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I'm in big law in a corporate rotation-like program where we can try different projects without being officially slated for a particular group. I have tried everything from public and private M&A, debt financing, capital markets, and general public company work. I'm having a difficult time identifying where my personality and skills "fit"--I feel like I haven't done enough projects in certain groups to get a sense of that (hit or miss with certain partners, some projects have been just inherently mind numbing). Everyone says to choose a group where you don't mind being stuck with those people on a project at 2 a.m. This hasn't been a helpful metric, since I've found that each group generally has a similar spread of good and bad eggs, and I've mostly found all the work to be interesting and good learning opportunities. I'm also concerned with which practice areas will stay afloat in the event of an economic downturn, and which groups will give me marketable skills to go in house later on if I should so choose.

What factors helped you decide a group/practice area was or wasn't right for you? How could you tell when a type of practice wasn't right for you (versus just disliking certain people or particular projects)?

After cutting out the areas of work I really didn't want to do, I chose based on who my new bosses would be. Every area of law has fun parts and boring parts. In the end, however much you like your work and your firm, if your boss is an asshole, your life is going to suck. Period. So I chose the best group of people.

Now, it wasn't "best" in terms of being lax, or not caring if I work, or something like that, but "best" in terms of being reasonable, smart adults who would be willing to teach and mentor. Those people might be strict, and might come down on you a little if you make mistakes, but that's how you get better. And you want that mentor to be a reasonable person, not a crazy screamer. On the other hand, because they're reasonable people, they understand if you have a doctor's appointment, and don't expect you to pick up at 3am out of the blue. Y'know, normal people (or as normal as they get in biglaw).

Bumping to see if anyone else has stories/paths they can share.