Overtime is expected in the design and development industry. It's when companies factor in overtime into their estimates in order to quote lower than other agencies competing for the same work because they know that the employees will pick up the slack to get it done, that's when it's not alright.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my job and where I work, but if overtime is an expected thing every single project, that's taking advantage of your own employees and a sure-fire way to churn through workers like butter and eventually get yourself a reputation in the industry for being a bad place to work. People talk and reputation matters in the design and development industry more than people realise, it's everything.
I have a family and friends, you might be okay with working overtime, but what about your wife, is she okay with it? What if you have children at home wanting to see their father? You might be okay with it now, but you'll regret it when you're older and realise you missed out on your children growing up.
If you are 20 and single, and staying late in the office means pizza and a bit of XBox with your team later on, it is genuinely much nicer than going back to your empty little apartment and microwaving an instant meal.
If you have a family, then regardless of how much you like XBox, if you are a decent person you will run out the door at 5.
I'm young and irresponsible. When I glance round the office at 8pm, and see a guys I know have baby children working free over time like every other night, I want to shake them.
You know what I do absolutely love? Having a roof over my head at night. Not starving to death.
"If you don't absolutely love your job, quit" is a great sentiment if you live in a utopian fairyland where you can comfortably support yourself knitting sweaters or playing video games or whatever it is you might love to do. In the real world, it's insultingly naive. Loving your job is a luxury that is simply not available to the large majority of humans, not at any price. If you're one of the exceptions, more power to you, but it's not really relevant to the rest of us.
> why the hell wouldn't you want to stay a few more minutes?
Strawman. Everyone stays that extra few minutes. Sometimes even a few hours on occasion. That's not what 'long hours' here refer to.
If you work for someone else and your attitude is "haha I love this job so much I'm willing to do it for free" then everyone else starts discounting everything on you "because hey that guy loves doing this stuff".
Don't bring your love for the job into the equation because that will only hurt you.