Moscow has many, many sites to see. Most of them are historical in Nature. Unlike the west there haven’t been many places built just to drive tourism. No big Arch over a river, Mega Mall, rows of tall buildings, or other such draws. Instead there are dozen’s of gold domed churches, a fortress that serves as the center of the Russian Government, many ex-soviet sites for you to look at and wonder what it was like years ago, a river that double back twice in the same city, and the insides of the metro stations. Yes, one of the most interesting places to visit, and you have to a dozen time a day, is the Moscow underground transit system. Call it a subway, call it and underground, or call it as the Russian’s do the Metro. You could easily write a book on all of the museum quality art work and structures that are contained and part of the various metro stations. In fact there have been books written. You could easily take a full day and just visit the 15 or so notable stations and it would be as productive as a day in any art or history museum.
Some basic facts (look on wikipedia for more!): The Moscow metro has 12 lines, 173 stations, 176 miles of routes, and moves 7.2 million people on any work day. When we were there we timed trains coming every 40 seconds on the week days and every 1 minute and 40 seconds on the weekends. Many of the trains are old but they are all pretty clean, almost no graffiti, and function very well. Most trains are 8 cars and each car on a busy day can probably from my estimate mover over a hundred people, so that would be close to a thousand people per trip! The metro started in operation in 1935 and its very creation affected soviet life. I have read in other sources that the 10-15 plans used to create the metro were the basis for the soviet use of 5 year production plans in all other industry. It also allowed the growing population of Moscow an affordable and relatively fast way to move around the city. The longest trips we took from one end of the city to another took around an hour.
As if the functionality of the system isn’t enough to marvel at, the design and form are nothing short of spectacle. Even the newer station that we visited by the University was built to be spacious with high ceilings and grand by anyone’s standards. The older stations are generally built with white, domed ceilings made of plaster. Most walk ways between areas seemed to be arched. The floors and walls were generally build of marble or other expensive stones. Many had very ornate light fixtures or even hanging chandeliers. Each station also was filled from on end to the other and top to bottom with soviet art. The station closest to my sister in-law’s house had murals in the marble walls; one depicting the hammer and sickle with Sputnik and other soviet symbols. Another station we visited had, I kid you not, had 10 foot status on both sides of a dozen archways. Many had images of Lenin or ever marks most had soviet symbols. Other common themes were the revolution, both the Bolshevik and earlier Decemberist (a revolution in the 1800s that help the ground work for the later Bolshevik uprising), and of workers in factories or on farms. All stations also had prominent markings of the year they were built. Each one was different and unique in its own way. All of them were amazing in one way or another.
When you traveled any time, you always had to pay attention. Every place had so much detail and so much to see. Unlike New York or Chicago taking a trip also offered a glimpse back into history. Even if some of this was the soviet view of history at the time the station was built. I was amazed everyday, and jealous. Back home we have a single light rail line that goes 11 miles. Another thing I didn’t mention yet is that it is cheap, around 60 cents each time you enter. Compare that to $1.50 – 2.25 of Minneapolis. I know many people would consider traveling in a new Mecedes or BMW traveling in style, but really look at the photo’s in this link of a hand full of stations and tell that this form of transportation isn’t the real way to travel in style: Moscow Metro
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Moscow: The Back Drop for the Bad Guys
The main thing that kept coming around in my thoughts the first couple of days I was in Moscow was how never in 8 million years I would have expected to come Russia. When I was a kid I remember playing countless games with my friends where Russians were the bad guys. When I was born my dad’s job was to sit by his jet-fighter in West Germany (remember for 44 years there were 2 Germanys!) in case nuclear war broke out. His mission was to fly into Eastern Europe or Russian and drop nuclear booms. Now I am married to a Russian woman and plan to travel on a regular basis to Russia for the next couple years, and occasionally for the rest of my life. In fact for as long as I can remember the only time I every saw anything with Moscow as the setting it was because that is were the bad guys were. I’m sure this is the case for most Americans that grew up or lived through the cold war. This becomes a surreal and almost uneasy memory when walking around Moscow, at least at first. By the time I left I no longer had this weird feeling.
