I’m a nurse working shifts and sometimes 5 days without a pause and I still don’t know if I’m gonna take one of the 2 9 to 5 jobs my hospital system has offered. I’d earn less money, but I’m already 45 years old and I don’t know if I should call it quits and settle for a regular job 5 days a week and free weekends for the rest of my working life. Hustling in nursing is ok if you are in your 20s or 30s but in my 40s? I don’t see it.
I like the extras I get for working shifts but it’s taxing. I’ve been doing nursing for 6 years already and neither do I know how difficult is the transition going to be.
I changed from shift work in industry to a desk job in IT, in my early 30s after having worked shifts for 8 years. I always liked shiftwork, the varied times and the active nature of the job never got boring. I chose the industry because I always knew I would hate a desk job, being in an office all day.
And it really sucks, I cannot stand being in an office and working at a desk for 8 hours a day. Pay is good, the job very interesting, the company and coworkers are nice, nothing to complain - but man, I fucking hate office environments. Luckily, we have a lot of flexibility and can work remotely, or take frequent breaks at the office, and generally are flexible in how to structure the work day.
Without all this, strictly having to be in an office for 8 hours each day with rigid times - I would not last long.