Comment by kirinan

This resonates with me. Im a software engineer, with a young child (< 1 yr), and am pretty young myself (23). I've been working full time since I was 18 (juggling college and full time work), and got married fairly young (20). Because Im young (regardless of home responsibilities) software shops expect me to work 10+ hour days, and I pretty much have to lay down the law: if you are interested in any amount of talent that I have (which I have no idea how much/or little that is), then you are going to have to deal with 8 hours of me putting in a rigorous amount of work. Do I go heads down for 8 hours most days? Yes, and I usually feel like I couldn't work another hour after I leave anyways. However, it gives the appearance that I don't care about my career or dont care if the company is successful or not. This is the opposite of the truth, I want to reach my peak as a developer as much as the next guy, and I always strive to get better. I spend more time than most people on developing my skills and always try to participate in the community whenever possible. I think business and life should be separate, and honestly people should also not judge other people. They don't know their circumstances, nor do they know what that person wants out of life. You are free to hire who you want, and think however you want, but in the end its your loss, not mine.