Hello, I am a budding consultant (start early 2012) who wishes to know how many hours he will be expecting to work on a weekly basis as a junior associate for a Big 4 firm. In addition, would anyone be kind enough to outline on average how long it would take to reach your first promotion (junior to senior associate) at one of the Big 4. I would appreciate any feedback,Big thanks.

Depends on which department. Assuming advisory, non transactions:45 hours on average50 hours average if ambitious55-60 hours in peak situationsFirst promotion: quickest 2 years, typical 3 years slow 4 years.

Thanks for the quick response. To be specific its a management consulting role. Can i assume the same hours as above for this role (45 hour wk on average, as this is better than I expected!). Thank you

Hi Qwerty,The workload as a new analyst will depend on what you're working on. Client proposal, which you will be expected to support as required while not on chargeable work can be pretty long hours (maybe up to about 70 per week) but typically only for a short time. Client work is more likely to be 45 - 55 hours per week depending on the type and phase of the project e.g. Go-live for a new system is likely to be a lot busier than, say, planning or design. The fastest route to promotion to Consultant, in the UK at least, is at Deloitte which has a 21 month analyst programme.

Thanks for the info, 70 hour weeks sound bloody tough but hey ho thats the life of a consultant! Otherwise 45 - 55 hour weeks are as expected. Cheers.

Hi, I have to say if you're working 45 hrs a week you'd be very lucky indeed!!My experience of consulting (just over 2yrs experience) is that a normal day is from 08:00-19:00 and then at busy times you work more.I'd also like to point out there's the day job (i.e. what you do for your client) and what you have to do for the firm you work for (i.e. for your department) - both can be full time jobs in themselves, but if you're looking to get promoted you'll have to find a way of doing both - so it's not unusual to find consultants working evenings and weekends.Hope that helps.Rocky101

I see that other factors have been totally overlooked, if you worked normal working hours which is ideal scenarios 8hrs, typically a consultant would do alot traveling, which is not does not count as working hours but is still not leisure time. I usually have hit the street by 6.30am to catch a train to drive down to wherever my client is, how much you are out billing clients is one of the key performance indicators for a consultant, even on partner level you have to be on the move. If I'm in the office most the time then that's not a very good sign, either your skills are not matching any of the projects or there are no projects, which means that sometime soon you will be chasing recruiters.

Thanks for the info Rocky101 and Goodfella. Thanks for confirming what I expected all along! Unfortunately, the long hours (including/excluding the travel) seem to be the norm in this industry.Can I ask you both as to whether you work for the consultancy/advisory wings at one of the Big four accountancy firms? I only ask as I will be entering a graduate position in one of these firms in the near future. Therefore, I was wondering whether your experiences of an average working week come from this sphere. Take it easy.