• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

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

Good stuff. It disgusts me to hear all this whining about the widening gap between rich and poor, yet nobody wants to consider the sacrifices made to get ahead. Everyone I know with serious income has earned it, and is still earning it daily. You just don't get something for nothing!
 
Originally posted by: Ornery
Good stuff. It disgusts me to hear all this whining about the widening gap between rich and poor, yet nobody wants to consider the sacrifices made to get ahead. Everyone I know with serious income has earned it, and is still earning it daily. You just don't get something for nothing!
Click to expand...

 
Could of worked harder in college and been making that much while working 40-45 hrs a week. Some of us work hard in college while some have to do it for the rest of their lives because they chose a major that pays less, so they have to work more to make up the difference. 🙂
 
that was my life for the past 1.5 years...now law school seems like a vacation compared to what work was like.
 
Its sad to read and usually hear that this is what is waiting for me after collge, like my university isn't a pain already. During high school I worked from 4-12 at a restaurant in NYC and it was a pain man, I worked too hard during my life to be expecting this.

Last year I had taken a trip to Europe, I was suprised when I saw shops, businesses, corporate building closing at 4 pm. I'm like WTH, I ask my uncle and he's like "It's normal like that here" I was like its a VACATION every day. Dumb Europeans barely work and they have a okay economy. While most people int he US bust their asses to get by every month. This is certainly unfair. And screw companies like Merryl Lynch for taking advantage of techie geeks and administrative employees and sucking the life out of them that early.
 
LoL yah...that article definitely hits home...spent the last 3 years with a large consulting firm. I'm on the corporate side now...much better....shorter work weeks and I have an office (instead of crappy hoteling).

Chiz
 
Originally posted by: scorp00
Could of worked harder in college and been making that much while working 40-45 hrs a week. Some of us work hard in college while some have to do it for the rest of their lives because they chose a major that pays less, so they have to work more to make up the difference. 🙂
Click to expand...
True, but who's to say you have to work in the field of your degree? I personally work with computers, yet I'm a business major. The moral of the story is: Do what you love and what you're good at. If it pays well, that's just an added bonus. 😀
 
Originally posted by: radioouman
How do you have time for a girlfriend? Long distance relationship via cell phone?
Click to expand...

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...
 
Talk about a reality check. Turns out the folks who took you on the corporate jet will shove you out on the street faster than you can recount missed autumn afternoons.
Click to expand...
You better believe it. I was lucky in that in my early 20's a great boss I had was able to impress upon me that I should look out for number one (me) and the company second.
 
To each their own. I'll take my cheap cost of living, scenic drives to work, next to zero traffic, low crime COUNTY, and 40 hour work weeks for a little less pay.
 
If having money is so important to you that you are willing to exchange your life for it, you won't mind working like that.

For me, money without life is meaningless - It should be an enhancement, not a replacement.

Viper GTS
 
I was like its a VACATION every day. Dumb Europeans barely work and they have a okay economy. While most people int he US bust their asses to get by every month. This is certainly unfair. And screw companies like Merryl Lynch for taking advantage of techie geeks and administrative employees and sucking the life out of them that early.
Click to expand...
Well it's because Americans have a love for money. All those cars and pieces of stereo equipment take money and to make it you have to work. ML doesn't force people to work 90 hours/week. It's their own choice.

I've seen what stress and long workweeks are like, and no amount of money in the world makes it worth it. Both of my parents are MDs and I don't give a rat's ass if my personal income never breaks $100k. Between myself and mrsskoorb we'll make enough to have a nice house, decent car, go on family vacations, and save for kids' college. Anything more than that is certainly nice - who wouldn't want a new viper? But working 70+ hours/week for it is silly. You turn your life into work. I work to live, not the other way around. Maybe part of my attitude comes from being lazy in the past, but I think it's tragic sinking so much of ones life into work with the ultimate goal being to make enough money that you can buy things you'll never have the time to enjoy. And even when you have that time you're stressed: drinking, eating like crap, and letting your health deteriorate.

