Hi,Hours worked: how many hours do people work at MBBB?What about the Big 4?Any niche consulting firms which you would like to mention?Im Deloitte Consulting, working maybe 60 hours per week (except when there are peaks)

I used to be at a 'B' and worked about 65 hours per week. It peaked at about 105 per week. I eventually left the scumbags because they clearly had no respect for human life. I now work 40 hours per week and earn more than I did before, because I work intelligently.

I am in my first year at at a niche strat. Averaging between 55 and 60 hours a week.

hey, the anon from "B",how often where those peaks? 105 is crazy, but 65 hours sounds reasonable, right?i wonder if every MBBB makes their employees work such long hours?

The peaks tended to be sustained when they happened.... I could be doing 105 for say three weeks continuously. Then, it would go down to 70 for two months before another death march started again. I disagree with you about 65 hours being reasonable. Once you add on travel time, it basically means you have no life outside of work. I will never work more than 45 hours per week on average again.

hi everyone,i dont understand why people dont want to say which firm they work for. After all, no one cold guess who it is if they said: "I work for firm X. I work on average these hours".

anon B,I guess you are right. If there's travel involved then it can easily suck up your whole life. Im glad u escaped from it.would u mind me asking which B was it and where did u go to, if its not intruding too much?

Anyone from the 'inside' know what the hours are like on average at Deloitte Strat?

I recall reading in oe of these threads that it wa 8.30-6.30, sometimes a bit longer, but plenty of travel involved. I remember that the person who posted it said something like he was no stranger to the 4.30 am cab to heathrow.I'm sorry I can help more

Is the number of hours a perception / political issue? What if you work smart and are disciplined and focused, allowing you to accomplish your objectives in 50 hrs/week? Would your co-workers have more respect for a person who got the same amount done but put in 60? I'm not saying I could pull this off, but since people have varying abilities, there must be some that can get more done in less time. Are they penalized if they go home "early"?

I guess so..its the whole issue of 'face-time' right? Most people at consulting firms are of a sufficient level of intelligence to mean that it would be difficult to do all the work in, say half the time. I'm sure some of the 'smarter', more efficient people could knock a few hours off here and there but on the whole, you should be doing the same sort of hours as your peers. Saying that, there are those people that hang around 'looking' busy and making sure their senior leaves before they do. Many firms claim to have this 'no face-time' culture but I'm not so sure. I'm not a consultant yet, due to start soon but am going off anecdotal evidence from friends.What do you guys think? Are companies being more rewarding to people who are efficient and get their work done quickly by allowing them to go home at a reasonable hour...i.e. before 7pm????

I like some of the points that "p" brings up.I find that facetime is less of a feature of consultancy than other professions where I've worked, especially financial services and banking. Indeed, where I work, the consulting staff have less of a facetime issue than the office support staff.I think this has a lot to do with the fact that as consultants we spend a lot of time out of the office, at different client sites, meeting rooms, travelling, and so on. Whilst nobody pays much attention to my hours in the office, neither do they hesitate to call my mobile and expect me to work at any time of day or night. It's a trade-off.To generalise, the "consulting culture" is much more around flexing time to the needs of the client than putting in facetime.That's not to say that facetime is never an issue - if you're part of a team where everybody's working together in the project room until 9, and you go home at 6 regularly, odds are you're not doing yourself any favours. But is this a facetime issue or an issue of an environment where you're expected to be a team player?I have an issue with people who claim they can work that much more efficiently than their peers. As "p" says, everyone has to be pretty smart to even have got the job. A saving of a few minutes here and there on certain tasks might be possible, but consistently slashing hours a day off your schedule is not. The people I know who claim they are working "smarter" are just passing off work so that others have to work longer hours, skimping on quality so the work has to be re-done, or simply not fulfilling the job requirements.Given how much of what we do is client-oriented and client-driven, is it realistic to compromise specifications at will?Finally, if you have an ability to work more quickly and efficiently, with less effort, should you be clocking off early? If there is still work to be done, should you not be working to the same hours as your colleagues but getting even more done? It's a question of your work ethic and team focus, and there is no "right" answer, but I find the best consultants are those who don't treat it as a day job and flex their time appropriately: train, relax, holiday or work from home when there's little to do, but put in the hours when the client or the team needs it.

Great post! You make an excellent point about the team aspect of the work and long hours. I don't mind putting in the long hours in a team environment, but wouldn't want to be one of these guys all by themselves in some sterile corp office until 9PM every night, which is what I'd pictured. That'd just be sad. But as part of a team, well, that's another story!Although, on the other hand, where I work now, there are a number of people who chat / faff about a lot. I don't tend to join in as much, as I would rather work harder and leave on time. But we don't really work as a team, and the firm where I currently work totally sucks (smallish, provincial), with people leaving right, left and centre. Management is quite poor despite there being some very nice, bright people around. Hence, the current exodus of talented staff.I'm starting at ACN soon and expect long hours, but a positive teamwork culture should make it bearable, and hopefully fun too!

I am sure at all firms, by the very nature of the work, if you finish work early there is always a little more that could be done... one more slide, one more data point, etcThe key is, as always, to just know when enough is enough!