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Who is hiring AND offers 4+ weeks of vacation?

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Re: Who is hiring AND offers 4+ weeks of vacation?

#4
post #3

This will be the shortest thread in HN history... On serious note, I'm really not aware of a single one. I heard some

A similar point: I've never actually met someone who has 4 weeks of vacation to actually use all 4. Generally, when you work up to the point at a BigCo where you can command a larger vacation, it's hard to remove yourself from the day-to-day practices of work.

Plus, America has an embedded culture of trying to "outwork the competition" in everything we do, from sports, to academics, to the workplace.

It stems from the postwar era of growth where human hours logged in an office were the only drivers of progress. Obviously the world is different now, with the advent of the internet, but old habits die hard.

Re: Who is hiring AND offers 4+ weeks of vacation?

#5
To be honest going into job interviews with a sense of entitlement about paid vacation time would probably reflect poorly with potential employers.

We offer 3 weeks (fairly generous for Canada), but I would be extremely put off by a candidate who wanted to discuss vacation time first and foremost.

Re: Who is hiring AND offers 4+ weeks of vacation?

#6
I know Netflix has instated a flex vacation policy -- take as long as you need, but you have to get the job done first.

It depends on where you are looking to work? If you're looking to sign on with a startup hiring their first 5 employees, then you're against the odds. Most big American companies are the same way.

In all, it will depend on how good you are and how essential you are to the company. For the first year of employment at a 150 person firm, you may have to make do with 10 days. However, if your role is crucial to the company, negotiating 4 weeks of vacation should be easy.

As it stands right now, unless you're a god among men in your trade, you are replaceable, simply because they haven't hired you or even fallen in love with you in the interview process. I'd apply to a mid sized company you want to work for, and negotiate up for vacation. Everything's negotiable in hiring.

Re: Who is hiring AND offers 4+ weeks of vacation?

#8
post #6

I know Netflix has instated a flex vacation policy -- take as long as you need, but you have to get the job done first. It depends on where you are looking to work? If you're looking to sign on with a startup hiring their first 5 employees, then you're against the odds. Most big American companies are the same way. In all, it will depend on how good you are and how essential you are to the company. For the first year…

Flexible vacation sounds a lot like flexible salary, in my opinion. How do I know how much is reasonable? Also, how do you determine when the job is done, unless you have a very detailed to do list for the year? My job is never done, otherwise I'd be fired. Also, I hear people mentioning "taking 4 weeks in a row" as something quite rare.

Re: Who is hiring AND offers 4+ weeks of vacation?

#10
I would "never" work for a company that only offers 10 days of vacation

That drastically reduces the number of companies you could work for. I have never had a problem with the number of vacation days. If you need more, just take unpaid days. If company A offers 4 weeks of vacation and company B offers 2 weeks, assuming everything else is equal, try to negotiate 4% more in pay to compensate for 1 paycheck's worth of unpaid vacation. I have always been able to negotiate at least 10% more than the initial offer for every job I took. This more than makes up for any lack of vacation days. I vacation a lot (e.g. 1 week Caribbean cruise, 4 days in Cancun, 5 days in Puerto Rico, 1 month in Philippines, 1 week Caribbean cruise again, Vegas for New Years, and a 3rd 1 week Caribbean Cruise within a 365 day period at a company that just offered 2 weeks paid vacation) and I just take unpaid days.

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