I've recently started a 3 months probation period in a startup (R&D), after graduating from university with an MS.c in STEM. The tech situation is awful here (Israel), and after sending my CV for more than 100 postings (there really aren't that many available tech jobs right now to even submit my CV to, especially for recent grads), and accepted the first offer that I received.
The salary is about 60k dollars a year, working 9 hours a day for 5 days a week + more than 30 monthly overtime hours that if I'm asked to do I won't get paid for. The way I see it, there also isn't really an option to sometimes work from home unless there's a good justification for it (getting kids out of school or whatever). I must say that the salary isn't even that luxurious considering the crazy COL here.
I'll get to the point. I can't stand the hours, I just can't. With a car commute of nearly an hour one way (no public transportation gets there in a reasonable amount of time) and deducting food preparations and everything for the day, I get only about 2 hours left a day for hobbies, but I'm just dead inside and have no mental capacity to do anything. Anxiety is coming back, and with it the panic attacks. It doesn't help being a complete introvert, feeling totally drained from social interaction in the office in the end of the day.
Maybe it's the false hope that I had, that after studying so hard in academy (getting honours and those things) and getting a Master's degree in STEM would finally provide me with some time to breath and get back to my hobbies. But it's worse now. My wife and I don't plan on ever having kids, and we consume very little, but that doesn't seem to help in getting some decent work life balance. Are part-time jobs possible for someone in my situation? When I looked for jobs all I found were full-time, and these hours are the standard here. I'd really not have a problem to get 40k-50k but stop being a zombie, I don't see the point of living this way and have no idea what I'm working for.
We plan to move to Europe next year (probably Austria, Germany or France), since I'm expected to be an EU citizen by then (thank you, ancestry). I understand that WLB is generally better there, and I might get more flexibility and the ability to maybe work remote, or even just work less and get less. But what until then? Would you advise me to do my 3 months probation period and have about 8 months off until we move? We have savings, it's just that there's always that “get industrial experience and avoid unemployment in your CV” that looms over my head, making me feel in a never ending prison. I feel so tired, locked in an office from morning to evening, and every single day feels just like the one that preceded it.
Sorry for the long post, and thank you for any input.