When to Start Search? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Apologies if this has been addressed elsewhere, but I wanted to see if there is a view as to when to start searching/applying for in-house roles. I've heard that it can take a year+. For context, I'm a 4th year M&A associate in NYC.

[trebekismyhero]

Apologies if this has been addressed elsewhere, but I wanted to see if there is a view as to when to start searching/applying for in-house roles. I've heard that it can take a year+. For context, I'm a 4th year M&A associate in NYC.

Yes, it can take up to a year. 4th year M&A in NYC in this market might be faster, but be prepared for it to be that long. With that said, if you're not willing to leave for at least a few months, then might hold off in case something comes quicker. The fastest it will probably be is 3 months from initial start.

[Anonymous User]

V50 litigator; I've been applying for about six months. An M&A associate should have an easier time.

[Anonymous User]

V50 litigator; I've been applying for about six months. An M&A associate should have an easier time.

As a NY-based IP litigator, being somewhat picky, I've been applying for roughly 12 months. Steady stream of interviews and a few final round interviews, but no offers yet. But M&A will likely be easier.

[Anonymous User]

OP here - thanks all!

[Anonymous User]

What takes so long for in house move? More interview rounds? Generally slow moving process? Or just can take time to get an offer / find the right fit?

[Anonymous User]

Agreed with the above poster. As a litigator, this can take a long long time. I've been applying broadly on the East Coast for about 10 months now, 10ish first round interviews, a few second round interviews, still no offers.

[Anonymous User]

What takes so long for in house move? More interview rounds? Generally slow moving process? Or just can take time to get an offer / find the right fit?

All of that. It's also rougher for litigators. Seems like more litigators are looking to move in house since they generally don't benefit from the hot lateral market or receive big signing bonuses.

[jhett]

If you know you want to move in-house, you should start looking now. As mentioned, it can take a long time to actually snag an offer. The factors that can cause delays include limited number of available positions, amount of competition for each position, finding a good fit between you and the company/position, delays in the hiring/HR process, and the number of interview rounds (which may be drawn out even more if people's schedules don't mesh).

[Anonymous User]

Apologies if this has been addressed elsewhere, but I wanted to see if there is a view as to when to start searching/applying for in-house roles. I've heard that it can take a year+. For context, I'm a 4th year M&A associate in NYC.

All the “conventional wisdom” that I’ve seen is that it can take up to a year — so I started looking much earlier than I was planning on leaving, but the current market is pretty aggressive… even as a more junior corporate associate in a smaller market I ended up having two offers within two months of my first application. And because it was so much faster than I was expecting, I let myself be pretty assertive in negotiating comp and wasn’t disappointed… obviously ymmv

[Anonymous User]

To poster abovez

So did you end up just taking one of the offers (ie left biglaw earlier than expected)? Im looking to go inhouse too but ideally by the mid/end of next year. Wondering if i should start searching now or if its too early. Id want to stay in biglaw till then unless I can somehow go inhouse w/o much paycut.

[Anonymous User]

To poster abovez

So did you end up just taking one of the offers (ie left biglaw earlier than expected)? Im looking to go inhouse too but ideally by the mid/end of next year. Wondering if i should start searching now or if its too early. Id want to stay in biglaw till then unless I can somehow go inhouse w/o much paycut.

I sure did and haven’t regretted it for a second. I’d say start keeping an eye out/chatting with recruiters and for now apply only to spots that seem like a perfect fit — practice interviewing certainly can’t hurt, and you’ll feel more comfortable negotiating offers when you’re not feeling immediate pressure to have a new gig. One of the offers originally gave me a salary range of 130-150k and ended up offering me 180k - and the other offer came in higher and was frankly a dream situation so I decided to go for it, but the whole process was virtually stress-free for me bc I was fine staying at the firm for another 9-12 months while I kept hunting.