What are the less work intensive industries?

Hi there,

I am not sure there is an industry that structurally requires less work. As Franco mentioned, there is instead a strong impact related to the Manager/Partner of the project in terms of work-life balance. 

Normally long-term projects allow to have a better work-life balance though. The reason is, there are fewer strict deadlines from the client-side to satisfy. As a consequence:

• Due diligence projects are some of the worst exactly because they last few weeks only.
• Big transformation projects (for example in industrial goods or O&G) may last several months and may allow for better planning and fewer deadlines.

Having said that, I would not try to prioritize the sector where you should theoretically work less, but the one that you genuinely like the most. In the end, it is the one where you will feel the work is less demanding.

Also, remember that most people stay in consulting 2-3 years, and exits are usually correlated to the sectors you covered. Choosing a sector you enjoy can be thus the best strategy long-term.

Best,

Francesco

There are no industries that require less hours, there are only Project Leaders / Engagement Managers / Principals that are more relaxed / less demanding. It's all about your project manager (and marginally about the partner but to a lesser extent).

Private Equity may be more exposed to due diligence (that are known to be super-intense 2-3 weeks projects) but still, the project manager makes the whole difference there too.

If you don't have strong personal preferences in terms of industries, you should focus your effort to create an affiliation with a strong, super solid, and possibly not workaholic PL/ EM / Principal. This is my best advice for any fresh consultant: being affiliated to a super-strong project manager is even more important than being affiliated to a partner, there are high chances that who is now your project manager will be in a couple of years your case partner when you will be the project manager.

Sorry for the answer without a real answer to your question

Hope it helps

Franco

Work load is less about the industry and more about the role & responsibilities. Thats the easiest way to look at it. You can work in Banking/PE in a task based/low responsbility role and have all the work life balance you want.

Another way to look at it is this way- when you enjoy what you do, the question of hours doesnt arise. You just make it work. So find that sweet spot. It takes time & some risks but if you make the right moves you will end up in a role & company where you genuinly enjoy yourself.

Sadly, most people are jobs for all the wrong reasons and just dont enjoy themselves.

I don't think there are industries that require less work than others - the differences are more country based than industry. Having said that, public sector work is often less demanding that other sectors - assuming your firm does that type of work.