Work Cell Phone... Separate or Merge?

Hey All,

Was wondering what the thought is on work cell phones. Do you get a completely separate line to have a physical wall between your personal/work life? Or do you suck it up and merge them?

The thought of privacy is appealing, the thought of schlepping 2 iPhone 6+s around is not.

Pros and Cons of Combining Work and Personal Phone

The main benefit to combining work and personal phones is that you won’t have to carry around two phones. Only using a work phone can save you costs as well since your company would be responsible your cell phone bill.

However, most WSO users advocate for keeping them separate for a few reasons:

  • Last thing you want happening is data on your personal and work phone getting subpoenaed when you are named in a lawsuit.
  • Think about what you send on your personal phone. Do you really want your work to have access to those texts and pictures?
  • If you do work on the side, you probably don’t want to do this on your work phone.
  • Privacy issues + legal separation should outweigh the hassle of carrying two phones.

No matter what you decide, be sure to review your company’s device policy. While most companies don’t have time to read your emails every day, if you’re having performance issues a boss could look towards your email/computer/internet/device usage and see if you violate any of the company code of conduct.

Related Reading

 

Two totally separate phones. You're not actually going to separate your work and personal lives (separate discussion, but if you're in most fields contemplated on WSO, you're expected to have your phone on you at all times and reply pretty quickly) but if you're receiving tit pics and sending out drunk dick pics at 2 am your company won't see them and if/when you leave you won't lose your phone number. You get used to the two phone thing pretty quickly.

 
gstackle32:

Keep them separate. Last thing you want happening is data on your personal and work phone getting subpoenaed when you are named in a lawsuit.

Yea, I am more worried about random legal shit like ^. Also is a blurry line if you are doing quasi side shit on a company phone (advising a friend on their business, your own start up stuff, etc.). Though sexting I suppose is a valid concern for some ;)

 
Best Response

Hate carrying 2 phones. Battery is a non-issue with 4 chargers (home, office, car, laptop case).

Currently: 1 private phone, but logged in to work (email, calendar, soon company messenger). Work landline forwarded to private phone whenever I'm not in the office. --> everyone (incl. clients) can reach without knowing my private number. --> I see if it's a rerouted (=work) call and can chose if I answer (e.g. if at family event on a weekend) This setup actually showed me how archaic it is to expect seeing a separate cell phone # on business cards...

But since ppl keep asking for it, soon we'll get 2 mobile numbers (1 private, 1 work) on 1 phone. That is, two contracts (you pick your own for the private and can keep your private number; work number appears on business card) with separate billing, number and all. Device mgmt software on the phone will allow muting either number (=sending it voicemail), depending whether you're at work or on free time to help focus on/shut off work. Device can remain your own or you pick from list of company phones offered. Since we'll probably get unlimited internet via the work contract, I might downgrade the private plan and save money.

 

If you log onto any personal accounts (i.e. personal email, your espn insiders pass to get fantasy football tips, etc) your employer has access to anything in those accounts ( so he can go through your emails). When you have a work phone or a work computer, you have no reasonable expectation of privacy on those devices. So, if you do anything on your phone that you wouldn't want your boss seeing, I'd recommend that you keep a separate phone.

 

If a junior in IB/PE (say up until VP), 2 phones. Privacy issues + legal separation (the subpoena thing) should greatly outweigh the hassle of carrying the second phone.

If you are a partner/owner of your business or director-level+ this advantage disappears, chances are that if something bad goes on in this front you're sorta knee deep in shit regardless of how you decide to compartmentalize your data.

 

One single phone for both personal and work. Many 'bring your own device' programs are getting good at compartmentalizing the owner's personal data separate from work data. It's just a lot easier to carry only one device, and have your calendar show both personal and work together. Data usage can be troubling for some, but with options like T-Mobile's unlimited data plans or high data limit plans getting cheaper, it's not bad at all.

 
Lester Freamon:

If you get a separate phone are you completely barred from texting friends/family at all with that phone? I understand that you don't want to be on Facebook/Tinder with that device, but am I allowed to call forward, etc. when I'm traveling, especially if the firm's plan is unlimited voice/text anyway?

I have Facebook on my company phone. I use it for personal calls, I text my friends, I get my gmail on it. Why would my company care?

 

I used two phones for about four years but finally got sick of it. If you work at a small employer (my PE shop there are very few of us) they are far less strict about personal phone use. I don't do shady stuff on my phone -- so this doesn't apply if you use SnapChat more than texts. The cost savings are nice and I have everything I need on one device. The number I use is my own and I get to keep it if I leave.

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

Since this in the Consulting forum, there's gotta be an additional consideration given to being staffed internationally. As far as I know, all the big consulting firms have great roaming plans + also cover personal use. So I think it makes the most sense to just have one phone.

And are the concerns of privacy even real? I can't see my employer having the time/needing to go through my personal stuff.

 

they aren't that expensive, my sister just bought one this weekend for $99, it was ilke $150 off or something like that.

This is like her 3rd cell phone in 1 year, she drowned her 1st one in diet coke, and the other one got crushed somehow.

but why do you need a cellphone? I thought everyone got a blackberry?

 

blackberry is this thing that pretty much every IB gives all analysts so that they can call you at any time...its cellphone/email in 1.

cell phones tend to last like 3-4 years before battery dies, but they look crappy after a year(chrome gets rubbed off etc)

Most people change their cell phones every year or so, I change mine every 2, because with Verizon I'm on a plan that gets me a $100 dollar off any cell phone.

 

not entirely sure about the subject, but I think the companies that use GSM phones(cingular?), you can just get a sim card, and get the phone itself cheap on ebay.

also if you are in NYC chinatown has very cheap phones, my friend bought a top of a line phone for like 50 bucks. GSM once again.

But like I mentioned I'm pretty clueless on the subject(Verizon doesn't use the GSM)...so I'm not that sure that GSM is what the thing is called or what companies use them.

Oh and as far as monthly, I think one of the companies(Cingular?) have been running commercials about their prepaid phones w/o a contract, so might want to look into that

 

If you want to get a big sexy phone, a blackberry or a treo, if you just want a phone that works wherever you may be, get a motorola, thier reliability is the best on the market.

 

Get a vertu sig. I would go for platinum but it is a bit more expensive than the white gold. Your call. Also, on a more serious note, I don't think ive ever seen a phone service plan that didnt require a 2-year contract and was less than $50 (after fees and taxes). You could always get a tracphone.

 

forward your personal calls from your cell to your blackberry. the best way is to get a VOIP number. this allows you to forward all calls to your blackberry hassle-free, and when you dial a certain number from your blackberry, you can then make calls directing through your VOIP number. so you can have two lines on one phone. i do it all the time and am loving it. Plus its only 19.99/mo flat rate for the whole US/Can/Puerto Rico.

 
kreatif:
forward your personal calls from your cell to your blackberry. the best way is to get a VOIP number. this allows you to forward all calls to your blackberry hassle-free, and when you dial a certain number from your blackberry, you can then make calls directing through your VOIP number. so you can have two lines on one phone. i do it all the time and am loving it. Plus its only 19.99/mo flat rate for the whole US/Can/Puerto Rico.

I'll have to look into this. I'm tired of forking over $80 a month to Verizon AND having to carry 2 phones.

 
scottydoesntknow:
What blackberry model do the different banks give you?

Any banks giving 2007 analysts the newer blackberry model?

Bump. I really hope incoming analysts get the newer version.

 

azwethinkweiz:

check it out...

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,119784-page,1/article.html

The only catch is that you need a VOIP router-link, but that comes with the package when you order. also, you can connect a land phone with that router through any cable/dsl (anywhere around the world!). my router has been turned off for 6 months cuz i dont need a land line any more (especially since I dont even remember where my apt. is after work started) and i get (/and make) all personal calls to(/through) my blackberry.

 

Get another cell phone and expense it.

A. I know all of you new analysts want to signal to chicks that you're bankers with the blackberry on your side on Friday nights, but it's way too big to carry in your pocket and when you go out you're likely to lose it.

B. If you're talking to someone / listening to a conference call on your cell phone, you'll still want to be able to check emails while you're talking/listening.

C. The reception on the blackberry sucks

 
ginNtonic:
Get another cell phone and expense it.

A. I know all of you new analysts want to signal to chicks that you're bankers with the blackberry on your side on Friday nights, but it's way too big to carry in your pocket and when you go out you're likely to lose it.

B. If you're talking to someone / listening to a conference call on your cell phone, you'll still want to be able to check emails while you're talking/listening.

C. The reception on the blackberry sucks

You can expense your personal cellphone if you use it for conference calls, etc? How does that work, do you expense a portion of the bill or what?

 

I cancelled my personal phone as soon as I got my BB. You can use it for personal calls and nobody cares...everybody does it. Of course use some common sense and don't call porn lines or China for personal use. Nobody expenses their personal cell phone at my firm as everybody uses their BB.

