Switching Practices Midlevel Forum

[Anonymous User]

I’m in a regulatory/litigation-related practice, and after a few years in, I’m just not loving the work anymore.

I’ve been seeing a ton of posts for finance jobs for junior associates and was wondering if it would be at all possible to lateral into one of these roles.

Has anyone made the transition? How do you address it in your resume/cover letter?

[Anonymous User]

Also interested. I know it happens, just want to echo OP's request for advice on the cover letter. Do I expressly tell them I'm looking to switch practice groups, don't have my class year level of experience, or I'm okay taking a hit to my class year?

[Anonymous User]

I am a finance associate and took a few stabs at switching practice groups as a 2nd/3rd year. I had more luck internally (like, felt like I could possibly have actually done it). I had a few interviews laterally and none of them panned out. I feel like volunteering to take a class hit cut would have helped, but who knows.

Fwiw, if there's any practice group that is looking to just take on everyone and anyone these days, it's probably finance haha.

[Anonymous User]

I am a finance associate and took a few stabs at switching practice groups as a 2nd/3rd year. I had more luck internally (like, felt like I could possibly have actually done it). I had a few interviews laterally and none of them panned out. I feel like volunteering to take a class hit cut would have helped, but who knows.

Fwiw, if there's any practice group that is looking to just take on everyone and anyone these days, it's probably finance haha.

I am thinking of switching to finance . Just out of curiosity, what is the general hours and the predictability for finance? Are there a lot of fire drills like M&A? Is it more of a steady practice? Compared to funds practice, is finance better in terms of hours/schedule?

[Anonymous User]

I am a finance associate and took a few stabs at switching practice groups as a 2nd/3rd year. I had more luck internally (like, felt like I could possibly have actually done it). I had a few interviews laterally and none of them panned out. I feel like volunteering to take a class hit cut would have helped, but who knows.

Fwiw, if there's any practice group that is looking to just take on everyone and anyone these days, it's probably finance haha.

I am thinking of switching to finance . Just out of curiosity, what is the general hours and the predictability for finance? Are there a lot of fire drills like M&A? Is it more of a steady practice? Compared to funds practice, is finance better in terms of hours/schedule?

It's more predictable than M&A, and fire drills are a little less frequent than M&A, but I'd put it in the M&A/Bankruptcy category of hours/fire drills/etc. It's the best of the three, but still the top tier of corporate drudgery. The benefit (and also drawback) is that it's pretty rote and repetitive ultimately, so by the time you have 3-4 years of experience you can really "run" the deals in a way that doesn't happen until you're a senior associate in M&A. Also the process within each deal is a little more predictable as a result (I.e., you have no idea your weekend is fucked until Friday night, but then on Friday night you can kind of see ahead and know when you're likely to have 2-3 hour patches of freedom that weekend). It's definitely not a lifestyle practice, though.

[gregfootball2001]

Also interested. I know it happens, just want to echo OP's request for advice on the cover letter. Do I expressly tell them I'm looking to switch practice groups, don't have my class year level of experience, or I'm okay taking a hit to my class year?

I assume that you'd be applying to a specific finance position, and that your resume would be obviously not-finance (though you should tailor it to be as close as you can get), so I wouldn't think you'd need to address it in the cover letter. YMMV, of course.