I'm a 27 years old italian guy.Sorry for my bad english.

I hope that this isn't an off topic question.

Currently I work as a costumer service technician in an italian internet provider.I'm currently thinking about a career change,I think that working as a programmer/developer may be something I like because even though I didn't study programming much,when I did it in high school and later I found it enjoyable.

I'm trying to understand what job I may find interesting and enjoyable. Lately I took the Ruby online course on Codecademy and,even though I had difficulties with the last lessons,I enjoyed it.

There are a few aspects about the programming field I'm worried about though,I heard about an overtime culture in the field and about death marches and stuff like that,I don't think I would like a job that often require to do overtime.

I mean,I can do a few overtime when it is needed but I don't think I want to work in a field where it is a common practice. I'd like to have a 8-17 job and do a few overtime hours only every now and then when it is actually needed.

I tried to find threads on the internet and on this site about how common doing overtime in programming field is but I didn't find much,I read that in some company it's possible to work office hours as a programmer but I have the following doubts:

• are company like those common?
• Would it be very hard to find a company like that in your opinion?
• Do you think that this field isn't suitable for those who don't want do do overtime on a regular basis?
• I guess it may really vary but I'd like to ask you,how many overtime hours a month you think one would usually end up doing?

I know that if I decide to work as a programmer I will need to study and learn it at a level that will allow me to work,there are also other aspects of the job I'm worried about but I think it is better to post a question per time.

Also at the moment I live in italy so I'm going to ask the same question in some italian forum but I'd like to also know how this field is around the world (working aborad is another think I'd lke to do)

Thank you in advance for any possible reply.