One must set one’s own boundaries. But admittedly, that is hard to do if you are in a profession where jobs are hard to come by. If you are in, say, IT, where jobs are plentiful, then you can set your own boundaries, and work normal hours, and your performance will be what matters.

It is really important to set this up from the outset. If you start out working long hours, but then try to reduce your hours, the reduction will be perceived as a negative. But if you start out with reasonable hours, and let it be known that that is how you work, then people will adjust their expectations — as long as your performance is okay.

A particularly important issue is weekend work. If the job is such that most people work weekends on a frequent basis, then you will have to do that if you want the job. But it might also be the case that people are setting things up to require weekend work unnecessarily, e.g., by not preparing things well ahead of time. You might be in a position to insist that preparation be made so that a weekend of work is not needed.