As a former big 4 employee, the partners don’t care. They run you into the ground. I bet her engagement manager’s first thought was “damn. Now I need to backfill with a new associate and it’s going to f my margin.”
I am glad I left PwC years ago. My health was impacted then. But my current company also has toxic culture when they hired a wrong boss, and people can’t wait to leave
Hi Emily, very sorry to head you had these experiences. Hope that you find the strength to improve your situation in the future - all the best to you! H
Hello Heinrich, as always, excellent insights! One topic that I am interested in and that is also connected to work-life-balance in consulting is illness. When traveling due to air-conditioning in planes, having not much sleep, pressure from work, different climate etc. I often catch a cold or a virus, which shots me down for a few days. Do you need an incredible immune system as a consultant and how did you (or colleagues) deal with that?
Eat better, eat more while working, drink more water. This is not to make you productive, it is just that our bodies need it more while we spend so much energy, so we can keep healthy. I'm a consultant working around 15 hours a day too. It's 2:48 in the morning here I'm still working while kind of having some videos like this on the background... Consultants often forget to eat, drink... I'm not even talking about sleep cause that's just unfair to demand more sleep from a consultant in such conditions... Also, take a lot of sun whenever you can. Vitamind D is realted to A LOT of things in our mood, sleep, hormones...
There might indeed be differences by person. For me this was not a big problem, but if people are very sensible to this it will definitely become challenging.
There is a specific group of people that actually want to work in consulting. For most of us (aka normal people), consulting is a means to an end, to get a foot in the door. I have been in consulting for 3 years now and I dont plan to make it many more. I have changed firms once and made it very clear to my current employer that I will not tolerate any of the bullshit graduates are exposed to. I do not have video calls before 9 am or after 6 pm and I work from home 99 percent of the time. The second someone demands I live in a hotel from mondays to thursdays I'm gonna quit. It's an employee's market, most employers have understood that by now.
quick question...do Consultants get overtime payment (in most cases)? Because with all those extra hours they make (50+ to 60+ hours a week) and good base salary if they get OT payment it is a significant amount of money. If the OT is not paid then actually the payment they are receiving by the hour is not that high.
Not even condolence or saying that you’re sorry for her family? I like your vids but here it looks like you’re capitalising on her death rather than call-out the companies who try to squeeze every bit off employees. Let’s cut the BS: You’re too scared to speak up against McKinsey/MBB. You mentioned you’re not speaking against them like 100 times. No company is worth dying for. A company should improve your life, not end it. If not killing us, those companies are definitely detrimental to our health.
Yes, first message on the video should be condolences. Followed by, you the employee has the best idea of if you're overworked and even if you're bottom of the totem pole and it's well past 5pm then you should empower to say to yourself that the work will always be there, it's not going anywhere. If management can't plan the work out to get it done during work hours then don't make it your problem.
Hi Hasan, thanks for your comment. Sorry to hear this is the impression you got from the video, this is definitely not my intention. It is true that I look back at my time in consulting with an overall positive perspective. Though at the same time, I released several videos on this channel openly sharing the negative sides as well (isn't this exactly what I am doing in this video?) - including some very personal experiences of mine. Best, Heinrich
Watching your videos helped me land a job in the Big 4. Thank you so much. Challenges are there, but need to find a mix to blend in without affecting health.
Haha great video. I’m from consulting and I would say it’s really depending on the project, clients and colleagues you are working with 😂. Sometimes working with a good client or good colleagues really help you not feeling that bad even though it’s a tough project.
The MBB work culture is stressful - but healthier than banks. The fact that there is a normal Friday shows that the clients and deliverables are managed well by the teams - that work is not scheduled over the weekend, so that staff having some form of respite - shows MBB’s consideration to staff wellbeing. In banks (IT) and legal industries (in this Asian city where I am located) … the norm is to load a resource fully, working on Sat and Sun are expected. Whether working from home or office does not matter much - cos it’s more related to personal work style and the interacting superiors.
