This is what the Girlfriend and I do for a living...

[Zugzwang152]

ah the horrors of the cubicle life....one day that will be me, unless i end up donning the golden arches logo'd uniform for the rest of my life

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: Mister T

Originally posted by: radioouman
How do you have time for a girlfriend? Long distance relationship via cell phone?

Its also a question of how much time she has for me

She is a strategy consultant that travels Mon-Thurs about 2 weeks out of a month.. working about 60-80 hours
I am an investment banker that works an average of 70-90 hours/week (90+ hours when I am on a live deal)
The biggest problem is not having time for eachother, its having time for friends... When we both that free time, we really prefer to spend it alone together rather than with friends...

Here is some good and bad news with regards to my GF:

My girlfriend is going to be laid off as of the end of January. Her company has extended her an offer to re-join after she gets an MBA which they have offered to pay her for. So she basically get B-school paid for and an offer to come back in 2 years making $120-150K a year guaranteed (with mucho upside every year... like 50% increases every year)... Can you say BLING BLING?

I am up for promotion in Feb/March...

Let me give you a tip.

Money isn't everything.

Some of the happiest people I know don't work long hours, get paid lousy and struggle financially. Although money greases the wheels of life a little it certainly doesn't buy happiness and trading a decade of free time while your young isn't worth the cost. When you are 50 with a high blood preasure and a broken marriage and you look back at what you lost you will probably understand this.

 

[Michael]

When I started (in public accounting) I worked crazy hours.

I still put in 55+ hour weeks.

That is normal in my line of work.

At every promotion point, I could have made the choice of not putting in the extra work and topping out. My work hours would have dropped as I was past the learning curve. I decided and have continued to decide to keep climbing.

My next job will be a CFO position. I'll look again at my life when I get there and decide the next move, but my hours and effort are a result of my decisions.

Michael

ps - most professions have crazy hours early on. A big part of it is the learning curve and some is paying your dues

 

[ThumpR777]

It is too bad our culture only sees success by measuring how much money you make. No one at the end of their life ever says "Gee, I wish I worked more" but many people regret not having had better relationships with both family and friends.

I heartily reccommend anyone who is living this kind of life style visit both a third world country and a european country, lets say Mexico and Germany. Their different value systems will amaze you, in Mexico everyone smiles much more than in the US, and they have so much less. Germans get like 5 weeks vacation a year, and work 35 hrs weeks, and they still live pretty well.

For me, I will work smarter and get more done, and let others become wage slaves that have a nice paycheck, but it all goes to a house they cannot even spend time in, or to a car they only see on the way to and from work, or to clothes they only wear to work. Get the point? Be afraid, very afraid.

If you work only a 40hr week, you need a lot less money to live on, and what you do have, you enjoy a lot more.

Its not what you own that counts, its what owns you.

 

[Mister T]

Let me give you a tip.

Money isn't everything.

Beleive me I know... I work as hard as I do because
1) I love my work
2) I enjoy it
3) There is nothing else I would rather be doing
4) I want to be financially secure early in life
5) I want to retire early:

If I retire @
35 years old -> I kicked some ass and got lucky
40 years old -> Base case, what I expect
45 years old -> I screwed up big

Part of the reason the GF and I work so hard now, is so when we have kids some day, we won't have to work... How many 5 year olds have parents that both would not have to work? What would make me happy is being able to raise my kid personally rather than paying some POS babysitter to watch and influence my kid...

 

[nord1899]

At my current job, I used to work hours like that. 60+ per week on a salary meant for 40 hours per week.

Then when the need for 60+ per week passed and I was able to get back to a more normal 45 per week, I asked for some sort of compensation for the overtime. You know, a day off or three (I specifically asked for 3, would have been happy with 1 or 2). They said no. Despite that other groups in the company do in fact do this, give comp days for overtime.

I basically decided right then and there not to work overtime unless absolutely necessary. The company doesn't give a damn about me. So I don't feel like ruining my life for them.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Mister T

Let me give you a tip.

Money isn't everything.

