Field staff and database/GIS staff work well over 40 hours on the regular. For field staff, working 50-60 hours a week is not uncommon, database staff often average 45-50 hours. To be fair, project managers are quite busy as well having to manage everything.
Starting pay for all levels is standardized across the firm (this is both a pro and a con). A pro because you can start making over 60k a year, and depending on where you live and it's cost of living, that can be fantastic stating pay. The con is that the pay does not change (up or down) based on location. So if you live in an area with a higher cost of living then your starting pay is still good, but not as great as it could be. For mid-high level staff this isn't much of an issue, but this can be taxing on those starting out if they live/work out of an office location with a high cost of living.
Increasingly ask for more output but without adequately matching the increase in workload with an increase in pay. You could work 14+ hour days for 4 months straight, but your raise will often times be similar to those who work significantly less hours, which feels arbitrary at times.
Annual Reviews - your superiors, peers, and those who work under you will be asked for feedback on your performance before your review. This could simply be different from office to office (or even person to person) but the reviews often briskly mention your contributions throughout the year and what you did well, only to then focus on what needs work. This should be talked about of course, but the degree of importance placed on either is greatly lopsided in favor of shortcomings. You could work a 70 hour week, but the PM will provide feedback about how you had one spelling mistake in a daily summary email you sent late in the evening. This can feel petty to some and toxic to others, my humble advice for managers would be to please weigh these more evenly. The feedback is always constructive mind you, but nonetheless rarely appreciates the work done but picks apart minor mistakes that may have been made.
Advice for early career folks (most likely you) - Never be afraid to say "No" to increased work if you're already feeling overworked. This goes for office and field staff. The consulting field is high on workload, but if you're feeling burnt out after working 50+ hours a week for a good bit of time, speak up, because this company WANTS you to do so and does truly care about your work/life balance and mental wellbeing.
