Related Posts
Rising Star
Conversation Starter
Sitting next to my jar of client tears.
Additional Posts in Consulting Exit Opportunities
Conversation Starter
Additional Posts (overall)
Community Builder
Mentor
Pros and Cons working for the fed bank?
A bit random, but has anyone exited to Apple and their new HQ? I’m super curious to hear how it is. And people that have left to FAANG in general, are the work place amenities/ bonuses worth it? Do you use them? Or does it just really come down to 💸💰? Apple Facebook (Meta) Amazon Netflix Google
Community Builder
My wife is a corporate lawyer, 31 weeks and scaled her finishing time back to 18:30 from 21:30/22:00 by both working on one less deal at a time, and sometimes telling the Partner and/or client that a task will be picked up in the AM. everyone has responded positively and it's been hugely beneficial for her mental and physical health.
This is big-picture moment - over the long term, working the couple of extra hours for two months won't make a difference but adverse impact on your mental and/or physical health might (to you and possibly the baby too).
Main point is to have the open and upfront conversation about how you're going to manage your time to set everyone's expectations. Don't just not do stuff...
Totally agree with you BCG2. OP, I imagine your team’s leadership much rather have a conversation about how to make things work than either not have expectations met or have your health compromised! If they’re not, that tells you something important.
Very sorry you have to ask or think like this. Pregnancy is hard work. And you should take all the rest you can get.
Working till 7 is plenty.
Please have an open discussion with your team about what your boundaries are and will be as a new mom. You shouldn’t feel guilty about prioritizing your and baby’s health because of a client deliverable or project.
If the team is not above and beyond understanding about what you are going through, send me your CV. I wish you all the best in this phase of life and do hope you enjoy the time with your baby!
Very sad to read this thread and being a parent myself the lack of empathy and support in the US for parents is just insane. There are opposite of any benefits provided to parents in the US compared to so so many developed European countries.
Are you saying you think Deloitte is accommodating to pregnant and maybe breastfeeding mothers? I’ve heard terrible things in general but I’m sure it’s project specific, right?
Yes it’s fair. Pregnancy is so, so hard. You have to set boundaries for yourself.
TFS1, that attitude is not surprising from someone at the firm, although it is definitely not one of the main reasons that I left. The firm has been trying to improve on benefits related to having children, but is definitely behind the curve relative to some of the other firms that it compares itself to.
Thank God I dodged the consulting bullet. Honestly, I don’t understand how people can put in 80+ hours a week to make someone else rich. The only people you should be devoting that kind of time to enrich are you and your family. If you fell off the face of the earth tomorrow, your company will have your replacement ready by Friday. Seriously think about your priorities.
Epitaph:
Here lies Bob, MBA, CFT, CPA, PMP.
His utilization rate is his legacy.
Things like this are why I left the US.
That is why I refused going to the US. Canada is so much more European in WLB and values.
I hate that you even have to ask this question. 😔
Regardless of being pregnant you shouldn't be working past 5pm, unless you are specifically contracted to work to 7pm. I'd be focusing on joining a company which doesn't grind their staff to the bone.
Literally came here to say this but is guess it’s different in the US compared to Uk
Um where do you work? I log off at 4 pm every day…
Do tell 🙏🏼
These responses are not it. Sis log off at 5
Being pregnant does not, by itself, justify a different work schedule in the same way that paid leave is justified. If you have health issues alongside or related to pregnancy, then request working hour accommodations according to the need, not any guess of what time seems fair.
I’m a woman and agree. Being pregnant is a choice and not a disability. You shouldn’t have to work that late unless those are your scheduled work hours. If you can’t or don’t want to then I’d search for a different company.
7pm? Really? What has become of our work culture? I agree with EY, be done at 5pm. If you can't do that 75% of the time, you are working for the wrong people.
It’s only acceptable if you still get your work done and it’s not an imposition / bottleneck to the rest of the team. I think it’s better to discuss ways to have more WLB and flexibility (is it taking on less scope?) first to accommodate fewer working hours in a way that also doesn’t harm the team, vs just doing less.
Basically, make sure roles/responsibilities are clear across your workstream so you can make this happen.
I don’t disagree with you - I’m saying it’s her responsibility to flag her needs and then the manager/partner to work with her to accommodate. How would the rest of the team know what is suitable vs not for her situation? OP doing nothing to communicate her situation to her team and simply doing less wouldn’t help anyone - and probably will bounce back on her in a negative way, too.
In other words, it shouldn’t be on one party unilaterally to figure this out - it takes a village to raise a child, after all. I’m a woman, too, fwiw.
Oh man I’m not even pregnant and I do that currently (if not even earlier!)! Set boundaries at work, especially to not compromise your health and your personal life. As long as it doesn’t compromise your quality of work, people will understand.
And the only reason I even work til 6pm is because I currently work for a west coast client, and I try not to do this too often
I’ve done something similar. It affected my promotion timeline because while I was still effective, others were working harder. No regrets because I did what was best for me. Adjust your expectations accordingly
Sure it’s not those allow pies you been eating??
A lot of 🤡 on this thread telling us they've never been pregnant without telling us they've never been pregnant
When I was pregnant I was logged off by 6 and asleep by 7pm most days. I was suuuper sick until week 18 too.
I think I slept about 11 hrs/night my entire pregnancy. Zero regrets prioritizing mine + bubs health over work optics or promotion timeline.
I came back after maternity leave ready to rock and was promoted within a year.
Your health and the baby’s health are the ONLY priority. Nothing else matters.
You should not be expected to "grind hours" but I do think you should be expected to contribute what you are responsible for. (AKA if you want more WLB then manage expectations)
Coach
If you are successfully managing expectations and your workload, then by all means sign off whenever you want regardless of being pregnant or not.
I'd be more leery of a client that would expect you to be on past 7pm unless you're in a different time zone.
I’m not pregnant and can never become pregnant because I’m a guy. I also set expectations that I won’t be working evenings outside of very limited circumstances