[vostok]

I think I have to disagree with both statements.

banking - extremely long hours with unpredictable work, huge attrition rate (most people who start in banking don't stay in banking), eventual career progression is into sales

consulting - long hours, weekly travel, huge attrition rate (most people who start in consulting don't stay in consulting), eventual career progression is into sales

law - long hours, high attrition rate (most people who start in big law don't stay in big law), eventual career progression is into sales

At least for me software engineering is much easier than any of those.

[aaavl2821]

I agree with your statement but when I said "hard" I meant the work itself was hard rather than the work "lifestyle", if that makes sense

I woerked in banking and agree it is a hard work environment , but getting the deliverables done was easy and not intellectually challenging. From my friends in big consulting and law firms the work sounds similar in nature

[vostok]

That's a good point and I mentioned it because you included social work in your list of hard careers so thought hard doesn't necessarily mean doing hard math/logic/etc.

[aaavl2821]

I think social work is a hard work "lifestyle" but also hard in the sense the problems you are trying to solve are very hard. In banking / consulting advisory work, the problem is making the client happy, which is not easy but not as hard as rapidly scaling a software system, or "solving" the problems like ptsd or homelessness that social workers deal with.

I'm sort of mixing apples and oranges but it makes sense in my head :)