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College and University Discussion
Since the PP seems to think that all jobs have the same requirements, my guess is that they’ve never been employed. |
| I work as an attorney and it’s shocking (and getting worse every year) how many new employees come in that don’t seem to understand that when I say I need something by noon on Thursday, that isn’t a guideline or a suggestion or a wish. I’m sure I’m not very popular with the young ones. They either figure it out after the first couple assignments or they find other employment. |
Let's see: I've run my own business, worked as a cashier, worked as a swimming lessons instructor, freelanced as a writer, worked as a fed, worked at a nonprofit organization, taught elementary school, taught middle school, drove a van, clerked for a federal judge, and worked for two biglaw firms (one of which I'm still employed by). My jobs have run the gamut. I've had one work assignment in my life that came close to approximating a timed exam. |
So when you taught school, you didn’t need to get through a certain amount of material each day to meet the pacing guide? BS. |
I’m an attorney too and I’m seeing younger employees come in with that mindset too. Constant requests for time off, constant sick days, not planning ahead, not taking initiative, disregarding instructions. I don’t know if it’s the pandemic, the economy, accommodations, helicopter parenting, or some combination of everything. |
Sure we believe you. On the Internet you can be whatever you want to be. |
What if you needed to just one of those things in 30 minutes? Because that happens all the time. |
I've never had a single request like that in my *checks notes* 18 years of full-time employment. |
As a professor, I see this mindset frequently with students. But I do not believe it has anything to do with legitimate accommodations. |
More attorneys sharing parenting responsibilities across gender lines, worse childcare options, and fewer people thinking their employers will love them back for making their entire life work. |
I didn't have a pacing guide, just end-of-year skill-based benchmarks. But of course I made lesson plans. None were made under extreme time pressure. Sometimes I finished lessons with time to spare and sometimes I didn't finish them. If I didn't finish, I adjusted course the following day(s). Again, nothing like a timed exam. |
In the law firm world, the client does not care about those things. Especially not at the rates we charge. If that’s not for you, totally understand. But if you want big law pay, you’ll have to get up to speed or be pushed out. When we tell a client we will get them something by a deadline, we do it barring truly extenuating circumstances. And if you are a litigator, the deadlines are truly firm and imposed by the court/the statute. |
I say this as an attorney (one of maybe the majority of this board), but maybe you should staff cases/deals better? Your employees are human beings with human needs. And they have legal entitlement to things like paid sick leave, parental leave, FMLA, etc. You need to structure your staffing to be able to accommodate these inevitabilities, especially when so many firms makes (bullshit) promises about supporting working parents and valuing employee health and wellbeing. |
I'm an attorney too, and I actually have had to do a lot of tasks in a short timeframe under time pressure over the course of my career in different types of legal settings - biglaw, smalllaw, government. However, I also recognize that this is not the job for everyone and there are many, many other jobs that would not have this type of requirement. |
When was the last time your boss was going to an important client meeting and dropped a list of vli client concerns and complains she just got in an email and said "give me responses to,these I can use to keep the contract. I need it in 30 minutes because they are showing up at 4." You don't get extra time. |