I guess I must have had this felling the most the first few days because of the sights we saw. Right away we toured the city center and spent some time with in block of Red Square, the Kremlin, and St. Basil’s church (the one in all the photos with the multi-colored onion domes at the end of red square). It also was probably helped along by the fact that all of the Soviet era art, plaques, statues, monuments, memorials, and other decorative pieces are still everywhere. None of it has been removed or changed. Most building of importance still sport communist stars or the hammer and sickle. Everything is really out of the movies. While Russia has changed quite a lot since the Soviet Union it still has a very characteristic look in some places.
Should you watch movies like The Hunt for Red October, The Saint, Crimson Tide, Rocky 4 or any action movies from the 80s you see clips of these very places I was walking around. The Russian people were all friendly, I had family around but still there was an uneasiness in my thoughts. It doesn’t help that the police in that country are aloud to random stop people and ask for there papers. Even Russian citizens have to register were they live and provide proof that they have a reason for being in the city they are in. So of course I was worried about getting stopped for no reason and hassled. I don’t like the idea, even if nothing happens to me, at all. To further both of my reasons to feel uneasy there were a ton of Cops and Soldiers everywhere. The military uniforms are pretty much the same as they were for Soviets but with Russian symbols replacing communist badges. So there was always a bit of relief once we got back to the apartment for the day because I didn’t expect cops to show up there.
This feeling didn’t last the whole trip though. By the time we got back from the Black Sea it was pretty much gone. Especially in Moscow Russia is very interested in more dealings with Westerners - both for Tourism and Business. So I think westerns really don’t get hassled any more in the large towns. In the further out places people may hassle you if you go through there check point, but really they are just looking for a bribe and don’t seem to go out of there way to find out-of-towners. So really unless you are doing something wrong you really don’t need to worry about being dragged away or being extorted by police.
I guess I must have had this felling the most the first few days because of the sights we saw. Right away we toured the city center and spent some time with in block of Red Square, the Kremlin, and St. Basil’s church (the one in all the photos with the multi-colored onion domes at the end of red square). It also was probably helped along by the fact that all of the Soviet era art, plaques, statues, monuments, memorials, and other decorative pieces are still everywhere. None of it has been removed or changed. Most building of importance still sport communist stars or the hammer and sickle. Everything is really out of the movies. While Russia has changed quite a lot since the Soviet Union it still has a very characteristic look in some places.
Should you watch movies like The Hunt for Red October, The Saint, Crimson Tide, Rocky 4 or any action movies from the 80s you see clips of these very places I was walking around. The Russian people were all friendly, I had family around but still there was an uneasiness in my thoughts. It doesn’t help that the police in that country are aloud to random stop people and ask for there papers. Even Russian citizens have to register were they live and provide proof that they have a reason for being in the city they are in. So of course I was worried about getting stopped for no reason and hassled. I don’t like the idea, even if nothing happens to me, at all. To further both of my reasons to feel uneasy there were a ton of Cops and Soldiers everywhere. The military uniforms are pretty much the same as they were for Soviets but with Russian symbols replacing communist badges. So there was always a bit of relief once we got back to the apartment for the day because I didn’t expect cops to show up there.
This feeling didn’t last the whole trip though. By the time we got back from the Black Sea it was pretty much gone. Especially in Moscow Russia is very interested in more dealings with Westerners - both for Tourism and Business. So I think westerns really don’t get hassled any more in the large towns. In the further out places people may hassle you if you go through there check point, but really they are just looking for a bribe and don’t seem to go out of there way to find out-of-towners. So really unless you are doing something wrong you really don’t need to worry about being dragged away or being extorted by police.
Russia
Well I just returned last night from my first trip to Russia. I must say it was an experience. Having traveled a lot in my life I thought it would be more routine than it was. Russia is certainly filled with surprises and adventures. My general impression is that the country is in the midst of great economic and social changes with wide gaps of attitudes between various generations. The country is both on the cutting edge of modern advancements along with being painfully backwards in attitudes and rules in my opinion. Over the next couple of weeks I will try to write about the things that surprised me most, what I liked best, and what I thought was most interesting about the country. I certainly would also support anyone who would like to travel there and think it is well worth the visit.
