Kalbear Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I refuse to believe that there exist no jobs for accountants that do not work absurdly long hours. They might not pay as well, but does it matter if you hate your job and your life? About 10 years ago I went to work for Amazon. (some folks may remember this, as it was when AFFC was coming out and I could track their orders for them). It paid absurdly highly compared to my other jobs - like 40% more, plus a crazy signing bonus. It was, by far, the worst mistake I ever made in my career. I was regularly working 70-80 hour works weeks, and in the christmas season that went up to 100. There was pager duty, which meant that if something broke at 2AM you had to figure out what was going wrong and fix it in an hour. It was stressful, unfun, and the people around me were the most intelligent sociopaths I've ever met. I burned out in the Christmas season. I just refused to go to work. I couldn't take it. I took a break from work for about 5 months after that, and strongly thought about suicide during that time. I eventually found a job that wasn't nearly so stressful, and I figured out that for me it is far more important to my health and happiness that I have free time, and money isn't nearly as big a deal. You may have to move to find a good accounting job. You may have to accept less money early on. You may have to accept that you're not going to advance at a record pace. The question you need to ask yourself is whether or not any of those things truly matter to you. They don't have to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterbound Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I don't demand the same level of respect as my Senior, let alone the manager, Sr. Manager, or Partner. The senior is working right alongside me. The manager is supposedly doing it (although it's amazing how often one of his other teams thinks he's with us and not). The Senior Manager regularly works until 3am. I have no problem paying my dues. I don't consider a ridiculous work schedule, with no days off for months at a time, only for it to stay the same ridiculous work schedule every January-March until I retire to be something worth paying for. Yet you went to school for it. Surly this is part of the culture, and something you were aware of coming in to the field, right? These types of expectations weren't a shock or surprise to you. To be successful in your field (as Chats is) you obviously need to put in a shit ton of work to get ahead. Seems like that is something even an undergrad would know about the profession. If it isn't, they need better advisors, and curriculum in the school you went to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraPrime Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Yet you went to school for it. Surly this is part of the culture, and something you were aware of coming in to the field, right? These types of expectations weren't a shock or surprise to you. To be successful in your field (as Chats is) you obviously need to put in a shit ton of work to get ahead. Seems like that is something even an undergrad would know about the profession. If it isn't, they need better advisors, and curriculum in the school you went to. Knowing it, and living it, can be quite different. I also think it's a bit useless to berate someone for not knowing what he's getting into, now that he figures out this is not what he wants. Isn't that a good thing? He knows now that he can't do this job long-term, so he'll be looking for a different job. Problem solved, yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonSnow4President Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 Yet you went to school for it. Surly this is part of the culture, and something you were aware of coming in to the field, right? These types of expectations weren't a shock or surprise to you. To be successful in your field (as Chats is) you obviously need to put in a shit ton of work to get ahead. Seems like that is something even an undergrad would know about the profession. If it isn't, they need better advisors, and curriculum in the school you went to. The entire recruiting period, the pitch is busy season is bad, but the rest of the year makes up for it. As part of recruiting, you do an internship with the a firm (the same one I work for now). I don't know if it was just the overtime since interns are hourly, or if it was the fact I worked on significantly better managed teams, but it wasn't as big a deal then. With the exception of 1 week before the deadline on the two clients I worked on, I walked out with the staff and seniors at 10 each night, a full day Saturday, and generally had Sunday off. I'd use my work computer to surf the web on Sundays, and my team stayed offline. One of my internship clients was a SEC Accelerated Filer, which I had always been told were the busiest (one of the top 10 in the 2014 Fortune 500). Long-term, I'm not worried about finding another job that better suits what I'm looking for, and I live below my means to a point where a pay cut won't kill me. Hell, my best friend is telling me his company is looking at expanding, and the department he works in is pretty diversified. It's just the short term I'm having a hard time with. My entire life, if I've been in a tough time period, I've always picked a point to look forward to, and just kind of put my head down to get to that point. For weeks, the plan was to have this weekend off, because the biggest milestone we had was Friday (which we completed). I spent so much time preparing last minute updates to the audit presentation that I needed to use Saturday to get a few hours of work done, but Sunday was