Do you really 'want' to work 55 hours each week?

No, this doesn't allow for a good work-life balance.

Yes. To do this caliber of work, yes.

He made it abundantly clear that this was not a ramp-up schedule, and that 55 hours/week was what was expected year round. Again, the position was offering only 34k/year for 55 hours/week and a M.S. in Chemistry in downtown Seattle. The only reason I applied in the first place was because at the time I applied, they did not include the actual compensation package, they just said 'competitive salary', which obviously is a lie. I'm sure they're just trying to sucker in those already living in Seattle and recent graduates from University of Washington, hoping they're desperate. It's unfortunate that the company is doing this, but I wouldn't want to work for them, especially not after the CEO began boasting about his history of firing people. That was as unprofessional as it gets. It's never appropriate to talk about your history of firing people at any point to employees, but during an interview, I was actually disgusted that this was upper management doing something so blatantly unprofessional, and felt good for ending the interview (for the first time ever). I'd have perhaps waved it off, except that I could tell he was being serious. As a result of this, even if I had a different supervisor at this company, I'd be looking for a job elsewhere due to the fact that company politics are always top-down. I still recall that hint from one of the other people working there. "You don't work here for the money". The problem with that, is that most people work exclusively for the money. And $34k/year is barely enough to live on in Seattle. I was expecting at least $40k (if it was just 40 hours/week), but for 55 hours/week, I'd have expected closer to 50k starting. A friend of mine, also a M.S. in Chemistry, is earning about 44-48k/year right now, and is only working 40 hours/week, with the occasional couple hours here and there due to ramp up schedules, but it's not regular. Long story short, don't sell yourself short, or cheap because companies will take advantage of it. This company, sadly, seems to be less reputable in that respect. Look elsewhere.