Are deadlines an important part of your job?
 

Does your job require you to submit work by a certain deadline or do you perform tasks that aren't deadline based?

I ask because in college right now I have a lot due, and it is overwhelming at times. This made me wonder how many people had deadlines at their jobs, and what kind of deadlines they were...

I used to-our projects were due on specific dates according to a pretty tight schedule.

At my present job, however, our design work is so large scale that our deadlines are more vague and farther apart. For instance, the first installment of a project I started in December isn't due until May.

/Glances at calendar.

(Yikes - is May <i>really</i> only 7 days from now!?)

no job - unemployed now.

applied at burger king.

All of my projects have deadlines, typically it is the most important constraint in my job.

It kinda washes out in the end. Sometimes I work sixty hour weeks to meet a deadline, sometimes I have plenty of time and work 20 hour weeks.

Yes, as I direct software development projects, deadlines are an important part of my job.

Also, as I direct software projects, going way over deadlines is another important part of my job.

There are no rigid deadlines with my job really. However, we do have periods of time when we figuratively put the pedal to the metal and it's a big deal to see how much we can accomplish in that time span. Typically this lasts about 10-15 days or so and it's not uncommon during that time for people to work 60-80 hours weeks. The end result is well worth it however. Aside for that, there really aren't any deadlines. At least, not the type that if I miss there are any bad consequences.

i have a few minor daily ones, like when incoming stock needs to be received and when to expect different deliveries, but beyond that, not really. i'm blessed with a gig that isn't constantly pushing me to break my ass over something that is, in all probability, just gonna be tossed aside anyways.

Nope. I just sit there and take calls all day. Rarely ever have suprises. I do get rather bored though.

Yes. In print publishing, deadlines are part and parcel.

We have deadlines, client projects are hard deadlines and can't be moved but our application development timelines are more flexible. Get used to having to meet deadlines you will need to meet them regardless of what job you end up with....unless you work for the government.

Not mine really.

I stock produce, and the only deadline I really have is punching out when my shift is over. :)

At my job as a mechanic we have to meet the deadline that we give the customer. The customers tend to get bitchy when you tell them they can't get their car back tonight because the dumbass mechanic didn't get it done.

That's the worst part of journalism.


I'm always late.

Yes, deadlines drive my job. Some weeks I work like hell and stay late to publish something on time, others I can slack a bit because nobody's looking for anything from me.

I don't want to make the deadlines in college sound trivial but the deadlines I now have drawf those I had in school. I believe this to be true because the stakes have gone up. I would rather worry about that term paper deadline as opposed to worrying about these 10 multi-million dollar accounts -- with attorneys, investments bankers and CEO's all clamoring to get the same thing from you and you only have two hands and 24 hours in a day...

But that's America -- so my advise to you when you get out of school -- the money is out there to be made and noone is going to give it to you. Work hard, pay your dues and affiliate yourself with those who can bring you to the next level.

(So how do I spend so much time on TFP? I've luckily already payed my dues and am at the top of the food chain at my company) ;)

Deadlines are a HUGE part of what we do. I'm on a April 30 dealine for two really large projects that we're behind on.

Of course, spending time on TFP isn't exactly helping matters, but....

I have to agree with that. If I don't make a deadline my clients can be fined up to a maximum of $10,000/day until corrected. Which would be kind of hard to explain...Gee I'm sorry, but I was TFPing all day.
But like you I'm toward the top and they always say "doo-doo" rolls down hill.
Ohh how I miss those college days

You bet. They often keep me at the office until late or cause me to come in on the weekend. It's the price I'm willing to pay on the road to early retirement. Well, hope so anyway.

Yes. I work with marketing and we have deadlines constantly. A lot of the work is in project form where the deadline is set in the beginning of the project, but then theres also the 'normal running work' on the side with not so sharp deadlines :)

I don't have any normally.

Currently I'm about to roll out a nationwide application so I have some milestones and deadlines to hit to make sure the launch happens smoothly and orderly.

Most of my deadlines are self imposed. While I am not an independent consultant, I have pretty much free reign with the customers that I support. So if I promise them something by a certain date, I better deliver it. I try to set realistic deadlines, but it doesn't always happen.

