9 to 5 ...

Well I read in search of excellence so they must be good, that's how I know them

I take it it's a consultancy job. I've been looking at PwC and E&Y jobs and first thing they lead with is "this isn't your normal 9-5 job", it was in corporte strategy graduate schemes. I guess you will have to expect a lot longer work during the week but having experience in one of them companies, even for a few years only would be so pimp on your CV, especially if you get to work with some cool clients.

Anything's easy if it is in line with your goals and if it helps you get what you really want, jobs like these are super difficult if you aren't willing to "live" them and are really motivated to be good at them and want clock your time get paid and live your life.

McKinsey will work you to the ground. My friend was told in interviews that they were expected to work about 12 hours a day. It's a workaholic culture and your colleagues will only respect you if you do the same. The point is that McKinsey is training you to solve big problems so that you can be an executive. So in return for sacrificing your life since you won't have time to do anything but think about work all day, after 3-5 years you get to become CEO/executive and continue working your ass off in return for the big bucks. I met some girls from McKinsey on a triple blind date and they were really cool: world travellers, extremely smart, and ambitious. The people you surround yourself with become your friends.

Hi man, I'm a management consultant at Deloitte, and I have a lot of friends at McKinsey, the hours in North America are usually around 80 hours a week, but you will undoubtedly meet some of the smartest people you will ever meet.

Pretty much exactly what I expected thanks royalsu

You just can't "do" jobs like these, you have to live them

by the way guys what sort of goals in life should you have for a career like this to be viable?
I have the qualifications for it just wondering if it's worth sacrificing your life for a few years for this kind of a career.

I work in sales which is pretty much similar money similar workload (60hrs+) and relaxed atmosphere and way more freedom but obviously not as diverse and the top performers aren't exactly the smartest people on earth, sometimes it astonishes me how dumb people can be can't even spell basic stuff but outsell others through attitude and hard work, but I kinda miss theory crafting and debates from my uni classes

Just depends what you're after. If you still have room to grow in your life, as in you are moving up in stakes, then take the job that offers the most opportunity for growth. If however you have peaked, or have chosen to peak, then take the easiest of the two since you have no more ambition, and simply want a nice comfortable paycheck every 2 weeks.

Im working as an Analyst at Spotify, and there is no such thing as 9-5. A lot of my colleagues/friend are from the/working for the Big 4, or the other big consultancy firms. They've learnt a shit load, but have also worked their ass off.

Consulting firms aren't a 9-5

You're constantly traveling and constantly working - ofc a benefit is they pay very well and you will make a lot of money if you can survive that lifestyle.

I have a family member working for a big consulting firm and I'll see him on an odd holiday but the fucking stories he has are pretty crazy. It's really geared to those workaholics like others have stated previously.

Give it a shot and find out if you sink or swim - either way it'll tell you a lot about what you really want to do.