So you want great work life balance post MBA

So I see this a lot on all the discussion of future career goals and discussions about why people want to do what the want to do.

Work Life Balance: seems like a lot of folks who decide they don't want to be consultants or bankers site this as one of the major factors in that decision. People who don't seem all that passionate about GM, marketing, corporate finance, etc...decide they will go for one of these careers because they will have a better life. I was one of those people who thought that it would be better, and it very well could be for some people. However, based on discussions with friends and my personal experience it may be better but it is certainly not good.

First of all, don't begin to believe you will work 40 hours a week and/or wont have to travel. A lot of companies give the bait and switch, you might get there will be some travel but less than 20% of the time or yes there is some long hours when important projects are due. In the end you may travel 80% of the time and/or always work long hours because there are always important projects. You are brought in with the vision of you being a future leader and companies try to test you out to see if you have what it takes. If you decide to join rotational program you may be told one rotation will be away from HQ, and then three rotations in you have yet to set foot at HQ for more than a meeting. Take those examples of rotations in London, Dubai, San Fran, NYC, Hong Kong with a grain of salt...one person a year might get an assignment like that and then other people end up in backwoods towns in Mississippi, West Virginia, or even eastern European countries you never have heard of.

There are the rare jobs where it is a 40 hour week, no travel, and is located in the city of your dreams. However, where I work the people who have jobs like that are staff positions, sure they may pay you a low six figure income and a small 10% bonus but you will have almost no chance of advancing beyond that individual contributor role without the hours, travel, and/or relocating. My friends who have jobs that are like that appear to be nervous that they don't have a chance to prove themselves and might plateau very quickly in their careers. I know a few people who have already switched jobs because of this.

Personally I have traveled more than 50% of the time, this is definitely not as much as the 75-90% that my friends consulting are doing. It sucks sometimes to work 70-80 hours a week but then again I talk with friends in banking who work 100+ a week and get a weekend once every 3 or 4 months. When I look objectively at my hours and travel it has been an amazing opportunity; I fly on the company jet more often than not and have been working as the right hand guy for one of the top guys at my company. That's exactly why most people go to get an MBA, we want to be the guy/gal on a first name basis with the CEO, COO, CFO and all the VPs. Sure if you are at a $50 billion a year company that may not happen but those people will be appraised of your contributions much more so than anyone else at your level. They may not be able to pick you out of a crowd but the certainly know how you are performing. If you are at a $2-10 billion company it is a very real possibility that you will interact with and be known personally by all/most of those people.

MBA's hires are often viewed as the potential future leaders of the company, they will work you hard to see what you are made of. Those that can't cut the demands may be relegated to an individual contributor roles and most likely have a nice easy cushy job for years. If you do everything asked of you and do it exceptionally well, then it will be recognized and you very well could move very far up the ranks. Don't have allusions of working 40 hours a week, never leaving HQ, and somehow advancing into senior management. I was hired with another MBA who has managed to obtain a 40 hr week and has avoided a lot of the travel they wanted us to do. Unfortunately for him, he has also developed a reputation of being lazy with some important people. I know a few of the VP's who will be the ones giving us our next job assignments want to show him the door (plane rides are very educational). I travel even more now because the SVP doesn't even think of bringing the other MBA.

Think about it now before you sink 150k into a degree and give up two years pay, do you want to advance far in your career and are you willing to do whatever it takes to do that...if the answer is yes then you should come to grips with not having a great work life balance no matter what you want to do. Make sure you discuss this with your significant other, if you work a 40-50 hr a week job now they may appreciate knowing that you might work double that post MBA. Lucky for me my wife's hours have ramped up a lot lately too so I haven't had any personal issues but more than a few friends have had angry spouses. If you would be content with very little advancement, then you may be able to achieve that especially if the company hires multiple MBA since chances are someone will step up and take on all the extra work. However, you may want to redo that ROI calculation if you value work/life balance that much.