Holy crap are you kidding me? Yes...deadlines deadlines deadlines and every week a new stream of expectations crop up out of seemlingly nowhere. In consulting you live with the constant threat of a deadline passing and it's part of the adrenaline that keeps you going. Scope creep is your enemy...saved sent email is your best friend!! :D

That causes me to lose sleep and twitch and raise my blood pressure many notches...

I'm in denial about a lot of my clients :)

I work for an architectual millwork and casework company that does strictly commercial work. Cabinetry for schools make up the lions share of our work, we also do a few jails, hospitals, civic centers, etc. Without fail, every contract includes a deadline and has provions for liquidated damages if we fail to meet those deadlines. Typically it's a five to ten thousand dollar fine and an additional one to five thousand dollars a day. So, yeah, I'd say pretty much my job is deadline driven.

My immediate reaction to this is: AAAAARGHHH!!! YES!!

I have tons of deadlines in my job. Our final product is a written report and there are teams of attorneys sitting there tapping their toes waiting for it. My reports get delayed when I can't get people's statements because one flaky peon decides he's too busy to call me back or he just doesn't feel like it that day. Since these flaky people are a part of the company that chooses the insurance carrier who hired us, I basically have to kiss their ass and can't call them every ten minutes demanding their time because we could lose the account if they get pissed and complain. My reports also get delayed when I have twice as much work as I can handle and I have to prioritize one over the other. Priorities change according to which adjustor or attorney calls and says they need our report asap, so if I haven't done anything on a case I'd better be prepared to explain it. There is a lot of stress because we could lose accounts with our clients if we screw up too bad, or just because they don't like us anymore. Everyone gets pretty anxious when there's money involved. And, guess what? My school habits of leaving writing papers until the last minute is absolutely not helping me here!

As a musician, I feel I'm only dealing with deadlines. or not?
Decisions are made in realtime.

If I don't meet a deadline in closing one of my cases, I put the bank I work for at risk for non-compliance with a court order.

Thankfully many attorneys and agents are very understanding, and are very willing to give me more time if need be. The worst (no offense to any) are divorce attorneys. They have zero sympathy.

Some of the projects I work on have deadlines and some don't. It makes it a bit easier since not everything will have to be done at the same time.

I have no problem meeting deadlines that I control. Unfortunately, my job usually sits at the end of a long project plan. If everybody else's time line slips, I'm stuck at the end trying to make it up. I have a great deal of problems with non-technical project managers setting unreasonable expectations.

It depends on what you're going into and what sort of position you expect to get into. I've worked in various environments from fast food joints to construction yards to the tech support call centre I'm in now. In the warehouse I had firm to-the-minute deadlines; that truck departs at 09:37, that one at 10:03, both need to be loaded up with all necessary stock before they go. The construction yard was the same, although the pressure was on the boss he'd make sure we knew when the job had to be done.

In my current position I don't have deadlines because I don't get involved in any long-term projects. However, I'm also in the process of starting a new business with some friends and we have very strict deadlines as to when products need to be delivered, when advertising material needs to be at the printer and so on and so forth. Same goes for our R&D, although I'm not directly involved there they have very firm deadlines as to when projects need to be completed. The company's in it's infancy and is only just balancing out expenitures and profit now, but as our client base and therefore business increases, we expect the deadlines and pressure to increase accordingly.

So basically, by my experience the higher up you are the greater the pressure gets.

EDIT - It's worth noting that I never went to college, so my work experience is likely to be very different from a college graduate.

Deadlines are what keep me going. If I don't have deadlines I won't get anything done.

I'm just a mom, but deadlines are still important. Just not as noticeable. If I don't get their clothes washed by the time they go to school, they go naked. Just kidding. If I don't make supper on schedule, I definitely hear about it.

I cook for a living, my deadlines are set in stone. If breakfast isn't ready to go by 7:15, there's going to be a 250 homeless person riot and they'll all be looking for me. There's also a lot of time management involved. If I serve roast beef on Thursday, I have to have the roast thawing on Sunday, marinating by Tuesday, cooked and cooled down on Wednesday and then sliced and served on Thurday. If I miss any of those deadlines, then the meal won't be ready on time.

Absolutely. I would love to go back to the kind of deadlines that I had to meet at university.

I'm a Project manager for IT implementations. We buld our entire plans around deadlines. We even have a tool (MS Project & Project Workbench - Niku) for managing the effort/cost of the tasks.

Deadlines are the bread and butter of what makes the money change hands in the IT business.