon and nobody cares. You really have to be self motivated in science because nobody checks up on you!

    • Photo: Yvette Wilson

      Yvette Wilson answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      my set hours are 9 to 5:30, but it is flexible and may turn into 10 – 6:30 or 7 – 4:30. I do know scientists who do ‘night shifts’ but that doesn’t suit me and I also supervise people who work ‘normal’ hours.

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