Am I Getting Fired? Forum

[jarofsoup]

Contacting a good head hunter to make a fast move is probably the best move. Changing practice area or geographic locations is the easiest justification.

[Guchster]

Spoke to the senior. I think the hint that the senior was making was dead on. Now the question is, how does a stub year go looking for a new gig without looking like a complete jackass that got pushed out?

If you're committed to practice area and geography, then take headhunter/recruiter calls and start looking around (i.e., laterally, gobiglaw are the ones that come to mine). Figure out what makes the new firm you're interviewing at appealing (i.e., reputation,friends/connections, clients, etc.) and you can refocus any "why are you leaving questions?" to emphasize that you're running *to* this new opportunity (and not running *from* your current job).

[Anonymous User]

Spoke to the senior. I think the hint that the senior was making was dead on. Now the question is, how does a stub year go looking for a new gig without looking like a complete jackass that got pushed out?

If you're committed to practice area and geography, then take headhunter/recruiter calls and start looking around (i.e., laterally, gobiglaw are the ones that come to mine). Figure out what makes the new firm you're interviewing at appealing (i.e., reputation,friends/connections, clients, etc.) and you can refocus any "why are you leaving questions?" to emphasize that you're running *to* this new opportunity (and not running *from* your current job).

This is super helpful. Thanks. I’ll start taking calls and refocusing like that.

[Hopefullitassociate]

Sorry about this sucky situation, stub. Did you receive offers from other law firms during OCI? If so, it might help to reach out them too - let them know that this firm turned out to not be a great fit, and ask if they have any availability.

For what it's worth, I know of several people who lateraled their stub year - it's definitely not the norm, but far from unheard of. Just make sure you craft a good narrative that remains positive (so that people don't suspect you got pushed out or the problem was you). Like others have suggested, maybe see how firms you're applying to contrast with the firm you're at now - maybe bigger vs. smaller office, or your current firm focuses a lot of their work on X, but you'd prefer to do Y, which the new firm does a lot of work in.

[Npret]

Spoke to the senior. I think the hint that the senior was making was dead on. Now the question is, how does a stub year go looking for a new gig without looking like a complete jackass that got pushed out?

If you're committed to practice area and geography, then take headhunter/recruiter calls and start looking around (i.e., laterally, gobiglaw are the ones that come to mine). Figure out what makes the new firm you're interviewing at appealing (i.e., reputation,friends/connections, clients, etc.) and you can refocus any "why are you leaving questions?" to emphasize that you're running *to* this new opportunity (and not running *from* your current job).

This is super helpful. Thanks. I’ll start taking calls and refocusing like that.

For what it’s worth, any firm where a senior partner publicly humiliates a new attorney is not a good work environment. What you describe sounds abusive. You will be much better off finding a new firm.

[Aptitude]

Spoke to the senior. I think the hint that the senior was making was dead on. Now the question is, how does a stub year go looking for a new gig without looking like a complete jackass that got pushed out?

It's the way you carry it and carry yourself. Don't act like it's a big deal, especially during the interview. Be positive, you're looking for new experiences. Plenty of people leave jobs within their first year out of college or grad school. I know people that are multi-millionaires that went through a slew of jobs for 2 years. It's the way they carry themselves and the way they think that makes them successful, and no one thinks "oh this guy got pushed out" about any of them.