Major Job Decision - HELP!!!

[Blueberry]

So...I have one of those major life decisions to make, and one day to make it (I've been trying to make a decision for a while, and haven't come to one).

I work for a large law firm that just got much larger. I don't love the work I do (though I have been getting a little bit of environmental work, which is what I want to do). Hard to know if the good work will keep coming, but most of the rest of what I do is directly opposed to what I believe in. Our billable hours requirements have gone up drastically (1860-2000, and now I'm hearing 2100 from the partner I work for). Our salaries have also gone up considerably. Right now, my quality of life is not great - I work all the time, and they really want me to be working more.

I have an opportunity to go work for a firm in the VI - working from home most of the time, and traveling to the VI once a month. The downside: half the money (but still enough to be comfortable), lack of stability (it's a small firm, and they'll keep me as long as they have work, which they should) and, though the work is better, it's not exactly my dream work.

One way, I have time to ride my bike, the other I don't. I keep thinking if I could just be more organized and sleep less, that I could make the big firm work. There's certainly more of a future there (and it could lead to more opportunities in the future), but I really want out.

Any words of wisdom from the wise women at TE? Am I being too hard on myself expecting that I should be able to work the large firm job and do everything else too? Would I be crazy to go to the VI?

Many thanks for any insight

CA

[bmccasland]

CA,
Your sanity and ethics have to count for something. Do you REALLY want to work even longer hours? Are these longer hours because of a particular project or is this going to become the new normal? 2100 hours per what? I don't quite get what the hours relate to.

But if it was me, I'd go for the quality of life choice and switch firms.

[Blueberry]

We've merged with a large firm, so between 2000 and 2100 hours would be the "new" norm. For those who aren't in law, attorneys in private firms are generally required to "bill" a certain number of hours per year. That's time that is directly billed through to the client. We get "billable" credit for certain other things (e.g. client development), but it's a small amount (50 hours per year). So, if you're billing 2100 hours, you're actually working 10-20% over that number (2520 hours), and by the time you take out holidays, continuing legal education, a couple of sick days, etc - you're working 60 hours or more every week.

Had I known all of this, I'm not sure I would have gone to law school

[KnottedYet]

I just jumped ship and am going for a new job. My old job paid less, had me working insanely hard, and wasn't using me to my fullest abilities.

If your gut (not your head, nor your heart, go for the gut) wants to do the switch to VI, I'd do it.

If it doesn't work out you can always search out another job later. (at least, that's what I keep telling myself)

Besides, biking time is CRUCIAL!!!

[Pax]

I chased the money for almost 20 years (in social services so relatively speaking), I accepted more and more responsibility, worked more and more hours (on-call 24/7 the last seven years of it)...then one day I realized they had "bought" me. I had a crappy quality of life, my beloved and I were on very thin ice, I never slept, and I was miserable. We looked at our budget to see what we could do and realized we could get by on a lot less.

Long story short, I bailed and couldn't be happier. Life is too damn short to spend 80+ hours a week at work.

[Thistle]

I chased the money ...then one day I realized they had "bought" me. I had a crappy quality of life, my beloved and I were on very thin ice, I never slept, and I was miserable.

Long story short, I bailed and couldn't be happier. Life is too damn short to spend 80+ hours a week at work.

me too. i've never regretted it for a moment, despite the fact that finances are much tighter.

i dont think you would be crazy at all.

[indysteel]

First, what is the VI? I'm a lawyer but don't recognize that term.

I left my firm after a miserable two years (that seemed liked 10) to work for the Feds. Admittedly, the cut in salary wasn't dramatic at the time because I was still relatively young, but I didnt' really care at that point. I knew that I'd lived on less and could do it again. Thankfully, the work at my new job appealed to me and my boss (a federal bankruptcy judge) came highly recommended. To me, it was a no-brainer. Admittedly, I couldn't handle private practice, but I felt that my new job was actually a good career move because, at least in Indianapolis, I knew there would be a demand for someone who had worked "inside" the system. That said, there is a downside in that at some point, I'm going to have to enter the labor market again--probably back to private practice--and it's going to be a huge shock to my system. Perhaps I'm in denial, but I've always told myself that I'd cross that bridge when I came to it.

My advice is to first sit down and figure out whether you'll be miserable in a different way at the new job. You sound kind of lukewarm about the work itself. Could you survive at your firm a bit longer and try to find something in the meantime that is more in keeping with your interests/career objectives? I don't usually recommend job changes where someone is more interested in running from their current job rather than to a new job. Picture yourself in a job interview five years from now explaining why you changed jobs midstream. Can you spin/articulate it in a way that would make career sense to a potential employer? I have a few friends who've moved from one job to the next and I worry that they'll have a hard time explaining some or most of the moves at some point because they just seem rather random.

Regarding your finances. Sit down with your bills and figure out a whether you could make ends meet on a reduced salary. Are there any expenses that you could reduce or eliminate? Can you put enough money aside (or do you already have enough money set aside) to live on for 3-4 months if you were let go and had to find a new job.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Having worked in the trenches before, I feel your pain.

K-

[Blueberry]

Many thanks ladies!

VI is Virgin Islands - the firm is based in St. Thomas (I've worked for them before, and had a good experience, they just didn't have full time work for me at the time).

I'm not worried about the money - we will be tight until our condo sells (we just moved into a house), but then we'd be perfectly comfortable. I've always anticipated I wouldn't stay in private practice in a large firm, and have tried to make my finances reflect that. I do have enough set aside for a 3-4 month involuntary leave of absence.

K- Your point is well taken about not running from a job. I think the new job would be fun, challenging in some ways, and there would be opportunities for me to get more involved and shape the practice. I'm not sure I'd want to make a long term commitment to fly back and forth enough to maintain a practice down there long term, though. However, I do not plan to go back to a large law firm - my sights are on grad school, a non-profit or hanging a shingle.

[maillotpois]

If you're "not worried about the money" then go for it! 2100 hours is crazy. You'd have no life. That just blows. Even 2000 is bad enough - and regardless of what the minimum is, a big firm is always looking to reward people who go above the minimum. The competition is stiff, politics can get ugly, etc.

Worked for a big firm for a while. Blech! (Not that I'm jaded or anything... )

And "having" to go to the VI every once in a while sounds like rough duty!

Good luck. These changes and decisions are stressful, but they can be exciting and open op a whole new world for you. (At least that's what I keep telling myself as I try to discard the last shackles of my partnership.)

[mimitabby]

How old are you? do you have a good pension already? a savings?
Most of us can live on so much less.

you will feel better and be healthier in a less stressful job!

i see young executive types who work long long hours.. their health
suffers...

you need to take time for your BODY and your MIND!

[madscot13]

My unemployed butt is not really the one to be giving advice, so I will let US psychologist William James give a few enlightening (and confusing) words on the subject:

The moral flabiness born of the exclusive *****- goddess of success. That- with the squalid cash interpretation put on the word success- is our national disease

William James (1893-1916)


This by the way is why I cannot find a job.