That describes me, though in tech. Trying to step back in to tech and recently had interview. After I explained parenting time schedule, HR guy said everbody works 60 hour weeks every week so there is not a role for me.

Yeah the incredulous looks I get when I turn down gigs at "unlimited" PTO positions are just wild.

Like what did you expect to happen? We're not stupid.

"Unlimited" gets a bad rap.

At the place I'm at right now, we have an unlimited policy and I've got 25 days of PTO planned over the course of the year that's all been approved.

But yeah...I do know not every place is that good about it.

I believe there's studies showing that unlimited PTO policies actually result in people taking less time off, especially in competitive environments. The theory is people don't want to be viewed as "the guy" who takes more time off than anyone else. I'm not sure that's a good thing. There's less of that pressure when it's earned PTO.

Its just corpspeak for "we don't want to commit to you getting time off or a possible slight payout"

This is so weird to me. I've always said I work 4 days, 32 hours, and that has almost never been a problem. I've once spoken to a prospective employer that really wanted 40 hours, and although the job sounded really interesting, 40 hours was not an option for me.

At all jobs, vacation time was almost never a problem. Maybe that's more the case now that I'm a freelancer, though. I just announce when I won't be available, and although we do try to plan things so that we never have the entire team gone at the same time (unless the company as a whole plans for that; Christmas breaks are often like that), they always accept my absense. It's really notifications, rather than requests.

But this is Netherland. We've got quite a different work culture than the US does.

That sounds perfectly fair actually. You explained you can't work 60 hours a week and he explained it's not the role for you. Complete honesty and the choice was made not to do the deal. You shouldn't get special hours or treatment for being a parent.

I agree with you, and I wanted them to know my needs so we all succeed. Hilariously the guy never asked my pay needs (low) and talked to me about the top of the pay range. I didn't care to correct him since the expectation was overtime all the time for everybody. Looks like a management culture I don't want to struggle against, so I can look elsewhere.

Look into state government IT. Low pay, but you'll never work over 40 hours a week.