supposed to be free and clear. My Senior Manager didn't even want us working this weekend. Two of our team members were rolling off to other engagements since the bulk of the work was done, and they needed to wrap up their areas on Saturday before leaving, so they and the Senior came in. They came in late, and didn't get a lot done before the Senior's status call with the manager at 5. I got my work done, and left right before the call. My senior saw no reason I'd need to come in. When I didn't get the call by 7, I figured I was free. 8 o'clock Saturday, I get a call from the senior, saying the manager wanted us to come in. So, that was my frame of mind Saturday night when I posted this. My one little "reward" (a frickin' Sunday off this month) was pulled out from under me, when I thought I was free and clear. My whole life, that's been my coping technique for getting through any particularly rough period (which I've been fairly privileged to not have that many. So, I would like to apologize to anyone thinking I'm sum entitled newgenner who just needs to grow up and realize the real world isn't rainbows and unicorn farts. I was already in a bad spot emotionally, and my main coping mechanism just got pulled out from under me. To those of you that have been supportive, I genuinely appreciate. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemiNymph Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 You sound like you are burnt out. Is it possible to get some time off or are you stuck during this busy period? I understand this is like the peak period where people are rushing to do their accounts. For starters, you need to expect that you would have no free time for your profession's peak period. If you let go of this, you won't be disappointed and angry. I think it is reasonable that you expect at least a break every week, but you have to start to expect and realise that people do work like dogs during peak periods. Sometimes the breaks that you get are stolen in between. Maybe that's the reality that no school can prepare you for. It's actually the same for every profession. For immediate placebo, you can change your immediate surroundings. Buy some oil essences and have some aromatheraphy. Sometimes it will help to change your mood for the better, or at least, help you feel less irritated. For me I'm very sensitive to smells so it helps me. For the office you can get those stuffed pouches or wood carvings which you put some oil onto. Obviously, keep it light and don't make it offensive to others. Sniff the damn things every now and then for some relief. I like lavendar and eucalyptus. Get a little plant or cactus to place in your office table. Never mind if it keeps dying, just replace. For us we will bring the cactus to the window for a little sun every day. It's difficult to kill. Having a little green helps a lot in a dreary place. It can give you a convenient excuse to take a little routine break. "I need to take care of my plant." and just go away from your desk for 5 mins. Stop with the alcohol and replace with other beverages. Alcohol is a depressant. You don't sound like a happy drunk. I made myself drink green tea, which made me pee more, but still, it's better than alcohol. All these things are just little things that office workers do to get through the drear. For long term changes, that would need more planning. If you're going to remain in this profession, it would still be the same even if you change company to work. So, you need to have this realistic expectation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S John Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 hmmm, makes me think. I'm never one to bemoan the current generation of 'entitlement'. I think older generations have been coming up with shit to hate about the 'up and comers' since Caesar crossed the Rubicon. But this conversation got me thinking. Do you find this to be a widespread phenomenon with folks coming into your profession? I like the idea of 'paying your dues' and it seems to be something that most folks coming out of school don't seem to want to do. We just fired a dude from my peer group for just that reason. Wanted the same type of respect the senior guys got, but didn't want to put in the time. Wondering if it was something you see in your field. Also, seems like the OP is suffering from this. Paying your dues is only worth it if you really like the field that you are in and see a light at the end of the tunnel career-wise. If getting better means still churning out 80 hour work weeks at age 40 in a job you do not like that would not be worth it to a lot of people, especially if the end game is simply making a lot of money. Money alone wouldn't be worth it to me to have given up so many hours of my life in a job that I can't stand. Given the option, I nearly always choose time over money. You can always find a way to get money, can't get your time back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonSnow4President Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 Thanks for the advice everyone. Right now, just rolling forward, hoping for Sunday (been told both, but we'll see).On a happy note, the next team i roll onto will let me have my birthday off to see my parents coming in from out of state. I just have to make the hours up during the week. My birthday is a Sunday...Come on June Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
all swedes are racist Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Move to the northeast. I've had like 6 forced days off in the past 3 weeks because of this goddamn snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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