Big 4 consultant here. I would say that at Big 4 the hours are in general less demanding than in MBB (the ones described in the video), even though it differs from team to team and from project to project. The travel part is also a lot softer. Big 4 audit, on the other hand, is much more demanding (even worse than MBB in some respects) for a part of the year. Either way, consulting is never a 9 to 5 job, more like a 9 to 7-8 at best, with MBB being higher than that.
These firms are already cruel to everyone - I can’t imagine having the fear of being forced back to a third world country on top of that. Rest her soul
I know people, who get a promotion in B4 and their workload was 45 hours/week . But in most cases, average workload in some CIS countries is between 48-60 hours. After 40 they are not payable and it is wery high possibility that you will have problems if you show actual w/t in your timesheet. But it depends on manager. I don't think that MBB workload is ok if it is actually as you described. However if you want to get exp fast, this is the best 1-2 year option
Guys she committed suicide because of toxic racism in a firm. It's not about work-life balance. Call it out for what it is and stop pretending she just lacked the right consulting mindset. This is about personal ethics - basic human respect and accountability. Please tackle the real problem.
Extra hours in consulting will always be a problem since its a work follow heads provision of services and in professional services performance and efficiency tend to be overlook over time and slides with a lot, or too few, words. After some years in various Big4s, I find it a 360º problem that fist and foremost comes from clients, translates to professional services companies and lastly and most importantly to leadership. 1-> Clients: tend to be more aware of what time means and the trend shows that sending emails at non working hours or weekends translates in poor management that could impact the overall work that was requested. I would have to take out of the equation's Private Equity firms and similar entities, that normally pay good price for high level analysis with a look of info and not much stakeholder alignment... We can all ready the Bible, the real value lies on applying the lessons ;-) 2-> Service provider: In the past, Big4 companies sold a clear product to the market, a young skilled workforce with high analytical skills. They achieved this by subjecting their employees to endless hours and work far beyond their capabilities. The employee cannot fight against this system, as consulting firms generally hire inexperienced personnel. When the employee adopted a proactive and not reactive character, he decides to leave the company and generally perceives a much higher salary, or at least that is his perception. The market then finds itself with a very qualified and young workforce with few years of experience to which it can offer them uncompetitive salaries. This has always been the accepted model, until now, when market and consulting salaries start to equalize for those more junior positions. Hence one reason for the high rotation today. 3-> Leaders: Last but no least, leadership in Big4s it is regrettable. Bunch of Managers and above with no experience in leading and few pragmatism and highly insecure, which translates in constant changes of slides or presentations, bad language and impertinence. Some time you catch a few good bosses, its important to stick with them in that case hahahaha If you add this to the fact that they usually change terminology to adjust services which they are not suppose to do by independence, you have an industry on the verge of being transformed. Hopefully a new paradigm comes into place in the near future.
I do not think it is being unreasonable to have time to visit the gym or take 1 hour for yourself out of the remaining 16 hours not spent sleeping-but even this seems like a big ask at times. Despite the importance for mental and physical health. It takes years off you that career
Can‘t agree any further to your points. Being in a Big4 for quite some time, lot of your points are entirely true. Same goes for the reasons to exit. Had great learnings + growth there, but I needed to balance my live (health, family), which was the reason for me to leave. Still reflecting whether I should have stayed longer.
Started watching your videos a year ago Heinrich. I was excited about consulting, and I've even got a job with Bain from next year after graduation. But I love meeting friends, my time in the evenings for exercise and my hobbies - and I'm coming to the realisation that consulting is perhaps not for me.
@@muhammadputera6593 thank you for your suggestions friends both of you. Bain recruits at my campus here in India, probably easier than how it is elsewhere. I do want to accumulate a year's worth of experience before any masters or MBA etc - so I will def be joining Bain and see how it is. If the work/life does not suit me I'll go back to working in my major - engineering.
@@FirmLearning Sadly we are in a world ever more exploitative. Things only get more competitive, and not the other way around. I think low birth rates around the world is kind of like a silent revolution hoping that governments, companies realize, people can't survive anymore. Lower population means more for everyone. And the lack of newborn means less "leeks" to be harvested by those in power.
Hi Graeme, definitely not my intention to glorify anything - which is exactly why I also do videos about the negative sides as well like this one. Best, H
I think i wanna try to work at BAIN ...Just for the name. I find it cool asf haha Great vidéo, and yeah work life balance is ...vital, RIP to that man :(
Learn to create PowerPoint presentations like consultants from McKinsey, BCG, Bain:
link.firmlearning.com/slides
As a former big 4 employee, the partners don’t care. They run you into the ground. I bet her engagement manager’s first thought was “damn. Now I need to backfill with a new associate and it’s going to f my margin.”
Yes I found that to be the mentality too.
yup they dont care. the moment u resign, your partner wont even act like he knows u. no goodbyes, just fck offs. that's how my partner behaved.
Sorry to hear that if this was your experience
I am glad I left PwC years ago. My health was impacted then. But my current company also has toxic culture when they hired a wrong boss, and people can’t wait to leave
Not to mention those that suffer from being passed by for promotion and salary increase from visa situations
Hi Emily, very sorry to head you had these experiences. Hope that you find the strength to improve your situation in the future - all the best to you! H
@@Emilyghe hi, what do you mean by visa situations?
Hello Heinrich, as always, excellent insights!
One topic that I am interested in and that is also connected to work-life-balance in consulting is illness. When traveling due to air-conditioning in planes, having not much sleep, pressure from work, different climate etc. I often catch a cold or a virus, which shots me down for a few days.
Do you need an incredible immune system as a consultant and how did you (or colleagues) deal with that?
Eat better, eat more while working, drink more water. This is not to make you productive, it is just that our bodies need it more while we spend so much energy, so we can keep healthy. I'm a consultant working around 15 hours a day too. It's 2:48 in the morning here I'm still working while kind of having some videos like this on the background... Consultants often forget to eat, drink... I'm not even talking about sleep cause that's just unfair to demand more sleep from a consultant in such conditions... Also, take a lot of sun whenever you can. Vitamind D is realted to A LOT of things in our mood, sleep, hormones...
@@taukka hey, a question from a junior consultant; do you enjoy this kind of life? Is it worth it at the end?
There might indeed be differences by person. For me this was not a big problem, but if people are very sensible to this it will definitely become challenging.
There is a specific group of people that actually want to work in consulting. For most of us (aka normal people), consulting is a means to an end, to get a foot in the door. I have been in consulting for 3 years now and I dont plan to make it many more.
I have changed firms once and made it very clear to my current employer that I will not tolerate any of the bullshit graduates are exposed to. I do not have video calls before 9 am or after 6 pm and I work from home 99 percent of the time. The second someone demands I live in a hotel from mondays to thursdays I'm gonna quit. It's an employee's market, most employers have understood that by now.
Hey, do you work in Germany? How was your new employer's response to your conditions?
@@Raufm3 They accepted it.
This is where often come to perfect my German accent. Thank you Heinrich!
quick question...do Consultants get overtime payment (in most cases)? Because with all those extra hours they make (50+ to 60+ hours a week) and good base salary if they get OT payment it is a significant amount of money. If the OT is not paid then actually the payment they are receiving by the hour is not that high.
Not even condolence or saying that you’re sorry for her family? I like your vids but here it looks like you’re capitalising on her death rather than call-out the companies who try to squeeze every bit off employees.
Let’s cut the BS: You’re too scared to speak up against McKinsey/MBB. You mentioned you’re not speaking against them like 100 times.
No company is worth dying for. A company should improve your life, not end it. If not killing us, those companies are definitely detrimental to our health.
Yes, first message on the video should be condolences. Followed by, you the employee has the best idea of if you're overworked and even if you're bottom of the totem pole and it's well past 5pm then you should empower to say to yourself that the work will always be there, it's not going anywhere. If management can't plan the work out to get it done during work hours then don't make it your problem.
Hi Hasan, thanks for your comment. Sorry to hear this is the impression you got from the video, this is definitely not my intention. It is true that I look back at my time in consulting with an overall positive perspective. Though at the same time, I released several videos on this channel openly sharing the negative sides as well (isn't this exactly what I am doing in this video?) - including some very personal experiences of mine. Best, Heinrich
Watching your videos helped me land a job in the Big 4. Thank you so much. Challenges are there, but need to find a mix to blend in without affecting health.
Hi Mohammed, thanks for your comment! Super happy to hear the videos were helpful - lots of success to you in Big 4! Best, H
Haha great video. I’m from consulting and I would say it’s really depending on the project, clients and colleagues you are working with 😂. Sometimes working with a good client or good colleagues really help you not feeling that bad even though it’s a tough project.
The MBB work culture is stressful - but healthier than banks. The fact that there is a normal Friday shows that the clients and deliverables are managed well by the teams - that work is not scheduled over the weekend, so that staff having some form of respite - shows MBB’s consideration to staff wellbeing. In banks (IT) and legal industries (in this Asian city where I am located) … the norm is to load a resource fully, working on Sat and Sun are expected. Whether working from home or office does not matter much - cos it’s more related to personal work style and the interacting superiors.
Big 4 consultant here. I would say that at Big 4 the hours are in general less demanding than in MBB (the ones described in the video), even though it differs from team to team and from project to project. The travel part is also a lot softer. Big 4 audit, on the other hand, is much more demanding (even worse than MBB in some respects) for a part of the year. Either way, consulting is never a 9 to 5 job, more like a 9 to 7-8 at best, with MBB being higher than that.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Not surprised, watching this vid as I skive of trying to build an approach and add timelines on something I know nothing about that’s due for tomorrow
These firms are already cruel to everyone - I can’t imagine having the fear of being forced back to a third world country on top of that. Rest her soul
Anyone working that many hours as an EMPLOYEE is a tool. Long hours should only be poured into entrepreneurial pursuits.
I understand to work up to 2000 in pick season. But to workup to 0000 is only fir those in their twenties
Agree that it is very difficult to align this with other life priorities - especially as soon as you have a family.
@@FirmLearning even if other things deprioritised, physically speaking it s impossible medium term
ruclips.net/video/XUA3fL4mzhg/видео.html
I know people, who get a promotion in B4 and their workload was 45 hours/week . But in most cases, average workload in some CIS countries is between 48-60 hours. After 40 they are not payable and it is wery high possibility that you will have problems if you show actual w/t in your timesheet. But it depends on manager.
I don't think that MBB workload is ok if it is actually as you described. However if you want to get exp fast, this is the best 1-2 year option
Thanks for sharing your experience!
How would you compare startup vs consulting in terms of work life balance and also the attractiveness?
There is a very big variety among startups, not really possible to make a general statement
Leaving Big 4 for good. Really bad work culture and absolutely not employee centric at all. Started to affect my mental and physical health.
Guys she committed suicide because of toxic racism in a firm. It's not about work-life balance. Call it out for what it is and stop pretending she just lacked the right consulting mindset. This is about personal ethics - basic human respect and accountability. Please tackle the real problem.
Do not want to claim I know her motives. Definitely a sensible topic.
Extra hours in consulting will always be a problem since its a work follow heads provision of services and in professional services performance and efficiency tend to be overlook over time and slides with a lot, or too few, words. After some years in various Big4s, I find it a 360º problem that fist and foremost comes from clients, translates to professional services companies and lastly and most importantly to leadership.
1-> Clients: tend to be more aware of what time means and the trend shows that sending emails at non working hours or weekends translates in poor management that could impact the overall work that was requested. I would have to take out of the equation's Private Equity firms and similar entities, that normally pay good price for high level analysis with a look of info and not much stakeholder alignment... We can all ready the Bible, the real value lies on applying the lessons ;-)
2-> Service provider: In the past, Big4 companies sold a clear product to the market, a young skilled workforce with high analytical skills. They achieved this by subjecting their employees to endless hours and work far beyond their capabilities. The employee cannot fight against this system, as consulting firms generally hire inexperienced personnel. When the employee adopted a proactive and not reactive character, he decides to leave the company and generally perceives a much higher salary, or at least that is his perception. The market then finds itself with a very qualified and young workforce with few years of experience to which it can offer them uncompetitive salaries. This has always been the accepted model, until now, when market and consulting salaries start to equalize for those more junior positions. Hence one reason for the high rotation today.
