Strategy& work load
Has anyone here had a first hand experience of the actual work load at S&? Is it close to MBB work/life balance or to PwC's? Specifically at post-MBA senior associate level in the banking & cap markets practice.
This is purely anecdotal, but my friends (all pre-MBA) at Strategy% all seem to work longer hours than my friends at MBB. Weekend work seems more common, and the culture seems much more intense all the way around.
Granted this is based on an N of about 5 people so take that for what it's worth.
S& compete with MBB and offer an EVP (and commensurate working hours) aligned to that positioning.
Thanks! Looks like they remain unaffected by PwC's culture in this particular area.
Are MBB's hours better or worse than PwC? Have been a client to both and haven't seen a noticeable difference.
With all due respect, as a client, you probably wouldn't. Clients really don't have any visibility into the behind-the-scenes sausage-making.
Friends I have at Strategy& work the same hours as M/B/B. Haven't heard any stories about more intense work environment or something beyond the occasional weekend stints at the end of projects. Would be surprised to watch them working less hours at MBB since they are competing for the same projects and foster the same client expectations.
The "occasional weekend stint" can make all the difference. For me, the line between "the hours aren't great, but they're manageable" to "this is hell, get me the fuck out of here" is usually when extensive weekend work starts to become involved.
You're absolutely right. Weekends are sacred for me as well. Friends of mine at Bain are really desperate right now, they were staffed on due diligence projects and have almost no free weekends anymore.
Folks at PwC work usually less than MBB, but this is also dependent on the function, industry group, manager and project. M&A Advisory at PwC should have the same hours for example.
Doublepost
I used to work at Booz (NA) and am now at an MBB (Australia) working on a project co-sold with S& (mixed team, distinct modules).
My impression is that the working model for S& and MBB are extremely similar, with S& perhaps having a lower mean and higher variance in hours. So while my team might usually be at the client site longer than the S& team, we also have avoided huge spikes in workload.
Though obviously the answer will vary hugely by office, practice, client, manager, etc.
That is a fairly unique engagement.
Comparing hours between firms is really hard because there's so much variance within the same firm. That's why I caveated my statement above with being "purely anecdotal".
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