av1 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 I have been offered a job that involves continental shifts, 4 12 hour days, 4 days off followed by 4 12 hour nights. Does anybody do these continental shifts? and if so what are positives/negatives? I've always declined any job offers that include shifts and only ever worked days. On the upside it is 11k a year more than what i am on at the minute and its an exciting opportunity.please give me some positives!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted March 2, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted March 2, 2015 And here was me expecting a thread about continental plates shifting and any patterns that have been noticed as a result of close observation. 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
av1 Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 Sorry to disappoint Sir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 (edited) please give me some positives!!! 11k a year more than what i am on at the minute and its an exciting opportunity. Edited March 2, 2015 by Xela 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Supporter Stevo985 Posted March 2, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted March 2, 2015 By my rough maths, and assuming you're currently on a 40 hour week, you'd be doing about 100 more hours a year. But I guess that depends on holidays and the like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 (edited) I have been offered a job that involves continental shifts, 4 12 hour days, 4 days off followed by 4 12 hour nights. Does anybody do these continental shifts? and if so what are positives/negatives? I've always declined any job offers that include shifts and only ever worked days. On the upside it is 11k a year more than what i am on at the minute and its an exciting opportunity. please give me some positives!!! I imagine it'll be quite tough after the initial 6 month starting period has finished, that maybe why they incentivise people with the lure of money. Saying that, if you don't mind, do it and boom you've got an extra £8,800 in your pocket at the end of the year Edited March 2, 2015 by lapal_fan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaglint Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 I have no idea about these specfic patterns but a good mate of mines Mrs is a nurse and does nights etc. They tend to play hay wire with her moods etc and he hates them with avengance. Not checked to see if this is backed up by science but I'd imagine the Human body is not designed to be constantly shifting its sleep patterns. This messes you up hence why they pay more for people to do it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
av1 Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 I currently work 36hrs per week, so its not as big a payrise as it seems when you consider its an extra 12hrs pw . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 On the face of it without knowing what the job is, I'd do it for an extra £11k a year. I'd prefer to do longer shifts if it meant get extra whole days off. I occasionally do whole nighters and I can do one just by losing a day's sleep, I guess over 4 days you'd have to change your sleeping pattern properly which may be harder. Still, I'd take the extra money. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Supporter Stevo985 Posted March 2, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted March 2, 2015 I currently work 36hrs per week, so its not as big a payrise as it seems when you consider its an extra 12hrs pw . It doesn't quite average out at 12 hours extra per week as some weeks you'll only work 3 days. But it's 318 a year I think. So the more you get paid, the less of a pay rise that is. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
av1 Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 Of the people I know that do/have worked nights, its a kind of Marmite thing, they either love them or hate them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 i used to do a 5pm-3am shift, 4 nights on, 3 off, but then back to the same start time, not sure how my body would like resetting its internal clock like that i'd say do it if you're under 30 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 shift work can **** you up on the other hand, shift work can mean 4 days off regularly, meaning you get your mini break holidays and weekends away without dipping into annual leave if you're precious about being on holiday at holiday times, that can be tricky personally, and it is a personal taste thing, I'd jump at it in an instant 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Supporter chappy Posted March 2, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted March 2, 2015 I worked nights last year (nothing like this though as I was stacking shelves and it couldn't be called exciting in any way!). It was four 8 hour shifts Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday and then with the rest of the week to myself. It wasn't a nice sleeping pattern because Sunday was pretty much a write off and then I'd get the two days off before having to adapt my sleeping pattern again. Made watching villa games a pain on the weekend too but right now it might be better to not bother at all. 4 nights every 20 days probably wouldn't be too bad though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
av1 Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 i used to do a 5pm-3am shift, 4 nights on, 3 off, but then back to the same start time, not sure how my body would like resetting its internal clock like that i'd say do it if you're under 30 Sadly not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post The_Rev Posted March 2, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted March 2, 2015 What did one tectonic plate say when it bumped into another tectonic plate? Sorry. My fault. I work crazy shifts. I've never heard them referred to as "continental" shifts before, but basically I will do a week of very early AM shifts where I am waking up at 4am to start work at 5 (ish) and work until early afternoon and then go to a week where I am starting in the early/mid afternoon and working until somewhere near midnight. Long weekend every third week. How is it? Well, I've survived for nearly fifteen years. I'm in my mid thirties now and I can't get by on as little sleep as I could when I was in my mid twenties when four or five hours was enough but I've never found it too difficult to pinch an hour or two here and there when I really need it even as a father of two young children. It's more difficult going from lates to earlies (the jet lag equivalent of flying west) than vice versa so take extra care to get adequate rest when doing that. Try not to skip breakfast. Enjoy the fact you can do the weekly big shop at 10am or 2pm when nobody else is in the supermarket. I can't really offer any more advice other than it's not killed me yet and it probably won't kill you. There will be times when you miss social engagements if you work weekends, but I guess that's why they pay extra cash. Better to try it and give it up in six months if it doesn't suit than pass now and spend the rest of the year wondering whether you could have hacked it or not. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
av1 Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 Thanks Rev. I suppose my hesitation is also due to the fact that my current job is not only very secure, but also its a complete doddle, 7rs a day, I'm certainly not work shy but It feels like moving from one extreme to the other. But as posted above, there is obviously a reason why the salary is decent, can't have everything I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjaacckk91 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 (edited) I work a similar shift pattern, 12.5h shifts, but not 4 on 4 off. i do fewer days in a row, and less time between shifts. It goes weekday nights, weekend of days, weekend of nights then weekday days, and then a longer break. Anyway into the good stuff, *Good amount of quality time off(full days off means you can get more done) *Holidays- if you book them round your pattern you can get long breaks for less holiday. *long shifts, eventually you get used to how long they are and the hours can fly by, especially if you're busy. *You can leave your work at work (as it says, when your shift is over its over, great if you're having a bad shift/day) *£££ Negatives *On a workday there isn't much time for anything else (dependant on how far you travel) *It will mess with your sleep on your days off. *Factor in your turnaround time(at the end of your set of night shifts you will want a nap, and will feel pretty lerthargic the rest of the day) *You'll be working weekends and your days off will fall on weekdays (it can put a strain on relationships) *You will likely be spending days off alone I've been working shifts for 2 years, and work with people who have been on shifts for 30. Some people love shifts and the shift pattern, for me, I don't think I want to do them forever, but it works for me at the moment. I'd say the really important thing is think about how it will affect your out of work life, working long shifts is something you will get used to, and you will figure out how you need to alter your sleeping pattern to get by. But you will have times where it feels like everything outside of work falls on your workdays, so you can miss out on a lot of stuff. If you have any questions just ask and I'll do my best to answer or ask people I work with who have been on 12h night/day shifts longer. Edited March 2, 2015 by jjaacckk91 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator blandy Posted March 2, 2015 Moderator Share Posted March 2, 2015 What the others who've done it said. I used to do a similar-ish kind of pattern a long time ago, and it was OK. The nights were the ones that mess you up, the most. Each time a week of nights started, the first night was always getting used to it, then the others a kind of grey drudge. It's OK when you're young, which I was, but I wouldn't want to do it long term ( I did it for 6 years or so). My pattern was a week (mon-fri) of 8 hour days, a week (mon-fri) of 8 hour evenings, a week of 8 hour nights (mon-thu), then days again, then evenings, but staying at work completely from 4:30 fri evening to 8am mon morning - so that was massive long week - 96 hours. But then a week off and then back to the start. Didn't get any extra money for it, but the extra 8 weeks off a year compared to permanent days was nice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 (edited) Welcome to the plantation! Edited March 2, 2015 by MakemineVanilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts