Generally if youre staffed somewhere and choose to stay where ever the client is (different city from your 'hub' or whatever you guys call them), do you have the option to have your significant other flown out to you? I think a girl who I knew that worked at Accenture giggle had said something like this
Are MBB flying first class? i remember a few years ago people had mentioned they were all flying coach -- or does this depend on who you are and the like? Also not sure if this was rumor mongering due to the
10 for breakfast 20 for lunch 40 for dinner allotment? Since a lot of your living expenses are kind of paid for I can see that you actually have a sizeable 'bump' in pay out of that
General work hours? i understand that can very GREATLY with time and whatever your client is, ive heard some people say more than banking at times but generally less than banking but you have to figure travel times in and all.
flame me plz. tried to search for some of this but just curious haha ive honestly had no exposure to consulting and semi curious/exploring and learning about it a bit.
tier 2
1) at my firm yes, it's called 'flex travel'. you can either fly to another city, stay in the city and they'll pay for your hotel or you can fly in a significant other 2) my firm is lowest cost i.e coach. 3) we get lump sum per diems that depends on location and not depending on meal. nyc gets a higher amount than say cleveland, ohio. anything we don't spend we get to pocket. Ex: NC gets $40/day x 4 travel days = $160/week, if I only spend $20 that week, that $140 is cash in my pocket - tax free. 4)depends on local vs. travel. travel is 3-4-5, 3 nights away from home, 4 days at the client site, 5 days of work (friday is work from home or office if you wish and usually light work) local projects...from what my colleagues say is a bit more demanding because you have to show up friday at the client site. Hours range from 50-60 on average, it really all depends on the project and type of work you're doing.
Former MBB.
Travel: yes, most firms do something like this. They will either pay for you to fly someone to your location, or they will pay for you to stay the weekend in a hotel. Or they will pay for you to fly to another city so long as the airfare is equal to or cheaper than your standard airfare back to your home city. You only get to choose one of these, though (e.g., you can't fly your GF to your client city AND get your hotel paid for during the weekend).
First class: most firms have a threshold. At my MBB, it was anything >3.5 hours was first class, otherwise coach. However, you quickly get platinum status on multiple airlines, so you'll often get upgraded to first class for free. When I left, I was probably getting upgraded 50-60% of the time (much more likely when flying, say, NYC to DET, vs NYC to BOS, b/c there are much fewer other platinum-status people flying with you).
Per diems: we got $15 for breakfast, $25 for lunch, and $50 for dinner. We did not get to keep it if we didn't spend it. Dinner could be $75 if it was a "team dinner."
Work hours: typically worked until midnight Mon-Wed, but would take a break for dinner (i.e., work at client until 7-8pm, go have dinner either with team or room service, then go back to hotel and work until midnight in my room). Thu we'd leave for airport around 4-5pm and would get back home around 8-10pm, depending on flight time. Typically did not do any more work Thu evening. Fri worked 9-5, with very little efficiency (mostly talking to colleagues, etc.). Worked very little on weekends, but I optimized for this (I would elect to work longer during the week to avoid working weekends). Some of my friends would purposefully leave 3-5 hours of work to do on the weekend in order to have shorter days during the week. All of this can vary considerably depending on the project. My latest night ever was 4:30am (no all-nighters).
good shit, thanks :D ill take anymore input possible haha.
Current MBB:
My experiences are very similar to Dagwood's. We're at first class if it's about 90 minutes I think, but all the partners and principals I've worked for and traveled with have flown coach, so I have as well.
I leave my apartment at 5:30 AM on Monday, finish around 12-1 AM, generally work 14-17 hours Tuesday and Wednesday, then maybe 10 hours Thursday and 8 hours Friday. I've done 3 AM a handful of times (maybe once every other month), no all-nighters. Hours are 60-75 plus travel.
No per diems...as long as I don't try to expense a Porsche, I'm fine.
but, but, but... It's a legitimate business expense. "Sir, I have to get to the airport quickly"
DagwoodDeluxe said it all. Same experience here. Worst time is usually on sunday afternoon when you keep reminding yourself that you need to wake up at 4am or 5am the next morning to fly to the client site...it's a real killer !
^ that must be rough for sure... but its a issue I am dying to have...
Antmavel: haha that was my LEAST favorite part about consulting. Having to travel so early on Mon basically ruins your Sun evening b/c you start thinking about work at like dinnertime on Sun.
I would start doing emails, packing, etc., in anticipation of the early morning. That is definitely one thing I DON'T miss about consulting!
Don't forget redeye flights! I am currently at a client that requires me to take redeye flights landing back in office at 6 am on Friday and then going straight to work for another 8-9 hours.
This is not even as bad as West->East Coast projects, which sometimes mean redeye flights on Sunday nights......
haha so the traveling seems like a cool perk but in reality it really sucks in general? ;) lol id imagine after a while you start to travel less often or less grueling hours or no?
only good perk about travel is the points/miles, which you can use to buy gifts or trips. but traveling every week is a pain, getting to the airport, standing in line, random security checks, constant delays, i don't personally mind it yet but this does cause a lot of people stress. you only travel less if you are on a local project. if you have some skill that is need at Client XYZ even though you been with the firm for 5 years, guess what? you'll be traveling there. Hours are pretty steady regardless, I even see partners at the client sites past 7-8pm at times.
BTW these questions are not dumb, not in the slightest sense.
Current MBB here:
Basically for the weekends you can do whatever you want (i.e. fly to a different city, fly a girlfriend to you, etc), but it can't cost more than your normal return flight. This can be a cool perk if you flying NYC to SF and have like $5-600 dollars to play with, but most of the time your flights are 4 hour flight (i.e. cross country or international). Doesn't really matter after your first year as you'll get upgraded 60+% of the time once you have super duper platinum status. Hotels are generally nice, but not 4 star (think Westin or W, as opposed to Four Seasons). Sometimes your in the middle of nowhere and you end up a crappy motel because there is nothing else, but sometimes you end up in a low COL area and can stay at a St. Regis or something.
Some firms have a per diem, some just ask for receipts for anything over $50. Either way its pretty hard to spend enough that people ask questions. You can eat at nice restaurants/get room service every night if you want. Normally you'll have too much work and will just want something quick.
Hours are generally 5am to midnight on Mon, 9am to midnight with a break for dinner Tues-Wed, 9am to 8pm (or whenever your flight lands) on Thurs, and 9-5 on Friday (with very little pressure to do any real work). Hours lessen a bit as you get more senior, but travel general increases. Partners can have to be in several cities in the same week. A partner on one of my cases had to do Pittsburgh to NYC to London, and then back to Pittsburgh in the span of 4 days. In my opinion, unlike banking, your lifestyle actually gets worse as you get more senior.
The travel is definitely not a perk. Whatever city your in you'll see exactly three places: 1) the airport, 2) the client's office, 3) your hotel room. You won't be going out on the town during or after daylight hours. The only exception is when you have case/project/engagement team events. Then sometimes you can do something cool in whatever city your in. These are once every 2 months or so.
Its a fun job. The work is generally interesting, the people are generally cool, and at least my firm seems to go out of its way to try and protect your lifestyle. That said, its still a client services business, so your lifestyle is never going to be that great. This career is hard on your mind and your body. Though people generally enjoy it, most don't stick with it for more than 2-4 years. Hope that's helpful.
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