For graduates starting their first jobs, it can be difficult to imagine what full time working life will be like… from new colleagues to a whole different set of targets and pressures. One important aspect of any new job is the average working hours you will be expected to fulfill, however some graduates may feel uncomfortable asking about work-life balance during interviews – perhaps worried that it may give off the ‘wrong impression’.
After looking through our graduate review data, we bring you the average working hours you can expect from each of the main sectors, along with the average work-life balance rating (top five sectors with the longest average working hours are in bold)…
| Career | Average Working Hours | Work-Life Balance (/5.0) |
| Accounting | 8am – 5pm | 3.9 |
| Administration & Customer Service | 8am – 5pm | 3.9 |
| Advertising, Marketing & PR | 8am – 5pm | 4.0 |
| Banking & Finance | 8am – 5pm | 3.9 |
| Charity & Voluntary Work | 9am – 5pm | 3.7 |
| Construction & Civil Engineering | 8am – 5pm | 3.8 |
| Consumer Goods & FMCG | 8am – 5pm | 3.9 |
| Creative & Performing Arts | 8am – 5pm | 3.9 |
| Education | 8am – 5pm | 3.9 |
| Energy & Utilities | 8am – 5pm | 4.0 |
| Engineering & Manufacturing | 8am – 5pm | 3.9 |
| Government, Public Sector & International Development | 8am – 5pm | 4.0 |
| Health & Social Care | 8am – 5pm | 4.0 |
| Hospitality, Leisure & Tourism | 8am – 6pm | 3.7 |
| HR & Employment | 8am – 5pm | 3.9 |
| Information Services & Research | 8am – 5pm | 4.0 |
| IT & Telecoms | 8am – 5pm | 3.9 |
| Insurance & Pensions | 8am – 6pm | 3.9 |
| Journalism & Publishing | 8am – 5pm | 4.1 |
| Law | 9am – 7pm | 3.4 |
| Management Consulting | 8am – 6pm | 3.8 |
| Media & Broadcasting | 9am – 5pm | 4.2 |
| Property & Housebuilding | 8am – 5pm | 3.8 |
| Retail | 8am – 6pm | 3.8 |
| Science & R&D | 8am – 5pm | 4.1 |
| Transport, Logistics & Distribution | 8am – 5pm | 4.0 |
When each graduate completes a job review with TheJobCrowd, we ask them a number of questions such as ‘what is most important to your career?’ or ‘how long do you expect to stay in your current job?’. These responses from thousands of grads have given us some great insights into what they’re really after.
To find out more about TheJobCrowd’s graduate insights, say hello at [email protected]
