Hello, Wondering how many hours a junior assosciate at a Big 4 consultancy/advisory does per week on average. Also what time is a junior associate expected to get into the office for?Sorry for the trivial questions! But would appreciate any feedback.Thanks in advance.

I'm in the London office of a big 4 and while the standard answer is "it varies", my experience so far has been just that. Worst was 50 hours in 3 days, best has been 9-5 on a training course.Average base has probably been 40-50 hours 'real' work in a week, plus 5 or so hours of other bits and pieces. This has then ramped up to more like 60 when things have got busy, and more if things really hit the fan.In terms of getting into the office, most people will arrive at 8.30 so proper work can kick off at 9, but this varies hugely due to personal preference. I've worked with one person who liked to get in at 9.30-10 and one who would get in at 7.30-8. At a junior level you do still have this flexibility, but the project will always come first. If you have a meeting at 8, then there's not a lot you can do about it!Only been here 4 months tho, so this is just one POV (but looking at my peer group here, probably fairly representative), and I imagine it would vary geographically. Hope that helps!

Thanks for the response. Very detailed and helpful!Can I just ask you a few questions? I am about to start in a month in London as well. Is there any advice you can give which you have experienced from your first four months? Also what kind of work have you been doing on projects as a junior?Thanks for the help.

..'the office'? you should hope to be out on client site, in which case aim to arrive before your client, or at least not significantly later. I had junior (well, just below manager allegedly) Accenture resources working for me at an IB and had to have a robust conversation with them about sloping in at 9 and disappearing off to various social commitments at 6 - not what was expected when contractors on half their rate were working longer hours. put the hours in while you're young and motivated ;)

Very true. I rather naively left out the client side of things. It has been duly noted. thanks for the post.

Here's another POV - as long as you do your work and then some more, the actual count of hours you are physically present is irrelevant. I know of resources who complete their work in 7 hours and of those who like to 'extend' that work to 10 hours just to show they are doing things and clocking in the hours.There are more than enough of us in the field to tell you that as long as you do what you are supposed to at the client place and put in additional effort to help your firm, how you manage your time no one takes a look. More often than not though, this will automatically extend your work timings but there will be more than enough people around you for you pick up skills on - so do your work, help out in additional stuff and it's still possible to not have to sit in the office for 10 hours a day. One rule you shouldn't break is walking into office at 10 in the morning! Best to be early and leave on time once your part is doneA

Thanks Aces. Great post.

spot on Aces! Great advice for new consultants!

I should add - most managers or rather the ones who are involved in moving people up the ladder know who are the ones who really contribute and who are the ones who just clock the hours. You do come across a few managers who wont have the time to tell the difference because of their work load but in most cases, if you have quality and you deliver to that level, you will be noticed - no matter how long or how less you work in a day.There is always an element of luck no matter where you go but keep giving it your best, and in time you will reap the rewards. Remember, its easy to follow the herd but harder to stick to your guns :-) Best of luckA