Lying about hours worked

Can we as a whole please stop lying about how many hours we work? I started at a so called “sweatshop” two years ago and even did several networking calls prior to joining of people claiming to work “so late”. Granted there have been some late nights but we are usually all gone by 7 unless we have something super pressing. Seniors work maybe 35-40 hours a week as well. Not complaining at all, I love it. But why do people keep lying? This is my second time encountering this.

 

How many “sweatshops” have you worked at to come to this conclusion? Oh that’s right. Just one.

 

Could team dynamics have changed? Was it 2 people previously and 4 now so the hours are less? Was it the same?

Possible it is an efficiency issue? Some people are in the office longer because they spend part of the day shopping or reading the latest Twitter gossip. So it can feel like long hours when if someone was just efficient with their time it wouldn't be. 

Could also very much depend on your senior. I personally don't care where, when or how you work as long as we meet deadlines, but there are a lot of seniors that are very "old school."

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I've worked long hours in the past (including a lot of travel), but have eased up on that as I've gotten older. But I can also see how my working less would mean that a junior person under me might be working more. I try and balance that, because we all need downtime and vacations, but I'm sure it happens regardless.

 

I did IB at a not super intense place and now work in REPE at a place historically known as intense.

I’d say there are weeks where you work every night til 10pm + some weekend work. But those are generally not that common. I kind of agree with you OP… I’ve been lucky to avoid mega sweatshop scenarios, but they are definitely out there.
 

Certain MDs (in busier groups) would be in the conference room at 10pm going through management presentations with the whole team. It really comes down to your group & your MD. If he / she wants to be in the office til 10pm, that often means he’ll be leaving you with some work on his way out. Meaning you’ve got a 1am night incoming.

Consider yourself lucky to have avoided these places because yeah… they exist for sure. I remember seeing kids on other teams looking like they had gotten into a fist fight because their eyes were so black.

 

I dunno I was at a top bank till last year and the typical junior in my group went:

Sun: 12pm-2am

Mon-thur: 10am-2am

Fri: 10am-8/9 pm

One Saturday exception every 6-ish weeks (variable). That’s about 90 hours run-rate a week. With some random slow weeks once every few months.

Bad was getting exception’ed and grinding out back to back weeks of 4-5am log offs with no break. 13 straight days of 10am-4am. So yeah probably some ppl exaggerate, but it’s real in some “prestigious” places.

 

same in my group, looking to get out. is it better in HF world? may also be helpful what type of HF you’re at

 

That matches my hours - top REGL group. Were you in a REGL group and went to LS HF, how did recruiters see that? Did they try to push you toward REPE?

 
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