Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Work situation

I'm currently doing some work for my old firm.  Oddly enough, this worked out pretty well for both myself and the firm.  I was sort of surprised when Attorney 2 called and asked if I wanted some contract work, but the situation here explains it all.

Secretary 2 quit, the new clerk is off for the week, Attorney 5 is out having surgery and Attorney 6 got fired.  That leaves Attorney 3 handing her cases, along with a collections practice which Attorney 6 turned into an unrecognizably disorganized mess.  I couldn't have become unemployed at a better time.

I'm not very confident about my marketable skills but, if I do have one skill, it's that I'm compulsively organized about my work.  Seriously, I do not fuck around about keeping everything organized and running smoothly and it seems like everyone started to realize this as soon as I left.  So, I've been hired on for about a month just to get things organized again while they hire a new attorney.

Overall, it's not a bad situation.  I have about a month of work, for which they're actually paying me pretty well, and I can use the computer here to send out my resume.  Also, instead of being yelled at all day, every day, I'm actually around a group of people who I get along with.  All in all, things could be a lot worse.

11 comments:

  1. Just give it another month.

    Good blog title man.

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  2. So, will Old Firm still not give you a shot as an attorney, beyond a temp contract position? Or are you still kinda "whatever" about that spot? You seemed disappointed when they hired Atty 6 without considering you. What chances do you think you have at working into the position they are trying to fill?

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  3. I have no chance of a full-time attorney position here. They have actually already filled the vacant position, but want me around to help with the transition.

    I don't have any hard feeling about not getting the position back then. Even though I feel as though I should have been offered the position, I always understood Attorney 2's reasons for not hiring me.

    As of right now, he knows that I still don't see a long-term future for myself as a lawyer, much less as a lawyer at this firm. He has known me for way too long for me to start bullshitting him now. I'm just happy this temporary gig has worked out as well as it has.

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  4. You're very good at rationalizing.

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  5. Perhaps trying to bullshit your boss won't work, but is at least worth a shot? It seems like they like you and you reasonably like working there, so what, exactly, is the problem?

    At some point, you need to accept that no job is perfect but at least it's "good enough" until the perfect job comes along (which might never happen). It seems like you are constantly looking for this great job that you enjoy, when in reality, most people don't truly enjoy their job even if they tolerate it. Find enjoyment through hobbies. Use a job that allows to financially pursue those hobbies in your spare time.

    My job certainly isn't perfect and I have to deal with my fair share of crazy co-workers. But on balance, it's pretty good. Short of me getting appointed to the federal bench, I can't picture a job being significantly better in terms of working conditions. That's not to say I wouldn't jump if what I perceived to be the perfect job presented itself, but I realize most jobs aren't perfect.

    Make it crystal clear to the head attorney that you have had a change of heart. You are committed to being an attorney and that, given your experience at that firm, you really want to work there. It might not work, but you won't know unless you try.

    And don't feel like you have to disclose everything. There's never a reason to tell your boss "I'm sure if I really want to be a lawyer." Even if it's true, there's nothing wrong with keeping it to yourself. I constantly think about leaving this profession, but I don't go parading it around my office.

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  6. This is like a sitcom. A character leaves the office for awhile and through some crazy deus ex machina, he ends up right back where he started in season one.

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  7. I don't mean to suggest that I'm expecting my dream job to just immediately pop up out of nowhere. I would just like to have a job that I actually find interesting which has the potential to turn into an enjoyable career. Call it a character flaw, but I really do struggle doing things that don't interest me at all (like most areas of law).

    Believe me, I've learned my lesson about not telling a boss that I don't want to be a lawyer. But, trying to BS the people around here would be too little, too late. Even though I make fun of my co-workers a lot on my blog, we've known each other for years and they know me way too well for any BS to work. They would see through my "change of heart" in a second.

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  8. What's interesting D is that we believe you do legitimately want a full-time job there and we probably know you even better than your coworkers do.

    You say that you couldn't BS your coworkers into believing that you WANT to work for the firm as a lawyer, but is it really BS? From reading your blog, I really do believe that you WANT to work there.

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  9. Ok, valid point. I do want to work here, but only as an experience builder until I can find something that interests me. Maybe that's a more accurate way of phrasing things.

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  10. So it looks like your firing was a blessing in disguise.

    Good luck dear, I hope things continue to look up for you.

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  11. anonymous wrote It seems like you are constantly looking for this great job that you enjoy, when in reality, most people don't truly enjoy their job even if they tolerate it. Find enjoyment through hobbies. Use a job that allows to financially pursue those hobbies in your spare time.

    100% agree

    This is how I see it and how I live it.

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