Hate Long Hours at a Desk... Where to Go From Here
Hi all,
Reaching out today because, while I'm sure I'll get the usual amount of hate, most people on here will probably understand how I feel when I say that I cannot stand sitting at a desk/on a computer all day for all hours of the day until late at night. In the financial field, it seems like pretty much all jobs are longer than normal hours (50 at a minimum), and you will, no matter what, spend the majority of your day at a desk. It's gotten to the point where I feel like I need to do something drastically different and get away from the field, like teaching in high school or pursuing a PhD to become a professor.
Does anyone else have any other ideas of what I can do? The long hour lifestyle, especially combined with sitting down all day at a desk/computer, just appears to not be for me. At the same time, I don't want to make a rash decision and leave the field completely for a teaching career without doing my due diligence. Are there any finance jobs that get you home in time to actually eat dinner with your family, or should I start looking elsewhere?
Thanks everyone
P.S. Money isn't really an issue, and is part of the reason why I feel this way. I'm just not a materialistic guy. When the time comes, I'd like to buy a nice house and have nice things, but no need for super expensive suits/wines and extravagant country club memberships over here.
Ops.
The Ops life is not one I would wish on anyone. Sure, there are cool roles but the chances of ending up in one is slim right out of school. I would recommend talking to someone in the field and finding something that you might find interesting and worthy of your time before committing. I thought things would get better after interning in an Ops role but sadly, that wasn't the case. 45-50 hours is the norm, if not more for some roles. The overtime is nice but wanting to blow your brains out at the end of each day is not.
Sales & Trading?
What do you want us to tell you? You already know you can't be successful in finance without making sacrifices along the way. But it doesn't sound like you even care about being "successful," as long as you're happy and can make ends meet while saving up some money (and certainly that's a successful life by most people's definition).. So I'm just confused as to why you would even feel compelled to force yourself into finance when it just sounds like you should do what makes you happy.
I think we need a little bit more background then what you provided. A majority of jobs require an insane amount of work at the beginning. A portion of those jobs will actually help you learn tangible and transferable skills which you will be able to carry with you throughout your career.
Are you in school? Are you employed? Would you rather spend 40 hours a week doing a boring job, or 60-70 hours a week doing something more interesting?
Consider this, it could be a lot worse: you could be driving a garbage truck, or standing on the ledge of one, stopping every 10 feet and picking up smelly rubbish bags in the financial district of your city.. money is not very attractive at this type of work, but keeping the environment clean is satisfaction guaranteed...
Jokes aside, the meaning I am trying to convey: count your blessing!
Be careful in assuming a teaching job isn't largely desk bound and has good hours - I personally know professors (who do a lot of research) that work 60-70+ hours a week, most at a desk.
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