2010-82 Associate Non Ambitions

7/28/2019 2010-82 Associate Non Ambitions

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Career Clinic: I'm not interested in promotion!UK Legal Week20 Nov 2009

"I'm an associate at a City [of London] firm - I've been in my current role for a while now, and

unlike many of the naysayers I often read posting on this site, I actually enjoy my work. I'mhappy in my team, I like my colleagues and I have a decent work/life balance."

"My boss has recently started to suggest that I should be looking to move to the next level. Hewants me to get more involved in business development and take on more responsibility in termsof managing new people joining the team."However, I'm not sure I want to - I've seen how hard the people senior to me work and howlong they end up being stuck in the office. I get paid what I consider a pretty good salary - can Itell him that I'm happy in my current position, and (for now anyway) I don't want it to change?"

Click on 'Comment' below to post your advice in confidence. And remember, Career Clinic is

only as good as the questions we receive, so email your career conundrums [email protected].

COMMENTS

Do whatever you want, it's your life... just do it in a diplomatic way so your firm won't loseinterest in you and start to look for somebody more business-oriented (which is a part of ourprofession these days, I am afraid). Anyway, this is all only applicable if you don't want to loseyour position at this particular firm.I've heard the following lovely expression: 'if you want to stay where you are, you need to run

fast'.lawly -20 Nov 2009 | 14:33

Lie

Mate, no matter how nice they are, no matter how good a relationship you have with them, theyare partners and they'll shaft you good and hard if they thought there was half a farthing in it forthem. ALWAYS be enthusiastic about your future with the firm when asked, and NEVER behonest and say that you are happy being just an associate. Tell them what they want to hear andthen do everything you can behind their back or under cover of all the excuses you can use not toactually do the stuff you are not interested in. Trust me, English law firms have zero loyalty totheir associates - play them at their own game.

Anon -20 Nov 2009 | 14:57

Try Lovells?

Why not try to become a partner at Lovells? They have an excellent work/life balance and tendto leave the office in time for the 6:30 train back to Tunbridge Wells. Also, most of them don'tworry about client development, so there should be no concerns on that front.In-house lawyer -20 Nov 2009 | 15:00
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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What if the OP doesn't live in Tunbridge Wells?Anonymous -20 Nov 2009 | 15:09

Er, not for long

All the senior people I know who sit back and wait for others to find them work so they can sit

on their own and complete are generally quite jaded, miserable people who don't much enjoytheir work, and are often at the front of the redundancy queue. Your boss wouldn't ask you tomove up unless they needed someone to do that role, and thought you could at least potentiallymanage it. If you won't or can't, your future comes into doubt.Certainly no firms recruit people at a senior level who have no prospect of bringing in work,especially now. If you want to carry on for a few years then jack it in and maybe rear children, ormaybe go and do tedious work in local government, or whatever, then stay as you are - butrecognise that it is the end of any sort of career in private practice. You will have a job whereyou are until you lose it, and then probably not get another. Even in-house and decent publicsector jobs will require team management skills, plus some internal business development.Cheesy Wotsits -20 Nov 2009 | 15:24

free to get off that treadmill

I am sorry but I disagree with most of the above. If you love your job and are good at it, get wellpaid and have a healthy balance in your life - FANTASTIC! Put the right way, any halfwit wouldsee you are worth your weight in gold, are good for the long-term health of the team, will befantastic at bringing on the junior members, become a more and more experienced safe supportfor complex work - and you get paid a fraction of the sum of those above you doing similar stuff.Why should we all want to be partners if you please? Some of us work to live. Well done you -you have got life taped and should be the envy of all.Anon -20 Nov 2009 | 15:43

Lazy associate - you're toast, or should be. Why is your boss giving you the chance to step upwhen you plainly can't be ar8ed? Qualify during the boom did you? I'm afraid life's a bit tougherthan you lot have had it. Suck it up or ship out.Anon -20 Nov 2009 | 16:18

Some things, you can't control...

One of the bedevilling things about life is that sometimes you just can't control whenopportunities are going to come your way; and you can never, ever guarantee that things aren'tgoing to change. The lesson of Life (not just legal practice) is that if you're not growing, notevolving, not adapting, you're next in line for the chop.Your wish to stay where you are, in order to retain the perfect balance is very laudable, and itmay be that you're right to stick where you are, but in doing so, you make yourself vulnerable.There are all too many people in the law who believe that because they're intelligent and workhard that their career should be entirely controllable to suit their demands. Unfortunately, lifeisn't like that, and these days, in such a hard, competitive environment, you have to be growingand adapting much more than previous generations.Be very careful before you reject this opportunity, because you might not get another one, andthere will be others who will take it like a shot. From being the apple of the boss's eye, you couldquickly become surplus to requirements.