3-> Leaders: Last but no least, leadership in Big4s it is regrettable. Bunch of Managers and above with no experience in leading and few pragmatism and highly insecure, which translates in constant changes of slides or presentations, bad language and impertinence. Some time you catch a few good bosses, its important to stick with them in that case hahahaha
If you add this to the fact that they usually change terminology to adjust services which they are not suppose to do by independence, you have an industry on the verge of being transformed. Hopefully a new paradigm comes into place in the near future.
I do not think it is being unreasonable to have time to visit the gym or take 1 hour for yourself out of the remaining 16 hours not spent sleeping-but even this seems like a big ask at times. Despite the importance for mental and physical health. It takes years off you that career
Agree, always prioritize your health! best, Heinrich
Can‘t agree any further to your points. Being in a Big4 for quite some time, lot of your points are entirely true. Same goes for the reasons to exit. Had great learnings + growth there, but I needed to balance my live (health, family), which was the reason for me to leave. Still reflecting whether I should have stayed longer.
Thanks for sharing your experience! Best, H
Started watching your videos a year ago Heinrich. I was excited about consulting, and I've even got a job with Bain from next year after graduation. But I love meeting friends, my time in the evenings for exercise and my hobbies - and I'm coming to the realisation that consulting is perhaps not for me.
Just go and try it, maybe do it for 2 years, putting MBB in your CV will change your career for ever ;)
@@Raufm3 nah. The kind of talent who can get Bain can definitely figure out how to open doors without needing MBB on their CV
@@muhammadputera6593 thank you for your suggestions friends both of you. Bain recruits at my campus here in India, probably easier than how it is elsewhere. I do want to accumulate a year's worth of experience before any masters or MBA etc - so I will def be joining Bain and see how it is. If the work/life does not suit me I'll go back to working in my major - engineering.
@@Nxrth2001 wish you good luck man. Which minor you had in Engineering?
After making the numbers consulting is not worth it, at least in tech.
Can definitely understand how one might decide to pursue a different career. All the best to you! Heinrich
If i close my eyes he sounds like Rainier Wolfcastle
I think it depends on Project and geography
Absolutely, definitely significant variances - thanks for sharing Bartek. Best, Heinrich
80hr/wk is nothing. That is minimum starting work hour for Asians.
Sorry to hear that. Would indeed say that 80k/w is rather on the higher side of what I experienced in consulting in Europe. Best, Heinrich
@@FirmLearning Sadly we are in a world ever more exploitative. Things only get more competitive, and not the other way around. I think low birth rates around the world is kind of like a silent revolution hoping that governments, companies realize, people can't survive anymore. Lower population means more for everyone. And the lack of newborn means less "leeks" to be harvested by those in power.
What the fuck
Strictly speaking if she worked as an auditor she wasn’t a consultant, but another informative and interesting video!
Even worst, a non consultant following a consultant schedule with non consulting salary probably.
fair enough
Heinrich, how do you guys stay in shape? I’d love to hear you talk about food and physical health.
Might create more content on this in the future - stay tuned! Best, H
@@FirmLearning I’m following
Hello Heinrich..
Do project management pays more than consulting..
Depends on the PM role
Thanks for your informative input
I hate how you glorify these companies. The Oxy scandal and what they did to the SA government was embarrassing.
Hi Graeme, definitely not my intention to glorify anything - which is exactly why I also do videos about the negative sides as well like this one. Best, H
I think i wanna try to work at BAIN ...Just for the name. I find it cool asf haha
Great vidéo, and yeah work life balance is ...vital, RIP to that man :(
The reason for the employee death in Austrlia was more due to racism she had to face from her co-workers, than the work-life balance.
sorry to hear that!