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High cost of living. Suburban lifestyle. Bay Area traffic sucks, so live close by (there are crazy people who commute from SF, though). Weather is pretty much perfect year round. Downtown PA basically shuts down at 9 PM. Anything specific you want to know?
Work culture in our office is most similar to our NY office, compared to the other US offices. Remote work is acceptable. Associates around the office bill about 2400+ hours per year. You’d be lucky to get one full weekend off per month, so weekend travel is typically not an option. Wearing jeans to work and the good weather helps though.
I am a junior lit associate at a V50 in Palo Alto. Like Associate 1 says, cost of living is insane. Your looking at $2000-3000/mo for a one bedroom apt if you want to have a short commute to Palo Alto. I first lived in San Jose to save money but couldn’t handle the 1+ hour commute to and from work each day so decided to move closer and pay double in rent. Having a car is a must.
Work atmosphere is highly dependent on the firm, but the general trend of Bay Area firms are that they are not strict on face time, meaning that you can work remotely whenever you like, but the hours are the same. I generally work around 9-10 hours a day. On the busiest days I can work up to 14 hours a day, but litigation is very cyclical. Not sure about M&A.
Everything said above is true. One perk for me is not having to dress formally everyday. Business casuals are fine. The commute, depending on where you live, can be painful but work culture, from what I’ve heard, is generally good is most places (not taking Jones Day into account). People really appreciate it if you have a good sense of the tech market and bubble that is the Bay Area, and general appreciation for the high intellectual expectation that comes with being around the tech folk. There are restaurants and bars but weekdays are definitely quiet by 9 PM. Weekends are a lot better. Lot of good food generally. But the best part for me is the fact that we’re so close to the water and nature/nature related activities all the time. Every weekend can be a new hike, new beach or lighthouse to visit. Weather is great almost always. Generally, people are also quite respectful. Lots of diversity and some inclusion (better than some other cities).