Switching Practice Group - How to ask, and how risky is it to ask? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm a first year in the corporate group of a big law firm, and feel I may not be cut out for corporate. There are a host of skills that juniors need to survive that I don't have. I've always been bad at being organized and paying attention to detail. Everyone who knew me in my childhood who sees me now says has basically told me something along the lines, "the shift to computers saved your life." It's not that I'm lazy with these things, but that things most people would see as easy require a lot of effort. At my exit interview as a summer, most of the things I was commended on aren't useful to the work I do - intelligence, big picture thinking, ability to supplement legal analysis with practical business sense. However, none of these skills are useful in the work I do. I already feel like I may be being passed over for work, but can't prove it. My gut feeling is that some people may like talking to me because I'm nice and likable, but may hate working with me because I'm disorganized and kind of incompetent. It's important to me to succeed professionally, and circumstances in my personal life and financial needs require me to succeed here.

My questions are - (1) is there a practice group I'm better suited for? (2) what's the risk in considering a switch? (3) how do you bring it up?

[Anonymous User]

Try consulting.

[masque du pantsu]

These will eventually be very useful when you are more senior, you will just need to have juniors who are thorough, "detail oriented" (whatever that means) and compensate your weaknesses. Aren't there any coping mechanisms you can come up with in the meantime? I mean, we all have deficits.

[Anonymous User]

I've implemented things to get more organized and make less mistakes. It's really more a question of whether there is a practice group that would play to my strengths more. I don't know if this is relevant, but in law school I had a tougher time with corporatey classes. In other subjects I could sleep my way to doing well, but never clicked with corporate.

[spyke123]

Try consulting.

[Catsinthebag]

These will eventually be very useful when you are more senior, you will just need to have juniors who are thorough, "detail oriented" (whatever that means) and compensate your weaknesses. Aren't there any coping mechanisms you can come up with in the meantime? I mean, we all have deficits.

A bit disorganized but with keen business skills and a likable personality. Talk about a good problem to have. Hope you find a way to survive!

[Anonymous User]

I did it and it changed the game. I'm now in a practice I can see myself doing the rest of my life.