Beleive me I know... I work as hard as I do because
1) I love my work
2) I enjoy it
3) There is nothing else I would rather be doing
4) I want to be financially secure early in life
5) I want to retire early:

If I retire @
35 years old -> I kicked some ass and got lucky
40 years old -> Base case, what I expect
45 years old -> I screwed up big

Part of the reason the GF and I work so hard now, is so when we have kids some day, we won't have to work... How many 5 year olds have parents that both would not have to work? What would make me happy is being able to raise my kid personally rather than paying some POS babysitter to watch and influence my kid...

Are you really sure you'll retire that early? I've heard about it as well, but if you go by how most people are you'll just end up making more and more money and working longer and longer. As you get older and grow used to the nice house/apartment and cars and vacations suddenly you'll realize that you can not afford to retire at 40 or 45. Perhaps if you lived how a $45k/year person lives you could retire at 40, but I'm sure that you live beyond that and will continue to increase spending until it gets to the point where you're just like anybody else and have to retire at 60, burned out with a heart problem

 

[BoberFett]

Originally posted by: Mister T
FYI -

I work the hours because I love what I do....

Just the other day I was in a meeting with a head of a $3BN+ private equity fund advising on what investments they should make in the financial services sector...

Or today, I was debating pro's and con's of divestiture alternatives for a client... There is nothing I would rather be doing.

Do you really like it? Or do you just like the ability to drop names? Ego stroking is a big factor for some in choosing a career.

In the position I used to have, I hobnobbed with attorneys, judges, plenty of government big wigs. I could impress friends and family, but my long hours were a definite factor in the end of my marriage. Now I'm choosing life over work, and much happier than I've ever been.

 

[Mister T]

Yes I am sure that I want to retire that ealry...

BoberFett, if I won the lottery tomorrow (say 5-10 million) I would not retire. I would probably retire by 35 though
So yes, I really do like what I do.

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: Mister T
Yes I am sure that I want to retire that ealry...

BoberFett, if I won the lottery tomorrow (say 5-10 million) I would not retire. I would probably retire by 35 though
So yes, I really do like what I do.

Isn't that what everyone says?

I know for damn sure I'd quit working if I won the lottery.

At least long enough to get whatever education I decided I wanted. After that?

Who knows. But a normal job, ESPECIALLY one that demands 80 hour weeks would not be a part of it.

Viper GTS

 

[Static911]

I love my work. I work 100 hour weeks because I thoroughly enjoy it. Running a car club is like a hobby to me and for some reason, I'm getting paid to do it.

Ethan

 

[Mister T]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: Mister T
Yes I am sure that I want to retire that ealry...

BoberFett, if I won the lottery tomorrow (say 5-10 million) I would not retire. I would probably retire by 35 though
So yes, I really do like what I do.

Isn't that what everyone says?

I know for damn sure I'd quit working if I won the lottery.

At least long enough to get whatever education I decided I wanted. After that?

Who knows. But a normal job, ESPECIALLY one that demands 80 hour weeks would not be a part of it.

Viper GTS

Viper,

The point I was trying to make is that most people I know don't love their jobs... its usually a necessary evil for most.
Don't get me wrong, there are days that suck, like Monday night sucked.. I was @ the office until 3am and had to be back in the office Tuesday morning (in a suit) by 7am.

 

[bmacd]

Thanks for the good article

-=bmacd=-

 

[Ornery]

How high does your "career" rank in your life? I remember Connie Chung going through the trouble of trying to conceive later in life. My wife mentioned how terrible that was. I said, "Hey, she has her career, which was more important to her."

America's Most Bitchin' Broadcaster

• "I now need to take a very aggressive approach to having a baby," she stated in a press release.
  
  ...She admitted publicly her regret for putting her career before child-bearing.

She's not unique. Many people suffer as bad or worse for putting their "career" ahead of everything else. Well, at least there's one plus to being a blue collar working stiff!



Nothing to do with ANY of this, but when I highlight the title AMERICA'S MOST BITCHIN' BROADCASTER (from the link above), then right click & copy, when I paste it, it comes out with Sentence Case instead of all caps! WTF? :Q

 

[tk149]

Young Professionals such as those in the article know what they're doing. For the most part, barring nepotism, those people are of above-average intelligence. They choose to work long hours. Those who decide that they don't like it, can find another job. Even those with massive student loans can pay off within 4 years, and then get out. Those who stay, do so because they enjoy the lifestyle, even if they complain about it.

