If you handle those challenges well, you'll rise quickly because your company needs you to. To survive, you've got to be smart, quick minded, and have a sturdy sense of humor. This industry isn't for straight-laced types who grew up dreaming of gray Brooks Brothers suits and Saturday night bridge games. Dot com recruiters value a sense of humor highly because it's often the only way to deal with the absurd pace of change and intense demands of the job. The jobs require an extraordinary commitment, and if you don't get along with your coworkers, you won't last long.
Insiders spend about ten hours a day at work, with crunch times calling for even longer hours.
With these long work hours come some fun and games. Many companies throw weekly parties or hold monthly happy hours. Don't be surprised if you find yourself sharing a pitcher of beer with your company founder-the youth and flat organizational structure of many dot coms makes them collegial places where people from all levels of the company socialize regularly. The Bottom Line Jobs at dot coms may sound like big commitments-and they are. But keep in mind you're going to have stock options, so in some sense, it's your company you're working for.