There seems to be a broad consensus that work-life balance in Consulting often leaves much to be desired.Interested in experiences / opinions re. whether there are noticable differences in work-life balance between IT Consulting and MC service lines amongst the big SIs + Big 4.I work as an IT Consultant at Capgemini and usually enjoy a pretty decent work-life balance. If I were to jump ship to a similar service line within say Deloitte or ACN what work-life balance should I expect?

Pretty much exactly the same, net. The grass is sometimes greener on the other side, except in Big 4 consulting when it's brown on both sides.

I have worked at 2 consulting firms - ACN and one other - the work life balance between ACN and the other firm is markedly different - at ACN I barely saw daylight for months on end, and rarely had a full weekend off. Holidays were spent on conf calls, with little regard for time off. I now have a very good work life balance, and have managed to work almost exclusively out of London, rather than spending most weeks travelling.Having said that, ACN, in my experience, respects its employees and makes them feel valued, which isn't always the case in consulting firms.

Without this getting into a PA bashing thread, I’ve worked for 3 consultancies in my life – one was an accounting firm, one an IT provider, and my current employers are PA.In terms of hours worked, I don’t travel much (not at all actually) with PA, but the hours are substantially longer than anywhere else I’ve worked. On my last two clients (both public sector jobs) I’ve been putting in 12 + hours per day, and then expected to do “practice development” at the weekend. Despite all this, I got an inflation only payrise last year (April 08), and a shamefully low bonus.I don’t mind putting the extra effort in to the job, but I expect to be rewarded for it.

Unfortunately Timothy, as a fellow PAer, what you are describing is the baseline and not extra effort.

muppets!why put up with it?i still hve a 2:2, still work 9-4, still earn 130. no travel

Let me guess, recruiter or contractor?My work life balance is fine. At ACN.

Thanks for your responses."The grass is sometimes greener on the other side, except in Big 4 consulting when it's brown on both sides."How does Deloitte (EA, TI) fare? Similar to CG, ACN, or more akin to the 12hr day + weekend work that Timothy described?

Why, what’s the work-life balance like at CG? Good or bad?

As ever, varies by project, discipline etc.However based on what I've experienced at CG and much reading of this forum I've gained the impression that CGers enjoy a broadly superior work-life balance than those at ACN, Deloitte, IBM etc.Consultants at CG are spread over TS (IT Consulting) and CC (MC). I get the impression that those in CC work a good deal of hours more than those in TS. There's the usual travel for all. Most people aren't in before 9 and most are gone by 7pm.

I think it's pointless talking about work-life balance at a firm. It almost entirely depends on the project. I work at one of the above mentioned firms and pretty much work a normal working day. Some of my colleagues do banking hours. Why they accept this I don't know because they certainly ain't getting enough money to!