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Having a Work/Life Balance in mind when looking for a job?

Ok, so I'm tired of the old slave trade work routine. I want a job that thinks Work/Life Balance is important. How can I look for a job with this in mind. ~ Put it in my cover letter? ~ When should this be brought up with recruiting employers? ~ What kind of Companies already have this benefit in mind? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks,

Public Comments

1. 1. The goal of your cover letter/resume should be to "sell" yourself and hence putting anything that doesn't contribute positively to the sale is not a sound idea in my opinion. However, you can do your research (which I think you're doing right now) about the companies who respect work/life balance and target them. Mentioning your agreement with their philosophy of work/life balance at an appropriate stage during an interview makes more sense to me as mentioned in # 2 below. 2. During an interview, once you've convinced the interviewer about your track record, hard work, sincerity etc., it's perfectly all right to mention your preference of work/life balance at this point in your career. In other words, you have to be careful not to come across as someone who's not willing to put in what it takes to get the job done. Even at a company where work/life balance is a way of life, there may be times when you need to put in extra hours. However, you can "take your life back" at other appropriate times. 3. Many big companies (and small ones too) have embraced the philosophy of work/life balance. Come to think of it, it also makes business sense. Overworked employees aren't too productive on a sustainable basis and it may also result in higher healthcare costs. Good companies also treat their employees as assets and want to take care of their human capital. For specific companies, www.cnnfn.com recently published a list of most admired companies. I don't agree entirely with the list (since it doesn't have my employer who, in my experience, is one of the best when it comes to work/life balance :-)).
2. What a great question! You haver finally realized that employers mostly care about the bottom dollar and not you. Nowadays, you have to be polically correct with your words so you don't blatantly offend anyone. I'm originally from Jersey, next to Philly, so I come off rude no matter what I say. I'm a nice guy but I am used to the way everyone else talks in that area. Now in FL, people from other areas get offended. So I had to talk politically correct. You don't need to be upfront in an interview. Unless the boss seems to be a family person, do not mention your family. Once you sell yourself, are hired, and are filling out the I-9 and W-4, thats when you drop the bomb with your NEED for a balance. A balance is important. Without it, you become unhappy. With that unhappiness comes yelling at spouse and kids, loss of sleep, and loss of libido. If your boss gives you an attitude, ask him or her what hours they work. Its not good to question your boss but if they work more convenient hours than you, the level of fair isn't real high. I'm not sure what companies already have this benefit in mind. Some companies that say this is important are really lying. They will call you in on your days off so you feel you got the balance and you are doing a favor for them to come in while at the same time, they are doing you a favor by giving you the money. I don't do favors on salary when I am a manager unless it will directly affect my bonus in any way. I am actually opening up a retail business that DOES NOT sell food. I am not hiring right now because it is still in the business plan stage. But because of the whole work/social balance that is the most important factor to me, I have created a great work environment.... on paper ofcourse. Benefits for my business includes: 1) A 3 day on / 4 days off, no Sundays, 45 hour workweek 2) Free meals while working (breakfast,lunch,dinner) 3) Health, Dental, 401k, Private Pension, Life Ins, & IRA 4) Vacation Days, Sick Days, Why-Not Days (not kidding) 5) Paid time off for government holidays & Birthday @ 1.5 x Hourly Rate 6) Cost of Living increase after 1 year, monthly thereafter 7) Savings Bond Birthday and Holiday Bonus This obviously will make it much more expensive on the business side to operate. But, I will have the best benefits of any employer in the area. I really want to take care of my people. I do not mind spending the extra money to make my employees feel appreciated and happy. Yes, the 15 hour, 3 day straight workweek can be a bother but 3 days on / 4 daays off and no sundays. With the benefits, you can't beat that. You get great benefits and time to spend with your family. The biggest question you probably want to know is, how can I offer these benefits? Well most employers, who don't care to shop around. I did and found out its extremely easy to join a shared private pension fund as well as offer IRA and other benefits. So easy infact that you can find companies online that offer that. I hope I answered your question. Good luck finding an employer that gives you that balance you deserve.
3. Both great answers above. My short answer: 1) do NOT try to put it into your resume 2) you may not want to bring this up at all with recruiting managers - they look for flags and reasons to probe, dig and analyze. You can ask about culture. The answer will wither be work AND employee oriented or it won't. A better time/person to discuss it with could be your manager once you know you have the job (or offer). 3) do some research when investigating companies. If a company does more than give W/L Balance simple lip service it WILL be all over their website.