Ask firm for an additional advance as incoming associate? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Incoming associate at a market firm in that weird spot post-bar but pre-employment. My firm gave me an advance over the summer but an immediate family member died putting a strain on finances and I was wondering if there’d be any negative career implications to asking HR/professional development if I could have another salary advance. I doubt they’ll say yes since they already floated us one but was curious if it’s even worth asking.

[The Lsat Airbender]

Before asking for favors, I'd look at opening a new credit card. You can often get 6-18 months of 0% APR as a signup promotion. Obviously be sure to pay it down ASAP once you start working.

You can ask HR—I wouldn't worry about this hurting your career as it's an understandable situation and anyway I doubt partners would ever find out—but they might be reluctant to deviate from normal policy.

[nealric]

Seems super unlikely they'd deviate from standard policy. The 0% credit card offers can be a trap for some, but for someone about to start biglaw that could be a helpful bridge.

[Anonymous User]

My undergrad's credit union offers a bridging loan with a low APR, and the only documentation they need is an offer letter. Maybe worth checking if your school offers something similar.

[blair.waldorf]

I actually know a couple people who successfully asked for this, but it was a situation where the firm had deferred the incoming class and offered a pretty small advance and the individuals involved basically begged to start early and the firm offered them an additional advance instead. They still had to pay it back within six months so their paychecks were a lot smaller for the first six months or so. It seems less likely a firm would agree to this when your financial struggles aren't their fault per se (i.e., by deferring your start date from September to January). I'd probably go the credit card route - that's what I did when I was deferred.

[Anonymous User]

my start date was deferred to jan, but my firm didn't give any additional stipend. I think based on what everyone said I'll still go the CC route even if it does bite. Seems too much of a risk to ask