4 ms·

I think a lot of on-site consultant roles are for young recent graduates. My friend worked right out of college for Epic Software as a consultant managing their

by seibelj 10y ago

I think a lot of on-site consultant roles are for young recent graduates. My friend worked right out of college for Epic Software as a consultant managing their medical software integrations. He was supposed to fly home once a month for 3 days off (he had normal weekends off too, but stayed at the client's location in a hotel) but often deadlines would cause him to have to stay. He wound up drinking a lot, smoking way too much weed, and essentially had a nervous breakdown after a year of doing this. To add insult to injury, because he didn't make it long enough to fulfill his contractual obligations, Epic made him pay back his signing bonus and moving costs they reimbursed him for. He then moved back home with his parents, got his shit together, and a few months later got into IT project management at an eCommerce company. No travel, normal weekends, normal hours. He's back to himself again. The consultant life just seems so brutal, you don't make close friendships, you're never home, difficult to have a romantic relationship, difficult to eat healthy and exercise. No thanks!

toyg 10y ago
But: very good money, and a lifestyle that can be pretty glamorous at times (if you want it, of course). I'm currently in the process of slowly moving away from it because of external forces, and to be honest I know I'll miss it. The first couple of years were as harsh as you describe, but then I learnt to pace myself (and VPNs got truly mainstream so traveling decreased dramatically). Is still a pretty good life, all considered; after all, any good career these days requires brutal hours and lots of flying.
- ghaff 10y ago
  A lot depends on the sort of consulting probably. There are some cannon fodder sort of jobs certainly. There are others, as you say, where you learn to create some semblance of balance even if you still live on planes. (Though I would dispute that all good careers require both brutal hours and lots of flying; some do some don't.) Out of school I was supervising projects on-site and it was a really good out of school job. Would I have been wanting to spend weeks in shipyards at 40 or 50? No way. I do a lot of flying these days but I'm in control of my schedule to at least a certain degree.
ams6110 10y ago
The drinking and the weed probably had as much to do with his breakdown as the job.
- joezydeco 10y ago
  he had normal weekends off too, but stayed at the client's location in a hotel Long spans away from home, with no friends or family around, and a high-visibility deadline constantly hanging over your head...how would you relieve some of that stress? I've personally known people that did this kind of job right out of college, it's a hell of a meat grinder.
Arizhel 10y ago
Personally, I wish I could find a job where I traveled for about 1 week per month, like to customer sites to do support work. I used to have a job like this, but it didn't last long for various reasons, and I haven't found another since. It's a lot of fun IMO: I get to travel someplace new, I can eat at nice restaurants on the company's dime, I get access to a nice swimming pool and gym at the hotel, and since the customer isn't generally going to stay late I get plenty of free time to explore the city or just hang out in my hotel room (or a coffee shop, or wherever) working on a personal project on my computer, etc. As long as it isn't more than 1-1.5 weeks/month, it doesn't feel like I'm "never home" or that I can't have a romantic relationship, and I actually eat better and get more exercise than when I'm at home where I don't have my own pool or gym. The only really big downside is the TSA, and sometimes the misery of flying (though it helps a lot to only fly with Southwest if possible).

by seibelj 10y ago

toyg 10y ago

But: very good money, and a lifestyle that can be pretty glamorous at times (if you want it, of course). I'm currently in the process of slowly moving away from it because of external forces, and to be honest I know I'll miss it. The first couple of years were as harsh as you describe, but then I learnt to pace myself (and VPNs got truly mainstream so traveling decreased dramatically). Is still a pretty good life, all considered; after all, any good career these days requires brutal hours and lots of flying.

ghaff 10y ago
A lot depends on the sort of consulting probably. There are some cannon fodder sort of jobs certainly. There are others, as you say, where you learn to create some semblance of balance even if you still live on planes. (Though I would dispute that all good careers require both brutal hours and lots of flying; some do some don't.) Out of school I was supervising projects on-site and it was a really good out of school job. Would I have been wanting to spend weeks in shipyards at 40 or 50? No way. I do a lot of flying these days but I'm in control of my schedule to at least a certain degree.

ams6110 10y ago

The drinking and the weed probably had as much to do with his breakdown as the job.

joezydeco 10y ago
he had normal weekends off too, but stayed at the client's location in a hotel Long spans away from home, with no friends or family around, and a high-visibility deadline constantly hanging over your head...how would you relieve some of that stress? I've personally known people that did this kind of job right out of college, it's a hell of a meat grinder.

Arizhel 10y ago

Personally, I wish I could find a job where I traveled for about 1 week per month, like to customer sites to do support work. I used to have a job like this, but it didn't last long for various reasons, and I haven't found another since. It's a lot of fun IMO: I get to travel someplace new, I can eat at nice restaurants on the company's dime, I get access to a nice swimming pool and gym at the hotel, and since the customer isn't generally going to stay late I get plenty of free time to explore the city or just hang out in my hotel room (or a coffee shop, or wherever) working on a personal project on my computer, etc. As long as it isn't more than 1-1.5 weeks/month, it doesn't feel like I'm "never home" or that I can't have a romantic relationship, and I actually eat better and get more exercise than when I'm at home where I don't have my own pool or gym. The only really big downside is the TSA, and sometimes the misery of flying (though it helps a lot to only fly with Southwest if possible).