Where should I work, for good work-life balance in the Bay Area? University? Government? Thinking about having a baby soon, but consulting doesn't seem to fit this well.
Salesforce
+1 for Salesforce.
Salesforce is the best. 26 weeks paid maternity leave is ridiculously good. They also pay to ship breastmilk home to your baby if you are a traveling mom
Work-life integration is becoming more the norm. If you're thinking about having a kid -- better get good at automating as much of your work as possible.
Anyone with experience working for the public sector?
Apple
Apple has good work-life balance?
No. I know like 4 people who work at Apple and it depends on your team. One of them needs to travel like 3 weeks out of every 2 months, as well as working some weekends.
Intuit has a good work life balance!!
Keysight, Stryker, med device
Good to hear, since Keysight seems to be my new employer soon...
Government is the epitome of work life balance. Might be too slow coming from the for-profit world though.
Government for sure. Less than 40 hour weeks, often only 15-25 real hours of work/week and relaxed atmosphere. Doesnt pay well but has excellent benefits, vacation, medical care plans, and pension. Someone competent like you would breeze through the ranks to a decent salary with plenty of kids time. Many friends I know made the jump.
If you are planning to start a family run away from consulting. Most public companies (lets exclude apple and teals from that list) have decent work life balance. I don't know your skill set but you might consider Cisco or juniper. You won't get rich but you will have a sane life and a paycheck. But it's up to you to keep your life sane. If you're the type to say yes to every manager that swings by you will be no better off than a startup job. Learn how to say no.
Agreed. I can vouch for Cisco's work-life balance, abundant WFH opportunities on most teams, and general flexibility.