Career Advice-Taking Time off

[mrsggrowsveg]

I am a fairly recent grad working in an entry level programming position.  I would really like to advance in the company or get a higher level job in another company in the future.  My question is, does it look bad to take a lot (or even a little) time off around the holidays?  My boss, who is just older than me and very successful mentioned that our CEO walks the halls around the holidays to see who is working.  He knows that I want to advance, so I think he told me this to advise me to work.  Does anyone have experience with promotions being given more to people who take less time off?

[SunshineGirl]

I would say it doesn't matter at all for you moving to another company, but if your boss is correct, then maybe it does matter to your CEO, which is unfortunate. I've worked with people who do value your commitment to the company based on how much you work, and it can become something of an exclusionary club.

[SnackDog]

I would look for another company which values employees and encourages a healthy work life balance. I work at an extremely successful fortune 20 corporation which is really down on long hours except in emergencies.  I find most people work more effectively on normal work days and plenty of vacation. Whipping staff long hours without vacations just leads to lower performance, burnout, stress, etc.

[Spork]

I can't speak for whether that matters at your company, but if your boss says it matters (and you trust him/her) ... it's probably true.

Now this raises a question for me:  does this bother you?  If it does, then I'd keep my eyes open for a position somewhere else.

If they're expecting you to not take time off around the holidays, they're probably expecting that pretty much all the time.  And they may very well be expecting long hours as a norm.   If that is what you want...  well grab a hold of it and show them you were the best hiring decision they ever made.   But if that isn't what you want ... either set their expectations now or move on.

Personally: I am absolutely fine with working long hours in a crunch to get something important working.  But if someone wants me to work 70 hours a week every week of they year -- they need to hire 2 of me (or pay me double). 

[MissStache]

How big is your company?  If your CEO walked around and saw you there, would he/she even know who you were?  If they saw you in the halls two weeks later, would they recognize you as the person they saw working on Christmas Eve?  I doubt there are many that would.

[StetsTerhune]

I've never met a person, either at work or in life, who has more respect for the person who "does what they think others will respect" than for the person who lives by their own values and priorities.  I'm sure that someone somewhere does, and maybe your CEO is one of them, but in my experience you're never gonna get ahead by trying to impress people by being something you're not. By all means, try to make people notice the good qualities you have, but pretending to be the person who wants to work Xmas eve if you're not that person will generally not work.

[Frankies Girl]

It really does depend on the company culture. I would actually just politely ask your boss the same thing you've asked here - That you want to move up in the company, but you're unsure about how vacation time is viewed and you'd like clarification if taking time off will have an impact on how your job commitment and performance is linked and perceived. Nothing wrong with asking questions!

And if the boss does straight out tell you that vacation time is discouraged, then you'll have to weigh that against what you want out of your career/life balance.