A cousin of mine is in his 20's in London, UK and bought himself a nice boxter S with cash he's made as a stock guy/investment banker or something or rather. The guy is definitely loaded and he travels a lot all over Europe. He says that he likes his job and doesn't mind all the long hours. If that's the case then good job to him. I won't say I'm not jealous of his cash 🙂 But to work 12 hours/day if you didn't like your job is really very stupid unless you need the money to pay for cancer bills on your mother or something!
 
Originally posted by: Ornery
Good stuff. It disgusts me to hear all this whining about the widening gap between rich and poor, yet nobody wants to consider the sacrifices made to get ahead. Everyone I know with serious income has earned it, and is still earning it daily. You just don't get something for nothing!
Click to expand...

Funny, the points that I took away from the article were that:

a) those who are relentlessly working these ridiculously hard schedules are effectively being underpaid.
b) despite their efforts, when a need to preserve the shareholder bottom line surfaces, they're the first to get let go.
c) salary isn't a measure of happiness.

That these people are working hard for their wages is not in question. But if you're going to look at the wealth gap (and the $60K salaries cited in the article I would consider to be middle-class), are the executives who mandate 60+ hour schedules also following those schedules, and what is the effective hourly rate for those executives? Do those positions necessarily create a proportionate shareholder value?

I don't doubt that a lot of professionals are well-paid for their skills. I do not think this is the same as saying that everyone who's paid well earns it.
 
I work to live, not the other way around.

Precisely my thoughts.

My job is what allows me to live - It pays bills, it feeds me, gives me a place to sleep, etc. - It funds my life. My life, however, is the 123 hours a week I am not at work.

Viper GTS
 
Originally posted by: KGB
Its sad to read and usually hear that this is what is waiting for me after collge, like my university isn't a pain already. During high school I worked from 4-12 at a restaurant in NYC and it was a pain man, I worked too hard during my life to be expecting this.

Last year I had taken a trip to Europe, I was suprised when I saw shops, businesses, corporate building closing at 4 pm. I'm like WTH, I ask my uncle and he's like "It's normal like that here" I was like its a VACATION every day. Dumb Europeans barely work and they have a okay economy. While most people int he US bust their asses to get by every month. This is certainly unfair. And screw companies like Merryl Lynch for taking advantage of techie geeks and administrative employees and sucking the life out of them that early.
Click to expand...

You should look at some of the vacation time available in Germany, Austria, and other European countries. Those people know how to work, how to make a good wage, and how to know when it's time to call it a day. I make real good money in the tech industry working less than forty hours a week. Sure I don't fly on a corporate jet or stay at five star hotels, but I come home before five every night to a loving wife and a yellow lab. Why in the world would I ever trade that luxury for forty or fifty more hours a week and more pay? I suppose it depends on where your priorities lie.
 

Originally posted by: KGB
Its sad to read and usually hear that this is what is waiting for me after collge, like my university isn't a pain already. During high school I worked from 4-12 at a restaurant in NYC and it was a pain man, I worked too hard during my life to be expecting this.
Click to expand...
It's your choice to take the white collar route, rather than a trade or self employment. YOUR CHOICE!
Last year I had taken a trip to Europe, I was suprised when I saw shops, businesses, corporate building closing at 4 pm. I'm like WTH, I ask my uncle and he's like "It's normal like that here" I was like its a VACATION every day. Dumb Europeans barely work and they have a okay economy. While most people int he US bust their asses to get by every month. This is certainly unfair. And screw companies like Merryl Lynch for taking advantage of techie geeks and administrative employees and sucking the life out of them that early.
Click to expand...
Go live in Europe then! The folks I know who moved here from different parts of Europe are sending money back home, not the other way around!

"Certainly unfair!" If you would keep your overhead at a reasonable level, 40 hours per week on one income would be plenty. If you want to have your cake and eat it too, like two new cars in the drive, one acre lot near the city with a 5,000 square foot house filled with everything you desire... it's gonna cost a few more hours per week! Duh!
 
Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw
Originally posted by: Ornery
Good stuff. It disgusts me to hear all this whining about the widening gap between rich and poor, yet nobody wants to consider the sacrifices made to get ahead. Everyone I know with serious income has earned it, and is still earning it daily. You just don't get something for nothing!
Click to expand...

