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Hi Fishes, need your guidance. I am having below offers. Please help me to decide.
Publicis Sapient - 16LPA + PWFH
Valuelabs - 18LPA + PWFH
I want to know in terms of Brand value, WLB, career growth, learning opportunity & job security.
*Also is it safe to join service based company with such a high package in respect to my YOE?
My Info:
YOE - 2.3Yrs
CCTC - 7.25LPA
Techstack - Frontend Development (React) College - Tier-3
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Don't cut your time
I've always looked at it this way: if I can bill 6.5-7.5 a day I'll be fine. Because inevitably you will bill a half hour here and there before bed. You'll have a rand 2-5 hours on a Saturday. Etc..
To bill the 6.5-7.5, capture EVERYTHING. If you spend thirty seconds responding to an email, that's supposed to be .1. Bill it.
Then again I might feel different if I billed at 1300 bucks an hour lol
General advice is to get in good with one or two partners who will regularly give you work because you do a good job. Worry less about the time it takes you to do something at first but make sure you're thorough. Speeding up will come with experience and if you're too slow it's up to the partner to let you know.
WLB is dependent on the firm and specific practice/partner you work for but generally can't expect it as a corporate associate. 1800 is a very realistic billables target without infringing too much on WLB but the issue with corporate practices is that you're generally not able to sit there for 8-5 working on stuff consistently. Deals and workflow is erratic unlike in litigation. To make hours and to stay in the good graces of partners and their clients you have to do work when it comes in. That generally means being responsive late nights, early mornings and weekends. As a new associate you're paid for availability because you're lacking substantive knowledge.
Deal work ebbs and flows. Don’t stress too much about hitting a certain number of hours each day. I try to bill 35 hours per week—a couple long days (and there will be PLENTY) will more than make up for shorter days. Keep in mind that you’ll likely rack up lots of hours as year-end approaches. Deal volume typically increases as people try to close before Dec 31. It’s a weird feeling, but enjoy the slower times when you have them.
Following.
1800 hours is only 150/month, aim for 150-160 knowing that some months will be really busy and you’ll work more, and you’ll have some cushion to take time off. You can easily have a lot of work life balance working that amount, it’s less than 5 billable hours a day on average, and you can push most of that work onto weekdays and give yourself weekends/holidays/vacations assuming nothing urgent comes up. For what it’s worth, not saying you should do what I do, I’m definitely an overachiever and just sharing my experience, but I bill 2400-2500 and aim for 200+ a month and still usually have a good amount of free time. 1800 should be very doable!!
45 a week*
Might sound cheesy but the best way to get work is to do a good job. Take your time, pay attention and be really diligent, even when it feels like mind-numbing or easy work in the beginning of your career. Make sure things are clean and don’t turn in sloppy work. When partners are happy with your work they’ll keep coming back to you and, if the works there, you’ll be fine. On the flip side, if the group is slow but they know you work hard and don’t turn down assignments or deals when they’re there, they won’t harp on you for missing your hours (unless they’re toxic, in which case: lateral). When things have typos or aren’t thought out or helpful, it doesn’t matter how much or how little you work, the partners won’t be motivated to staff you again on a deal. I wouldn’t worry too much though! It’s just a matter of not rushing and not cutting your time. None of us know what we’re doing when we first start out, so just take your time and focus on quality and learning.