QuoteOriginally posted by: ZmeiGorynychQuoteOriginally posted by: spiceWell, if they throw enough money at you, some people will take those hours. They are not the most profitable bank. In fact, when I do my back-of-envelope calculations, my bank makes more money per employee than they do. But they have an image to upkeep and they allocate a much bigger percentage of their revenue as bonuses to their employees, so it's not unreasonable that they demand much longer hours in return.It's rational of some employees to accept them, it's stupid of the bank to ask them. More time spent at work != more work done.Part of their work involves spending hours interviewing candidates!:-) That's why they need to work longer hours in order to find the "best" candidates. It's just their business model.

QuoteOriginally posted by: spiceQuoteOriginally posted by: ZmeiGorynychQuoteOriginally posted by: spiceWell, if they throw enough money at you, some people will take those hours. They are not the most profitable bank. In fact, when I do my back-of-envelope calculations, my bank makes more money per employee than they do. But they have an image to upkeep and they allocate a much bigger percentage of their revenue as bonuses to their employees, so it's not unreasonable that they demand much longer hours in return.It's rational of some employees to accept them, it's stupid of the bank to ask them. More time spent at work != more work done.Part of their work involves spending hours interviewing candidates!:-)This must be somewhat frustrating.

Just my 5 cents regarding the interview process at GS. Here is what I undestood from a recent application as GS Strat. They seem to have almost a policy that an applicant has to (successfully) interview with *all* members of his future team. Since your application might actually be with different teams in parallel, that can really add up. I have met close to 20 people (at some point you stop counting). But it is actually a good thing for the applicant as well. You see what you get.

QuoteOriginally posted by: TraderJoeImagine you were starting up your own company. Or CEO or leader of a country. Or a research scientist working on the next breakthrough, commercial or otherwise. Or putting a deal together worth a few hundred million. You'd be working at least these hours, sometimes around the clock, where necessary. Some people are just born lazy I guess.In the case of CEO's and leaders of countries, a lot of the "work hours" for those people include attending fancy dinners and various social functions. A lot of small company startups also include "dead time." There is a lot of time spent in airports and waiting for appointments, and a lot of the work time also includes conversations that happen in fancy restaurants. Senior research scientists actually spend a large amount of time doing things that aren't mentally tasking (grant reports, status meetings, etc. etc.)

QuoteImagine you were starting up your own company. Or CEO or leader of a country. Or a research scientist working on the next breakthrough, commercial or otherwise. Or putting a deal together worth a few hundred million. You'd be working at least these hours, sometimes around the clock, where necessary. Some people are just born lazy I guessI don't see it having anything to do with laziness. Some people just need time to recharge.Being able to work 14+hrs a day at crucial parts of a job is understandable. Having 14hrs face time a day is also pretty pointless, unless the job requires you to be in the office at those hours to complete the job. Either way it obviously isn't sustainable though, unless you like to be single, and don't mind with having work consume your entire life. (possibly with the pipe dream hope of being able to retire at 35 on your own island, and salvage the rest of your life with the millions you have stocked piled by working more than the 'lazy' people)

QuoteOriginally posted by: Ceres629QuoteImagine you were starting up your own company. Or CEO or leader of a country. Or a research scientist working on the next breakthrough, commercial or otherwise. Or putting a deal together worth a few hundred million. You'd be working at least these hours, sometimes around the clock, where necessary. Some people are just born lazy I guessI don't see it having anything to do with laziness. Some people just need time to recharge.Being able to work 14+hrs a day at crucial parts of a job is understandable. Having 14hrs face time a day is also pretty pointless, unless the job requires you to be in the office at those hours to complete the job. Either way it obviously isn't sustainable though, unless you like to be single, and don't mind with having work consume your entire life. (possibly with the pipe dream hope of being able to retire at 35 on your own island, and salvage the rest of your life with the millions you have stocked piled by working more than the 'lazy' people)Possibly. And why wait til 35??

QuoteOriginally posted by: TraderJoeQuoteOriginally posted by: Ceres629QuoteImagine you were starting up your own company. Or CEO or leader of a country. Or a research scientist working on the next breakthrough, commercial or otherwise. Or putting a deal together worth a few hundred million. You'd be working at least these hours, sometimes around the clock, where necessary. Some people are just born lazy I guessI don't see it having anything to do with laziness. Some people just need time to recharge.Being able to work 14+hrs a day at crucial parts of a job is understandable. Having 14hrs face time a day is also pretty pointless, unless the job requires you to be in the office at those hours to complete the job. Either way it obviously isn't sustainable though, unless you like to be single, and don't mind with having work consume your entire life. (possibly with the pipe dream hope of being able to retire at 35 on your own island, and salvage the rest of your life with the millions you have stocked piled by working more than the 'lazy' people)Possibly. And why wait til 35??sounds like someones been busy!

shawn, what's your background, if i may ask..