Survey Results

First PrevNext

Survey Member 19132345-Jan-05 1:18 Member 1913234 5-Jan-05 1:18  Public holidays only 3 1/2 months last year; not muc this year Anna-Jayne Metcalfe30-Dec-04 0:59 Anna-Jayne Metcalfe 30-Dec-04 0:59  The title says it all. I must admit last year was a little unusual (even by my standards)...normally I'd take about 20 days a year at most. This year I'm working for myself so time off (of any kind) is likely to be somewhat unpredictable... Anna Riverblade Ltd - Software Consultancy Services Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "Be yourself - not what others think you should be" - Marcia Graesch "Anna's just a sexy-looking lesbian tart" - A friend, trying to wind me up. It didn't work. Re: 3 1/2 months last year; not muc this year devvvy31-Dec-04 23:30 devvvy 31-Dec-04 23:30  Three and a half months!? That's more than the number of day-offs I had in last three years! Norman Fung Re: 3 1/2 months last year; not muc this year Anna-Jayne Metcalfe31-Dec-04 23:41 Anna-Jayne Metcalfe 31-Dec-04 23:41  Me too. It was sick leave this time...;) This year I'm doing something different - working flat out for no salary. Anna Riverblade Ltd - Software Consultancy Services Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "Be yourself - not what others think you should be" - Marcia Graesch "Anna's just a sexy-looking lesbian tart" - A friend, trying to wind me up. It didn't work. Re: 3 1/2 months last year; not muc this year devvvy31-Dec-04 23:42 devvvy 31-Dec-04 23:42  I took friday night off (Did I cheat? Everyone takes friday off every week) Norman Fung Re: 3 1/2 months last year; not muc this year Anna-Jayne Metcalfe31-Dec-04 23:45 Anna-Jayne Metcalfe 31-Dec-04 23:45  Maybe it's a UK thing, but until I started working for myself I'd never been asked to work between Christmas and New Year...usually the company would shut down by Christmas Eve, and reopen on the first weekday following New Year. This year's different of course...we've so much to do! For example, today is hook-up-a-new-server day... Anna Riverblade Ltd - Software Consultancy Services Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "Be yourself - not what others think you should be" - Marcia Graesch "Anna's just a sexy-looking lesbian tart" - A friend, trying to wind me up. It didn't work. Re: 3 1/2 months last year; not muc this year devvvy1-Jan-05 3:03 devvvy 1-Jan-05 3:03  Competition competition and competition. That's three boring words we keep hearing over and over again. Norman Fung Re: 3 1/2 months last year; not muc this year devvvy1-Jan-05 3:08 devvvy 1-Jan-05 3:08  Sorry, I might sound a little negative, but... I'm working tonight (1-JAN-2005). Norman Fung Re: 3 1/2 months last year; not muc this year Anna-Jayne Metcalfe1-Jan-05 4:35 Anna-Jayne Metcalfe 1-Jan-05 4:35  That's fair enough, if they give you a fair share of the profits. If on the other hand you receive no dividends or bonuses I'd say they're probably taking advantage. What's the situation there like? Anna Riverblade Ltd - Software Consultancy Services Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "Be yourself - not what others think you should be" - Marcia Graesch "Anna's just a sexy-looking lesbian tart" - A friend, trying to wind me up. It didn't work. Re: 3 1/2 months last year; not muc this year devvvy1-Jan-05 5:17 devvvy 1-Jan-05 5:17  I'd say... I think the company didn't "intend" for this to happen, that from speaking to these people, I understant that management didn't really intend to "push" it so hard... But, isn't it "very" common in our business (industry as a whole...) that we "overcommit", not building "decent" buffers into our planning? When was the last time you see a project that is delivered on time? And within budget? I think there's no magic bullet - The only thing that can gaurantee ontime delivery is to be realistic (put in "decent" amount of buffers, as more often than not, detours happens). If you plan too aggressively, something is bound to break. Norman Fung Re: 3 1/2 months last year; not muc this year Anna-Jayne Metcalfe1-Jan-05 6:53 Anna-Jayne Metcalfe 1-Jan-05 6:53  That's too true unfortunately...I usually find that to give accurate estimates, everyone on the team has to be willing to take part in the planning and estimating process...which of course leaves less time for development. In an atmosphere where everyone is pressured and the company isn't even sure what it wants (but wants oit yesterday) planning and documentation are all too often the two things that go out of the window first. Even worse, adequate testing often follows - with all too expected results. Anna Riverblade Ltd - Software Consultancy Services Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "Be yourself - not what others think you should be" - Marcia Graesch "Anna's just a sexy-looking lesbian tart" - A friend, trying to wind me up. It didn't work. Re: 3 1/2 months last year; not muc this year devvvy1-Jan-05 15:35 devvvy 1-Jan-05 15:35  I think it's just a trend these days most projects are under-funded, with unrealistic expectation. And why? Cost cutting, competition... and perhaps just personal ego that overtime somehow indicates your personal success (That's an old tune isn't it...) So, I dont think I'm alone here. There're many people I know who's working during this festive season. Norman Fung 22 days. Max Santos29-Dec-04 22:52 Max Santos 29-Dec-04 22:52  2 days for every month of work, so 11*2 = 22 "There is no sin in making an error - we all do, and that's how we learn. Sin lies