How would you categorize the schedule flexibility at think tanks? Do you believe it varies by the three categories you’ve mentioned or by seniority levels? My well-being and productivity are much higher with a later start time
I can think of one factor that encourages a rigid schedule. Government work starts at 8am or 9am, sometimes by mandate. Think tanks will have their workday earlier to maximize overlap with bureaucrat schedules
But I can also think of another factor that encourages a flexible schedule. “Ideas industry” work have deliverables that may not be time-sensitive. This means less hard deadlines, less need for “putting out fires”, and less need for everyone to be on the exact same schedule
Overall, I would say there’s a fair bit of flexibility in the think tank world (certainly more than in government). But it does vary across think tanks, and across teams within think tanks.
As far as I know, the variance isn’t strongly correlated with the type of think tank. The nature of the work/team may be more predictive — if you’re in an external-facing communications role, you may have to be available/monitoring your email at certain times. Research and writing roles tend to be more flexible, but you could still end up on a team with a strong 9-to-5 culture.
If this is important to you and you’re considering think tank jobs, I’d encourage you to ask around — former or current employees of specific think tanks should at least be able to tell you about the norms at that think tank, even if they can’t give blanket answers.
How would you categorize the schedule flexibility at think tanks? Do you believe it varies by the three categories you’ve mentioned or by seniority levels? My well-being and productivity are much higher with a later start time
I can think of one factor that encourages a rigid schedule. Government work starts at 8am or 9am, sometimes by mandate. Think tanks will have their workday earlier to maximize overlap with bureaucrat schedules
But I can also think of another factor that encourages a flexible schedule. “Ideas industry” work have deliverables that may not be time-sensitive. This means less hard deadlines, less need for “putting out fires”, and less need for everyone to be on the exact same schedule
Overall, I would say there’s a fair bit of flexibility in the think tank world (certainly more than in government). But it does vary across think tanks, and across teams within think tanks.
As far as I know, the variance isn’t strongly correlated with the type of think tank. The nature of the work/team may be more predictive — if you’re in an external-facing communications role, you may have to be available/monitoring your email at certain times. Research and writing roles tend to be more flexible, but you could still end up on a team with a strong 9-to-5 culture.
If this is important to you and you’re considering think tank jobs, I’d encourage you to ask around — former or current employees of specific think tanks should at least be able to tell you about the norms at that think tank, even if they can’t give blanket answers.