I have to say I greatly enjoyed meeting my new family down in the black sea. They threw us a wedding party and freely expressed their happiness for us. I had a great time even if my blushing bride was embarrassed by me joining in an Armenian dance or two! I see a lot of potential in the area that RG’s dad and relative are from and think that in 20 years it will be one of the great vacation destinations in the world. I was also glad to meet RG’s and KB’s friends in Moscow, and their roommate IB. IB was very gracious in showing us the city and putting up with our (ok my) incessant questioning. Having friends in far off places always makes traveling more fun and interesting.
My trip also re-taught me a few lessons in packing! First an foremost, pack for the typical weather of the month not for the weather of the last couple of weeks. Moscow was cold the first week, and I didn’t even have a long sleeve shirt let alone a jacket. I brought extra pants and shorts I never wore but would have killed for my jacket and a long sleeve shirt. I also packed too much. Normally if I am going to a place with a washing machine I avoid doing this, well I didn’t. So getting things back in my back plus Vodka, Caviar, and Chocolate was a challenge. So next time I hope I can get it right; though - November should be an easier month to pack for.
I have to say I greatly enjoyed meeting my new family down in the black sea. They threw us a wedding party and freely expressed their happiness for us. I had a great time even if my blushing bride was embarrassed by me joining in an Armenian dance or two! I see a lot of potential in the area that RG’s dad and relative are from and think that in 20 years it will be one of the great vacation destinations in the world. I was also glad to meet RG’s and KB’s friends in Moscow, and their roommate IB. IB was very gracious in showing us the city and putting up with our (ok my) incessant questioning. Having friends in far off places always makes traveling more fun and interesting.
My trip also re-taught me a few lessons in packing! First an foremost, pack for the typical weather of the month not for the weather of the last couple of weeks. Moscow was cold the first week, and I didn’t even have a long sleeve shirt let alone a jacket. I brought extra pants and shorts I never wore but would have killed for my jacket and a long sleeve shirt. I also packed too much. Normally if I am going to a place with a washing machine I avoid doing this, well I didn’t. So getting things back in my back plus Vodka, Caviar, and Chocolate was a challenge. So next time I hope I can get it right; though - November should be an easier month to pack for.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
I Can’t Wait to Be a Manager
I’ve been waiting to write this post for a while, and even though I should probably be writing about Russia, Moscow, or something along those lines, while I have down time I thought I would put this down. When I say manager, I mean the consulting version of a manager. They could manage 10 people, no people, 1 dollar, 10 million dollars, managers in consulting are simple people that are the next level up from Senior Consultants. This is either the 3rd or 4th level depending on the firm. All firms seem to have similar roles that perform at similar levels. Managers are considered to be the plug-and-play type of resource. They can hit the ground running. Typically they are used in sales (this is when people are begin to be evaluated on sales and managers are supposed to have a high enough level of knowledge to assist here), to head up small teams(3-10 people generally that are part of a sub project team), to head up important work streams (integration mangers track that the teams are cooperating and building a product with modules that work together), or to come in hit a problem hard – fix it – and leave.
The thing about managers is though, they think the title is the only activity they can do. Manage. They attend meetings, work on project plans, and deal with the client, but only really good managers actually do anything. Most of the time they are brought in to late in the process or are too weak of managers to effect change anyway. No all managers are this way. Most poor managers came from industry and just don’t understand how the firm works, or never got the opportunity to really learn the subject matter they are supposed to be experts in. They are good with the client and that is it. So far in my short 2 year career I have already scene 5 such managers out the 8 that I have worked with, and every single one of them came from outside the firm. It seems they have the inability to actually sit down and do anything productive, instead they find away to get invited into every single meeting, even those that have nothing to do with what they are supposed to be working with.
