TL;DR Yes you can find a rewarding, sanity-preserving job. And, it depends.
There's
- a 90% chance that you're in a bad environment,
- a 70% chance that you're a cynic,
- a 40% chance that you'll criticize any environment, and
- a 100% chance that you can improve your situation.
First set aside your anxiety about making the perfect decision. There is no silver bullet that will make your life perfect. Your next job need only get you closer to understanding what you want. Follow the 80/20 rule. Make a good decision. There's some great advice in the responses here.
Avoid binary decisions. Job involves carrying a pager? What percent of the time, and how often does it go off? If you wear it one week a month, and the pager only goes off once a quarter, you are joining a well run company. If the pager goes off twice a night, run like hell. Ask several people. Does the manager give a candy-coated answer? Walk away. You learn about the company by drilling in.
No place will be perfect. Ask yourself, do I want to work with these people? Can I learn from them? Are they intellectually honest? Only you know the things that matter.
You'll find a healthy environment that lets you work 45 hours a week. Not perfect, but in time you will recognize it if you are able to set aside cynicism. I learned to set aside cynicism, and you can too.
EDIT: When you ask about the pager, be careful not to sound like you hate pagers. Make it a question about their systems and processes, not a "lifestyle" question. Even in a place with a great lifestyle a reasonable working hours, it looks bad when an employee focuses on it.
There's
- a 90% chance that you're in a bad environment,
- a 70% chance that you're a cynic,
- a 40% chance that you'll criticize any environment, and
- a 100% chance that you can improve your situation.
First set aside your anxiety about making the perfect decision. There is no silver bullet that will make your life perfect. Your next job need only get you closer to understanding what you want. Follow the 80/20 rule. Make a good decision. There's some great advice in the responses here.
Avoid binary decisions. Job involves carrying a pager? What percent of the time, and how often does it go off? If you wear it one week a month, and the pager only goes off once a quarter, you are joining a well run company. If the pager goes off twice a night, run like hell. Ask several people. Does the manager give a candy-coated answer? Walk away. You learn about the company by drilling in.
No place will be perfect. Ask yourself, do I want to work with these people? Can I learn from them? Are they intellectually honest? Only you know the things that matter.
You'll find a healthy environment that lets you work 45 hours a week. Not perfect, but in time you will recognize it if you are able to set aside cynicism. I learned to set aside cynicism, and you can too.
EDIT: When you ask about the pager, be careful not to sound like you hate pagers. Make it a question about their systems and processes, not a "lifestyle" question. Even in a place with a great lifestyle a reasonable working hours, it looks bad when an employee focuses on it.