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MarkB -23 Nov 2009 | 16:43

I don't really understand the "lazy associate" comment.Just because you value your work/life balance and watch in horror as those moving up the careerladder surrender what's left of what could be called any semblance of a 'life' to the 24/7 always-

on-call demands of the BlackBerry generation does not mean you are lazy at all. It is perfectlyacceptable (and, to many, desirable) to be a career associate working more sensible hours butaccepting that this will never lead very high up the greasy pole both in terms of job title or salary.All firms have career associates, and to suggest that everyone either has to become a partner orleave is ridiculous.regional associate -23 Nov 2009 | 16:53

Goodness me, some of these comments are rather venomous. 16:18 perfectly captures the machobulls*it attitude of the City's legal profession. What an inane and unhelpful attitude. One canonly assume you were up all night drafting a gargantuan pile of the world's most tediousdocuments again. No doubt you found five minutes in the wee hours to update your Facebook

status with a suitably self-congratulatory note along the lines of 'I'm still at work... again!'desperately hoping your equally dull friends will see it and comment in praiseworthy disbelief.You hero, pat yourself on the back. I despair.L. Michaels -24 Nov 2009 | 09:09

Whilst some of the posters above are putting it a little strongly, the general principle that youcannot remain standing still at a City firm is essentially true. How many colleagues do you havewho (for example) have been mid-level associates for more than, say, four years? None. I am notsaying that is a good thing particularly but essentially the City law firm model - many peoplecoming in at the bottom very few (relatively) remaining at the top - means you move up or out.You could try and obtain a counsel type role but there are not many of those in most firms. If you

want a job with regular hours where you can easily stay with what you are doing for many yearstry in-house. If you really want to stay where you are I agree with the poster above who saysmake the right noises, say the right things but just try and avoid actually doing the thingsrequested and say you were too busy with work etc, etc.Anon -24 Nov 2009 | 10:27

Not interested in promotion?

Unless you are really brilliant at your job, you risk being labelled as a plodder. That may be OK,but there are two problems. First, your firm may take an economic view. You say you are happywith your salary, but I presume you still expect a rise every year to reflect experience/seniority?If all you want to do is just do the work and do it well, one day your firm may conclude it canreplace you with someone junior and cheaper. Second, you will always be vulnerable to nastylittle thrusting juniors who will see you as a block to their own ambitions and will tread on you.litigation queen -24 Nov 2009 | 14:27

Consequences of pay freeze perhaps?

Previously law firms could expect associates to be interested in moving to the next level becausethey paid them more at the next level. If you freeze pay, is it that surprising that people arentkeen to take on more responsibility? But thats partners for you. I wouldnt recommend voicing


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that at work OP, just find a way to appear keen and still leave on time. Or indeed leave the firm!PS Excellent comment L. Michaels!Stupot -24 Nov 2009 | 15:57

Nothing venomous or macho about what I said - am just reflecting the way it is, like it or not

(and I don't). This is no longer a job you can tread water in, the market's too tough and theopportunities too limited. Wake up and smell the java.Anon -24 Nov 2009 | 16:47

Not interested in Promotion

All firms need reliable associates with a safe pair of hands. I work in a large firm and know anumber of associates who effectively have decided that partnership isn't for them. The careerpath for such people is often Senior Associate/Legal Director. Such roles were created for firmsto keep good lawyers who are not necessarily considered appropriate for partnership or areinterested in a different career path. There is a risk of perception of lack of ambition, but if youare good at your job and working in a busy area of the law then you should both command

respect and job security.Anonymous -24 Nov 2009 | 16:55

Lovells

Have to disagree with the third poster about Lovells. The work/life balance is fair but there arestill plenty of lights on at Atlantic House at 8am and after 8pm. As for client development, Iknow of no other firm that gives all of its lawyers (including trainees and paralegals) full accessto its CRM system and takes business development as seriously - it's exactly why Lovells hasn'tsuffered as badly as some.Senior Associate -24 Nov 2009 | 16:59Post Comment
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2010-82 Associate Non Ambitions