Is this just too much?

[Arraminta]

Roughly how long a working day is typical for a placement student at one of the Big Four? Is working an 18 hour day for 5 days straight (close to a big sign off) just par for the course? I have no experience of the finance industry at all, so just don't know.

Big four what?

Consider it?? …….

Yes but the jobs (which the placements anre essentially an interview for) are competitive so they’ll be looking for trainees to pitch in - like I said, it’s not for everyone!

If you started quoting your contractual hours and sticking to them you would soon be out of the door I’m afraid (not sure about placements but all permanent contracts have the opt out of the working hours limits!)

It’s not a trial run at Tesco but a prestigious and rare opportunity.

doing all the hours, the experience alone would be worth its weight in gold

Thank you. She's on a very good salary, for a student, but when you work it out hourly it's a pittance! Like you say, it's a very privileged opportunity that she will make the most of.

Yes, she accepts that she absolutely needs to power through. She assures me she knew what she was taking on. Obviously faking and taking sick leave hasn't occurred to her, she was raised better than that! She's just had a very lovely email from her manager thanking her for all her hard work and overtime and they want her back on their team when she goes back as a graduate.

Sounds like she is doing really well! Well done to her 😊

God yes - they are brutal! I haven't worked for one of them but engage their services as part of my job and have worked alongside PWC/Accenture/E&Y consultants on many projects. I did a European Shared Financial Services project where 14 - 16 hour days were standard and they ordered in a takeaway every evening as going home was just not acceptable til 9 or 10 at night. On the plus side - they gain SO much experience early on. I remember being explained my job by a 12 year old in glasses with a MacBook and trying not to laugh. My sister and BIL met whilst working at PWC in accountancy roles. It really did set them up for life. My BIL has just retired at 57. Very tough hours for an internship though. I can see why you are concerned.

Thank you. Yes, every day this week food has been delivered to the offices around 10pm and everyone's having to work most of the weekend, too. But they've just been told they can claim back the time as holiday, luckily (whether they actually get to take it is another matter). She plans to sleep all day Sunday.

Throwing a sicky was a joke ! I only said look at the placement details as back up info. I know they stress test placement students but I did feel this was extreme.