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I am Offered 29.5fixed by PwC for SA (L2). Currently on 25fixed. Should I join ? In terms of WLB.! My current employer on fishbowl shows Deloitte but have left Deloitte a year back. Currently in a firm with good WLB but PWFH is a big win for me that PwC is offering.
Any guidance or fist hand experience sharing is highly appreciated.
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Mentor
Great advice. One thing that I think is always overlooked is that high hours aren’t the only thing that cause burnout. Not all hours are created the same. Some days I’ll bill 7 hours that are incredibly stressful and everyone wants everything at once. Other days I’ll bill 11 and it’s not that stressful because I was working on one doc all day.
So true. It’s never going to be an easy job. But this plan is a great alternative to quitting!
I agree that this is great advice, but I would add one additional detail. Doing excellent work means that even as a junior associate, you’re taking ownership over your deals and anticipating needs. I would much rather work with one stellar junior associate who does this and also turns down work when too busy than the overly eager junior who volunteers for everything, but has to be asked to do every little task. The latter does not alleviate the supervising attorney’s burden.
/2/ need. And I do mean the stiff arm. Don’t offer to help in a pinch, as that is how you get sucked in. Declare your days off in advance, and follow through. Do not answer emails or calls. Breathe! The world will not collapse without you. They will find someone to do the work who respects themselves less and has trouble saying no. I once ignored a call on the beach in Hawaii and probably saved my whole vacation. The partner just called someone else two minutes later. Nothing bad happened. In fact, I had a great trip.
/3/ If you hate your job, try this first before quitting. You’d be surprised how many of us are living perfectly happy lives in biglaw just by living out these principles.
Glad I’m not the only one. Yeah there’s stress but i really am doing okay mentally/ emotionally just doing what I need to do and no more.
Subject Expert
Love everything about your post, OP, and completely agree. For those saying this only applies in lit, I’m in transactional at v10 and doing just fine. Am I going to make partner? No. Am I going to get fired? Highly, highly unlikely, and I’m happy to make half a million dollars a year doing what I do with some boundaries instead of $1.5 mil as a junior partner (or way less at a lower ranked firm) doing what I do with no boundaries.
Also may not be the case for everyone, but the “firm” does not value you the same way individual partners do. i.e., if you bill 3000 a year working for 3-5 different partners, each partner will only remember the hours you billed for them and whether they were good hours or not. If you dropped the ball (at all) on a partner’s work because you were overworked billing 3000 hours overall, they will remember the ball dropping. They will only remember the 3000 in an abstract sense, although maybe the 3000 was better for the “firm”.
That’s a great point. Way better to meter your work and impress 2-3 partners instead of raising your hand too often and turning in mediocre work.
Wish this was easy. Feel inadequate most of the time so feel like need to overcompensate all the time. Plus, does setting boundaries hurt long term prospects to become partner?
Senior Counsel 1- I needed this!
This is exactly what I needed to hear today. Thanks, OP!
Great advice! Learn how to say no and set your boundaries. The Gen Xers get this, and most of the Baby Boomers do, too. There are a few crazies out there who don’t understand the concept of having a life outside work, but they’re more the exception than the rule.
Haha, fair.
Subject Expert
@OP, what practice area are you in?
Not all biglaw has the same level of firedrills IME.
M&A is not equal to fund formation....
I’m not selling this as a recipe for long term success, and it’s definitely not a prescription for making partner or wowing clients. The OP is really aimed at people who feel like they are hitting a wall, or could soon, and think there is no way to change their situation without quitting.
Unfortunately that’s not true, but the alternative isnt true either.
My employment was terminated despite being an overachiever, billing 2300/2400 hours, excellent performance reviews ONLY because the partner decided to take the clients and move.
My advice instead is that - no matter what you do, you may be kept on, or fired. Remember your mental health and time with family is important.
A5, I’m not sure why your situation disproves anything in the OP.
Reading these posts and comments makes me think Ive never seen so many truly miserable people making 200k.
Coach
I am a perfectly happy senior associate making north of $500k this year. I don’t “love my job” but I make a lot more money than 99% of people who work 60 hours a week!
I’d like to hire you as my private life coach.
It’s definitely a compliment! This is exactly what I needed to hear today. It’s like I know these things, but I just get in my own head and catastrophize everything, and I just need the perspective shift sometimes
Me af
I needed to hear this today. I’m stressing myself out trying to make special bonus hours for the second half of the billable year (I qualified for the first half bonus). I was thinking about declining trips to see friends and family I haven’t seen in nearly two years because I wouldn’t be able to make those hours…had a take a step back and realize while the extra cash would be huge, it’s not the most important thing and I don’t actually NEED it.
From someone whose dad died of a heart attack suddenly, don’t put off this stuff for money. It’s not going to make a difference in the long run, but it really could be within the last 10 encounters with the person/ people you love and not even know it. Memories are much more valuable, especially when they are gone
Mentor
“Firm is desperate”
OK Chad. Let’s see if you’re still around in the next downturn
Ha. Personally, I have other plans. But I’ve done this for 9 years at a V20 and I’m being told I can be a partner. Do what you want, but this works.