On vacation and already dreading the return to work/routine/crazy hours. Everytime I return, I feel like quitting my job and the post vacation blues are already making me anxious, anyone else feels this way?😂

Hey there,

I am in TAC for a fairly large networking company. I am making 48k a year with decent benefits and unlimited PTO. I love working at this company and my boss is fantastic. However, I feel as though I am being underpaid given my credentials. I have my CCNA and almost have my CWNA. I am coming up on a year at the company and want to start either negotiating higher pay or looking elsewhere. What should I do and how should I go about it?

Although summer vacation is about over for some of us, what do you do as summer jobs (to get by when school is out)?

Tomorrow is zs holiday in India offices. So will be the salary get credited today??

Are there any firms out there that actually let you take all your PTO? I hate that we have to make up our PTO to meet utilization targets. Been on a capped 40-hour project for the last two years and it’s had a terrible effect on my utilization.

Plus, any firms that don’t require more working for free (like all of our BS firm contributions here at D)?

I signed a pe gig for this summer. How much time off can I take before starting?

Got my PwC severance package today deposited...much larger than I calculated...I know I had s lot of accrued vacation but it was deposited in two oddly large amounts

Best places for a vacation the last 2 weeks of December?

I have vacation next month and received a job offer. I start to work on new job week after vacation . What happens with my vacation leave ? Should I give more than 2 weeks notice in my current job since on my last week I will be in vacation ? Or they will cancel me my vacation anyway ? I can’t take vacation earlier because everything already planned

For those of you thankfully still employed but working insane hours with a reduced team due to layoffs and unable to use your PTO — has anyone tired to get theirs rolled over?

Morning! Being laid off sux, I been down this road 5x in my career it never bets easier.

Dust off contacts and make your rounds
* if you’re in a good position to take time off do some, seems we all need a mental break anyway

What's your experience with holiday bonuses, RAC awards, etc from your partners?

The firm I work for is not closing for the hurricane. Staff were told to work from home or take PTO if they could not come in to the office (and the building is now closed until Friday). Is this normal?!

I’m taking a few calls for new opps at a couple different firms and wanted to get a pulse on feelings from folks who actually work there to help me narrow it down. Agencies are: Weber Shandwick, Ruder Finn, FleishmanHillard and a smaller boutique called LifeSci Communications. From The sounds of other threads on here, I’m nervous about WS. Looking for a read on Work/Life balance, how well staffed they are, avg pay range (VP level), PTO/holidays/benefits, etc. So, how do you like working there?

When you actually go on vacation, how much do you typically spend per trip and how many days do you go for?

Bummed dragon flight is being released after thanksgiving break. Now I gotta take PTO on Tuesday 🤷.. oh well

Need help with 2 offers:
1. 195k, 25 days pto, 15% 401k(includes bonus but all non tax). Salary mobility. Option to work Over time 1.5 pay.
2. 220k, 25 pto, 5% 401k . Salary top of band "not to exceed"

I think 2 has better total value but the "not to exceed" is giving me vibes of needing to be promoted or hit a salary cap sooner than 1. 1 has more mobility in terms of raises... the work is very similar and distance is relatively the same too as other benefit.
It IT work and 40 hr weeks.

Any tips on how to take a relaxing vacation with a 2 year old? Unfortunately we don’t really have the option of not taking her haha.

Any recs for good light reads? Looking for something to breeze through on vacation that's light hearted or funny! Generally like romance, memoirs, or pop psychology books.

Does TCS employees get any special discount in Croma stores?

Curious for people’s thoughts on where I should be focused:

30yo, all figures combined for 2ppl:

-$325k household income

-$150k student debt (mix of mba and undergrad)
-$30k misc debt (car, credit card, personal loans)

-$35k in 401k savings
-$2.5k in HSA savings
-$1.5k investment account
-$8k cash savings

Didn’t do so strongly in our 20s (worked at nonprofits, spent outside our means), but want to spend our 30s getting financially secure. Where should we start? Pay down debt? Start saving?

How have you broke the news to your boss that you’re looking to make a career change and leave the practice? I am the Sr. Paralegal at my firm (7+ years) and work for a solo practitioner in a very busy wage & hour class action practice. We have one other legal assistant and law clerk. I don’t want to burn bridges, but after seeing how he gave the cold shoulder to his paralegal of 10+ years after going on maternity leave and never coming back, I don’t see how I can’t expect the same treatment.

Looking to apply to a product management position at Coinbase. Would anyone at Coinbase be willing to provide a referral and discuss the position a bit more?

Any teachers who are also writers? What genre and do you share your work with others? Anything you would want to share here? I love reading anything written by other teachers!

It’s official that after 7 years I am now single in my late 30s…. Moments of excitement and moments sadness come and go. 🥂

How important is it to get your CPA in the long run/ outside of big 4? Would CFE be beneficial? I’m a forensics staff.

Any OTC recommendations for dandruff shampoos? (Seborrheic Dermatitis)

If I am leaving D in late Jan / early feb, does it make sense to front load 401k to get Ds contribution in addition to getting the new company’s contribution later in the year?

Going through a total loss settlement negotiation for my car with insurance. In parallel they’re asking to sign power of attorney for title transfer. Does this make sense to do when I’m still negotiating the settlement amount ? Trying to think what other leverage i would have if I sign over the vehicle (which itself isn’t much to begin with)
TIA!