What really drives me nutz is how little regard they seem to have for getting the job done. One manager I had came onto the project 2 or 3 weeks after I did as the integration manager. In the next 6 months we had maybe 2 integration meetings. And in his dealings with the client he confused, misinformed, and quite frankly scared the client that nothing was going to work. On the same project they brought a manager in to help in the work stream I had be on. The work was 80% completed and I was in charge of another 15% really we only needed them for 5% because I was lacking in knowledge. They rolled me off the project when I completed my work and the manager stayed for another 4 months. After he rolled off no one could figure out what he had actually done! In fact they had to rework most of the design because he had poorly ‘managed’ the client. On the next project again I was dealt a crazy manager. This manager contradicted himself every time he gave me direction, took credit for any work I did, and dismissed my ideas and then later came up with the same idea 2 days later. In fact I did 70% and got almost none of the credit, the client actually asked the project manager what I had been doing.
The best though were the two managers on my current project. One from Miami, who could barely speak English, and another from Texas who really wasn’t there. In both cases I and another analyst hoped the managers would stand up to the client and consult. Tell them the proper way to handle certain situations. Both talked a huge game and both folded meeting after meeting after meeting. One was so spineless they rolled him off before his role was even completed. One of the funny things in is that I had to step in and make the suggestions and formulate the plans for him. Luckily this time I got credit for it. The other manager also got rolled off early. Not because he didn’t contribute, of course he didn’t, but mostly because he never put a full week in at the client. Week after week after week he didn’t show up Monday, or flew home Tuesday for 2 days, and every week he left for the early flight before lunch even on Thurdays! It was incredible. No one could really believe it. I think he got a local role and is doing better there, but what happens next time he needs to travel?
So basically I can’t wait to be a manager because then I no longer need to actually work, no longer need to produce, no longer need to have any knowledge, and no longer even halve to show up to the client. On top of all that I would get paid twice as much and get 3 times the credit! Or maybe I be one of the 3 decent managers. Interestingly enough they had been through all the levels at the firm and were not experienced hires. But hey why not get paid for not producing sounds perfect to me.
The thing about managers is though, they think the title is the only activity they can do. Manage. They attend meetings, work on project plans, and deal with the client, but only really good managers actually do anything. Most of the time they are brought in to late in the process or are too weak of managers to effect change anyway. No all managers are this way. Most poor managers came from industry and just don’t understand how the firm works, or never got the opportunity to really learn the subject matter they are supposed to be experts in. They are good with the client and that is it. So far in my short 2 year career I have already scene 5 such managers out the 8 that I have worked with, and every single one of them came from outside the firm. It seems they have the inability to actually sit down and do anything productive, instead they find away to get invited into every single meeting, even those that have nothing to do with what they are supposed to be working with.
What really drives me nutz is how little regard they seem to have for getting the job done. One manager I had came onto the project 2 or 3 weeks after I did as the integration manager. In the next 6 months we had maybe 2 integration meetings. And in his dealings with the client he confused, misinformed, and quite frankly scared the client that nothing was going to work. On the same project they brought a manager in to help in the work stream I had be on. The work was 80% completed and I was in charge of another 15% really we only needed them for 5% because I was lacking in knowledge. They rolled me off the project when I completed my work and the manager stayed for another 4 months. After he rolled off no one could figure out what he had actually done! In fact they had to rework most of the design because he had poorly ‘managed’ the client. On the next project again I was dealt a crazy manager. This manager contradicted himself every time he gave me direction, took credit for any work I did, and dismissed my ideas and then later came up with the same idea 2 days later. In fact I did 70% and got almost none of the credit, the client actually asked the project manager what I had been doing.
The best though were the two managers on my current project. One from Miami, who could barely speak English, and another from Texas who really wasn’t there. In both cases I and another analyst hoped the managers would stand up to the client and consult. Tell them the proper way to handle certain situations. Both talked a huge game and both folded meeting after meeting after meeting. One was so spineless they rolled him off before his role was even completed. One of the funny things in is that I had to step in and make the suggestions and formulate the plans for him. Luckily this time I got credit for it. The other manager also got rolled off early. Not because he didn’t contribute, of course he didn’t, but mostly because he never put a full week in at the client. Week after week after week he didn’t show up Monday, or flew home Tuesday for 2 days, and every week he left for the early flight before lunch even on Thurdays! It was incredible. No one could really believe it. I think he got a local role and is doing better there, but what happens next time he needs to travel?