Funny, the points that I took away from the article were that:

a) those who are relentlessly working these ridiculously hard schedules are effectively being underpaid.
b) despite their efforts, when a need to preserve the shareholder bottom line surfaces, they're the first to get let go.
c) salary isn't a measure of happiness.

That these people are working hard for their wages is not in question. But if you're going to look at the wealth gap (and the $60K salaries cited in the article I would consider to be middle-class), are the executives who mandate 60+ hour schedules also following those schedules, and what is the effective hourly rate for those executives? Do those positions necessarily create a proportionate shareholder value?

I don't doubt that a lot of professionals are well-paid for their skills. I do not think this is the same as saying that everyone who's paid well earns it.
Click to expand...
"...if you know you'll climb the corporate ladder to three-martini lunches soon. You sacrifice your 20s to the company, believing it will make you rich and powerful later."

It's the path that must be taken to "get to the top". Those executives you're bitching about followed the same path at one time. If it happens that they got their position because their uncle owns the place, oh well, that's none of our business then, is it?

"Do those positions necessarily create a proportionate shareholder value?"

Either your investment dollar grows, or it doesn't. What do you care how the company functions, so long as your money keeps growing at a decent rate?
 
Originally posted by: Viper GTS
I work to live, not the other way around.

Precisely my thoughts.

My job is what allows me to live - It pays bills, it feeds me, gives me a place to sleep, etc. - It funds my life. My life, however, is the 123 hours a week I am not at work.

Viper GTS
Click to expand...


For me it's the other way around. I do what I love. Being a cameraman pays my bills and when I'm not shooting I'm editing local indie films (not paid for editing yet). Long hours come w/the job but I enjoy what I do so that doesn't both me too much. In another year or so I'm moving back to LA because I want editing movies to be my full time gig, not shooting. 🙂


Lethal
 
FeathersMcGraw,

Yeah that article fails to mention that the partners/directors/execs of these firms work the same long hours if not more than their staff. Its reality. I've never been in a situation working past midnight trying to meet a client deadline where the partner was not right there in the thick of it with us. Its a corporate culture in places like this, and serves as an early weed-out measure which essentially makes you choose if you wish to continue doing it. You have to decide whether or not you think its worth it to be working these types of hours for the rest of your life.

The article touched on this, but most of us know what we are getting into; we neither enjoy what we do nor do we enjoy the long hours. We joke about our hardships and bitch about our work b/c it comforts us and reassures us we are not alone. We do it simply to put in our time and wait for better opportunities knowing we are getting invaluable training while being paid considerably more than our peers. They do wine and dine you, and the perks of the job are definitely nice for a while. I was netting $450 a month in just mileage reimbursements for 6 months (around $200 a month otherwise), which essentially paid my car payments. I also got to travel a considerable amount both domestically and internationally. I didn't mind working 60 hours from Monday to Thursday, we'd take Friday off and spend the weekend enjoying whatever city/country we were in free of charge on the firm.

Having said that, am I glad I'm no longer there? Absolutely, but that experience on my resume has already provided me opportunities that probably wouldn't have presented themselves if I had taken a different path out of college. The same corporate culture that I despised tells future employers a lot about my character knowing I endured the hardships associated with these "white collar sweatshops". Chances are, your future boss has gone through a similar situation and left seeking refuge as well, and is comforted knowing you possess a skillset that will enable you to succeed.

Chiz
 
Originally posted by: chizow

Yeah that article fails to mention that the partners/directors/execs of these firms work the same long hours if not more than their staff. Its reality. I've never been in a situation working past midnight trying to meet a client deadline where the partner was not right there in the thick of it with us. Its a corporate culture in places like this, and serves as an early weed-out measure which essentially makes you choose if you wish to continue doing it. You have to decide whether or not you think its worth it to be working these types of hours for the rest of your life.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the insight. I suppose the difference is how aware people are when they go into those sorts of situations; I'm figuring there are as many, if not more, wide-eyed college grads who see the salary figure and figure they're getting paid for their time and job security and get swept up into the grind lifestyle as there are those who see it as a proving grounds and a stepping stone.
 
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.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top