Looking to make a jump to an in-house position at a bank but not clear about the compensation band post-pandemic. Can you please provide YOE, title, TC (base + salary), other benefits, practice area? Stable?

I could definitely use some advice on salary and negotiation. Deloitte offered me $80K for audit and EY offered $85K for tech-risk consulting. I’m surprised only because I thought consulting paid significantly higher than audit. Both the positions are based out of NYC. I’m a grad student also halfway through my CPA. I’m not trying to sound unsatisfied but I’m just curious about room for negotiation with EY tech consulting.

Hi Fishes, I got an offer for Data analyst - SE at Samsung Research Institute Bangalore. There are lots of negative reviews. Is it worth joining with 2 YOE?

Has anyone been to the Amelia Island Ritz Carlton. Using some points for 3 nights. Tried to use Suite Night Awards but web site says they don’t accept or are all booked.

*KGS Managers*
Please share your last/this year rating, hike % and bonus %

Are there any relators on here? Would love to connect if you are, as I am looking to possibly get into the field and would love some advice.

I’ve been on a date with this guy I met on tinder 3 times now. The last time I saw him I went over to his house Sunday. I texted him earlier this week to see if I could come over at all again this weekend and he said he’d get back to me. He never did but he’s still texted me every day. Previously he said if I ever wanted to come to just ask and we’ve both said we like each other. I’m debating on if I should text him rn saying ‘do you want me to come over today?’. Part of me is wondering if cont.

My wife and I are always stressing about money. Between the two of us, we have a 300K NW. Our TC is good right now but wife wants to take off a couple years of working for kids. We are 30 and 28 now. Are we ahead of the curve or more on par?

I work primarily with an equity partner and counsel in an M&A practice servicing existing clients. It’s been slower than usual. Both of them tag team and keep mentioning I should get my hours up when neither of them bring in any business. Just searched iManage and found the firm billable hours reports. Turns out my hours each month are far exceeding both of theirs! Prolly wasn’t supposed to see the firm hour reports but wondering if I should push back. I don’t find their remarks well-intended.

Haggling with clients over huge invoices that you would find completely unreasonable yourself is the absolute worst part of this job.

I got that coveted big law job.

But I would much rather want a family of my own and someone to hug and kiss, something I feel really sad about around christmas.

Never had much contact with my dad, and two years ago, I broke off contact with my mother because I realized that she had been a manipulative narcissist my entire childhood.

Working 50-60h weeks on average doesn’t help your dating life though, and who would want to date someone with no family anyway

Any Gunderson, Wilson Sonsini, Fenwick or Cooley CA associates willing to talk about their M&A/PE practices? I’m looking to lateral (current v40 2nd year M&A associate).

For a lateral app, does a writing sample need to be a certain length? Is 6 pages long enough?

Sidley associates, what’s your reaction to yesterday’s announcement about the new titles? Do associates (at sidley or otherwise) really care about that issue?

I am good with email management, probably better than others, and I find it extremely hard. I go to pee and return with 8 unread emails. How do others do it? It’s so possible to lose track or miss one yet you get castrated if a superior finds it before you. What do you all do to manage the barrage of emails?

It is January 1, 2023 and you are closing you December time. You realize that you missed your annual bonus target of 2,000hrs by 1hr of billable time. Your firm has made it clear that you won’t get any bonus if you don’t hit the minimum. What, if anything, are you going to do?

Is there any advantage to applying to a firm directly versus with a recruiter? Doesn’t it save the firm money to hire someone without a recruiter?

Anyone have experience will switching to solo practice from big law?

My idea clients are people in large scale commercial real estate. Does anyone have any suggestions of ways to network to meet those types of individuals organically? Organizations to join or events to attend? Thanks!!

2020 grad here. Worked at a firm and then clerked. Just started another clerkship and planning on returning to big law around this time next year. Thing is I’m certain I don’t want to litigate and want to do corporate. Has anyone done this?

As a 2021 associate, I got to say that I am sick of hearing about these little special bonuses. Even know I don't know anything or add much value to the team, I think we could at least get something. Feeling really left out here guys 😂

How do you greet someone older than you over video? Mr last name or first name?

When you actually go on vacation, how much do you typically spend per trip and how many days do you go for?

Why hasn’t biglaw made the transition to state of the art technology yet? Like MacBooks, simultaneous document collaboration technology, mobile friendly document editing software, and just generally, new, fast software that works and doesn’t crash. Why are biglaw firms stuck on these ancient tech stacks that cost them millions to maintain and are so detrimental to associate efficiency?

What advice would you give to a European law student attending law school in the US trying to practice bankruptcy/ litigation in US biglaw?

I would expect being a foreign national is not an advantage when it comes to OCI.

Asking on behalf of a friend, who is rock solid in their intention to remain in the US.

Will only probs be 65-70% utilized end of year. Junior, takes into account 3 weeks for honeymoon. Great reviews from partners though (i’m in a small group). Am i ok?

Oddly specific but did anyone in the NY 2nd dept have to wait forever to get through C&F? I’ve been waiting almost 5 months. Maybe this is normal but the 1st dept seems to get people admitted much quicker.