I’m a German nurse interviewing for 9 to 5 office jobs.
If I get one of these jobs, I wanted not to completely leave nursing: my system pays better than other local hospitals and I don’t want my experience to go to waste. I wanted to work 2 to 4 weekend days per month, only second shift (shift starts at 12:30 and ends at 21:30), 'cause this is considered the easy shift and I want the extra money, but if I don’t like it, I can always change units or just work my office job.
I’m curious to hear answers from both sides of the Atlantic
At the very minimum, I’d suggest waiting until you are actually working that 9-5 office job, before considering giving up your weekends. You may feel very different about things, once you are in that position.
My own situation is that I work generally 8-4 in a fully remote position. I like what I do and often spend my personal time reading and learning within the same field, just because I like that sort of thing. Even still, when the weekend starts, I have zero desire to go work somewhere else. I have a family I want to spend time with, hobbies I want to engage in, and just generally not be “on the clock”. There is a lot more to life than work, go do that.
That said, if money is an issue, I can certainly understand the desire to work more. My income is high enough that I don’t have to stress over money. So, the pressure to earn more just isn’t there. Any extra income would either just be used to pay stuff off faster or go into savings. If you are in a position where money is a significant stressor, then the extra work may make sense. Some extra time with your nose to the grindstone now could pay dividends in the future.
Overall, I’m in the camp of not spending all your free time working. Work to live, don’t live to work.