I work 10 hours per week remotely and make $120k as an FP&A analyst

I’m a 3rd year FP&A analyst at a tech company, fully remote, total comp $120k and I work for about 10 hours per week. I’m generally “available” from 9-6, have my status set online and reply to pings and emails quickly from my phone but I’m rarely working or even home sitting at my desk. I’m responsible for a set of monthly deliverables that I’ve almost completely automated using VBA macros and my manager doesn’t ask questions about when I’m online as long as my work is done accurately and on time (which it always is - I get great reviews). I almost feel guilty for slacking off and scheming the system like this but I’m doing the job that they’re paying me to do and everyone is satisfied with my work product

 

How many years of experience or is this your first job out of school?

Seems like you got lucky with this gig, Ive heard of chill FP&A gigs (“40” hours but people really doing like 30) but just 10 hours per week is crazy. How do you see the path for advancement though? You think you could still do 10/week if you were promoted up the chain at your company?

 

Is he working 50 hours a week the same way you're "working" 9-6 every day? 

Do you only know about all the "meetings" he has because he's telling you he has a lot of them? 

 

We're literally the same, you and me. Automating shit with VBA is literally the shit. Feel sorry for those that haven't picked up coding yet.

People spending 30-40-50 mins in my group to do same shit that takes me 10 seconds with the click of a button to do. The hard part being in the office though is pretending to take longer than usual because I don't want anyone to know I'm just chilling. You completely remote is the American dream. Don't feel bad though, trust me your CEO or head most likely makes 10-30x what you make.

 

You should start to learn a skill in the meantime, grab a degree through online courses, learn a trade (electrician would be my choice), or fuck it, learn martial arts.

Congrats on your setup.

 
Analyst 3+ in CorpFin

I'm a 3rd year FP&A analyst at a tech company, fully remote, total comp $120k and I work for about 10 hours per week. I'm generally "available" from 9-6, have my status set online and reply to pings and emails quickly from my phone but I'm rarely working or even home sitting at my desk. I'm responsible for a set of monthly deliverables that I've almost completely automated using VBA macros and my manager doesn't ask questions about when I'm online as long as my work is done accurately and on time (which it always is - I get great reviews). I almost feel guilty for slacking off and scheming the system like this but I'm doing the job that they're paying me to do and everyone is satisfied with my work product

VBA/Python automation with the data is quite awesome.  I created a raw financial database set for the small company I work for now, and hopefully want to improve on it as time goes on.  What is your background?

 
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My prior role was like this- If I am honest, I would work 10ish hours most weeks (most of that time in meetings) and 15-20 hours during the "busier" parts of the month (meetings, then building and delivering a monthly presentation). I was making more like 105k, so less than you.. but live in the midwest. Other difference is that I couldn't be egregious about being away from my computer- had to keep my teams status mostly active. A safety pin in the "insert" key did the work for me on this.

Frankly, I hated having nothing to do. As much as I tried to spend the time well and read books and exercise and such, having so much time meant I didn't value it and wasted it playing video games or watching movies. I started to wonder if my work ethic would atrophy beyond the point of no return.. also felt like it couldn't be good for my career.

New job keeps me a lot more busy, and while I now long for the free time (falsely telling myself I'd read books and exercise and shit), I feel like I am actually learning and am utilized and that my career has a great trajectory. I also find that I now really value my free time on nights and weekends. I'm too competitive to sit on my haunches at anything sub $500k, and even when I get to that point I guess I probably will be looking longingly at the next jump.

 

I'm in the same boat as your last job, except I'm in IB working ~20 hours a week, making full associate money. It's been great because my pay:hours is surreal but I am also bored out of my mind. Almost a year of gaming and watching Netflix and I've outdone it at this point. I miss the feeling of progression or like I'm building my skillset but am hesitant to leave for more work and equal or even less pay.

 

I think Kevin’s method is better. While archaic, a stapler on space tab will not show up as a download on the Bank’s software / cloud side. Banks are checking for this stuff to wean out unproductive employees. So I will use stapler method. 

 

Well done. I automated my entire workload as well in college as a healthcare claims processor through VBA. If you have a fairly structured workflows that runs primarily through MS office products, you should definitely make the investment in learning VBA. I remember offering my scripts to my director when I left for other analysts to use and he said there was no use for them... People are afraid they will be automated out of their jobs.

"...but I'm doing the job that they're paying me to do and everyone is satisfied with my work product" -- I think this is all that really matters. I know several people who are in situations like yours. My co-founder is in this situation. He works 5 - 10 hours a week while building a business with me, practicing Jiu Jitsu and snowboarding during the week. These situations can be finessed. Don't kill the golden goose.

 

Does 3 years experience mean you’re 3 years out of undergrad? 
Also what are your future goals? Do you plan to remain at the current level or progress into a busier manager level?

Array
 

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