I don't feel sorry for them, I don't envy them, and I don't think anyone who isn't living that life has a right to criticize those who do. Just because people have different life priorities than you doesn't make them wrong. IMHO, if you're happy with your career and the lifestyle it brings you, then you're better off than most people on this planet.

Me <-- Currently changing careers because I don't want to work 80-hour weeks, no matter what the perks are. 60 hours is much better.

 

[BD2003]

Man, all of this is so scary. Im about to graduate college in half a year, and I still dunno whats going to happen to me after I graduate. I do know one thing though, I want to work 40 hours a week, no more. I refuse to be a slave to my money, my life and free time is far more important.

As much as Id love a 52 inch widescreen and a BMW, I'd have more fun spending 5 hours with my friends playing monkey ball on a 19 incher than 1 hour playing anthing alone on a HDTV.

But wtf to do and where to go after college? I'm a psych major thats good with computers. Worked over the summer doing programming at a major corporation, but I dont think thats for me long term. Right now I'm getting interested in technical writing, but since Ive never held a job as one and dont know anyone that has, I dunno what would really be in store for me with that.

Or I could just move to canada and live a nice, relaxed life. Unless they become slave drivers too. Sigh...

 

Im a major in law enforcement. Believe me, cops dont make the mucho bucks. I love everything I hear about and everything I see. That will make my life happy, not money.

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: rahvin
Let me give you a tip.

Money isn't everything.

Some of the happiest people I know don't work long hours, get paid lousy and struggle financially. Although money greases the wheels of life a little it certainly doesn't buy happiness and trading a decade of free time while your young isn't worth the cost. When you are 50 with a high blood preasure and a broken marriage and you look back at what you lost you will probably understand this.

This needs to be repeated , often, and loud. Funny how they skip through this aspect in the MBA program.
If anyone ever needs to wonder how Mom or Dad got so messed up, think of rahvin's sage advice.
Don't let it happen to you. It's harder than you think.

 

[rome]

Originally posted by: AlienCraft

Originally posted by: rahvin
Let me give you a tip.

Money isn't everything.

Some of the happiest people I know don't work long hours, get paid lousy and struggle financially. Although money greases the wheels of life a little it certainly doesn't buy happiness and trading a decade of free time while your young isn't worth the cost. When you are 50 with a high blood preasure and a broken marriage and you look back at what you lost you will probably understand this.

This needs to be repeated , often, and loud. Funny how they skip through this aspect in the MBA program.
If anyone ever needs to wonder how Mom or Dad got so messed up, think of rahvin's sage advice.
Don't let it happen to you. It's harder than you think.

amen

 

[timelapse]

Ohh, i can see this clearly at home... My sister graduated last year, and decided to work instead of getting a masters. Now she comes home from 9 to 12pm and she has to wake up at 6am every day. She also has to work on saturdays on some weeks. They also just told her recently, that she can't take the vacations she wanted for christmas and will have to reschedule them for later. Keep in mind she is not getting paid extra hours, AT ALL!

My sister is an industrial engineer. I feel sorry for her

EDIT: and i forgot to mention that the salary isn't what you might think... 35k/year.

 

[milagro]

Originally posted by: timelapse
Ohh, i can see this clearly at home... My sister graduated last year, and decided to work instead of getting a masters. Now she comes home from 9 to 12pm and she has to wake up at 6am every day. She also has to work on saturdays on some weeks. They also just told her recently, that she can't take the vacations she wanted for christmas and will have to reschedule them for later. Keep in mind she is not getting paid extra hours, AT ALL!

My sister is an industrial engineer. I feel sorry for her

EDIT: and i forgot to mention that the salary isn't what you might think... 35k/year.

Yeah, I'd say the article leaves out a lot of poor saps that do put in 60 - 80 hour weeks on salaries much much lower than the wall streeters...in environmental consulting, I've seen lots of people in their 20's putting in lots of unpaid over time and they're rarely making over 40k...

This article may be accurate in what it does report on, but it also makes people assume that those working super long hours are doing so for the love of money over time off when in a lot of instances, people get stuck in these positions w/o the added benefit of the nice pay and struggle to find a way out and still pay bills...