We asked graduates across all sectors of work how they rate their career for work/life balance… and the results are in!
The highest rated insustries:
1. Scientific Services (8.8)
2. Energy and Utilities (8.5)
3. Transport, Logistics and Distribution (8.5)
The lowest rated industries:
1. Law (6.5)
2. HR & Employment (6.7)
3. Hospitality, Leisure & Tourism (6.8)
So, what is it about scientific services and law that result in such different ratings for work/life balance? Let’s take a look at what graduates from the top law and scientific services firms have to say about their average working hours…
The science grads say…
Employer: Croda
Average working hours: 08:00 to 17:00
‘There’s flexitime in some sites, which is great because you can very much do your own timetable at work. Sometimes you could be expected to do some extra hours, but that’s not very usual in a graduate level job.’
Employer: AzkoNobel
Average working hours: 08:00 to 17:00
‘Working hours are flexible, most people in R&D start early and finish early whereas in the commercial functions people tend to start later and finish later. We also have a floating hour per week which you can take whenever you want, most people leave early on a friday afternoon.’
Employer: GlaxoSmithKline
Average working hours: 08:00 to 17:00
‘It is flexible. If you need to work from home you can. If you need to start earlier and finish earlier you can. You manage your own schedule so as long as you deliver, no one will care what time you came into the office.’
The law grads say…
Employer: Mills & Reeve
Average working hours: 08:00 to 18:00
‘As a trainee, hours fluctuate with the needs of the team you’re in. My first seat was agriculture and there were some days where I could leave the office before 6. The Family NSL is very busy, and I have had a few late nights in my time here’
Employer: Reed Smith
Average working hours: 09:00 to 19:00
‘Hours wholly depend on the practice group that you are in and who your immediate supervisor is. Thus they can vary a lot from department to department.’
Employer: Linklaters LLP
Average working hours: 09:00 to 20:00
‘The hours are very unpredictable, and vary greatly depending on the department and the influx of work. I’ve just put an average hour, but generally you either leave at 7pm or midnight or later.’
Interested in finding out more about the sort of work/life balance you can expect with an employer? Take a look through our
job reviews, all taken directly from graduates themselves.
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]
