Lateral - ready to jump ship Forum

[Anonymous User]

Mid-level biglaw associate; lateraled to a new market six months ago. Missed some things in my diligence that are less than ideal. Enjoy the practice group and the work (usually) but the firm has some red flags. Don't they all. Partner pathway looks doable, despite a new lateral, as there are not many other associates competing for sunlight in my group.

Maybe it's Friday blahs, but I'd welcome an in-house recruiter call today. Any "suck it up" suggestions? I fear that making another move too quickly would be a significant smudge on my resume. Where does the Powerball jackpot currently stand?

[sparty99]

Mid-level biglaw associate; lateraled to a new market six months ago. Missed some things in my diligence that are less than ideal. Enjoy the practice group and the work (usually) but the firm has some red flags. Don't they all. Partner pathway looks doable, despite a new lateral, as there are not many other associates competing for sunlight in my group.

Maybe it's Friday blahs, but I'd welcome an in-house recruiter call today. Any "suck it up" suggestions? I fear that making another move too quickly would be a significant smudge on my resume. Where does the Powerball jackpot currently stand?

You have another 6 months before you can start applying to new positions. You don't leave jobs until you hit 12 months. You can start applying at the 11th month.

[A. Nony Mouse]

You can absolutely start applying earlier. If being in your job such a short time turns an employer off, they won't hire you. Short-term jobs are only an issue if you run up a string of them. If a job that looks good to you appears it doesn't make sense not to apply because you haven't hit a magic number of months in your current gig; they may not hire you because you haven't been in your current job long enough, but they may not care if you have a skill set they want. The only way they definitely won't hire you is if you don't apply.

If you do jump ship now it may be tougher to move if you hate the next job, of course, but that's an issue for future you.

[Mickfromgm]

Mid-level biglaw associate; lateraled to a new market six months ago. Missed some things in my diligence that are less than ideal. Enjoy the practice group and the work (usually) but the firm has some red flags. Don't they all. Partner pathway looks doable, despite a new lateral, as there are not many other associates competing for sunlight in my group.

Maybe it's Friday blahs, but I'd welcome an in-house recruiter call today. Any "suck it up" suggestions? I fear that making another move too quickly would be a significant smudge on my resume. Where does the Powerball jackpot currently stand?

You have another 6 months before you can start applying to new positions. You don't leave jobs until you hit 12 months. You can start applying at the 11th month.

Actually, anything less than 2 years looks bad unless you have a credible excuse. There is no hard and fast rule, but any recruiting committee would take note of a <2 year stint and would feel the need to interrogate. Not saying it's a show stopper by any means, but it's a flag.

Less than a year . . . . that's not good.

[Anonymous User]

People saying wait are completely off base. My old firm (which really sucked) had people lateral just 4-5 months in (including a first year associate).

Loyalty is dead in biglaw and firms don't care as long as if you have the right experience. My friend with just 4 months at my firm had 3 offers to choose from.

Another friend thought it was too early and politely declined. She later called the same firm who provided her an offer previously and the firm gave her another offer which she accepted. My point is it is always good networking to interview.

Anyway, interview. There is no downside.

[Anonymous User]

I've been at my lateral firm for a little under 1 year (have been practicing for a few years now) and I've been looking to move inhouse. The economy is still pretty good. A few interviewers have asked me why you are looking to move after 1 year but as long as you have a good answer, it isn't a huge problem.

It really depends on how in demand your field is. If your skills in demand, people are willing to to overlook many things to hire you.

[Anonymous User]

My V10 is hiring as many laterals as it possibly can - lots with less than two years' experience or two years at last their last firm, and some with less than one year of experience total. I don't think it matters so long as you don't do it multiple times.

[Anonymous User]

I lateraled into a biglaw firm and realized 3 months in that I made a terrible decision. I started to apply 5 months into the new job. I landed a new gig at month 7 and gave notice. Once you get an interview, explaining that the current firm wasn't a good fit is as simple as that. The willingness to interview you means the potential employer is already passed the "why are you leaving so early" phase. This is exceptionally true for switching markets.

Don't stay if you're unhappy. Start looking.