Fairly recent start in consulting out of undergrad. The long hours are really starting to get to me. Just nothing seems worth sacrificing 16 hours a day or more for. How do you all manage with having basically no life outside of work and barely having time to take care of your health?

likefunny
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16 hours a day is rough. But it sounds like you drew the short straw on your first project as that’s definitely not the norm.

likesmarthelpful

I have a family to support with no help from an ex husband. I have no choice.

likefunnyhelpful

I am looking for another job. It's brutal. All of you who were raised by single working Mums, call them and say thank you.

Only 1 child still at home (age 7), so just juggling it all and making sure we have a good life despite everything.

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Survive until you find a good exit or switch to a firm with better WLB.

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Haha a firm with better WLB. Which one is that? It seems as mythical as a steerco deck that only took 1 iteration.

likefunny

Is everyone here working 16 hour days? I’m working pretty consistently 8am-6:30pm or so and it leaves plenty of time for activities after work.

My advice? Find a better project

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I work 8-5 during the week. This rat race garbage needs to stop, people are ruining their health

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You put in the time now to set yourself up for later. Plan your exit and that will keep you going.

Also, you shouldn't be putting in 16 hours a day. Just log off at some point or take time off during the day to work out or something.

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There’s mixed consensus here but weighing in as well. Having started in consulting out of undergrad as well I can say that there were days that I felt the same. Long days, wondering why, putting on 20 pounds because of no real ‘time’. And this was at a time where taking time off for personal care or defining boundaries was seen as borderline slacking off. Did it make me tougher, yes. But did I wish it was different, also yes.
The times now are much better, people are more accepting to flexible schedules, and are accepting to even micro breaks in the day provided the end result doesn’t suffer and the work is done.
OP keep your head up. Some days are harder than the rest. If you think this will be a pattern and chronic then speak to someone like your coach or partner to manage the load a bit. It’s hard when you’re starting out. If you think the industry is not for you, Then definitely consider a switch. But don’t get bogged down by just the hours.
The long hours can be a b**** but if you play it well then you can expect a learning curve that’s much steeper than your contemporaries and peers who entered industry right after undergrad. Or at the very least you will have tougher skin that will hold you in good stead to take on more unfamiliar situations, handle more chaos, take harsher feedback, and just push through (not saying industry roles don’t provide that level of exposure, it’s just that consulting is more odds on for having more fires).

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It’s true that you basically have no private life Monday through Thursday but when the pandemic is over, you will start to feel the benefits of consulting as well (usually great project teams, obviously best culture at OW, fast learning curve, ...) and the long hours won’t feel that long and be interrupted by natural breaks such as traveling, team dinners etc.

However 16 hours shouldn’t be the norm either. I’d say normal in my market (Germany) is 12-14 hours, excluding DDs

What do you count as working hours? And what do you count as personal life.

Its unlikely that you will be able to meet friends/hangout M-Th and you eventually get used to it. Unless everyone is working together in the evening (happens a lot during wfh)

After a few years it gets better as you get better at your job and learn to care less.

I wouldn’t throw in the towel yet - life just isn’t normal for anyone really at the moment. Talk to your team to hear about their experience prior to yours as well as to discuss what can be done to improve current situation. I think 16 hour days are not standard and the firm is working on ways to improve this.

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