Wow, thanks for all that. One thing you mentioned, that I never heard before, is flexibility setting your hours (point 5). Is this unique to your firm, or something that happens at most firms?
This is true in theory, but not usually in practice. You have to be socially smart and aware to understand the culture of the firm. These things can come down to the particular partner you're working for or even the location of your office within the overall firm.ToTransferOrNot wrote:Very few firms these days have strict face-time requirements. However, certain partners do hold certain expectations.
Within my firm, there is no strict requirement, but there is–I feel–an informal requirement that one be in the office during normal hours. My grasp of that is that I should be in my office from 10-10:30 to 6-6:30. I think many, many firms have this informal requirement.
My office isn't close to the partners for whom I work, so it's not like they directly have a view as to when I'm in. But coworkers who are nearby, both partners and associates, notice these things. You acquire a reputation very early in your firm, and that reputation will spread.
However, I won't sit in my office for business hours that are longer than normal simply for show. In that sense, most firms don't have such a face time requirement. Again, many firms have that informal requirement.
If you're at a busy firm or in a busy practice group, this won't really be a problem. You'll have more than enough work to keep you in the office late.
