Were you anxious when you first started in biglaw? Any advice for a first year who is worried about getting laid off & feels the pressure to try best in every assignment to get work?

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Do NOT schedule Friday 9am meetings with tax associates

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Just do your best.

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Do your best and focus on quality over quantity of work. I understand it is hard to say no to more work especially given the looming recession, but taking on too much work is a quick way to burn out as a junior.

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So much so that I became majorly depressed, had friends and family tell me I should quit because I was a wreck and started therapy. It was all unnecessary and I'm busy but very happy now and feel like I have a good life and can do this for at least a few more years. I know how hard it is to feel like your life is about to topple over without this income, but you aren't going to get fired if you're the type of person who is putting in effort out of fear of getting fired.

I would echo what someone else said about not being afraid to turn down work if you think that you won't be able to delivery quality results while getting adequate time to sleep, exercise and have some kind of life. You don't need to be logged on 24/7 and terrified of not responding to every email within 1 hour. That is not most people's expectations and the people who do expect that don't need to be catered to to succeed.

I would also recommend trying to focus on what schedule works for you. One of the perks of this job is flexibility. I tend to be much happier if I have at least an hour or two in the evening where i am logged off before I go to bed with my spouse, so I often wake up at 5 or 6 so I can log off between 5 to 7. Other people like working late and getting up later or having morning time.

Finally, you need to learn to take a growth mindset toward mistakes. For your first year you're going to make a lot of dumb typos and other stuff. Everyone will. By the end of the year you will be amazed how much stuff you let slip at the start. Anyone who is decent to work for knows this and won't right you off.

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Don't worry about things outside your control and don't put too much pressure on yourself to stick out asap given there just won't be enough time to stick out if things really turn

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I was anxious to start. If you're in a good group, it should get better as you start to get the hang of things. If it's a continual anxiety fest as you get through the first year and isn't letting up at all, think about switching groups or lateralling--it may not be you.

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