 

If your company offers to cover or reimburse for a significant part of your phone plan, you're probably best off keeping it all on a blackberry. I know that some people would say that they want two devices to separate work from personal life, but it's just an extra hassle to carry everything around. I keep everything on my Blackberry curve these days, and just downloaded the GMail application so I can access personal e-mail too. It also makes text messaging a lot easier. (disclaimer: I moved to the buy-side and didn't have anything like this on the sell-side, but I've heard that some boutique banks do cover some part of an employee's phone bill)

​* http://www.linkedin.com/in/numicareerconsulting
 

I think it's best to keep two separate cell phones. Especially since you can't access your personal email/aim/etc at work, having your own personal phone that can do all of those things is probably useful. Also, I'm not sure how closely they monitor those blackberries or if they even do, but I want to keep the bank from monitoring my browsing habits/who I call as much as I can.

 

I would definitely say that having two phones is a bit redundant, but I would prefer to keep the same phone number for as long as I can, so I would keep my personal phone. Although you just started, you won't be at that same bank forever (most likely) so why not just keep your personal number to take with you whenever you leave.

Good luck to you.

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

but that is a million dollar idea or just retarded..

not sure..i think a bunch of us should get together and pitch this idea to motorola or some telco like at&t.

just hope google doesn't beat us to it.

------------ I'm making it up as I go along.
 
Cornelius:
but that is a million dollar idea or just retarded..

not sure..i think a bunch of us should get together and pitch this idea to motorola or some telco like at&t.

just hope google doesn't beat us to it.

It may sound wonderful, but I doubt it would really work. You would certainly have to have the same carrier as your employer for this to even seem feasible as most cell phone companies would probably have very little interest in offering just strictly phone service to a person who got their cell phone from another carrier.

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

I'd say about half the people I know use their work phones as personal phones as well. Everyone has a personal email though that doesn't go to their blackberry, and most don't text frequently. BBM is device to device, so is not stored on any corporate server, and your company has no access to it.

"Never write when you can speak, never speak when you can nod, never nod when you can wink."

 