So basically I can’t wait to be a manager because then I no longer need to actually work, no longer need to produce, no longer need to have any knowledge, and no longer even halve to show up to the client. On top of all that I would get paid twice as much and get 3 times the credit! Or maybe I be one of the 3 decent managers. Interestingly enough they had been through all the levels at the firm and were not experienced hires. But hey why not get paid for not producing sounds perfect to me.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
She Made It.
So there are a lot of changes in my world once again. Not that it ever really stands still for very long. So more to the point RG has made it to Moscow and is very tired. She had 20 or so hours of travel to get there and moved 150lbs ~ 68kg (I need to start learning metric measures, as that is what they use in Russia) worth of personal materials. So much in fact that the funny looking man at the airport had to hang a tag on her bag that said “HEAVY”. LOL. Luckily, though, we did have a lazy weekend to usher in the new period of our lives. Even though there were a lot of different people coming and going in the house. As I now have a new roommate and parents wanted to see RG off, along with help my sister settle into her new place in the dorm.
The weekend started off a little busy. I came home early on Wednesday to spend more time with RG before she left. The next day MQ started to move his belongings into the middle bedroom (he is moving in as changes in his life left him a bit homeless for the time). Also I should mention that the siders have been hard at work for around a week now and continued through Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday causing some extra commotion. By that night MQ had most of his belongings in, the house is mostly sided, and the weekend was already in full swing. My parents were supposed to come in but couldn’t make it because their flight was over sold in Denver.
The next day was RG’s last at work. And a long day it must have been too. She didn’t go in until 9am, had a long lunch from 11 – 1:30 and left for happy hour at 2p. But then again what do expect on someone’s last day. My parents did show up mid morning after had run to buy supplies for the siders (seems when you are getting a deal from contractors they expect you to do some running around – weird). I left my parents and joined RG for her work happy hour. We went to Gabby’s on Marshal St. It’s kind of a dive, but only 2 blocks from her work so that was that. After a few beers with her coworkers we headed home.
The main event was really that night. My dad was nice enough to take the whole family to Benihanna’s in Maple Grove. It just recently opened and is much nicer that the old location in St. Louis Park. And more importantly had RG’s favorite sauce. The place is so new that the address doesn’t show up on either Google maps or Mapquest. The new location wasn’t nearly as busy and the clientele seemed more cleaned up. The food was great, even my brother liked it (he normally doesn’t like it unless the food is a cheeseburger). The chef was pretty good, the drinks were good, the food was good, and the company was good; though my little sister had to take off early to continue to pack for her move to the dorm the next day. After dinner we all went home and kind of vegged out while we tried to let our full bellies settle down.
Saturday was pretty relaxed. We went and saw the new dorm room, my dad flew out after visiting friends, and RG and I spent most of the day just relaxing and hanging out together. Sunday and Monday were very similar to Saturday except that RG finished packing and it felt like time was slipping away. Monday night I took RG out to Taste of India in St. Louis Park. I had to turn around one time because I passed the correct exit but that wasn’t too bad. The food was excellent. RG was very happy because she got to go to both of her favorite restaurants before leaving. I was happy because we split a dinner so I wasn’t as over stuffed as I was on Friday. All in all it was probably our slowest weekend all summer and a nice way to spend RGs remaining time before she headed to Moscow.