in letting stand an error, once we discover it, without correcting it." Roger Wright vacation in Croatia Tehning28-Dec-04 1:36 Tehning 28-Dec-04 1:36  Here in Croatia, we have minimum 18 days (without public holidays), and they are a must employer must give their employees. This past summer we (my G-friend and me) went to the south of Croatia, to some of the most beautiful islands one can find (http://www.tz-vis.hr/). In february we will go for a week to Italy or Austria to skii. And then I forget it all about the work... even though I own the business, I need to take time off, so that I can come back with fresh ideas and new enthusiasm. --- Hrvoje Kevic, BSCS&M Tehning d.o.o. hrvoje.kevic@tehning.hr Creating partners, modernizing customers. A week of quality time ;) with family and friends here in India... Salil Khedkar27-Dec-04 19:26 Salil Khedkar 27-Dec-04 19:26  Paid vacations has not become a norm in India yet, (may be because the govt sector has too many holidays anyway) but it is slowly catching up in high profile pvt sector. Typically many of us take 3/4 days off before or after Diwali or Xmas vacations so that we have 7 to 10 days off, and go on a picnic with family. Fortunately India has a whole lot of fascinating tourist destinations. Many of us also visit their parents place/hometown and enjoy there for a week or so. The singles spend their vacations on group outings or adventure activities like trekking and so on or just chill out in front of their favorite entertainment boxes. Movies, dining with GFs/BFs and relaxing at a resort are also fav options. Salil Khedkar [^] Re: A week of quality time ;) with family and friends here in India... Nish Nishant27-Dec-04 22:43 Nish Nishant 27-Dec-04 22:43  In Trivandrum, almost all softare companies offer something called earned leave where people earn 2 leaves for every month of work - so at the end of the year you have 24 leaves (paid leaves) and this is in addition to 12-24 casual/sick leaves. Nish My blog on C++/CLI, MFC/Win32, .NET - void Nish(char* szBlog); My MVP tips, tricks and essays web site - www.voidnish.com Software industry is the best for employee benefits! :) Salil Khedkar28-Dec-04 1:59 Salil Khedkar 28-Dec-04 1:59  In Pune, the best I have had so far is 18 paid leaves in a year (sick/casual and those kinds) but no paid vacations so far... But I have worked with only small (30+) to medium (100+) size companies so far. I hear from the friends working for the biggies that they do offer paid vacations for some positions. My first company had the policy of cash bonus for leave balance. That was yummy... I still remember the joy when I saved 10 or so leaves and spent the thousands that I got after encashing them to fund my new bike... But now I probably would not do that. When one has a family his time become more valuable than his money. I love the software industry... especially when it comes to employee benefits. It’s the best! Salil Khedkar [^] 12 mounths! v1227-Dec-04 18:15 v12 27-Dec-04 18:15  Oh ye u better belive it, taking a year out sure is great :] Re: 12 mounths! Armen Hakobyan27-Dec-04 20:37 Armen Hakobyan 27-Dec-04 20:37  I wish I also could Happiest man #define __ARMEN_H__ Re: 12 mounths! hoohah4228-Dec-04 7:33 hoohah42 28-Dec-04 7:33  I've done that too and highly recommend it. I took 14 months myself; hope to do it again in about 2 years... T'Man Not like the old days Roger Allen27-Dec-04 12:10 Roger Allen 27-Dec-04 12:10  I used to only take public holidays only. But now as I cannot trade holiday days in for cash I have to take them or lose them. Enforced idleness is a terrible thing. If you vote me down, my score will only get lower 3, barely Michael Dunn27-Dec-04 9:09 Michael Dunn 27-Dec-04 9:09  I usually take 2 weeks off around the end of the year (like I did this year) and then an odd day here and there, which probably add up to 3 weeks total. --Mike-- LINKS~! Ericahist | 1ClickPicGrabber | CP SearchBar v2.0.2 | C++ Forum FAQ | You Are Dumb More if I could Mark Tutt27-Dec-04 5:58 Mark Tutt 27-Dec-04 5:58  I've tried to take about 3 weeks this year, but it never seems to completely work out. Being a one man show, it's not possible to tell customers that you're on vacation when they have issues they want addressed immediately. An incentive to grow the business to the point I need full time help, so I can put 'I'm on vacation until {Insert Date}, if this is a support issue please call {employee}' on my voice mail. One of the down sides to self employment. On the other hand, I'm not worrying about having my job outsourced any more... Woohoo Navin27-Dec-04 4:39 Navin 27-Dec-04 4:39  Starting next year, I will finally get that coveted three weeks (paid) vacation a year. An expert is somebody who learns more and more about less and less, until he knows absolutely everything about nothing. Time off or time off to relax? Gary Wheeler27-Dec-04 3:16 Gary Wheeler 27-Dec-04 3:16  I get 4 weeks of paid time off a year. This year I've taken about 3 weeks of it thus far, none of which I've used for relaxation. Two weeks were for my wife's hospitalizations, and the other week in various doctor's appointments and 'I-gotta-get-this-done-at-home' kinds of things. Anybody else in the same boat? Software Zen: delete this;

Last Visit: 31-Dec-99 18:00     Last Update: 21-May-24 13:43 Refresh 12 Next ᐅ

General    News    Suggestion    Question    Bug    Answer    Joke    Praise    Rant    Admin   

Use Ctrl+Left/Right to switch messages, Ctrl+Up/Down to switch threads, Ctrl+Shift+Left/Right to switch pages.