I've been carrying two phones for years now. It's a pain in the ass but I'd prefer the flexibility to talk as much as I want and text as much as I want without wondering if one day someone will call me up and tell me I've been abusing the phone policy. At the end of the day, it's really not that much money to have a personal phone. Also, check to see if your corporate affiliation gets you a discount on your service. I've got a 10+% discount on my monthly bill as a result of where I work.

~~~~~~~~~~~ CompBanker

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 
KB24TD21:
Is that true about BBM, cause a friend was considering getting an i-phone since he'd get a blackberry from work but didn't want to give up bbm and wasn't sure if he could use it of the work phone

I suppose IT could disable BBM if they desperately wanted to, but I've never heard of that being done and can't imagine why it would be. BBM is used in a work context as well. I'm sure his work phone will have BBM.

 

I have two blackberries. Works for me but most of the other guys have a different phone - more senior guys have a cell, younger guys an iphone or another smartphone. Only issue is pocket space.

 

Some banks give Blackberries that only e-mail (no calls), so if this is the case for you you'll probably need another phone. With texts and e-mails, you probably don't want to have to worry about the possibility of the firm seeing what you say so I'd recommend just getting your own. Its a pain in the ass but you could always free up some pocket space by wearing the Blackberry on your belt and looking like a real douche.

 

I've used 2 phones for almost 3 years now. You get used to it. My company would pay for me to have a single line and keep my own #, but I'd have to give up texting which would quickly make me lose all my friends.

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

You definitely want two cell phones.

Compliance at most firms monitor e-mails etc. (nowadays with even greater ease due to the fact that automated software can do it). You don't want the firm to know about how wasted you and your buddies were last weekend or the girl you banged the other day. Therefore, you get your own personal phone and discuss personal things and send personal e-mails on this phone. On your work phone, you behave professionally and send professional e-mails.

 

You can apply those discounts after you've already been on the plan. I applied my banks discount 12 months into my contract.

-------------------------------------------------------- "I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcom
 
thaTHRILLA:
the discounts are for the major carriers (at&t/verizon). You can apply them at any time during the contract

Excellent...thanks!

Also, do you know which BB model the firm is now providing to new analysts? Is it still the Curve 8900?

 

Ranges from 0-20% off line rental.

-------------------------------------------------------- "I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcom
 

if you tell a sprint store you work for home depot you get 27% off your monthly bill and they have no way of checking your employment with HD...

oh wait do you have Home Depot's in NYC?

do new yorkers know what Home Depot is?

 

Its usually around 20%. And if you open a family plan in your name you can put your parents on it and get the discount on all of their phones. Just use their credit card. This allows them to save money. Goodluck at GS

 

Eos possimus vel autem. Voluptatem qui qui doloremque eos praesentium. Commodi quam corporis nulla et repellat sit est. Commodi veniam corrupti praesentium aut non cum. Optio dolorem consequatur molestiae veniam. Vero ex pariatur pariatur sed ex vitae non.

 

Aliquam rerum expedita labore et temporibus porro occaecati. Minima nisi est minima unde. Modi necessitatibus officia officia sint dolorum ipsa perferendis. Aut culpa ut facilis dolor rerum et eum.

Debitis alias commodi maxime. Deserunt explicabo fuga sequi. Repellat officiis sunt molestias. Iste sit ab neque odio qui qui fugit. Accusantium voluptas aliquam laboriosam eos dicta. Rerum cum similique molestiae asperiores veniam non. Similique itaque itaque laudantium quo odio aut unde.

Soluta nobis est doloremque distinctio aut suscipit quos. Est aut totam quos. Modi sunt rerum autem aut excepturi aliquam.

Accusantium et fuga exercitationem ea enim. Illum nihil qui amet aliquid qui. Voluptatem eveniet est deleniti dolores. Officiis quidem et est eos et libero. Voluptatem ut corrupti sit.

 

Est rem rerum quo explicabo eius incidunt similique. In illum nihil et delectus magni dolorem.

Neque sequi doloribus voluptatem et. Amet minima architecto quis nihil. Et dolores exercitationem odit quasi. Dolor iure numquam pariatur voluptas est qui voluptates.

Aut vel qui quo. Ratione qui veniam enim aperiam nam aut. Rerum beatae voluptates autem quidem a tempora.

Eaque earum accusamus natus. Fugit et non qui aut sint quae non. Omnis dolor aperiam est et ut quos. Impedit eos aliquam sed dolorem quod. Tempora magni rerum saepe beatae repudiandae.

This to all my hatin' folks seeing me getting guac right now..
 

Quis quis dolor placeat ex qui velit eos. Totam tempore animi dicta ad. Eos alias et rerum assumenda. Dolores sapiente velit esse laudantium nemo. Enim sit ratione voluptatum voluptatibus. Consequuntur quia dolor nihil minus aut. Quibusdam id fuga velit impedit ratione ea illum.

 

Quo ab iste asperiores sit odio labore. Accusantium doloremque laborum quidem rerum recusandae sit. Ullam dolores rerum recusandae dolores nobis at blanditiis. Dolores veniam sequi voluptas hic assumenda dolores.

Magnam libero aut aut consectetur sint. Error dolorem at ex ratione ut enim numquam. Cum sit eius odit.

Fuga velit repellat corporis voluptate sint. Eum voluptatum eligendi dolorem consectetur molestiae. Omnis sequi tenetur et quisquam tempore. Harum non possimus est ab provident. Illum sed ut voluptate vel sint.

Et dolore officia harum vero. Aut dolores pariatur aut culpa magni. Consequatur ut doloremque unde dolorem aut dolores. Autem fuga dolores ratione.

 

Nulla culpa et quae distinctio doloremque quaerat. Expedita aperiam magnam quia et optio fugiat corporis. Temporibus praesentium officia ut consequuntur.

Qui perspiciatis quis repellendus nisi fuga. Nisi expedita in ut. Molestiae deleniti et repellat. Deleniti nemo aut eius saepe.

Ut ducimus facere facilis similique at. Eum consequatur unde similique sit. Eum eligendi expedita eum ut.

Id accusamus sed dicta deserunt est reprehenderit. Ipsum sit neque tempora sed consequatur pariatur animi. Libero est qui quis aperiam eveniet dicta.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • Cornerstone Research 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • McKinsey and Co 97.7%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Consulting

  • Partner (4) $368
  • Principal (25) $277
  • Director/MD (55) $270
  • Vice President (47) $246
  • Engagement Manager (99) $225
  • Manager (152) $170
  • 2nd Year Associate (158) $140
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (108) $130
  • Senior Consultant (329) $130
  • Consultant (586) $119
  • 1st Year Associate (538) $119
  • NA (15) $119
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (145) $115
  • Engineer (6) $114
  • 2nd Year Analyst (342) $102
  • Associate Consultant (166) $98
  • 1st Year Analyst (1046) $87
  • Intern/Summer Associate (188) $84
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (547) $67
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”