Tuesday was pretty rough. We got up around 4am. I don’t care about anything, when you get up at 4am you are in for a day that is not going to be fun. MQ was nice enough to give us a ride to the airport. However he took the most complicated way possible. Back roads to 35w north of 36, 280 to 94, down Snelling, a hundred turns through St. Paul (past the old Ford Plant) to get to hwy 5. He got us there on time, but used the entire 30 min to get there. I think we could have cut at least 40% of the time out, but it worked out so no worries I guess; though I was a bit worried when after 20 minutes we were only ½ way there LOL. Get through the airport wasn’t bad. RG’s enormous bag was too heavy so we had to pay an additional fee, they marked as being extra heavy, and we went on to security. There were no lines, I mean no lines at security so it really isn’t worth mentioning. Once we reached the gate they were already boarding 1st class, so with in 10 minutes it was time for her to board. That was probably the saddest moment for me so far, but I’m sure there will be more. As I will be joining her in a couple days. We shall see how I do once I get home and she isn’t there.
Chatting with RG online this morning I do know that she made it to Moscow. I know that she had a long wait in NY and fun with security there. I also know that she had a very tiring flight with a small child crying and kicking her seat. But I do not know the details to these things. Hopefully she will write in more detail about her trip in her blog. Until then we can all just be happy that she arrived safe and sound…. We will have to wait and see if she is still sane!
The weekend started off a little busy. I came home early on Wednesday to spend more time with RG before she left. The next day MQ started to move his belongings into the middle bedroom (he is moving in as changes in his life left him a bit homeless for the time). Also I should mention that the siders have been hard at work for around a week now and continued through Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday causing some extra commotion. By that night MQ had most of his belongings in, the house is mostly sided, and the weekend was already in full swing. My parents were supposed to come in but couldn’t make it because their flight was over sold in Denver.
The next day was RG’s last at work. And a long day it must have been too. She didn’t go in until 9am, had a long lunch from 11 – 1:30 and left for happy hour at 2p. But then again what do expect on someone’s last day. My parents did show up mid morning after had run to buy supplies for the siders (seems when you are getting a deal from contractors they expect you to do some running around – weird). I left my parents and joined RG for her work happy hour. We went to Gabby’s on Marshal St. It’s kind of a dive, but only 2 blocks from her work so that was that. After a few beers with her coworkers we headed home.
The main event was really that night. My dad was nice enough to take the whole family to Benihanna’s in Maple Grove. It just recently opened and is much nicer that the old location in St. Louis Park. And more importantly had RG’s favorite sauce. The place is so new that the address doesn’t show up on either Google maps or Mapquest. The new location wasn’t nearly as busy and the clientele seemed more cleaned up. The food was great, even my brother liked it (he normally doesn’t like it unless the food is a cheeseburger). The chef was pretty good, the drinks were good, the food was good, and the company was good; though my little sister had to take off early to continue to pack for her move to the dorm the next day. After dinner we all went home and kind of vegged out while we tried to let our full bellies settle down.
Saturday was pretty relaxed. We went and saw the new dorm room, my dad flew out after visiting friends, and RG and I spent most of the day just relaxing and hanging out together. Sunday and Monday were very similar to Saturday except that RG finished packing and it felt like time was slipping away. Monday night I took RG out to Taste of India in St. Louis Park. I had to turn around one time because I passed the correct exit but that wasn’t too bad. The food was excellent. RG was very happy because she got to go to both of her favorite restaurants before leaving. I was happy because we split a dinner so I wasn’t as over stuffed as I was on Friday. All in all it was probably our slowest weekend all summer and a nice way to spend RGs remaining time before she headed to Moscow.
Tuesday was pretty rough. We got up around 4am. I don’t care about anything, when you get up at 4am you are in for a day that is not going to be fun. MQ was nice enough to give us a ride to the airport. However he took the most complicated way possible. Back roads to 35w north of 36, 280 to 94, down Snelling, a hundred turns through St. Paul (past the old Ford Plant) to get to hwy 5. He got us there on time, but used the entire 30 min to get there. I think we could have cut at least 40% of the time out, but it worked out so no worries I guess; though I was a bit worried when after 20 minutes we were only ½ way there LOL. Get through the airport wasn’t bad. RG’s enormous bag was too heavy so we had to pay an additional fee, they marked as being extra heavy, and we went on to security. There were no lines, I mean no lines at security so it really isn’t worth mentioning. Once we reached the gate they were already boarding 1st class, so with in 10 minutes it was time for her to board. That was probably the saddest moment for me so far, but I’m sure there will be more. As I will be joining her in a couple days. We shall see how I do once I get home and she isn’t there.
