I nearly killed myself in college to get straight A’s. Well, almost straight A’s. I graduated with 37 A’s and 3 B’s for a GPA of 3.921. At the time, I thought I was hot stuff. Now I wonder if it wasn’t a waste of time.”

We are taught that our grades are a reflection our our success. After entering the workforce do we still believe that? This post on Penelope Trunks’s Brazen Careerist by guest poster Jon Morrow hits the nail on the head.

In an article published December 5, by smartpros.com, PricewaterhouseCoopers characterized the results of a recent survey as validating the work schedule requirements of the firm. Seventy-five percent of the respondents to the survey, (some 2793 entry level professionals offered positions by PwC), indicated they expected to work a ‘normal work week’. The survey further indicated that on average each graduate expected to have between 2 and 5 employers in their lifetime. The article and related link to the PwC survey are at http://accounting.smartpros.com/x60006.xml.

Interestingly, neither the article or the survey defined ‘normal work week’. Typically, the normal work week in the United States is considered to be 40 to 45 hours (move to France if you think 30 to 35 is more reasonable and want the government to pay for it). Read more…