Nancy Katz has a Stanford M.B.A., an impressive title (vice president of investor relations) and a shot at becoming partner at the investment firm McCown De Leeuw & Co. in Menlo Park, Calif. There's just one thing getting in the way of her promotion: She'd rather not be promoted.

"I don't want it," says Ms. Katz, 39 years old. "My current job is challenging and I enjoy it, and at the end of the day I can turn it off. As a partner, work would be nonstop."

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http://www.careerjournal.com/myc/climbi ... -hube.html

Yeah - so would I... But 'to each his own'! People have different priorities in life and we should respect them.

I remember watching a travel channel show on Italy. The show's host- whose name eludes me - recounted an Italian's comment during a delicious meal:

"Americans live to work. Italians work to live."
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Honestly, I'm with with Nancy Katz and would probably do the exact same thing. I love being challenged and enjoy working hard, but there's got to be a balance.

I have not, however, reached that point yet in my career, so right now, yes, I would take a promotion

IB and MC work means insane hours everywhere, including IT and FR. Forget about lunch siesta.
Beside having more pressure, in some jobs a higher position means less interesting work and more corporate politics, compromising and external and internal selling and PR.

Not sure why this is surprising for some people.

Whether you have an MBA or not, you're still a human being who grows and changes over time. You have a partner/spouse. You have kids. Or if you have neither, you may want them down the road. Or if you don't, you may want to fill your life with something else aside from work. For some people, their careers are their passion and first love - for most people, it ends up being a day job. And MBA types are no different in the long-term when it comes to that. People's priorities change over time - you're NOT going to want to be a whippersnapper corporate career climber forever. Trust me on this.

A lot of MBA students and recent grads will fawn over McKinsey, private equity, blah blah blah. 10+ years later, most of these very MBAs will no longer care. No one is ranking their schools, obsessing over compensation stats, talking like a resume, etc. For most people, the preoccupation with prestige, compensation vs. peers, etc is a temporary thing. If at that point you're all about career - great. If you're all about family, great. If you're still at McKinsey, no one is going to worship you. If you're no longer at some Super Prestigious Firm, no one is really going to think less of you. So long as you're happy or making do with what you have - that sense of having to benchmark yourself vs your peers goes away.
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Alex Chu
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Very nice++, Alex.

For me, when I get old, I want to remember my life as fulfilling and balanced. Yes, I have ambitions, but I want to have some time for me and my family, and have time to help others. I think in the end, nobody, including you, will really care which school you went to or which companies you led; the only thing you, and probably others, will remember is the quality of life that you "lived."

There is saying in Marathi, "Ati thethe maati" literally means anything excess is dirt, and could mean that if you do anything in excess, you will spoil everything. I remember this saying since 3rd grade, and has become one of my principles along with some teachings of Buddhism, which stresses on balance and compassion.

But it is still better than in US. Even IBankers in ITA will dedicate an hour to have a decent meal rather than have a crap food on front of the computer. And in FRA the vacations is way longer as well.