Chatting with RG online this morning I do know that she made it to Moscow. I know that she had a long wait in NY and fun with security there. I also know that she had a very tiring flight with a small child crying and kicking her seat. But I do not know the details to these things. Hopefully she will write in more detail about her trip in her blog. Until then we can all just be happy that she arrived safe and sound…. We will have to wait and see if she is still sane!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Well I certainly can’t complain about my raise this year!
I suppose I complain enough about other things, but I certainly can not be unhappy with my new compensation package. I may or may not have mentioned that my review this year went very well and that I was promoted. These things came together along with the firm’s long term staffing goals around SAP to create a banner year for me. Compared to last year, this year is even more amazing. I’m not entirely sure of how the company decides what level of pay people get. In fact much of the decision making seems to be a little bit mystical as it really comes down to all the partners sitting around a table deciding how much they want to budget for different things, but that doesn’t mean we don’t try to figure out what is going on.
Last year I was a bit under whelmed to be sure. Most people who had started with me had a certain level of expectations based on stories from people about their compensation from previous years. In all reality my raise last year was more than adequate. It was more than twice inflation so it was a gain in real wages. However the firm had continuously communicated to everyone that we were so far above plan and how 2006 was a banner year. In fact it was the second banner year in a row. Everyone expected these windfalls to trickle down even to the lowest levels. Well they didn’t. However in retrospect if I had gone into a straight industry job the percentage we were given as a raise was still much, much better. We just had higher expectations based on all the good news we heard.
Well that was not the case. In fact I think because of last everyone has lowered expectations. So I was very skeptical when people started sharing rumors with me that the pool of moneys for people going to consultant from 2nd year analyst was much, much more than last year. Funny really because last year there were no rumors, just assumptions, this year there were somewhat reliable leaks. However these leaks didn’t really get people thinking more positively. I was curious though, so I was able to schedule my compensation call the first day they were allowed. So when I sat down with the partner, he looked where I fell on his excel sheet, and he told me the number I was actually a little shocked. It was way beyond what I thought was even the most outlandish best case. I mean they didn’t double my pay, but it was more than $10 a paycheck too. In fact even if I had gotten the raise I expected last year and the same percentage this year I wouldn’t have ended up at the same place. So I am really pleased. Though as usual with me the money is already spent (the raise covers the cost of airfare every few months to Moscow). Hopefully this doesn’t raise my expectations too high for next year!
Last year I was a bit under whelmed to be sure. Most people who had started with me had a certain level of expectations based on stories from people about their compensation from previous years. In all reality my raise last year was more than adequate. It was more than twice inflation so it was a gain in real wages. However the firm had continuously communicated to everyone that we were so far above plan and how 2006 was a banner year. In fact it was the second banner year in a row. Everyone expected these windfalls to trickle down even to the lowest levels. Well they didn’t. However in retrospect if I had gone into a straight industry job the percentage we were given as a raise was still much, much better. We just had higher expectations based on all the good news we heard.
Well that was not the case. In fact I think because of last everyone has lowered expectations. So I was very skeptical when people started sharing rumors with me that the pool of moneys for people going to consultant from 2nd year analyst was much, much more than last year. Funny really because last year there were no rumors, just assumptions, this year there were somewhat reliable leaks. However these leaks didn’t really get people thinking more positively. I was curious though, so I was able to schedule my compensation call the first day they were allowed. So when I sat down with the partner, he looked where I fell on his excel sheet, and he told me the number I was actually a little shocked. It was way beyond what I thought was even the most outlandish best case. I mean they didn’t double my pay, but it was more than $10 a paycheck too. In fact even if I had gotten the raise I expected last year and the same percentage this year I wouldn’t have ended up at the same place. So I am really pleased. Though as usual with me the money is already spent (the raise covers the cost of airfare every few months to Moscow). Hopefully this doesn’t raise my expectations too high for next year!
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